Enterprise was a Continental Navy

Continental Navy

The Continental Navy was the navy of the United States during the American Revolutionary War, and was formed in 1775. Through the efforts of the Continental Navy's patron, John Adams and vigorous Congressional support in the face of stiff opposition, the fleet cumulatively became relatively...

 sloop-of-war

Sloop-of-war

In the 18th and most of the 19th centuries, a sloop-of-war was a warship with a single gun deck that carried up to eighteen guns. As the rating system covered all vessels with 20 guns and above, this meant that the term sloop-of-war actually encompassed all the unrated combat vessels including the...

 that served in Lake Champlain

Lake Champlain

Lake Champlain is a natural, freshwater lake in North America, located mainly within the borders of the United States but partially situated across the Canada—United States border in the Canadian province of Quebec.The New York portion of the Champlain Valley includes the eastern portions of...

 during the American Revolutionary War

American Revolutionary War

The American Revolutionary War , the American War of Independence, or simply the Revolutionary War, began as a war between the Kingdom of Great Britain and thirteen British colonies in North America, and ended in a global war between several European great powers.The war was the result of the...

. She is the first of a long and prestigious line of United States Navy

United States Navy

The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...

 ships to bear the name Enterprise

USS Enterprise

USS Enterprise may refer to the following vessels:-United States of America:In watercraft, the prefix "USS" or "U.S.S." is applied to ships commissioned by and for the United States Navy. Private citizens also use the name unofficially...

.

Enterprise was originally a British sloop named George, built at St. Johns (now Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu) in Quebec

Quebec

Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....

, Canada

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

. In May 1775, a small American force under Colonel Benedict Arnold

Benedict Arnold

Benedict Arnold V was a general during the American Revolutionary War. He began the war in the Continental Army but later defected to the British Army. While a general on the American side, he obtained command of the fort at West Point, New York, and plotted to surrender it to the British forces...

 sailed up the Richelieu River

Richelieu River

The Richelieu River is a river in Quebec, Canada. It flows from the north end of Lake Champlain about north, ending at the confluence with the St. Lawrence River at Sorel-Tracy, Quebec downstream and northeast of Montreal...

 on the recently captured Liberty

USS Liberty (1775)

USS Liberty was a schooner built at Skenesboro USS Liberty was a schooner built at Skenesboro USS Liberty was a schooner built at Skenesboro (now Whitehall on Lake Champlain, New York for wealthy landowner and former British Army Captain Philip Skene. It was captured on 11 May 1775 during a raid on...

. At 07:00 on 18 May, Arnold and 35 raiders captured the fort and shipyard

Shipyard

Shipyards and dockyards are places which repair and build ships. These can be yachts, military vessels, cruise liners or other cargo or passenger ships. Dockyards are sometimes more associated with maintenance and basing activities than shipyards, which are sometimes associated more with initial...

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

Schooner

A schooner is a type of sailing vessel characterized by the use of fore-and-aft sails on two or more masts with the forward mast being no taller than the rear masts....

 Royal Savage 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.

The 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 for Colonel Arnold. Control of Lake Champlain and the adjoining Hudson River

Hudson River

The Hudson is a river that flows from north to south through eastern New York. The highest official source is at Lake Tear of the Clouds, on the slopes of Mount Marcy in the Adirondack Mountains. The river itself officially begins in Henderson Lake in Newcomb, New York...

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

New England

New England is a region in the northeastern corner of the United States consisting of the six states of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut...

 and the other colonies

Thirteen Colonies

The Thirteen Colonies were English and later British colonies established on the Atlantic coast of North America between 1607 and 1733. They declared their independence in the American Revolution and formed the United States of America...

, and it would have allowed British troops to cross and attack Albany

Albany, New York

Albany is the capital city of the U.S. state of New York, the seat of Albany County, and the central city of New York's Capital District. Roughly north of New York City, Albany sits on the west bank of the Hudson River, about south of its confluence with the Mohawk River...

.

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

Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...

, and Quebec

Quebec

Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....

. Though St. Johns and Montreal

Montreal

Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...

 were captured, and Quebec

Quebec

Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....

 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 Isle aux Noix in the Richelieu River, where they waited while Arnold directed the building of a fleet at Fort Ticonderoga

Fort Ticonderoga

Fort Ticonderoga, formerly Fort Carillon, is a large 18th-century fort built by the Canadians and the French at a narrows near the south end of Lake Champlain in upstate New York in the United States...

 and Skenesboro (now Whitehall

Whitehall (village), New York

Whitehall is a village located in the town of Whitehall in Washington County, New York, USA. It is part of the Glens Falls Metropolitan Statistical Area...

).

The battle was finally joined in the Battle of Valcour Island

Battle of Valcour Island

The naval Battle of Valcour Island, also known as the Battle of Valcour Bay, took place on October 11, 1776, on Lake Champlain. The main action took place in Valcour Bay, a narrow strait between the New York mainland and Valcour Island...

 on 11 October 1776 at Valcour Island

Valcour Island

Valcour Island is an island in Lake Champlain in Clinton County, New York, USA. The island is mostly in the Town of Peru and partly in the Town of Plattsburgh, southeast of the City of Plattsburgh....

, near Plattsburg, New York, 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

Crown Point, New York

Crown Point is a town in Essex County, New York, USA. The population was 2,119 at the 2000 census. The name of the town is a direct translation of the original French name, "Point au Chevalure."...

. 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.

Although a tactical defeat, the battle was a strategic victory for the Americans, as they had disrupted the British invasion into New York

New York

New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...

 such that it couldn't be mounted before the onset of winter. It was nearly a year before the advance could be renewed, eventually resulting in a decisive American victory in the Battle of Saratoga

Battle of Saratoga

The Battles of Saratoga conclusively decided the fate of British General John Burgoyne's army in the American War of Independence and are generally regarded as a turning point in the war. The battles were fought eighteen days apart on the same ground, south of Saratoga, New York...

.

During the British advance prior to the Battle of Saratoga, Enterprise was one of five vessels assigned to duty convoying bateau

Bateau

A bateau or batteau is a shallow-draft, flat-bottomed boat which was used extensively across North America, especially in the colonial period and in the fur trade. It was traditionally pointed at both ends but came in a wide variety of sizes...

x 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.

External links

• DANFS entry
• An Enterprise for the Continental Navy (includes correspondence about Enterprise from Benedict Arnold and Ethan Allen
  Ethan Allen
  Ethan Allen was a farmer, businessman, land speculator, philosopher, writer, and American Revolutionary War patriot, hero, and politician. He is best known as one of the founders of the U.S...
  
  )
• The Life & Times of the First USS Enterprise