Battle of Plattsburgh
Encyclopedia
The Battle of Plattsburgh, also known as the Battle of Lake Champlain, ended the final invasion of the northern states during the War of 1812
. A British
army under Lieutenant General Sir George Prévost
and a naval squadron under Captain George Downie
converged on the lakeside town of Plattsburgh, which was defended by American troops under Brigadier General Alexander Macomb and ships commanded by Master Commandant Thomas Macdonough
. Downie's squadron attacked shortly after dawn on 11 September 1814, but was defeated after a hard fight in which Downie was killed. Prévost then abandoned the attack by land against Macomb's defences and retreated to Canada, stating that even if Plattsburgh was captured, it could not be supplied without control of the lake.
The battle took place shortly before the signing of the Treaty of Ghent
which ended the war. The American victory denied the British negotiators at Ghent leverage to demand any territorial claims against the United States on the basis of Uti possidetis
i.e. retaining territory they held at the end of hostilities.
had abdicated the throne of France. This provided Britain the opportunity to send 16,000 veteran troops to North America. The Secretary of State for War and the Colonies
, the Earl of Bathurst
, sent instructions to Lieutenant-General Sir George Prévost, the Commander-in-Chief in Canada and Governor General of the Canadas, authorising him to launch offensives into American territory, but cautioning him against advancing too far and thereby risking being cut off.
Bathurst suggested that Prévost should give first priority to attacking Sackett's Harbor
on Lake Ontario
, where the American fleet on the lake was based, and seizing control of Lake Champlain
as a secondary objective. Prévost lacked the means to transport the necessary troops and the supplies for them up the Saint Lawrence River
to attack Sackett's Harbor. Furthermore, the American ships controlled Lake Ontario, making an attack impossible until the British launched a warship(the first-rate
ship of the line
HMS St. Lawrence) on the lake, too late in the year for major operations.
Prévost therefore prepared to launch his major offensive to Lake Champlain, up the Richelieu River
. (Since the Richelieu, also known as the Rich, was the only waterway connecting Lake Champlain to the ocean, trade on the lake naturally went through Canada.) Prévost's choice of route on reaching the lake was influenced by the attitude of the American state of Vermont
, on the eastern side of the lake. The state had shown itself to be less than wholeheartedly behind the War and its inhabitants readily traded with the British, supplying them with all the cattle consumed by the British army, and even military stores such as masts and spars for British warships on Lake Champlain. To spare Vermont from becoming a seat of war, Prévost therefore determined to advance down the western, New York State, side of the lake. The main American position on this side was at Plattsburgh
.
Prévost organised most of his troops into a division numbering 11,000 under Major General Sir Francis de Rottenburg
, the Lieutenant Governor of Lower Canada
. The division consisted of: the 1st Brigade of Peninsular
veterans under Major General Frederick Philipse Robinson
, composed of the 3/27th
, 39th
, 76th
and 88th
Regiments of Foot; the 2nd Brigade of troops already serving in Canada under Major General Thomas Brisbane
and made up of the 2/8th
, 13th and 49th
Regiments of Foot, the Regiment de Meuron
, the Canadian Voltigeurs
and the Canadian Chasseurs; and the 3rd Brigade of troops from the Peninsula and various garrisons under Major General Manley Power
, consisting of the 3rd, 5th
, 1/27th and 58th
Regiments of Foot). Each brigade was supported by a battery of five 6-pounder guns and one 5.5-inch howitzer of the Royal Artillery
. A squadron of the 19th Light Dragoons
was attached to the force.
There was some tension within the force between the brigade and regimental commanders who were veterans of the Peninsular War or of earlier fighting in Upper Canada, and Prévost and his staff. Prévost had not endeared himself by complaining about the standards of dress of the troops from the Peninsular Army, where the Duke of Wellington
had emphasised musketry and efficiency above turnout. Furthermore, neither Prévost, nor de Rottenburg, nor Prévost's Adjutant General (Major General Edward Baynes) had the extensive experience of battle gained by their brigade commanders. All three officers were known for their caution and hesitancy. Prévost's Quartermaster General, Major General Thomas Sydney Beckwith
, was a veteran of the early part of the Peninsular campaign, but even he was to be criticised, mainly for failures in intelligence
.
ordered Izard to take the majority of his force, about 4,000 troops, to reinforce Sackett's Harbor. Izard's force departed on 23 August, leaving Brigadier General Alexander Macomb in command at Plattsburgh with only 1,500 American regulars
. Most of these troops were recruits, invalids or detachments of odds and ends. Macomb ordered General Benjamin Mooers
to call out the New York militia
and appealed to the governor of Vermont for militia volunteers. Up to 2,000 militia eventually reported to Plattsburgh. However, the militia units were mostly untrained, and hundreds of them were unfit for duty. Macomb put the militiamen to use digging trenches and building fortifications.
Macomb's main position was a ridge on the south bank of the Saranac River
. Its fortifications had been laid out by Major Joseph Gilbert Totten
, Izard's senior Engineer officer, and consisted of three redoubt
s and two blockhouse
s, linked by other fieldworks. The position was reckoned to be well enough supplied and fortified to withstand a siege for three weeks, even if the American ships on the lake were defeated and Plattsburgh was cut off. After Izard's division departed, Macomb continued to improve his defences. He even created an invalid battery on Crab Island, where his hospital was sited, that was to be manned by sick or wounded soldiers who were at least fit to fire the cannon. The townspeople of Plattsburgh had so little faith in Macomb's efforts to repulse the invasion that by September nearly all 3,000 inhabitants had fled the city. Plattsburgh was left occupied only by the American army.
s pursued British gunboat
s into the Richelieu River, and were forced to surrender when the wind dropped and they were trapped by British artillery on the banks of the river. They were taken into the British naval establishment at Ile aux Noix
, under Commander Daniel Pring
. Their crews, and those of several gunboats, were temporarily reinforced by seamen drafted from ships of war lying at Quebec
under Commander Thomas Everard who, being senior to Pring, took temporary command. They embarked 946 troops under Lieutenant Colonel John Murray of the 100th Regiment of Foot
, and raided several settlements on both the New York and Vermont shores of Lake Champlain during the summer and autumn of 1813. The losses they inflicted and the restriction they imposed on the movement of men and supplies to Plattsburgh contributed to the defeat of Major General Wade Hampton's
advance against Montreal, which finally ended with the Battle of the Chateauguay.
Lieutenant Thomas Macdonough, commanding the American naval forces on the Lake, established a secure base at Otter Creek (Vermont), and constructed several gunboats. He had to compete with Commodore Isaac Chauncey
, commanding on Lake Ontario
, for seamen, shipwrights and supplies, and was not able to begin constructing larger fighting vessels until his second-in-command went to Washington
to argue his case to the Secretary of the Navy
, William Jones
. Naval architect Noah Brown was sent to Otter Creek to superintend construction. In April 1814, the Americans launched the corvette USS Saratoga
of 26 guns and the schooner
USS Ticonderoga
of 14 guns (originally a part-completed steam vessel). Together with the existing sloop-rigged USS Preble
of 7 guns, they gave the Americans naval superiority, and this allowed them to establish and supply a substantial base at Plattsburgh. Only a few days before the Battle of Plattsburgh, the Americans also completed the 20-gun brig
USS Eagle
.
The loss of their former supremacy on Lake Champlain prompted the British to construct the 36-gun frigate
at Ile aux Noix. Captain George Downie
was appointed to command soon after the frigate was launched on 25 August, replacing Captain Peter Fisher, who in turn had superseded Pring. Like Macdonough, Downie had difficulty obtaining men and materials from the senior officer on Lake Ontario (Commodore James Lucas Yeo
) and Macdonough had intercepted several spars which had been sold to Britain by unpatriotic Vermonters. (By tradition, Midshipman Joel Abbot
destroyed several of these in a daring commando-type raid.) Downie could promise to complete Confiance only on 15 September, and even then the frigate's crew would not have been exercised.
Prévost was anxious to begin his campaign as early as possible, to avoid the bad weather of late autumn and winter, and continually pressed Downie to prepare Confiance for battle more quickly.
, 110 riflemen under Major Daniel Appling
, 700 New York militia under Major General Benjamin Mooers
and two 6-pounder guns under Captain Leonard to fight a delaying action. At Chazy, New York
, they first made contact with the British. Slowly falling back, the Americans set up road blocks, burned bridges and mislabelled streets to slow down the British. The British nevertheless advanced steadily, not even deploying out of column of march or returning fire, except by flank guards. When Prévost reached Plattsburgh on 6 September, the American rearguards retired across the Saranac, tearing up the planks from the bridges. Prévost did not immediately attack. On 7 September, he ordered Major General Robinson to cross the Saranac, but to Robinson's annoyance, Prévost had no intelligence on the American defences or even the local geography. Some tentative attacks across the bridges were repulsed by Wool's regulars.
Prévost abandoned his efforts to cross the river for the time being and instead began constructing batteries
. The Americans responded by using cannon balls heated red-hot to set fire to sixteen buildings in Plattsburgh which the British were using as cover, forcing the British to withdraw farther away. On 9 September, a night raid across the Saranac River by 50 Americans led by Captain George McGlassin destroyed a British Congreve rocket
battery only 500 yards (457.2 m) from Fort Brown, one of the three main American fortifications.
While skirmishing and artillery fire continued, the British located a ford (Pike's Ford) across the Saranac 3 miles (4.8 km) above Macomb's defences. Prévost planned that, once Downie's ships arrived, they would attack the American ships in Plattsburgh Bay. Simultaneously, Major General Brisbane would make a feint attack across the bridges while Major General Robinson's brigade would cross the ford to make the main attack against the American left flank, supported by Major General Power's brigade. Once the American ships had been defeated, Brisbane would make his feint attack into a real one.
s. He used the time before Downie arrived to drill his sailors, and make preparations to fight at anchor. The ships were anchored in line from north to south in the order Eagle, Saratoga, Ticonderoga and Preble. They all had both bow and stern anchors, with "springs" attached to the anchor cables to allow the ships to be slewed through a wide arc. Macdonough also laid out extra kedge anchors from the quarters of his flagship Saratoga, which would allow him to spin the ship completely around. The ten American gunboats were anchored in the intervals between the larger vessels.
Although the British sloops and gunboats under Commander Pring were already on the Lake and at anchor near Chazy, and had set up a battery on Isle La Motte, Vermont
, it took two days to tow the frigate Confiance up the Sorel River from Ile aux Noix, against both wind and current. Downie finally joined the squadron on 9 September. Carpenters and riggers were still at work on the frigate, and the incomplete crew was augmented by a company of the 39th Foot. To Prévost's fury, Downie was unable to attack on 10 September because the wind was unfavourable. During the night the wind shifted to the north-east, making an attack feasible. The British squadron sailed in the early hours of 11 September, and announced their presence to Prévost's army by "scaling" the guns i.e. firing them without shot to clear scale or rust from the barrels. Shortly after dawn, Downie reconnoitred the American dispositions from a rowing boat, before ordering the British squadron to attack. Addressing his crew, he told them that the British Army would storm Plattsburgh as soon as the ships engaged, "and mind don't let us be behind".
, Linnet, Confiance and Finch
, and the gunboats to the south. It was a fine autumn day, but the wind was light and variable, and Downie was unable to manoeuvre Confiance to the place he intended, across the head of Macdonough's line. As Confiance suffered increasing damage from the American ships, he was forced to drop anchor between 300 and 500 yards from Macdonough's flagship, the Saratoga. He then proceeded deliberately, securing everything before firing a broadside which killed or wounded one fifth of Saratoga's crew. Macdonough was stunned but quickly recovered; and a few minutes later, Downie was killed.
Elsewhere along the British line, the sloop Chubb was badly damaged and drifted into the American line, where her commander surrendered. The brig Linnet, commanded by Pring, reached the head of the American line and opened a raking fire against the USS Eagle. At the tail of the line, the sloop Finch failed to reach station and anchor, and although hardly hit at all, Finch drifted aground on Crab Island, and surrendered under fire from the 6-pounder gun of the battery manned by the invalids from Macomb's hospital. Half the British gunboats were also hotly engaged at this end of the line. Their fire forced the weakest American vessel, the Preble to cut its anchors and drift out of the fight. The Ticonderoga was able to fight them off, although it was engaged too hotly to support Macdonough's flagship. The rest of the British gunboats apparently held back from action, and their commander later deserted.
After about an hour, the USS Eagle had the springs to one of her anchor cables shot away, and was unable to bear to reply to HMS Linnet's raking fire. Eagle's commander cut the remaining anchor cable and drifted down towards the tail of the line, before anchoring again astern of the USS Saratoga and engaging HMS Confiance, but allowing Linnet to rake Saratoga. Both flagships had fought each other to a standstill. After Downie and several of the other officers had been killed or injured, Confiance's fire had become steadily less effective, but aboard USS Saratoga, almost all the starboard-side guns were dismounted or put out of action.
Macdonough ordered the bow anchor cut, and hauled in the kedge anchors he had laid out earlier to spin Saratoga around. This allowed Saratoga to bring its undamaged port battery into action. Confiance was unable to return the fire. The frigate's surviving Lieutenant tried to haul in on the springs to his only anchor to make a similar manoeuvre, but succeeded only in presenting the vulnerable stern to the American fire. Helpless, Confiance could only surrender. Macdonough hauled in further on his kedge anchors to bring his broadside to bear on HMS Linnet. Pring sent a boat to Confiance, to find that Downie was dead and the Confiance had struck its colours. The Linnet also could only surrender, after being battered almost into sinking. The British gunboats withdrew, unmolested.
The surviving British officers boarded Saratoga to offer their swords (of surrender) to Macdonough. When he saw the officers, Macdonough replied, "Gentlemen, return your swords to your scabbards, you are worthy of them". Commander Pring and the other surviving British officers later testified that Macdonough showed every consideration to the British wounded and prisoners. Many of the British dead, not including the officers, were buried in an unmarked mass grave on nearby Crab Island
, which was the site of the military hospital during the battle, where they remain today.
, opposing British Rear Admiral Sir Horatio Nelson, at the Battle of the Nile
in Aboukir Bay on 1 August 1798. A study of Nelson's battles was part of the professional knowledge expected of naval commanders. But Macdonough did all that Brueys did not. He expected to take advantage of the prevailing winds on Lake Champlain that constrained Downie's axis of approach. "Because nearly every circumstance that worked to Nelson's advantage proved disadvantageous to Downie, the Battle of Lake Champlain is sometimes called the False Nile" by the English. The British naval historian William Laird Clowes
regarded Macdonough's False Nile victory as "a most notable feat, one which, on the whole, surpassed that of any other captain of either navy in this war."
When a messenger arrived and notified Prévost that Downie's ship had been defeated on the lake he realised that without the navy to supply and support his further advance, any military advantage gained by storming Plattsburgh would have been worthless. Prévost considered he therefore had no option but to retreat, and called off the assault. Bugle calls ordering the retreat sounded out along the British lines.
Robinson's brigade had been misdirected by some British staff officers and missed the ford which was their objective. Once they had retraced their steps, Robinson's brigade, led by eight companies of light infantry
soon drove the defenders back, and the British had crossed the ford and were preparing to advance, when the orders arrived from Prévost to call off the attack. The light company of the British 76th Regiment of Foot
had been skirmishing in advance of the main body. When the bugle calls to retire were heard it was too late and they were surrounded and cut off by overwhelming numbers of American militia. Captain John Purchas, commanding the company, was killed in the act of waving a flag of truce (his white waistcoat). Three officers and 31 other ranks of the 76th were made prisoner. The 76th also suffered one dead and three wounded.
Major General Brisbane protested the order to retreat but complied. The British began their retreat to Canada after dark. Although the British soldiers were ordered to destroy ammunition and stores they could not easily remove, large quantities of these were left intact. There had been little or no desertion from the British army during the advance and the skirmishing along the Saranac, but during the retreat at least 234 soldiers deserted.
The British casualties during the land engagement from 6–11 September were 37 killed, 150 wounded and 57 missing. Macomb reported 37 killed, 62 wounded and 20 missing but these losses were for the regular U.S. Army troops only. Historian William James remarked that the "general return of loss among the militia and volunteers, no where appears". General Macomb wrote to his father that the American loss "in the land battle" was 115 killed and 130 wounded; a figure which suggests considerable casualties among the militia and volunteers.
Macdonough's victory had stopped the British offensive in its tracks. Also, Prévost had achieved what the U.S. government had been unable to do for the entire war up to that point: to bring the state of Vermont into the war.
The British had used their victories at the Battle of Bladensburg
and the Burning of Washington
to counter any U.S. demands during the peace negotiations up to this point. The Americans were able to use the repulse at Plattsburgh to demand exclusive rights to Lake Champlain and deny the British exclusive rights to the Great Lakes. The American victory at Plattsburgh and the British failure at the Siege of Baltimore
, which came a few days later, denied the British any advantage they could use to make demands for territorial gains in the Treaty of Ghent
.
The failure at Plattsburgh, with other complaints about his conduct of active operations, resulted in Sir George Prévost being relieved of command in Canada. When he returned to Britain his version of events was accepted at first. As was customary after the loss of a ship or a defeat, Captain Pring and the surviving officers and men of the squadron faced a court martial, which was held aboard HMS Gladiator
at Portsmouth, between 18 and 21 August 1815. The court commended Pring and honourably acquitted all of those charged. The dispatches of Sir James Yeo were published about the same time, and emphatically placed the blame for the defeat on Prévost for forcing the British squadron into action prematurely. Prévost in turn demanded a court martial to clear his name, but died in 1816 before it could be held.
Alexander Macomb was promoted to Major General
and became commanding general
of the United States Army
in 1828. Thomas Macdonough was promoted to Captain (and given the honorary rank of Commodore for his command of multiple ships in the battle) and is remembered as the "Hero of Lake Champlain". To honour the American commanders, Congress struck four Congressional Gold Medals, a record number for the time. These were awarded to Captain Thomas Macdonough, Captain Robert Henley, and Lieutenant Stephen Cassin of the U.S. Navy, and to Alexander Macomb (20 October 1814 3 Stat. 245–247). Macomb and his men were also formally given the thanks of Congress
.
War of 1812
The War of 1812 was a military conflict fought between the forces of the United States of America and those of the British Empire. The Americans declared war in 1812 for several reasons, including trade restrictions because of Britain's ongoing war with France, impressment of American merchant...
. A British
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland was the formal name of the United Kingdom during the period when what is now the Republic of Ireland formed a part of it....
army under Lieutenant General Sir George Prévost
George Prevost
Sir George Prévost, 1st Baronet was a British soldier and colonial administrator. Born in Hackensack, New Jersey, the eldest son of Swiss French Augustine Prévost, he joined the British Army as a youth and became a captain in 1784. Prévost served in the West Indies during the French Revolutionary...
and a naval squadron under Captain George Downie
George Downie
George Downie was a British Royal Navy officer during the War of 1812. He commanded the British squadron which attacked the American fleet anchored at Plattsburgh Bay in Lake Champlain during the Battle of Plattsburgh on September 11, 1814...
converged on the lakeside town of Plattsburgh, which was defended by American troops under Brigadier General Alexander Macomb and ships commanded by Master Commandant Thomas Macdonough
Thomas MacDonough
Thomas Macdonough was an early-19th-century American naval officer noted for his roles in the first Barbary War, and the War of 1812. He was the son of a revolutionary officer, Thomas Sr. who lived close to Middleton, Delaware. Being the sixth child born, he came from a large family of ten...
. Downie's squadron attacked shortly after dawn on 11 September 1814, but was defeated after a hard fight in which Downie was killed. Prévost then abandoned the attack by land against Macomb's defences and retreated to Canada, stating that even if Plattsburgh was captured, it could not be supplied without control of the lake.
The battle took place shortly before the signing of the Treaty of Ghent
Treaty of Ghent
The Treaty of Ghent , signed on 24 December 1814, in Ghent , was the peace treaty that ended the War of 1812 between the United States of America and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland...
which ended the war. The American victory denied the British negotiators at Ghent leverage to demand any territorial claims against the United States on the basis of Uti possidetis
Uti possidetis
Uti possidetis is a principle in international law that territory and other property remains with its possessor at the end of a conflict, unless otherwise provided for by treaty; if such a treaty doesn't include conditions regarding the possession of property and territory taken during the war,...
i.e. retaining territory they held at the end of hostilities.
British plans
In 1814, Napoleon INapoleon I
Napoleon Bonaparte was a French military and political leader during the latter stages of the French Revolution.As Napoleon I, he was Emperor of the French from 1804 to 1815...
had abdicated the throne of France. This provided Britain the opportunity to send 16,000 veteran troops to North America. The Secretary of State for War and the Colonies
Secretary of State for War and the Colonies
The Secretary of State for War and the Colonies was a British cabinet level position responsible for the army and the British colonies . The Department was created in 1801...
, the Earl of Bathurst
Henry Bathurst, 3rd Earl Bathurst
Henry Bathurst, 3rd Earl Bathurst KG PC was a British politician.-Background and education:Lord Bathurst was the elder son of Henry Bathurst, 2nd Earl Bathurst, by his wife Tryphena, daughter of Thomas Scawen...
, sent instructions to Lieutenant-General Sir George Prévost, the Commander-in-Chief in Canada and Governor General of the Canadas, authorising him to launch offensives into American territory, but cautioning him against advancing too far and thereby risking being cut off.
Bathurst suggested that Prévost should give first priority to attacking Sackett's Harbor
Sackets Harbor, New York
Sackets Harbor is a village in Jefferson County, New York, United States. The population was 1,386 at the 2000 census. The village was named after land developer and owner Augustus Sackett, who founded it in the early 19th century.The Village of Sackets Harbor is within the western part of the...
on Lake Ontario
Lake Ontario
Lake Ontario is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. It is bounded on the north and southwest by the Canadian province of Ontario, and on the south by the American state of New York. Ontario, Canada's most populous province, was named for the lake. In the Wyandot language, ontarío means...
, where the American fleet on the lake was based, and seizing control of Lake Champlain
Lake Champlain
Lake Champlain is a natural, freshwater lake in North America, located mainly within the borders of the United States but partially situated across the Canada—United States border in the Canadian province of Quebec.The New York portion of the Champlain Valley includes the eastern portions of...
as a secondary objective. Prévost lacked the means to transport the necessary troops and the supplies for them up the Saint Lawrence River
Saint Lawrence River
The Saint Lawrence is a large river flowing approximately from southwest to northeast in the middle latitudes of North America, connecting the Great Lakes with the Atlantic Ocean. It is the primary drainage conveyor of the Great Lakes Basin...
to attack Sackett's Harbor. Furthermore, the American ships controlled Lake Ontario, making an attack impossible until the British launched a warship(the first-rate
First-rate
First rate was the designation used by the Royal Navy for its largest ships of the line. While the size and establishment of guns and men changed over the 250 years that the rating system held sway, from the early years of the eighteenth century the first rates comprised those ships mounting 100...
ship of the line
Ship of the line
A ship of the line was a type of naval warship constructed from the 17th through the mid-19th century to take part in the naval tactic known as the line of battle, in which two columns of opposing warships would manoeuvre to bring the greatest weight of broadside guns to bear...
HMS St. Lawrence) on the lake, too late in the year for major operations.
Prévost therefore prepared to launch his major offensive to Lake Champlain, up the Richelieu River
Richelieu River
The Richelieu River is a river in Quebec, Canada. It flows from the north end of Lake Champlain about north, ending at the confluence with the St. Lawrence River at Sorel-Tracy, Quebec downstream and northeast of Montreal...
. (Since the Richelieu, also known as the Rich, was the only waterway connecting Lake Champlain to the ocean, trade on the lake naturally went through Canada.) Prévost's choice of route on reaching the lake was influenced by the attitude of the American state of Vermont
Vermont
Vermont is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state ranks 43rd in land area, , and 45th in total area. Its population according to the 2010 census, 630,337, is the second smallest in the country, larger only than Wyoming. It is the only New England...
, on the eastern side of the lake. The state had shown itself to be less than wholeheartedly behind the War and its inhabitants readily traded with the British, supplying them with all the cattle consumed by the British army, and even military stores such as masts and spars for British warships on Lake Champlain. To spare Vermont from becoming a seat of war, Prévost therefore determined to advance down the western, New York State, side of the lake. The main American position on this side was at Plattsburgh
Plattsburgh (city), New York
Plattsburgh is a city in and county seat of Clinton County, New York, United States. The population was 19,989 at the 2010 census. The population of the unincorporated areas within the Town of Plattsburgh was 11,870 as of the 2010 census; making the population for the immediate, urban Plattsburgh,...
.
Prévost organised most of his troops into a division numbering 11,000 under Major General Sir Francis de Rottenburg
Francis de Rottenburg
Major-General Francis de Rottenburg, baron de Rottenburg was raised in what is now Gdańsk in Poland to a Swiss family and became a British military officer and colonial administrator. He spent almost a decade in the French army which came to an end with the French Revolution...
, the Lieutenant Governor of Lower Canada
Lower Canada
The Province of Lower Canada was a British colony on the lower Saint Lawrence River and the shores of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence...
. The division consisted of: the 1st Brigade of Peninsular
Peninsular War
The Peninsular War was a war between France and the allied powers of Spain, the United Kingdom, and Portugal for control of the Iberian Peninsula during the Napoleonic Wars. The war began when French and Spanish armies crossed Spain and invaded Portugal in 1807. Then, in 1808, France turned on its...
veterans under Major General Frederick Philipse Robinson
Frederick Philipse Robinson
Sir Frederick Philipse Robinson, GCB was a Virginian soldier, born in the Highlands, near New York, in September, 1763, who fought for Britain during the American War of Independence....
, composed of the 3/27th
27th (Inniskilling) Regiment of Foot
The 27th Regiment of Foot was an Irish infantry regiment of the British Army, formed in 1689 and amalgamated into The Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers in 1881.- History :...
, 39th
39th (Dorsetshire) Regiment of Foot
The 39th Regiment of Foot was an infantry regiment of the British Army, formed in 1719 and amalgamated into The Dorsetshire Regiment in 1881.The regiment was raised by Colonel Richard Coote in Ireland in August 1702...
, 76th
76th Regiment of Foot
The 76th Regiment of Foot was originally raised as Lord Harcourt's Regiment on 17 November 1745 and disbanded in June 1746. Following the loss of Minorca to the French, it was raised again in November 1756 as the 61st Regiment, but renumbered to 76th, by General Order in 1758, and again disbanded...
and 88th
88th Regiment of Foot (Connaught Rangers)
The 88th Regiment of Foot was an Irish Regiment of the British Army, one of eight Irish regiments raised and garrisoned in Ireland. As part of the Cardwell-Childers reforms of the British army, the regiment amalgamated with the 94th Foot, to form the Connaught Rangers on 1 July 1881...
Regiments of Foot; the 2nd Brigade of troops already serving in Canada under Major General Thomas Brisbane
Thomas Brisbane
Major-General Sir Thomas Makdougall Brisbane, 1st Baronet GCH, GCB, FRS, FRSE was a British soldier, colonial Governor and astronomer.-Early life:...
and made up of the 2/8th
8th (The King's) Regiment of Foot
The 8th Regiment of Foot, also referred to diminutively as the 8th Foot and the King's, was an infantry regiment of the British Army, formed in 1685 and retitled the King's on 1 July 1881....
, 13th and 49th
Royal Berkshire Regiment
The Royal Berkshire Regiment was an infantry regiment of the line in the British Army, formed in 1881 by the amalgamation of the 49th Regiment of Foot and the 66th Regiment of Foot.The regiment was originally formed as The Princess Charlotte of Wales's , taking the...
Regiments of Foot, the Regiment de Meuron
Regiment de Meuron
The Regiment de Meuron was a regiment of infantry originally raised in Switzerland in 1781. The regiment was named for its commander, Colonel Charles-Daniel de Meuron, who was born in Neuchâtel in 1738....
, the Canadian Voltigeurs
Canadian Voltigeurs
The Canadian Voltigeurs were a light infantry unit, raised in Lower Canada in 1812, that fought in the War of 1812 between Britain and the United States.-Formation:...
and the Canadian Chasseurs; and the 3rd Brigade of troops from the Peninsula and various garrisons under Major General Manley Power
Manley Power
Lieutenant General Sir Manley Power, KCB, ComTE was a British military leader who fought in a number of campaigns for Britain and rose to the rank of Lieutenant General. He is chiefly remembered for leading a brigade of Portuguese troops under The Duke of Wellington in the Iberian Peninsular War...
, consisting of the 3rd, 5th
Royal Northumberland Fusiliers
The Royal Northumberland Fusiliers was an infantry regiment of the British Army. Originally raised in 1674, the regiment was amalgamated with three other fusilier regiments in 1968 to form the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers.-Origins:...
, 1/27th and 58th
Northamptonshire Regiment
The Northamptonshire Regiment was an infantry regiment of the British Army from 1881 to 1960. Its lineage is now continued by The Royal Anglian Regiment.-Formation:The regiment was formed as part of the reorganisation of the infantry by the Childers reforms...
Regiments of Foot). Each brigade was supported by a battery of five 6-pounder guns and one 5.5-inch howitzer of the Royal Artillery
Royal Artillery
The Royal Regiment of Artillery, commonly referred to as the Royal Artillery , is the artillery arm of the British Army. Despite its name, it comprises a number of regiments.-History:...
. A squadron of the 19th Light Dragoons
19th Light Dragoons
The 19th Light Dragoons was a cavalry regiment of the British Army created in 1781 for service in British India. The regiment served in India until 1806, and in North America during the War of 1812, and was disbanded in Britain in 1821.-Formation:...
was attached to the force.
There was some tension within the force between the brigade and regimental commanders who were veterans of the Peninsular War or of earlier fighting in Upper Canada, and Prévost and his staff. Prévost had not endeared himself by complaining about the standards of dress of the troops from the Peninsular Army, where the Duke of Wellington
Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington
Field Marshal Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, KG, GCB, GCH, PC, FRS , was an Irish-born British soldier and statesman, and one of the leading military and political figures of the 19th century...
had emphasised musketry and efficiency above turnout. Furthermore, neither Prévost, nor de Rottenburg, nor Prévost's Adjutant General (Major General Edward Baynes) had the extensive experience of battle gained by their brigade commanders. All three officers were known for their caution and hesitancy. Prévost's Quartermaster General, Major General Thomas Sydney Beckwith
Thomas Sydney Beckwith
Sir Thomas Sydney Beckwith, KCB was an officer of the British army who served as quartermaster general of the British forces in Canada during the War of 1812, and a commander-in-chief at Mumbai during the British Raj...
, was a veteran of the early part of the Peninsular campaign, but even he was to be criticised, mainly for failures in intelligence
Military intelligence
Military intelligence is a military discipline that exploits a number of information collection and analysis approaches to provide guidance and direction to commanders in support of their decisions....
.
American defences
On the American side of the frontier, Major General George Izard was the American commander along the Northeast frontier. In late August, Secretary of War John ArmstrongJohn Armstrong, Jr.
John Armstrong, Jr. was an American soldier and statesman who was a delegate to the Continental Congress, U.S. Senator from New York, and Secretary of War.-Early life and Revolutionary War:...
ordered Izard to take the majority of his force, about 4,000 troops, to reinforce Sackett's Harbor. Izard's force departed on 23 August, leaving Brigadier General Alexander Macomb in command at Plattsburgh with only 1,500 American regulars
Regular Army
The Regular Army of the United States was and is the successor to the Continental Army as the country's permanent, professional military establishment. Even in modern times the professional core of the United States Army continues to be called the Regular Army...
. Most of these troops were recruits, invalids or detachments of odds and ends. Macomb ordered General Benjamin Mooers
Benjamin Mooers
General Benjamin Mooers was born in Haverhill, Massachusetts. He was a lieutenant in the New York militia and the 2nd Canadian Regiment during the American Revolutionary War....
to call out the New York militia
Militia
The term militia is commonly used today to refer to a military force composed of ordinary citizens to provide defense, emergency law enforcement, or paramilitary service, in times of emergency without being paid a regular salary or committed to a fixed term of service. It is a polyseme with...
and appealed to the governor of Vermont for militia volunteers. Up to 2,000 militia eventually reported to Plattsburgh. However, the militia units were mostly untrained, and hundreds of them were unfit for duty. Macomb put the militiamen to use digging trenches and building fortifications.
Macomb's main position was a ridge on the south bank of the Saranac River
Saranac River
Saranac River is an river in the U.S. state of New York. In its upper reaches is a region of mostly flat water and lakes. The river has more than three dozen source lakes and ponds north of Upper Saranac Lake; the highest is Mountain Pond on Long Pond Mountain...
. Its fortifications had been laid out by Major Joseph Gilbert Totten
Joseph Gilbert Totten
Joseph Gilbert Totten fought in the War of 1812, served as Chief Engineer and was regent of the Smithsonian Institution and cofounder of the National Academy of Sciences.-Early life and education:...
, Izard's senior Engineer officer, and consisted of three redoubt
Redoubt
A redoubt is a fort or fort system usually consisting of an enclosed defensive emplacement outside a larger fort, usually relying on earthworks, though others are constructed of stone or brick. It is meant to protect soldiers outside the main defensive line and can be a permanent structure or a...
s and two blockhouse
Blockhouse
In military science, a blockhouse is a small, isolated fort in the form of a single building. It serves as a defensive strong point against any enemy that does not possess siege equipment or, in modern times, artillery...
s, linked by other fieldworks. The position was reckoned to be well enough supplied and fortified to withstand a siege for three weeks, even if the American ships on the lake were defeated and Plattsburgh was cut off. After Izard's division departed, Macomb continued to improve his defences. He even created an invalid battery on Crab Island, where his hospital was sited, that was to be manned by sick or wounded soldiers who were at least fit to fire the cannon. The townspeople of Plattsburgh had so little faith in Macomb's efforts to repulse the invasion that by September nearly all 3,000 inhabitants had fled the city. Plattsburgh was left occupied only by the American army.
Naval Background
The British had gained naval superiority on Lake Champlain on 1 June 1813, when two American sloopSloop
A sloop is a sail boat with a fore-and-aft rig and a single mast farther forward than the mast of a cutter....
s pursued British gunboat
Gunboat
A gunboat is a naval watercraft designed for the express purpose of carrying one or more guns to bombard coastal targets, as opposed to those military craft designed for naval warfare, or for ferrying troops or supplies.-History:...
s into the Richelieu River, and were forced to surrender when the wind dropped and they were trapped by British artillery on the banks of the river. They were taken into the British naval establishment at Ile aux Noix
Ile aux Noix
Île aux Noix is an island on the Richelieu River in Quebec, close to Lake Champlain. The island is the site of Fort Lennox National Historic Site. Politically, it is part of Saint-Paul-de-l'Île-aux-Noix.-Background:...
, under Commander Daniel Pring
Daniel Pring
Daniel Pring was an officer in the British Royal Navy. He is best known for the part he played in the War of 1812 between Britain and the United States.He was born near Honiton in Devon...
. Their crews, and those of several gunboats, were temporarily reinforced by seamen drafted from ships of war lying at Quebec
Quebec City
Quebec , also Québec, Quebec City or Québec City is the capital of the Canadian province of Quebec and is located within the Capitale-Nationale region. It is the second most populous city in Quebec after Montreal, which is about to the southwest...
under Commander Thomas Everard who, being senior to Pring, took temporary command. They embarked 946 troops under Lieutenant Colonel John Murray of the 100th Regiment of Foot
100th Regiment of Foot (Prince Regent's County of Dublin Regiment)
The 100th Regiment of Foot was raised in Ireland in 1804 for service in the Napoleonic Wars. After a few weeks, Lieutenant Colonel John Murray was appointed to command; he was to remain in this post for most of the regiment's active service.The 100th were transferred to Nova Scotia in 1805, with...
, and raided several settlements on both the New York and Vermont shores of Lake Champlain during the summer and autumn of 1813. The losses they inflicted and the restriction they imposed on the movement of men and supplies to Plattsburgh contributed to the defeat of Major General Wade Hampton's
Wade Hampton I
Wade Hampton was a South Carolina soldier, politician, two-term U.S. Congressman, and wealthy plantation owner. He was the scion of the politically important Hampton family, which was influential in state politics almost into the 20th century...
advance against Montreal, which finally ended with the Battle of the Chateauguay.
Lieutenant Thomas Macdonough, commanding the American naval forces on the Lake, established a secure base at Otter Creek (Vermont), and constructed several gunboats. He had to compete with Commodore Isaac Chauncey
Isaac Chauncey
Isaac Chauncey was an officer in the United States Navy.-Biography:Chauncey, born in Black Rock, Connecticut, 20 February 1779, was appointed a Lieutenant in the Navy from 17 September 1798...
, commanding on Lake Ontario
Lake Ontario
Lake Ontario is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. It is bounded on the north and southwest by the Canadian province of Ontario, and on the south by the American state of New York. Ontario, Canada's most populous province, was named for the lake. In the Wyandot language, ontarío means...
, for seamen, shipwrights and supplies, and was not able to begin constructing larger fighting vessels until his second-in-command went to Washington
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
to argue his case to the Secretary of the Navy
United States Secretary of the Navy
The Secretary of the Navy of the United States of America is the head of the Department of the Navy, a component organization of the Department of Defense...
, William Jones
William Jones (statesman)
William Jones was an American politician.Jones was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1760. Apprenticed in a shipyard, during the American War of Independence he saw combat in the battles of Trenton and Princeton and later served at sea. In the decades that followed the war, he was a successful...
. Naval architect Noah Brown was sent to Otter Creek to superintend construction. In April 1814, the Americans launched the corvette USS Saratoga
USS Saratoga (1814)
The second USS Saratoga, named for the Battles of Saratoga, was a corvette built on Lake Champlain for service in the War of 1812.-Service history:...
of 26 guns and the schooner
Schooner
A schooner is a type of sailing vessel characterized by the use of fore-and-aft sails on two or more masts with the forward mast being no taller than the rear masts....
USS Ticonderoga
USS Ticonderoga (1814)
The first USS Ticonderoga was a schooner in the United States Navy. Ticonderoga was built as a steamer in 1814 at Vergennes, Vermont. She was purchased by the Navy at Lake Champlain, converted to schooner rigging, and relaunched on 12 May 1814....
of 14 guns (originally a part-completed steam vessel). Together with the existing sloop-rigged USS Preble
USS Preble (1813)
USS Preble , sometimes called Commodore Preble, was the first ship of the United States Navy named for Commodore Edward Preble. A sloop purchased on Lake Champlain in 1813, she was commissioned 6 August 1813, Lt. Charles Budd in command...
of 7 guns, they gave the Americans naval superiority, and this allowed them to establish and supply a substantial base at Plattsburgh. Only a few days before the Battle of Plattsburgh, the Americans also completed the 20-gun brig
Brig
A brig is a sailing vessel with two square-rigged masts. During the Age of Sail, brigs were seen as fast and manoeuvrable and were used as both naval warships and merchant vessels. They were especially popular in the 18th and early 19th centuries...
USS Eagle
USS Eagle (1814)
The third USS Eagle, a brig, was launched 11 August 1814 as Surprise at Vergennes, Vermont, by Adam and Noah Brown. She was renamed Eagle 6 September and placed under the command of Lieutenant R. Henley....
.
The loss of their former supremacy on Lake Champlain prompted the British to construct the 36-gun frigate
Frigate
A frigate is any of several types of warship, the term having been used for ships of various sizes and roles over the last few centuries.In the 17th century, the term was used for any warship built for speed and maneuverability, the description often used being "frigate-built"...
at Ile aux Noix. Captain George Downie
George Downie
George Downie was a British Royal Navy officer during the War of 1812. He commanded the British squadron which attacked the American fleet anchored at Plattsburgh Bay in Lake Champlain during the Battle of Plattsburgh on September 11, 1814...
was appointed to command soon after the frigate was launched on 25 August, replacing Captain Peter Fisher, who in turn had superseded Pring. Like Macdonough, Downie had difficulty obtaining men and materials from the senior officer on Lake Ontario (Commodore James Lucas Yeo
James Lucas Yeo
Sir James Lucas Yeo KCB was a British naval commander who served in the War of 1812.Yeo was born in Southampton on 7 October 1782, and joined the Royal Navy as a midshipman at the age of 10. He first saw action as a lieutenant aboard a brig in the Adriatic Sea, and distinguished himself during the...
) and Macdonough had intercepted several spars which had been sold to Britain by unpatriotic Vermonters. (By tradition, Midshipman Joel Abbot
Joel Abbot
Joel Abbot was a U.S. naval officer who served notably in the War of 1812, and commanded a squadron during Commodore Perry's 1852 visit to Japan.-Biography:...
destroyed several of these in a daring commando-type raid.) Downie could promise to complete Confiance only on 15 September, and even then the frigate's crew would not have been exercised.
Prévost was anxious to begin his campaign as early as possible, to avoid the bad weather of late autumn and winter, and continually pressed Downie to prepare Confiance for battle more quickly.
Invasion
On 31 August, Prévost began marching south. Macomb sent forward 450 regulars under Captain Sproul and Major John E. WoolJohn E. Wool
John Ellis Wool was an officer in the United States Army during three consecutive U.S. wars: the War of 1812, the Mexican-American War and the American Civil War. By the time of the Mexican-American War, he was widely considered one of the most capable officers in the army and a superb organizer...
, 110 riflemen under Major Daniel Appling
Daniel Appling
Daniel Appling was an officer in the United States Army during the War of 1812.Appling was born in Columbia County, Georgia, to John and Rebecca Appling. In 1805, at the age of 18, he enlisted in the United States Army with a lieutenancy under General Thomas A. Smith, of Franklin, Missouri...
, 700 New York militia under Major General Benjamin Mooers
Benjamin Mooers
General Benjamin Mooers was born in Haverhill, Massachusetts. He was a lieutenant in the New York militia and the 2nd Canadian Regiment during the American Revolutionary War....
and two 6-pounder guns under Captain Leonard to fight a delaying action. At Chazy, New York
Chazy, New York
Chazy is a town in northeastern Clinton County, New York, in the United States. The population was 4,284 at the 2010 census. The closest city is Plattsburgh, to the south. Chazy is from Canada. The zip code is 12921 and it is in area code 518.- History:...
, they first made contact with the British. Slowly falling back, the Americans set up road blocks, burned bridges and mislabelled streets to slow down the British. The British nevertheless advanced steadily, not even deploying out of column of march or returning fire, except by flank guards. When Prévost reached Plattsburgh on 6 September, the American rearguards retired across the Saranac, tearing up the planks from the bridges. Prévost did not immediately attack. On 7 September, he ordered Major General Robinson to cross the Saranac, but to Robinson's annoyance, Prévost had no intelligence on the American defences or even the local geography. Some tentative attacks across the bridges were repulsed by Wool's regulars.
Prévost abandoned his efforts to cross the river for the time being and instead began constructing batteries
Artillery battery
In military organizations, an artillery battery is a unit of guns, mortars, rockets or missiles so grouped in order to facilitate better battlefield communication and command and control, as well as to provide dispersion for its constituent gunnery crews and their systems...
. The Americans responded by using cannon balls heated red-hot to set fire to sixteen buildings in Plattsburgh which the British were using as cover, forcing the British to withdraw farther away. On 9 September, a night raid across the Saranac River by 50 Americans led by Captain George McGlassin destroyed a British Congreve rocket
Congreve rocket
The Congreve Rocket was a British military weapon designed and developed by Sir William Congreve in 1804.The rocket was developed by the British Royal Arsenal following the experiences of the Second, Third and Fourth Mysore Wars. The wars fought between the British East India Company and the...
battery only 500 yards (457.2 m) from Fort Brown, one of the three main American fortifications.
While skirmishing and artillery fire continued, the British located a ford (Pike's Ford) across the Saranac 3 miles (4.8 km) above Macomb's defences. Prévost planned that, once Downie's ships arrived, they would attack the American ships in Plattsburgh Bay. Simultaneously, Major General Brisbane would make a feint attack across the bridges while Major General Robinson's brigade would cross the ford to make the main attack against the American left flank, supported by Major General Power's brigade. Once the American ships had been defeated, Brisbane would make his feint attack into a real one.
Prelude
Macdonough had sent some of his gunboats to harass Prévost's advance, but he knew that his fleet was outgunned, particularly in long guns. He therefore withdrew into Plattsburgh Bay, where the British would be forced to engage at close range, at which the American and British squadrons would be roughly even in numbers and weight of short-range carronadeCarronade
The carronade was a short smoothbore, cast iron cannon, developed for the Royal Navy by the Carron Company, an ironworks in Falkirk, Scotland, UK. It was used from the 1770s to the 1850s. Its main function was to serve as a powerful, short-range anti-ship and anti-crew weapon...
s. He used the time before Downie arrived to drill his sailors, and make preparations to fight at anchor. The ships were anchored in line from north to south in the order Eagle, Saratoga, Ticonderoga and Preble. They all had both bow and stern anchors, with "springs" attached to the anchor cables to allow the ships to be slewed through a wide arc. Macdonough also laid out extra kedge anchors from the quarters of his flagship Saratoga, which would allow him to spin the ship completely around. The ten American gunboats were anchored in the intervals between the larger vessels.
Although the British sloops and gunboats under Commander Pring were already on the Lake and at anchor near Chazy, and had set up a battery on Isle La Motte, Vermont
Isle La Motte, Vermont
-Notable events:Around 480 Million Years ago when the Chazy Formation was flourishing, Strematoporoid colonies were among the most common builders of the reef.In 1609, Samuel de Champlain debarked on Isle La Motte July 9....
, it took two days to tow the frigate Confiance up the Sorel River from Ile aux Noix, against both wind and current. Downie finally joined the squadron on 9 September. Carpenters and riggers were still at work on the frigate, and the incomplete crew was augmented by a company of the 39th Foot. To Prévost's fury, Downie was unable to attack on 10 September because the wind was unfavourable. During the night the wind shifted to the north-east, making an attack feasible. The British squadron sailed in the early hours of 11 September, and announced their presence to Prévost's army by "scaling" the guns i.e. firing them without shot to clear scale or rust from the barrels. Shortly after dawn, Downie reconnoitred the American dispositions from a rowing boat, before ordering the British squadron to attack. Addressing his crew, he told them that the British Army would storm Plattsburgh as soon as the ships engaged, "and mind don't let us be behind".
Battle
At about 9 am, the British squadron rounded Cumberland Head close-hauled in line abreast, with the large ships to the north initially in the order ChubbUSS Growler (1812-2)
The second USS Growler , was a 112-ton sloop, armed with ten 18-pounders and one six-pounder, during the War of 1812. Growler was purchased on Lake Champlain in 1812. The British captured her in 1813 and renamed her HMS Chub or Chubb. The Americans recaptured her at the Battle of Lake Champlain...
, Linnet, Confiance and Finch
USS Eagle (1812)
The second USS Eagle, a sloop, was a merchant ship purchased at Vergennes, Vermont on Lake Champlain in 1812 and fitted for naval service. The British captured her in 1813 and renamed her HMS Finch, only to lose her to the Americans at the Battle of Lake Champlain in 1814...
, and the gunboats to the south. It was a fine autumn day, but the wind was light and variable, and Downie was unable to manoeuvre Confiance to the place he intended, across the head of Macdonough's line. As Confiance suffered increasing damage from the American ships, he was forced to drop anchor between 300 and 500 yards from Macdonough's flagship, the Saratoga. He then proceeded deliberately, securing everything before firing a broadside which killed or wounded one fifth of Saratoga's crew. Macdonough was stunned but quickly recovered; and a few minutes later, Downie was killed.
After about an hour, the USS Eagle had the springs to one of her anchor cables shot away, and was unable to bear to reply to HMS Linnet's raking fire. Eagle's commander cut the remaining anchor cable and drifted down towards the tail of the line, before anchoring again astern of the USS Saratoga and engaging HMS Confiance, but allowing Linnet to rake Saratoga. Both flagships had fought each other to a standstill. After Downie and several of the other officers had been killed or injured, Confiance's fire had become steadily less effective, but aboard USS Saratoga, almost all the starboard-side guns were dismounted or put out of action.
Macdonough ordered the bow anchor cut, and hauled in the kedge anchors he had laid out earlier to spin Saratoga around. This allowed Saratoga to bring its undamaged port battery into action. Confiance was unable to return the fire. The frigate's surviving Lieutenant tried to haul in on the springs to his only anchor to make a similar manoeuvre, but succeeded only in presenting the vulnerable stern to the American fire. Helpless, Confiance could only surrender. Macdonough hauled in further on his kedge anchors to bring his broadside to bear on HMS Linnet. Pring sent a boat to Confiance, to find that Downie was dead and the Confiance had struck its colours. The Linnet also could only surrender, after being battered almost into sinking. The British gunboats withdrew, unmolested.
The surviving British officers boarded Saratoga to offer their swords (of surrender) to Macdonough. When he saw the officers, Macdonough replied, "Gentlemen, return your swords to your scabbards, you are worthy of them". Commander Pring and the other surviving British officers later testified that Macdonough showed every consideration to the British wounded and prisoners. Many of the British dead, not including the officers, were buried in an unmarked mass grave on nearby Crab Island
Crab Island (Lake Champlain)
Crab Island is a roughly limestone island situated just outside Plattsburgh Bay in the town of Plattsburgh in Clinton County in upstate New York's Lake Champlain. During the War of 1812, the island was utilized as a military field hospital for convalescent soldiers as well as both British and...
, which was the site of the military hospital during the battle, where they remain today.
The False Nile
Both commanders would have seen the parallels of Macdonough's anchorage on Lake Champlain to that of the French under Vice Admiral Francois-Paul BrueysFrançois-Paul Brueys d'Aigalliers
Vice-Admiral François-Paul Brueys d'Aigalliers, Comte de Brueys was the French commander in the Battle of the Nile, in which the French Revolutionary Navy was defeated by Royal Navy forces under Admiral Horatio Nelson. The British victory helped to ensure their naval supremacy throughout the...
, opposing British Rear Admiral Sir Horatio Nelson, at the Battle of the Nile
Battle of the Nile
The Battle of the Nile was a major naval battle fought between British and French fleets at Aboukir Bay on the Mediterranean coast of Egypt from 1–3 August 1798...
in Aboukir Bay on 1 August 1798. A study of Nelson's battles was part of the professional knowledge expected of naval commanders. But Macdonough did all that Brueys did not. He expected to take advantage of the prevailing winds on Lake Champlain that constrained Downie's axis of approach. "Because nearly every circumstance that worked to Nelson's advantage proved disadvantageous to Downie, the Battle of Lake Champlain is sometimes called the False Nile" by the English. The British naval historian William Laird Clowes
William Laird Clowes
Sir William Laird Clowes was a British journalist and historian whose principal work was The Royal Navy, A History from the Earliest Times to 1900, a text that is still in print. He also wrote numerous technical pieces on naval technology and strategy and was also noted for his articles concerning...
regarded Macdonough's False Nile victory as "a most notable feat, one which, on the whole, surpassed that of any other captain of either navy in this war."
Land battle
Although Prévost's attack was supposed to coincide with the naval engagement, it was slow to get under way. Orders to move were apparently not issued until 10 a.m, when the battle on the lake had been under way for over an hour. The American and British batteries settled down to a duel in which the Americans gained a slight advantage, while Brisbane's feint attack at the bridges was easily repulsed.When a messenger arrived and notified Prévost that Downie's ship had been defeated on the lake he realised that without the navy to supply and support his further advance, any military advantage gained by storming Plattsburgh would have been worthless. Prévost considered he therefore had no option but to retreat, and called off the assault. Bugle calls ordering the retreat sounded out along the British lines.
Robinson's brigade had been misdirected by some British staff officers and missed the ford which was their objective. Once they had retraced their steps, Robinson's brigade, led by eight companies of light infantry
Light infantry
Traditionally light infantry were soldiers whose job was to provide a skirmishing screen ahead of the main body of infantry, harassing and delaying the enemy advance. Light infantry was distinct from medium, heavy or line infantry. Heavy infantry were dedicated primarily to fighting in tight...
soon drove the defenders back, and the British had crossed the ford and were preparing to advance, when the orders arrived from Prévost to call off the attack. The light company of the British 76th Regiment of Foot
76th Regiment of Foot
The 76th Regiment of Foot was originally raised as Lord Harcourt's Regiment on 17 November 1745 and disbanded in June 1746. Following the loss of Minorca to the French, it was raised again in November 1756 as the 61st Regiment, but renumbered to 76th, by General Order in 1758, and again disbanded...
had been skirmishing in advance of the main body. When the bugle calls to retire were heard it was too late and they were surrounded and cut off by overwhelming numbers of American militia. Captain John Purchas, commanding the company, was killed in the act of waving a flag of truce (his white waistcoat). Three officers and 31 other ranks of the 76th were made prisoner. The 76th also suffered one dead and three wounded.
Major General Brisbane protested the order to retreat but complied. The British began their retreat to Canada after dark. Although the British soldiers were ordered to destroy ammunition and stores they could not easily remove, large quantities of these were left intact. There had been little or no desertion from the British army during the advance and the skirmishing along the Saranac, but during the retreat at least 234 soldiers deserted.
The British casualties during the land engagement from 6–11 September were 37 killed, 150 wounded and 57 missing. Macomb reported 37 killed, 62 wounded and 20 missing but these losses were for the regular U.S. Army troops only. Historian William James remarked that the "general return of loss among the militia and volunteers, no where appears". General Macomb wrote to his father that the American loss "in the land battle" was 115 killed and 130 wounded; a figure which suggests considerable casualties among the militia and volunteers.
Results
The British had used their victories at the Battle of Bladensburg
Battle of Bladensburg
The Battle of Bladensburg took place during the War of 1812. The defeat of the American forces there allowed the British to capture and burn the public buildings of Washington, D.C...
and the Burning of Washington
Burning of Washington
The Burning of Washington was an armed conflict during the War of 1812 between the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and the United States of America. On August 24, 1814, led by General Robert Ross, a British force occupied Washington, D.C. and set fire to many public buildings following...
to counter any U.S. demands during the peace negotiations up to this point. The Americans were able to use the repulse at Plattsburgh to demand exclusive rights to Lake Champlain and deny the British exclusive rights to the Great Lakes. The American victory at Plattsburgh and the British failure at the Siege of Baltimore
Battle of Baltimore
The Battle of Baltimore was a combined sea/land battle fought between British and American forces in the War of 1812. It was one of the turning points of the war as American forces repulsed sea and land invasions of the busy port city of Baltimore, Maryland, and killed the commander of the invading...
, which came a few days later, denied the British any advantage they could use to make demands for territorial gains in the Treaty of Ghent
Treaty of Ghent
The Treaty of Ghent , signed on 24 December 1814, in Ghent , was the peace treaty that ended the War of 1812 between the United States of America and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland...
.
The failure at Plattsburgh, with other complaints about his conduct of active operations, resulted in Sir George Prévost being relieved of command in Canada. When he returned to Britain his version of events was accepted at first. As was customary after the loss of a ship or a defeat, Captain Pring and the surviving officers and men of the squadron faced a court martial, which was held aboard HMS Gladiator
HMS Gladiator (1783)
HMS Gladiator was a 44-gun fifth-rate Roebuck-class ship of the Royal Navy. She was launched on 20 January 1783 by Henry Adams of Bucklers Hard. She spent her entire career on harbour service, never putting to sea. Even so, her crew earned prize money for the seizure of two Russian and five...
at Portsmouth, between 18 and 21 August 1815. The court commended Pring and honourably acquitted all of those charged. The dispatches of Sir James Yeo were published about the same time, and emphatically placed the blame for the defeat on Prévost for forcing the British squadron into action prematurely. Prévost in turn demanded a court martial to clear his name, but died in 1816 before it could be held.
Alexander Macomb was promoted to Major General
Major General
Major general or major-general is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. A major general is a high-ranking officer, normally subordinate to the rank of lieutenant general and senior to the ranks of brigadier and brigadier general...
and became commanding general
Commanding General of the United States Army
Prior to the institution of the Chief of Staff of the United States Army in 1903, there was generally a single senior-most officer in the army. From 1783, he was known simply as the Senior Officer of the United States Army, but in 1821, the title was changed to Commanding General of the United...
of the United States Army
United States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
in 1828. Thomas Macdonough was promoted to Captain (and given the honorary rank of Commodore for his command of multiple ships in the battle) and is remembered as the "Hero of Lake Champlain". To honour the American commanders, Congress struck four Congressional Gold Medals, a record number for the time. These were awarded to Captain Thomas Macdonough, Captain Robert Henley, and Lieutenant Stephen Cassin of the U.S. Navy, and to Alexander Macomb (20 October 1814 3 Stat. 245–247). Macomb and his men were also formally given the thanks of Congress
Thanks of Congress
The Thanks of Congress are a series of formal resolutions passed by the United States Congress originally to extend the government's formal thanks for significant victories or impressive actions by American military commanders and their troops. Although it began during the American Revolutionary...
.
Order of battle
Large vessels listed from north to south in order of sailing, or in which initially anchored| Navy | Name | Rig | Tonnage | Crew | Armament | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Eagle USS Eagle (1814) The third USS Eagle, a brig, was launched 11 August 1814 as Surprise at Vergennes, Vermont, by Adam and Noah Brown. She was renamed Eagle 6 September and placed under the command of Lieutenant R. Henley.... |
Brig | 500 tons | 150 | 8 × 18-pounder long guns 12 × 32-pounder carronades |
Commanded by Robert Henley | |
| do. | Saratoga USS Saratoga (1814) The second USS Saratoga, named for the Battles of Saratoga, was a corvette built on Lake Champlain for service in the War of 1812.-Service history:... |
Corvette / Frigate | 734 tons | 212 | 8 x 24-pounder long guns 6 x 42-pounder carronades 12 x 32-pounder carronades |
Flagship of Thomas Macdonough Thomas MacDonough Thomas Macdonough was an early-19th-century American naval officer noted for his roles in the first Barbary War, and the War of 1812. He was the son of a revolutionary officer, Thomas Sr. who lived close to Middleton, Delaware. Being the sixth child born, he came from a large family of ten... Classed as a frigate in some accounts |
| do. | Ticonderoga USS Ticonderoga (1814) The first USS Ticonderoga was a schooner in the United States Navy. Ticonderoga was built as a steamer in 1814 at Vergennes, Vermont. She was purchased by the Navy at Lake Champlain, converted to schooner rigging, and relaunched on 12 May 1814.... |
Schooner | 350 tons | 112 | 4 x 18-pounder long guns 8 x 12-pounder long guns 5 x 32-pounder carronades |
Commanded by Lieutenant Stephen Cassin Stephen Cassin Stephen Cassin was an officer in the United States Navy.Born in Philadelphia, the son of naval officer John Cassin, Cassin entered the United States Navy as a midshipman in 1800, and served in Philadelphia in the West Indies during the latter part of the Quasi-War with France... |
| do. | Preble USS Preble (1813) USS Preble , sometimes called Commodore Preble, was the first ship of the United States Navy named for Commodore Edward Preble. A sloop purchased on Lake Champlain in 1813, she was commissioned 6 August 1813, Lt. Charles Budd in command... |
Sloop | 80 tons | 30 | 7 x 9-pounder long guns | |
| do. | Six gunboats | Galley | 70 tons | average 40 | 1 × 24-pounder long gun 1 x 18-pounder carronade |
Named Borer, Centipede, Nettle, Allen, Viper and Burrows |
| do. | Four gunboats | Galley | 40 tons | average 26 | 1 × 12-pounder long gun | Named Wilmer, Ludlow, Aylwin and Ballard |
| Total | 14 warships | 882 | 779 lb shot from long guns |
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| Chubb USS Growler (1812-2) The second USS Growler , was a 112-ton sloop, armed with ten 18-pounders and one six-pounder, during the War of 1812. Growler was purchased on Lake Champlain in 1812. The British captured her in 1813 and renamed her HMS Chub or Chubb. The Americans recaptured her at the Battle of Lake Champlain... |
Sloop | 112 ton Ton The ton is a unit of measure. It has a long history and has acquired a number of meanings and uses over the years. It is used principally as a unit of weight, and as a unit of volume. It can also be used as a measure of energy, for truck classification, or as a colloquial term.It is derived from... s |
50 | 1 × 6-pounder long gun 10 x 18-pounder carronades |
captured | |
| do. | Linnet | Brig | 350 tons | 125 | 16 × 18-pounder long guns | Commanded by Commander Daniel Pring Daniel Pring Daniel Pring was an officer in the British Royal Navy. He is best known for the part he played in the War of 1812 between Britain and the United States.He was born near Honiton in Devon... ; captured |
| do. | Confiance | Fifth-rate Fifth-rate In Britain's Royal Navy during the classic age of fighting sail, a fifth rate was the penultimate class of warships in a hierarchal system of six "ratings" based on size and firepower.-Rating:... Frigate |
1200 tons | 325 | 1 × 24-pounder long gun (on pivot mount) 30 × 24-pounder long gun 6 x 32-pounder carronade |
Flagship of Captain George Downie George Downie George Downie was a British Royal Navy officer during the War of 1812. He commanded the British squadron which attacked the American fleet anchored at Plattsburgh Bay in Lake Champlain during the Battle of Plattsburgh on September 11, 1814... (killed); captured Fitted with a furnace for heating shot |
| do. | Finch USS Eagle (1812) The second USS Eagle, a sloop, was a merchant ship purchased at Vergennes, Vermont on Lake Champlain in 1812 and fitted for naval service. The British captured her in 1813 and renamed her HMS Finch, only to lose her to the Americans at the Battle of Lake Champlain in 1814... |
Sloop | 110 tons | 50 | 4 × 6-pounder long gun 7 × 18-pounder carronades |
captured |
| do. | Three gunboats | Galley | 70 tons | Average 41 | 1 × 24-pounder long gun 1 x 32-pounder carronade |
|
| do. | One gunboat | Galley | 70 tons | 41 | 1 × 18-pounder long gun 1 x 32-pounder carronade |
|
| do. | One gunboat | Galley | 70 tons | 41 | 1 × 18-pounder long gun 1 x 18-pounder carronade |
|
| do. | Three gunboats | Galley | 40 tons | Average 26 | 1 × 18-pounder long gun | |
| do. | Four gunboats | Galley | 40 tons | Average 26 | 1 × 32-pounder carronade | |
| Total | 16 warships | 2,402 tons | 937 | 1,224 lb shot from long guns 922 lb shot from carronades |
Memorials
Three US naval ships have been named for this battle:- USS Lake Champlain (1917), a cargo ship during WWII. Later sold
- USS Lake Champlain (CV-39)USS Lake Champlain (CV-39)USS Lake Champlain was one of 24 s completed during or shortly after World War II for the United States Navy. She was the second US Navy ship to bear the name, and was named for the Battle of Lake Champlain in the War of 1812....
- USS Lake Champlain (CG-57)USS Lake Champlain (CG-57)USS Lake Champlain is a Ticonderoga class cruiser in the United States Navy. It is the third ship to be named Lake Champlain, in honor of Battle of Lake Champlain, which took place during the War of 1812.-Ship history:...
See also
- Ile aux NoixIle aux NoixÎle aux Noix is an island on the Richelieu River in Quebec, close to Lake Champlain. The island is the site of Fort Lennox National Historic Site. Politically, it is part of Saint-Paul-de-l'Île-aux-Noix.-Background:...
- War of 1812 Museum (Plattsburgh)War of 1812 Museum (Plattsburgh)The War of 1812 museum is a museum in Plattsburgh, New York dedicated to exploring the causes and effects of the War of 1812 and the Battle of Plattsburgh. The museum is run by the Battle of Plattsburgh Association....
- List of conflicts in the United States
External links
- An Overview of the Battle of Plattsburgh.
- Battle of Plattsburgh Association.
- Bibliography and sources on the Battle of Plattsburgh compiled by James P. Millard.
- "Defense of Plattsburgh" painting by Lee Hunt, 1992 (Interactive).
- Google maps, Battles of Lake Champlain and of Plattsburgh.
- Millard, James, America's Historic Lakes, links, documents, and sources.
- Transcript of Alexander Macomb letter on defense of Fort Moreau.
- Transcript of Alexander Macomb letter on British retreat from Plattsburg.