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Primary sourceArtifact1776

USS Philadelphia

1776

A surviving gunboat from the fleet Arnold built and commanded on Lake Champlain in 1776, sunk in battle and later recovered from the lake bottom.

This gunboat belonged to the fleet Arnold built and commanded at the Battle of Valcour Island, one of his most celebrated feats before his betrayal.

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A weathered wooden gunboat displayed in a museum gallery, with a cannon at its bow, a mast, and a placard reading 'Continental Gondola Philadelphia' in the foreground. Its hull planks are dark and worn.
Continental gunboat Philadelphia, built 1776, sunk at the Battle of Valcour Island. National Museum of American History, Washington, D.C.

About this source

What it is

USS Philadelphia was a small, three-gun gunboat built in 1776 as part of a Continental Navy fleet on Lake Champlain, commanded by General Benedict Arnold. She was sunk during the Battle of Valcour Island on 11 October 1776 and lay at the bottom of the lake until she was found and raised in 1935. She is now preserved at the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History.

Why it matters

Arnold used this makeshift fleet to delay a much larger British force, buying time for the American war effort even though his ships were outgunned. The surviving wreck is rare physical evidence of early American naval shipbuilding and of one of Arnold's most celebrated military actions, long before his later betrayal.

Look closer

  • What does the worn, damaged wood of the hull tell you about the battle it survived?
  • Why would a delaying action, even in defeat, matter to the overall war?
  • What questions does an object like this leave unanswered about the men who built and sailed it?

This artifact is part of the curated material that grounds the AI version of Benedict Arnold on Humy.ai — when students ask about related events, the AI can quote it and cite it.

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Printed reproduction of a handwritten page of cipher text on cream paper, with two columns of coded symbols and numbers, signatures at lower right, and the caption 'One of the Treason Letters in Cypher' beneath. A New York Public Library stamp appears at bottom.Letter

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Arnold Treason Cipher Letter

Benedict Arnold; Peggy Shippen Arnold · 1780

Scan of a handwritten oath of allegiance on aged, yellowed paper. Printed text declares allegiance to the United States of America and renounces King George the Third. Handwritten name 'Benedict Arnold, Major General' and office 'Major General' are filled in, with a signature 'B. Arnold' and a jurat reading 'Sworn before me this 30th May 1778 at the Artillery Park Valley Forge' signed by an officer.Document

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Benedict Arnold's Oath of Allegiance

Continental Congress · 30 May 1778

Colour print of a standing man in a tricorn hat with gold trim, a blue coat with gold epaulette and buttons, a tan waistcoat, a red sash, and a sword hilt. He gestures toward a town with church spires across a river, with palm fronds behind him.Painting

Primary source

Portrait of Benedict Arnold

Thomas Hart · 26 March 1776

Black-and-white mezzotint portrait of a man in an 18th-century military uniform with a tricorn hat, standing before a dark wooded background and a town view on the left, gesturing with one hand. Caption text is printed below.Painting

Primary source

Colonel Arnold

Thomas Hart · 1776

Engraved map titled The Attack and Defeat of the American Fleet under Benedict Arnold, by the Kings Fleet commanded by Captn. Thos. Pringle, upon Lake Champlain, 11th October 1776. Shows Lake Champlain with Grand Isle, the lake's islands and shorelines, hachured relief, ship positions, and a compass rose, with a printed account of the expedition in text columns below.Document

Primary source

The Attack and Defeat of the American Fleet under Benedict Arnold upon Lake Champlain

William Faden · 1776

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