New York Guard Honors Fallen Revolutionary War Soldiers

SCHUYLERVILLE, N.Y. - A New York Army National Guard Honor Guard provided military funeral honors Oct. 13 for unknown American Soldiers killed in a naval battle on Lake Champlain 250 years ago.

The gunboat Philadelphia, crewed by 44 Soldiers, most of them members of the New Hampshire militia, was sunk by a British ship during the Oct. 11, 1776, Battle of Valcour Island. The battle, in which 11 American vessels were sunk, was a tactical defeat for the Continental Army, but it delayed the British attack on Fort Ticonderoga until 1777.

Eleven New York Army National Guard Soldiers, forming a three-Soldier firing party, a bugler, an officer in charge and a pallbearer detail, rendered full honors during a ceremony at Gerald B.H. Solomon Saratoga National Cemetery for the remains of crew members found inside the Philadelphia.

A team of Revolutionary War reenactors saluted the unknown Soldiers with musket fire. The Army Guard firing party then fired seven rounds, and Staff Sgt. Alexandra Johnson played taps.

Maj. Gen. Ray Shields, the adjutant general of the New York National Guard, presented the folded flag that had draped the casket to Lisa O'Brien, the New York state regent for the Daughters of the American Revolution. O'Brien represented the families of five Philadelphia crew members whom historical researchers from the Smithsonian Institution determined likely died during the battle.

The five men who may have died aboard the gunboat or while escaping the British fleet were Ebenezar Bailey, Ezekiah Budthomas, John Leach, Benjamin Walker and Daniel Whitworth.

Shields said he was very proud and "a little bit emotional" to participate in the ceremony. The equipment Soldiers carry has changed since 1776, but being a Soldier hasn't changed much, Shields said.

"The same hardships [the Philadelphia crew] went through in October on the lake are the same things U.S. Army Soldiers experience today," he said.

Staff Sgt. Ryan Gosse, the honor guard noncommissioned officer in charge, said performing a military funeral to honor Soldiers from the past is a unique and special honor. He added that this ceremony was even more meaningful because the Soldiers were unknown.

"It just goes to show you that the Army and the National Guard will always be there, no matter who you are, if you have a name or if you don't. As long as you've served, and you did something for this country we will be there for you," Gosse said.

The remains of unknown Philadelphia crew members - bones, a skull fragment and six teeth - were found inside the hull when the boat was raised from Lake Champlain in 1935. Over the years, the bones and skull fragments vanished. The six teeth survived and were interred at the cemetery.

The Army provided a standard-issue headstone commemorating the battle and the Soldiers who fought in it. The Army placed the headstone along the cemetery's Memorial Path.

The inscription reads: "UNKNOWN SOLDIERS, CONTINENTAL ARMY, GUNBOAT PHILADELPHIA, BATTLE OF VALCOUR ISLAND, LAKE CHAMPLAIN NY OCT 11 1776"

The National Museum of American History has displayed the Philadelphia since it opened in 1964. The Smithsonian Institution and a team from Texas A&M University are conserving and preserving the gunboat.

Jennifer Jones, the Smithsonian Institution curator responsible for the Gunboat Philadelphia Project, said preserving the boat matters because of its role during a pivotal moment in American history.

"It is a witness. It is a witness to that battle, to the Revolution. It has survived 250 years, and our project is to make sure it survives for another 250," Jones said.

Army experts determined that scientific testing of the teeth would be unlikely to identify the individuals or their direct descendants. For this reason, the remains were interred together to represent all casualties from the gunboat, according to Army Human Resources Command.

The Philadelphia was one of 15 vessels built to stop a British fleet heading south on Lake Champlain. Gen. Benedict Arnold, a merchant sea captain, commanded the fleet, which Soldiers crewed. Arnold took his fleet north and positioned it in the strait between Valcour Island and the New York shore of Lake Champlain, just south of present-day Plattsburgh.

He expected the British to pass the island without spotting his fleet. They would then have to turn and head toward the anchored American boats, which would open fire.

The British fleet headed south Oct. 9, 1776, and the situation developed as Arnold had predicted. The battle began at 12:30 p.m. and lasted until dark. A 24-pound cannonball struck the Philadelphia, which sank at 6:30 p.m. The surviving crew evacuated to the gunboat Washington before the Philadelphia sank.

However, the Washington had also been hit by enemy fire. The British captured and repaired it, adding it to their fleet. Seventeen Soldiers who crewed the Philadelphia escaped in a boat before the surrender. The British later released the Soldiers captured aboard the Washington - including crew members from the Philadelphia - in exchange for a promise not to serve against them again.

Smithsonian Institution researchers determined that 39 Soldiers who served aboard the Philadelphia survived the Battle of Valcour Island.