Arnold Plans at Lake Champlain: “Masters of the Lake”, But for How Long?
Left: Arnold’s list of men wanted for the sloop Enterprise. Right: Arnold’s letter to Massachusetts.
Posted on May 23, 2025
Arnold Plans at Lake Champlain: “Masters of the Lake”, But for How Long?
250 years ago this week—May 22 and 23, 1775—Benedict Arnold was making plans. After capturing the British sloop Betsey at Fort St. Jean, the Americans were ”masters of the Lake”, but Arnold and his troops had more work to do to maintain their advantage.
The American army on Lake Champlain now had both the Betsey and the schooner Katherine, originally the property of Loyalist landowner Philip Skene. The Betsey and the Katherine, renamed the Enterprise and the Liberty, gave Arnold’s forces control over the lake. However, experienced and specialized sailors would allow the American forces to get the most use out of their ships. In a memorandum written by Arnold on May 22 and titled “List of Men Wanted for the Sloop Enterprise”, he listed the men needed to crew the Enterprise and the Liberty. Captains had been found for both ships, but each of them needed a first mate, a gunner, a “Carpenter who understands making [gun] Carriages”, a gunners’ mate, a boatswain, and a crew of regular seamen.
Arnold’s May 23 letter to the Massachusetts Committee of Safety echoed across the continent. A survivor from Ethan Allen’s failed raid on St. Jean had returned with news that British troops there were planning to re-take Ticonderoga and Crown Point. Arnold “Sent Expresses to Fort George & SkenesBorough to rally the country”, and this letter was circulated to officials in New York, Connecticut, and the Continental Congress. But a lack of gunpowder dramatically affected Arnold’s capabilities. He writes, “I have sent to Albany Repeatedly for Powder, and Can Get None there… I have Written to Connecticut, but can have No Dependence from that Quarter as it is Very Scarce there.” He hopes that Massachusetts will be able to send the powder that the other colonies lack, along with one more thing: “I hope Some Gentleman Will Soon be appointed in my Room here, who is better able to Serve the Public than I am”.
View Arnold’s memorandum on the Ticonderoga Online Collections database (2001.0084.001A) here and his letter to Massachusetts (MS.3017) here.