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| Carleton's Raid | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of theAmerican Revolutionary War | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
 United States |  Great Britain | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
| Seth Warner | Christopher Carleton | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| Unknown number of local militia | 454 soldiers plus sailors on the ships | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| 79 captured, unknown killed and wounded | 1 killed, 17 missing, 1 wounded | ||||||
Carleton's Raid was a raid led by British MajorChristopher Carleton during theAmerican War of Independence. It was launched in the fall 1778 from theProvince of Quebec against targets in upstateProvince of New York.[a]
On October 24, 1778, with snow already on the ground but beforeLake Champlain had frozen, a fleet of ships leftIle aux Noix for the southern part of Lake Champlain. The ships wereHMS Carleton andHMS Maria, both of which had fought at theBattle of Valcour Island in 1776.
I propose to send a respectable party, which will be covered by some ships andGun Boats, and that it shall be as late as possible in going out as the damage it may then do the enemy will be irreparable this season.
The ships were supported by twogunboats and manybateaux. The force comprised 454 men. TheBritish Army forces were made up ofregulars from the29th,31st,53rd Regiments of Foot and theRoyal Artillery supported byLoyalists from theKing's Royal Regiment of New York,HessianJägers and about 100 Indian allies. The force was led byMajorChristopher Carleton of the 29th Regiment of Foot.
The fleet moved up the lake to aboutCrown Point on November 6, 1778, where parties of raiders were let off to attack Reymond's Mill on Beaver Creek, andMiddlebury andNew Haven onOtter Creek. The fleet then moved toButtonmold Bay on November 7, where more raiding parties were sent to attack military supplies andBlack powder, the town ofMonkton, Vermont, and to Moore's Mill nearShoreham, Vermont, a meeting place for theGreen Mountain Boys. At Moore's Mill the raiding party ran into a group of localmilitia, and there was a 20-minuteskirmish before the local militia retired. One British soldier was wounded during this fight; American casualties are unknown.
When the force returned to Ile aux Noix on November 14, Major Carleton reported the raid had destroyed enough supplies for 12,000 men for a four-month campaign. This included 1saw mill, 1grist mill, 47 houses, 48 barns, 28 stacks ofwheat, and 75 stacks ofhay. Over 80 head of cattle were captured and brought back to Quebec. Thirty-nine prisoners were taken toSaint-Jean-sur-Richelieu and forty toQuebec City over land through northern Vermont by Indians. The onlyContinental Army units in the area wereWhitcomb's Rangers atRutland, Vermont andSeth Warner'sGreen Mountain Boys atFort Edward. The raid had been expected by the American forces but the raid was so late in the year that almost all the forces had gone into winter quarters and were not in a position to stop the raid.
The British losses during the raid were 1 man killed by a falling tree, 1 bateau lost with 17 men on the lake on the return voyage to Ile aux Noix, and 1 wounded at the fight at Moore's Mill. The raid was followed up in 1780 by multiple raids called theBurning of the Valleys, with Major Carleton leading a force down Lake Champlain again whileSir John Johnson lead a force in theMohawk andSchoharie Valley, and Lieutenant Houghton leading a raid towards theConnecticut River in theRoyalton Raid.
