Notes on the wreck:

The General Butler was built in 1862 in Essex New York. The schooner-rigged Butler is an example of a Lake Champlain sailing canal boat, designed to sail on the lake and, with masts removed and the center board raised, to travel through the Champlain Canal.

On December 9, 1876 a powerful winter gale struck. Upon aproach to Burlington Harbor the steering mechanism broke. The captain jury-rigged a tiller bar to the steering post (still visible) and attempted to menuver his craft around the southern end of the Burlington Breakwater. The ship ran aground on the breakwater and sank in 40 feet of water. The crew of five managed to jump to the breakwater for safty but began to freeze until being spotted by James Wakefield and his son. They rowed out in a 14 foot lighthouse boat and took the five to safty.

Wreck size: 88 feet long and 14 feet wide