Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 04.djvu/558

CHAMPLAIN. 478 CHAMPLAIN. terline are Rouse's Point. Plattsburg. Port Henry. Crown Point, and Miiteliall in New York, anil Burlinsiton in Vermont. Lake Chaniplain re- ceives llie discharge of Lake (Jeorge anil of sev- eral small rivers. It was discovered by Samuel de Ciiamplain in 1G09, whence the name. Its amphitheatre was the scene of much activity during the French and Indian War, and also dur- ing the American Revolution. The Battle of L.kk Chami'laix. The name given to a decisive naval engagement of the War of 1S12. fought off the town of I'lattsliurg. on September U. 1S14, between a British rteet under Captain Cicorge Downic and an .American squad- ron under Commodore Thomas Macdonough. In .Tuly. 1814, a British anny of about 11.000 men, under Sir (ieorge Prevost. undertook the invasion of Xew York, by the way of the western shore of Lake Champlain. To reinforce this movement it was necessary, however, to dispose of the small American llect which was then at Plattsburg. In preparation for the coming naval battle, both sides increased their strength by the building of ships. On September 11 the British lleet entered Plattsburg Harbor, and assailed the American squadron, which was awaiting their attack at anchor. Jlacdonough had chosen an advantageous position, with his line of battle so disposed as to make it impossible for the enemy to turn either flank. The two fleets were about equally matched in fighting strength, the American squadron num- bering 14 vessels of some 2250 tons, with 882 men and SG guns; while the strength of the Brit- ish comprised 10 vessels of 2400 tons, with 037 men and 02 guns. The advantage in training and seamanship was probably on the side of the Brit- ish. The battle lasted about two and ojie-half hours, and ended in a victory for the Americans. Owing to the close range at which the ships en- gaged, the loss was heavy on both sides, the Americans losing about 200, as against more than .300 for the British. As a result of the bat- tle, the plan of British invasion by l.ind was abandoned, and Prevost retreated in haste to Can- ada. The victory was also effective in hurrying on the close of hostilities. Consult : Roosevelt. The Xavnl War of 1S12 (Xew York, 1882); John- son. History of the M'ar of 181.1-15 (Xew Y'ork, 1882). CHAMPLAIN, Samuel de (1567-1635). A French e.plorer and colonizer, the fcumder of Quebec, and the most prominent figure in the early history of Xew France. He was born at Brouage. in Saintonge, the son of a ship captain: received a careful training in the principles of navigation and cartography: entered the army, and served in Brittany as quartermaster of cav- alry under D'Aumont, Saint-Luc, and Brissac. In 1508 he accompanied his >incle, recently ap- pointed pilot-general of Spain, when the latter carried home from Blavet the Spanish soldiers who had served in France as allies of the Lea- guers, and in January. 1500, he was placed in com- mand of the SiiiiilJiilicn, which, with several other vessels, started at that time for the West Indies. After an al)sence of more than two years, during which he visited various Spanish settle- ments in America, including Mexico City and Xew ftranada, Champlain returned to France' and made a careful rcjiort of his observations to Henry IV. This report, entitled Bref discours des choses plus remnrquahlcs que fiamucl Cham- plain ■ a reconnues aux hides Occidentales, re- mains in manuscript at Dieppe, and was not printed in the original until 1870. though an knglish translation was published by the Hak- luyt Society in 1S50. In it Champlain suggests the building of a canal across the Isthmus of Panama, "by which." he says, the voyage to the South .'^ea would be sliortened by more than 1500 leagues." In 1603 he accompanied the ex- pedition sent out by Ainyar de Chastes to choose a site for a proposed settlement, explored the Saint Lawrence to the La Chine Rapids and the Saguenay for 30 or 40 miles, and soon after his return published a small work entitled Ves sauvages: ou voyuye de Samuel Champlain de Brouage fait en la France yourellc. which, to- gether with his other works, has been of the utmost value to historians, and gives an espe- cially interesting account of the character and habits of the Indians. In the following year, Champlain came to America with De Monts (q.v. ), who, on De Chastes's death (1603). had secured the privilege of colonizing Acadia, and during the next three years, in the course of four separate voyages, explored the Bay of Fundy and the Xew England coast from the mouth of the Saint Croix to Vineyard Sound, though he also spent much of his time during this period at the settlement which was established first at Saint Croix and afterwards at Port Royal, near (he present . napn!is. Nova Scotia (q.v.). In 1607 he returned with the discouraged colonists to France, but in l(i08 came again to America, this time as Lieutenant-Governor (an office which he held until his death), and on July 3 began to lay the foundations of t^luebec (q.v.). In 1600 he accompanied a band of Montagnais. Huron, and Algonquin Indians on an ex|X'dition against the Iroquois, discovered the lake which bears his name, and on .July 30, near the present Ticouderoga. was instrumental in defeating a liand of Mohawks — an event of great historical importance, since it definitely committed France to the policy, probably adopted by Champlain, whereby the French endeavored, by antjtgonizing the Five Xations, to secure the alliance of the diverse tribes of Canada, hile the Iroquois were impelled to unite first with the Dutch and after- wards with the English. From 1600 until his death, Champlain spent part (if almost every year in France, zealously looking after the inter- ests of the colony, and while in Paris in 1610 he married Mademoiselle Helfne Bnulle. then only 12 years of age, who, however, did not come to Canada until 1620. In 1610 he again took an active part in a battle with the Iroquois, who had formed a barricade of trees near the Sorel, and in 1611 he established a temporary trading- post on the site of the present Montreal. On the reorganization of the Govermuent of Xew France in 1612. he was reappointed Lieutenant-Governor under de Soissons. and subsoeniently held this position under the Prince de Ccmde. the Due de Montmorency, the Due de Ventadoiir. and Cardi- nal Richelieu. In 1613, lured by the tales of one ^^ignau, who claimed to have found a great lake at the .sources of the Ottawa and a salt sea not far distant. Champlain proceeded up the Ottawa as far as AUnmette Island. Two years later he accompanied a band of Indians, known as "The tJrcal War Party.' on an expedition against the Iroquois, and after a circuitous jour- ney by way of the Ottawa. Lake Xipissing, Georeian Bay, Trent River, and Lake Erie, un-