The retreat of the Americans had been embarrassed by their injuries, and by the wind coming out ahead.  They were obliged to anchor on the 12th to repair damages, both hulls and sails having suffered severely.  Arnold took the precaution to write to Crown Point for bateaux, to tow in case of a southerly wind; but time did not allow these to arrive.  Two gondolas had to be sunk on account of their injuries, making three of that class so far lost.  The retreat was resumed at 2 P.M., but the breeze was fresh from the southward, and the gondolas made very little way.  At evening the British chased again.  That night the wind moderated, and at daybreak the American flotilla was twenty-eight miles from Crown Point,—­fourteen from Valcour,—­having still five miles’ start.  Later, however, by Arnold’s report, “the wind again breezed up to the southward, so that we gained very little either by beating or rowing.  At the same time the enemy took a fresh breeze from northeast, and, by the time we had reached Split Rock, were alongside of us.”  The galleys of Arnold and Waterbury, the Congress and the Washington, had throughout kept in the rear, and now received the brunt of the attack, made by the Inflexible and the two schooners, which had entirely distanced their sluggish consorts.  This fight was in the upper narrows, where the Lake is from one to three miles wide; and it lasted, by Arnold’s report, for five glasses (two hours and a half),[12] the Americans continually retreating, until about ten miles from Crown Point.  There, the Washington having struck some time before, and final escape being impossible, Arnold ran the Congress and four gondolas ashore in a small creek on the east side; pulling to windward, with the cool judgment that had marked all his conduct, so that the enemy could not follow him—­except in small boats with which he could deal.  There he set his vessels on fire, and stood by them until assured that they would blow up with their flags flying.  He then retreated to Crown Point through the woods, “despite the savages;” a phrase which concludes this singular aquatic contest with a quaint touch of local colour.

In three days of fighting and retreating the Americans had lost one schooner, two galleys, and seven gondolas,—­in all, ten vessels out of fifteen.  The killed and wounded amounted to over eighty, twenty odd of whom were in Arnold’s galley.  The original force, numbering seven hundred, had been decimated.  Considering its raw material and the recency of its organisation, words can scarcely exaggerate the heroism of the resistance, which undoubtedly depended chiefly upon the personal military qualities of the leader.  The British loss in killed and wounded did not exceed forty.