USS ''Enterprise'' was a

Continental Army The Continental Army was the army of the United Colonies (the Thirteen Colonies) in the Revolutionary-era United States. It was formed by the Second Continental Congress after the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War, and was establis ...

sloop-of-war In the 18th century and most of the 19th, a sloop-of-war in the Royal Navy was a warship with a single gun deck that carried up to eighteen guns. The rating system covered all vessels with 20 guns and above; thus, the term ''sloop-of-war'' enc ...

that served in

Lake Champlain , native_name_lang = , image = Champlainmap.svg , caption = Lake Champlain-River Richelieu watershed , image_bathymetry = , caption_bathymetry = , location = New York/Vermont in the United States; and Quebec in Canada , coords = , type = , ...

during the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...

. She was the first of a long and prestigious line of ships of the United States or by the combatant forces of the U.S. Revolutionary War to bear the name ''Enterprise''.

Service history

Built in St. Johns, Quebec

''Enterprise'' was originally a British supply

sloop A sloop is a sailboat with a single mast typically having only one headsail in front of the mast and one mainsail aft of (behind) the mast. Such an arrangement is called a fore-and-aft rig, and can be rigged as a Bermuda rig with triangular sa ...

named ''George'', built at St. Johns (now

Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu () is a city in eastern Montérégie in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Quebec, about southeast of Montreal. It is situated on the west bank of the Richelieu River at the northernmost naviga ...

) in

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

Raid on St. Johns

In May 1775, a small American force under Colonel

Benedict Arnold Benedict Arnold ( Brandt (1994), p. 4June 14, 1801) was an American military officer who served during the Revolutionary War. He fought with distinction for the American Continental Army and rose to the rank of major general before defect ...

sailed up the Richelieu River on the recently captured . At 07:00 on 18 May, Arnold and 35 raiders captured the fort and

shipyard A shipyard, also called a dockyard or boatyard, is a place where ships are built and repaired. These can be yachts, military vessels, cruise liners or other cargo or passenger ships. Dockyards are sometimes more associated with maintenance a ...

s at St. Johns, along with the newly launched ''George'', with no loss of life. The unlaunched

schooner A schooner () is a type of sailing vessel defined by its rig: fore-and-aft rigged on all of two or more masts and, in the case of a two-masted schooner, the foremast generally being shorter than the mainmast. A common variant, the topsail schoon ...

was also at the shipyard, and would be captured by the Americans later that year. Two hours later Arnold's raiders left with the newly captured sloop, which was later armed with 12 guns and renamed ''Enterprise''.

Siege of St. Johns

''Enterprise'' was, at first, the most significant warship in the Lake Champlain squadron – which was charged with maintaining American control of the lake early in the war – and at times she acted as

flagship A flagship is a vessel used by the commanding officer of a group of naval ships, characteristically a flag officer entitled by custom to fly a distinguishing flag. Used more loosely, it is the lead ship in a fleet of vessels, typically the fi ...

for Colonel Arnold. Control of Lake Champlain and the adjoining

Hudson River The Hudson River is a river that flows from north to south primarily through eastern New York. It originates in the Adirondack Mountains of Upstate New York and flows southward through the Hudson Valley to the New York Harbor between N ...

would have enabled the British to cut off vital supply routes between

New England New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York to the west and by the Canadian provinces ...

and the other

colonies In modern parlance, a colony is a territory subject to a form of foreign rule. Though dominated by the foreign colonizers, colonies remain separate from the administration of the original country of the colonizers, the '' metropolitan state'' ...

, and it would have allowed British troops to cross and attack Albany. On 28 August 1775, ''Enterprise'' and other vessels embarked with more than 1,000 troops as part of an expedition against St. Johns,

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

, and

. Though St. Johns and

were captured, and

was besieged, the arrival of strong British reinforcements forced the Americans to withdraw from Canada in the spring of 1776. ''Enterprise'' and the other craft sailed to Île aux Noix in the Richelieu River, where they waited while Arnold directed the building of a fleet at Fort Ticonderoga and Skenesboro (now

Whitehall Whitehall is a road and area in the City of Westminster, Central London. The road forms the first part of the A roads in Zone 3 of the Great Britain numbering scheme, A3212 road from Trafalgar Square to Chelsea, London, Chelsea. It is the main ...

Battle of Valcour Island

The battle was finally joined in the Battle of Valcour Island on 11 October 1776 at Valcour Island, near

Plattsburgh, New York Plattsburgh ( moh, Tsi ietsénhtha) is a city in, and the seat of, Clinton County, New York, United States, situated on the north-western shore of Lake Champlain. The population was 19,841 at the 2020 census. The population of the surrounding ...

, a site of Arnold's choosing. Markedly inferior in firepower, much of Arnold's fleet was sunk or damaged by nightfall. However, he managed to slip the remaining ships, including ''Enterprise'', past the British fleet that night towards

Fort Crown Point Fort Crown Point was built by the combined efforts of both British and provincial troops (from New York and the New England Colonies) in North America in 1759 at a narrows on Lake Champlain on what later became the border between New York and Vermo ...

. A running battle took place over the next two days, and resulted in the loss of all but five of the American ships. ''Enterprise'' and four others escaped to Crown Point, then sailed on to Ticonderoga.

Aftermath of the Battle of Valcour Island

Although a tactical defeat, the battle was a strategic victory for the Americans. Arnold and his little fleet had disrupted the British invasion into

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

such that it could not be mounted before the onset of winter. It was nearly a year before the advance could be renewed. In that interval American troops were recruited and trained, and on 17 October 1777, under General

Horatio Gates Horatio Lloyd Gates (July 26, 1727April 10, 1806) was a British-born American army officer who served as a general in the Continental Army during the early years of the Revolutionary War. He took credit for the American victory in the Battles ...

, defeated the British decisively at Saratoga, New York. This victory was a primary factor in bringing about the alliance with France, and bringing the powerful French navy to the aid of the Colonies.

Siege of Fort Ticonderoga

During the British advance prior to the Battle of Saratoga, ''Enterprise'' was one of five vessels assigned to duty convoying bateaux in the evacuation of Ticonderoga. The small American force was no match for the British fleet on Lake Champlain, and after two ships had been captured, ''Enterprise'' and the other two were run aground on 7 July 1777, and burned to prevent their capture.

Notes

;Citations

Bibliography

Online resources * Further reading *

External links

An ''Enterprise'' for the Continental Navy
(includes correspondence about ''Enterprise'' from Benedict Arnold and

Ethan Allen Ethan Allen ( – February 12, 1789) was an American farmer, businessman, land speculator, philosopher, writer, lay theologian, American Revolutionary War patriot, and politician. He is best known as one of the founders of Vermont and for ...

)
The Life & Times of the First USS ''Enterprise''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Enterprise (1775) Ships of the Continental Navy Ships built in Quebec 1770s ships Lake Champlain Provincial Marine