Champlain, Lake

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Champlain, Lake

CHAMPLAIN, LAKE. Stretching 125 miles from north to south and varying in width between four hundred yards and fourteen miles, Lake Champlain was a vital link in the strategic waterway between the Hudson and St. Lawrence River valleys. Ten miles of rapids in the Richelieu (or Sorel) River between St. Johns and Chambly bar navigation to the St. Lawrence, and five miles of swift, narrow channel bar navigation between Ticonderoga and Lake George. Crown Point and Fort Ticonderoga were scenes of battle during the colonial wars and the Revolution. St. Johns and Chambly also were military objectives during the Revolution. Valcour Island saw the important conflict between Champlain squadrons in 1776. Note that "up Lake Champlain" should be used in the sense of "upstream," or south.

SEE ALSO Chambly, Canada; Champlain Squadrons; Colonial Wars; Crown Point, New York; Lake George, New York; St. Johns, Canada (5 September-2 November 1775); Ticonderoga, New York, American Capture of; Valcour Island.

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