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"...the view over sparkling Champlain water to the carved grandeur of the Adirondacks is an awe-inspiring one. Wall on wall the mountain barriers are massed high against the western skyline, shutting in the gleaming stretch of the inland sea that Champlain discovered for the Old World, but which long before that time knew that glide of birch canoes and the thrust of Indian paddles...."* |
By James P. Millard
It was off Windmill Point that the radeau Thunderer sank in 1777 while carrying sick and wounded from the Battle of Saratoga. Reportedly the British kept a gunboat stationed at the Point from 1783-1796. |
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It was to be many years later before the Canadians would feel "comfortable" with their neighbors to the South. After all, the USA did invade Canada on two occasions! |
Known as "Middle Hero" until 1810 , Grand Isle (the town) came into existence on November 7, 1798 when the Township of South Hero was divided in two7. Situated as it is in the center of the lake, directly opposite Cumberland Head, residents of the town have watched some dramatic events take place from her shores.
Abby Maria Hemenway, in her Vermont Historical Gazetteer, tells us of the early settlement of Grand Isle (the island):
In addition to having great armies with hundreds of boats pass on their way to war, the town has been the home of an important ferry crossing at Gordon's Landing since 1796. Standing upon the western shore on September 11, 1814 an onlooker would have had a dramatic view of the Battle of Plattsburg Bay. |
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For in addition to its striking natural beauty, this southernmost of the Grand Isles is also rich in
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The small, densely forested island just to the north of Valcour was the home to a small American battery of two guns and more importantly, a large hospital. Before the battle some 700 of Macomb's troops had been sent here, mostly sick with typhus and dysentery. On September 10, 1814, another 40 men, casualties of the land skirmishes at Culver Hill and Halsey's corners, arrived.6
Be sure to visit The Secrets of Crab Island by Jim Millard. Click HERE.
Valcour Island, New York State |
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Providence Island, Stave Island
& Carleton's Prize, Vermont |
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Sources/Notes: 1 Peter S. Palmer,
"History of Lake Champlain, from its first exploration by the French in 1609 to the close of the year 1814 (New York: Frank F. Lovell & Company 1886)105 Last modified date 01/09/2016 |
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