This is a very rare ‘first state’ of Sayer and Bennet’s map of Lake
Champlain and Lake St. George. The
main part of the map is that of Lake Champlain, based on a survey by Willam
Brassier, taken in 1762 during the French Indian War. The survey for the inset map of Lake George was completed by
Captain Jackson, earlier, in 1756.
Both surveys had remained in manuscript form until the onset of the
Revolutionary war in 1775, when London publishers Sayer and Bennett, in
response to a demand of maps of the region engraved and published both surveys
in this form. It was first issued
in Jeffrey’s ‘American Atlas’ of 1776. This copy is beautifully coloured and
highlights the 45 parallel boundary line between Ontario and New York.
Later in 1776 a ‘second state’ of the map was published in Sayer and
Bennett's American Military Pocket
Atlas - the so-called ‘Holster
Atlas’. That second, and far more common, state of
the map differs from this in as much as it shows the engagement of the
British and American Fleets off the Isle of Valcour on October 11, 1776, their
movements down the river, and a second engagement off Crown Point on October
13, 1776, with lettered references. Notes relating
to observations, events and structures appear on lake Champlain and keys are
provided on the Lake George inset.
The overall (strategic) significance
of Lake Champlain is, to a great extent based on geography. Dense forests made overland travel in
areas such as this and both native Indians and Europeans made as much us of
waterways as possible. The
‘Champlain corridor’ which runs north from New York up to the St. Lawrence
River and Montreal was inevitably seen as a vital overland ‘short-cut’ between
the Hudson River at Albany with its connection down to New York and the St. Lawrence
River with its connection to Montreal.
Along with several smaller rivers and lakes Lake Champlain, the longest and
largest of these waterways, provided a link between the two major rivers (and
cities). This route had been used
for decades by fur traders, Indians, missionaries and soldiers, who travel
using canoes and bateaus.
Historically the French had
controlled the territory at northern end of the lake and the Americans Lake St.
George to the south. In 1755, the governor of Canada ordered the construction
of Fort Carillon (Ticonderoga) at the place where travelers had to move
overland between Lake Champlain and Lake George. Sir William Johnson responded
by erecting Fort William Henry (later Fort George) at the southern tip of Lake
George. There had been several
engagements in the region during the French Indian war, at Ticonderoga and
Crown Point (Fort Frederic) in particular.
In 1776, the Richelieu/Champlain/Lake
George ‘corridor’ very quickly became the basis for
British strategic planning after the outbreak of rebellion in the New England
colonies in 1775, with the intention being to control the route totally and
thus cut-off the rebellious New England states from the rest of the colonies.
Although the British in the
North had far superior forces in the region they knew from their experience in
the French Indian war that unless they had naval supremacy and control of the
water they could not advance, safely, further south. The only significant craft on the waters
in July 1776 were American.
Brigadier General John Sullivan had written
to George Washington in June of 1776 to say ‘I know of no better method than to
secure the important posts of Ticonderoga and Crown Point, and by building a
number of armed vessels to command the lakes, otherwise the forces now in
Canada will be brought down upon us as quick as possible, having nothing to
oppose them.’ He, prophetically,
went on to say that ‘They will doubtless try to construct some armed vessels
and then endeavor to penetrate the country toward New York.’
By the end of the Summer of 1776, and after a
frantic race to build ships which would control the lake, by the British at the
north end of the lake and the Americans at the south end a significant engagement
was fought by the two ‘navies’ at Valcour Island on the 11th
October. Although the battle was a
tactical victory for the British it proved to be a strategic success from the
American standpoint. The British
had been delayed from securing the lakes, just before the on-set of winter and
the American forts Ticonderoga and William-Henry (later George) were
spared. The later American victory
at Saratoga to the south the following year proved to be the undoing of the
British plan.
Ethan Allen, Benedict Arnold and the
Green Mountain Boys successfully took the fort at Ticonderoga from the British
in May 1775 and the cannons were removed to support the American siege of
Boston. The following day the
Americans also took the British fort at Crown point, on the other side of the
lake. Ticonderoga was later reclaimed by the British under command of General
John Burgoyne in June 1777 as the British swept south and held until the
British defeat at Saratoga in September and eventual surrender of Burgoyne’s
army in October. |