Valcour Island

“It’s a voice from Valcour Island,” said Art Cohn, of the Lake Champlain Maritime Museum, who has studied the battle for decades.

The British were clear winners after a day of heavy fighting near Valcour Island, just south of Plattsburgh, New York.

The Battle of Valcour Island pitted a small American fleet led by Gen. Benedict Arnold - before he turned traitor - assembled in 1776 at Skenesborough - now Whitehall, New York - to counter a larger British fleet being built in Quebec.

America’s most notorious traitor actually began the war a hero, displaying bravery in the Capture of Fort Ticonderoga and the Battle of Quebec, and using his nautical cunning to lead his fleet to safety on Lake Champlain at the Battle of Valcour Island.

The ship, taken from the British in a previous battle, was accidentally run aground by the Americans at Valcour Island, captured back by the British and burned, according to one account.