The Battle of Plattsburgh, also known as the Battle of Lake Champlain, ended the final
British
British may refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies.
** Britishness, the British identity and common culture
* British English, ...
invasion of the northern states of the United States during the
War of 1812
The War of 1812 (18 June 1812 – 17 February 1815) was fought by the United States, United States of America and its Indigenous peoples of the Americas, indigenous allies against the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom ...
. An army under Lieutenant General Sir
George Prévost
Sir George Prévost, 1st Baronet (19 May 1767 – 5 January 1816) was a British Army officer and colonial administrator who is most well known as the "Defender of Canada" during the War of 1812. Born in New Jersey, the eldest son of Genevan Augu ...
and a naval squadron under Captain
George Downie
George Downie (19 January 1778 – 11 September 1814) was a Scottish officer of the British Royal Navy. During the War of 1812, he commanded a British squadron that fought an American squadron on Lake Champlain in the Battle of Plattsburgh, durin ...
converged on the lakeside town of
Plattsburgh, New York. Plattsburgh was defended by New York and Vermont militia and detachments of regular troops of the
United States Army
The United States Army (USA) is the land warfare, land military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight Uniformed services of the United States, U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army o ...
, all under the command of Brigadier General
Alexander Macomb, and ships commanded by Master Commandant
Thomas Macdonough
Thomas Macdonough, Jr. (December 31, 1783 – November 10, 1825) was an early-19th-century Irish-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 Macdonou ...
.
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, any British troops there could not be supplied without control of the lake.
When the battle took place, American and British delegates were meeting at
Ghent
Ghent ( nl, Gent ; french: Gand ; traditional English: Gaunt) is a city and a municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of the East Flanders province, and the third largest in the country, exceeded i ...
in the
Kingdom of the Netherlands
, national_anthem = )
, image_map = Kingdom of the Netherlands (orthographic projection).svg
, map_width = 250px
, image_map2 = File:KonDerNed-10-10-10.png
, map_caption2 = Map of the four constituent countries shown to scale
, capital = ...
, attempting to negotiate a treaty acceptable to both sides to end the war. The American victory at Plattsburgh, and the successful defense at the
Battle of Baltimore
The Battle of Baltimore (September 12–15, 1814) was a sea/land battle fought between British invaders and American defenders in the War of 1812. American forces repulsed sea and land invasions off the busy port city of Baltimore, Maryland ...
, which began the next day and halted British advances in the Mid-Atlantic states, denied the British negotiators leverage to demand any territorial claims against the United States on the basis of ''
Uti possidetis
''Uti possidetis'' is an expression that originated in Roman private law, where it was the name of a procedure used in litigation about land. It came from a praetorial edict that could be abbreviated "As you possess, so shall you possess". La ...
'', i.e. retaining territory they held at the end of hostilities. The
Treaty of Ghent
The Treaty of Ghent () was the peace treaty that ended the War of 1812 between the United States and the United Kingdom. It took effect in February 1815. Both sides signed it on December 24, 1814, in the city of Ghent, United Netherlands (now in ...
, in which captured or occupied territories were restored on the basis of ''
status quo ante bellum'', i.e. the situation as it existed before the war, was signed three months after the battle.
Background
British plans
In 1814, most of Britain's army was engaged in the
Peninsular War
The Peninsular War (1807–1814) was the military conflict fought in the Iberian Peninsula by Spain, Portugal, and the United Kingdom against the invading and occupying forces of the First French Empire during the Napoleonic Wars. In Spain ...
in Iberia. Then in April,
Napoleon I
Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...
abdicated the throne of France. This provided Britain the opportunity to send 16,000 veteran troops from the Peninsula and other garrisons to North America. Several experienced Major-Generals were also detached from the
Duke of Wellington
Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, (1 May 1769 – 14 September 1852) was an Anglo-Irish people, Anglo-Irish soldier and Tories (British political party), Tory statesman who was one of the leading military and political figures of Uni ...
's army to command them.
The
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 (other than India).
The Secretary was supported by an Under-Secretary of State for War and the Colonies.
Hi ...
, the
Earl of Bathurst, sent instructions to Lieutenant-General Sir George Prévost, the Commander-in-Chief in Canada and Governor General of the Canadas, authorizing 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 (earlier spelled Sackett (surname), Sacketts Harbor) is a village in Jefferson County, New York, United States, on Lake Ontario. The population was 1,450 at the 2010 census. The village was named after land developer and owner Augu ...
on
Lake Ontario
Lake Ontario is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. It is bounded on the north, west, and southwest by the Canadian province of Ontario, and on the south and east by the U.S. state of New York. The Canada–United States border ...
, where the American fleet on the lake was based, and seize control of
Lake Champlain
Lake Champlain ( ; french: Lac Champlain) is a natural freshwater lake in North America. It mostly lies between the US states of New York and Vermont, but also extends north into the Canada, Canadian province of Quebec.
The New York portion of t ...
as a secondary objective. Prévost lacked the means to transport the troops necessary for an attack on Sackett's Harbor and the supplies for them up the
Saint Lawrence River
The St. Lawrence River (french: Fleuve Saint-Laurent, ) is a large river in the middle latitudes of North America. Its headwaters begin flowing from Lake Ontario in a (roughly) northeasterly direction, into the Gulf of St. Lawrence, connectin ...
. Furthermore, the American ships controlled Lake Ontario, making an attack impossible until the British launched the
first-rate
In the rating system of the British Royal Navy used to categorise sailing warships, a first rate was the designation for the largest ships of the line. Originating in the Jacobean era with the designation of Ships Royal capable of carrying ...
ship of the line HMS ''St. Lawrence'' on 15 October, too late in the year for major operations to be undertaken.
[Hitsman, p.250]
Prévost therefore prepared to launch his major offensive to Lake Champlain, up the
Richelieu River
The Richelieu River () is a river of Quebec, Canada, and a major right-bank tributary of the St. Lawrence River. It rises at Lake Champlain, from which it flows northward through Quebec and empties into the St. Lawrence. It was formerly kn ...
. (Since the Richelieu 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 () is a state in the northeast New England region of the United States. Vermont is bordered by the states of Massachusetts to the south, New Hampshire to the east, and New York to the west, and the Canadian province of Quebec to ...
, 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 the 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
New York, officially the State of New York, is a state in the Northeastern United States. It is often called New York State to distinguish it from its largest city, New York City. With a total area of , New York is the 27th-largest U.S. stat ...
, side of the lake.
[ The main American position on this side was at Plattsburgh.
Prévost organized the troops which were to carry out the invasion into a division commanded by Major General Sir ]Francis de Rottenburg
Major-General Sir Francis de Rottenburg, baron de Rottenburg (4 November 1757 – 24 April 1832) was a military officer and colonial administrator who served in the armies of the Kingdom of France and later the United Kingdom.
Early life and se ...
, the Lieutenant Governor of Lower Canada
The Province of Lower Canada (french: province du Bas-Canada) was a British colony on the lower Saint Lawrence River and the shores of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence (1791–1841). It covered the southern portion of the current Province of Quebec an ...
. The division consisted of the 1st Brigade of veterans of the Peninsular War
The Peninsular War (1807–1814) was the military conflict fought in the Iberian Peninsula by Spain, Portugal, and the United Kingdom against the invading and occupying forces of the First French Empire during the Napoleonic Wars. In Spain ...
under Major General Frederick Philipse Robinson
Sir Frederick Philipse Robinson, GCB (September 1763 – 1 January 1852) was a soldier who fought for Britain during the American War of Independence. His father, Colonel Beverley Robinson, was a Virginian who moved to New York, marrying a wea ...
(the 3/27th
27 (twenty-seven; Roman numeral XXVII) is the natural number following 26 and preceding 28.
In mathematics
* Twenty-seven is a cube of 3: 3^3=3\times 3\times 3. 27 is also 23 (see tetration). There are exactly 27 straight lines on a smooth ...
, 39th, 76th and 88th Regiments of Foot); the 2nd Brigade of troops already serving in Canada under Major General Thomas Brisbane
Major General Sir Thomas Makdougall Brisbane, 1st Baronet, (23 July 1773 – 27 January 1860), was a British Army officer, administrator, and astronomer. Upon the recommendation of the Duke of Wellington, with whom he had served, he was appoint ...
(the 2/8th
8 (eight) is the natural number following 7 and preceding 9.
In mathematics
8 is:
* a composite number, its proper divisors being , , and . It is twice 4 or four times 2.
* a power of two, being 2 (two cubed), and is the first number of t ...
, 13th
In music or music theory, a thirteenth is the note thirteen scale degrees from the root of a chord and also the interval between the root and the thirteenth. The interval can be also described as a compound sixth, spanning an octave pl ...
, and 49th Regiments of Foot, the Regiment de Meuron
The Regiment de Meuron was a regiment of infantry originally raised in Switzerland in 1781 for service with the Dutch East India Company (VOC). At the time the French, Spanish, Dutch and other armies employed units of Swiss mercenaries. The regime ...
, the Canadian Voltigeurs
The Canadian Voltigeurs were a light infantry unit, raised in Lower Canada (the present-day Province of Quebec) in 1812, that fought in the War of 1812 between Britain and the United States.
History Formation
As war with the United States threate ...
, and the Canadian Chasseurs); and the 3rd Brigade of troops from the Peninsula and various garrisons under Major General Manley Power
Lieutenant-General Sir Manley Power, KCB, ComTE (1773 – 7 July 1826) 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 o ...
(the 3rd, 5th
Fifth is the ordinal form of the number five.
Fifth or The Fifth may refer to:
* Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution, as in the expression "pleading the Fifth"
* Fifth column, a political term
* Fifth disease, a contagious rash tha ...
, 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
The Royal Regiment of Artillery, commonly referred to as the Royal Artillery (RA) and colloquially known as "The Gunners", is one of two regiments that make up the artillery arm of the British Army. The Royal Regiment of Artillery comprises t ...
. A squadron of the 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.
History G ...
was attached to the force.[ There was also a small "siege train" of artillery, consisting of two 24-pounder brass field guns, an 8-inch brass howitzer, and three 24-pounder naval carronades mounted on field carriages, and a ]Congreve rocket
The Congreve rocket was a type of rocket artillery designed by British inventor Sir William Congreve in 1808.
The design was based upon the rockets deployed by the Kingdom of Mysore against the East India Company during the Second, Third, ...
detachment. The force numbered 11,000 in total. However, some units were detached and some sick men did not take part, so the actual number of troops present at Plattsburgh was just over 8,000.
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 emphasized 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, and had already gained a reputation for caution and hesitancy.[Hitsman, p.255] Prévost's Quartermaster General, Major General Thomas Sydney Beckwith
Lieutenant-General Sir Thomas Sydney Beckwith (17 February 177015 January 1831) was an English 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 of ...
, was a veteran of the early part of the Peninsular campaign and of operations in Chesapeake Bay
The Chesapeake Bay ( ) is the largest estuary in the United States. The Bay is located in the Mid-Atlantic region and is primarily separated from the Atlantic Ocean by the Delmarva Peninsula (including the parts: the Eastern Shore of Maryland / ...
in 1813, but even he was to be criticized, mainly for failures in the intelligence
Intelligence has been defined in many ways: the capacity for abstraction, logic, understanding, self-awareness, learning, emotional knowledge, reasoning, planning, creativity, critical thinking, and problem-solving. More generally, it can be des ...
.[
]
American defenses
On the American side of the frontier, Major General George Izard
George Izard (October 21, 1776 – November 22, 1828) was a senior officer of the United States Army who served as the second governor of Arkansas Territory from 1825 to 1828. He was elected as a member to the American Philosophical Society in 18 ...
was the commander of the Northern Army, deployed along the Northeast frontier. In late August, Secretary of War John Armstrong 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.[Elting, p.256]
Macomb ordered General Benjamin Mooers
Benjamin Mooers (April 1, 1758 – February 20, 1838) was a military veteran of both the Revolutionary War and War of 1812, and a politician, serving in the New York State legislature. He also served as a sheriff of Clinton County, New York ...
to call out the New York militia
A militia () is generally an army or some other fighting organization of non-professional soldiers, citizens of a country, or subjects of a state, who may perform military service during a time of need, as opposed to a professional force of r ...
and appealed to the governor of Vermont for militia volunteers. 2,000 troops eventually reported to Plattsburgh under the command of Major General John Strong. Macomb put these recent volunteers to work digging trenches and building fortifications.
Macomb's main position was a ridge on the south bank of the Saranac River
Saranac River ( moh, Tsi ietsénhtha) 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 ...
. Its fortifications had been laid out by Major Joseph Gilbert Totten
Joseph Gilbert Totten (August 23, 1788 – April 22, 1864) fought in the War of 1812, served as Chief of Engineers and was regent of the Smithsonian Institution and cofounder of the National Academy of Sciences. In 1836, he was elected a member ...
, Izard's senior Engineer officer, and consisted of three redoubt
A redoubt (historically redout) is a fort or fort system usually consisting of an enclosed defensive emplacement outside a larger fort, usually relying on earthworks, although some are constructed of stone or brick. It is meant to protect soldi ...
s and two blockhouses, 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 sloops
A sloop is a sailboat with a single mast typically having only one headsail in front of the mast and one mainsail aft of (behind) the mast. Such an arrangement is called a fore-and-aft rig, and can be rigged as a Bermuda rig with triangular ...
pursued British 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 Pre-ste ...
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 may refer to:
* iLe, a Puerto Rican singer
* Ile District (disambiguation), multiple places
* Ilé-Ifẹ̀, an ancient Yoruba city in south-western Nigeria
* Interlingue (ISO 639:ile), a planned language
* Isoleucine, an amino acid
* Another ...
, under Commander Daniel Pring
Daniel Pring ( 1788 – 29 November 1846) 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. He entered the Navy in 18 ...
. Their crews, and those of several gunboats, were temporarily reinforced by seamen drafted from ships of war lying at Quebec
Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...
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
The Battle of the Chateauguay was an engagement of the War of 1812. On 26 October 1813, a combined United Kingdom, British and British North America, Canadian force consisting of 1,530 regulars, volunteers, militia and Mohawk people, Mohawk wa ...
.
Lieutenant Thomas Macdonough, commanding the American naval forces on the Lake, established a secure base at Otter Creek (Vermont)
Otter Creek is the longest river entirely contained within the borders of Vermont. Roughly long, it is the primary watercourse running through Rutland County and Addison County. The mouth of the river flows into Lake Champlain.
Settled by ind ...
, and constructed several gunboats. He had to compete with Commodore Isaac Chauncey
Isaac Chauncey (February 20, 1772 – January 27, 1840) was an American naval officer in the United States Navy who served in the Quasi-War, The Barbary Wars and the War of 1812. In the latter part of his naval career he was President of th ...
, commanding on Lake Ontario
Lake Ontario is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. It is bounded on the north, west, and southwest by the Canadian province of Ontario, and on the south and east by the U.S. state of New York. The Canada–United States border ...
, for seamen, shipwrights and supplies, and was not able to begin constructing larger fighting vessels until his second-in-command went to Washington
Washington commonly refers to:
* Washington (state), United States
* Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States
** A metonym for the federal government of the United States
** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...
to argue his case to the Secretary of the Navy
The secretary of the Navy (or SECNAV) is a statutory officer () and the head (chief executive officer) of the Department of the Navy, a military department (component organization) within the United States Department of Defense.
By law, the se ...
, William Jones.[Forester, p.186] Naval architect Noah Brown was sent to Otter Creek to superintend construction.
In April 1814, the Americans launched the corvette of 26 guns and the schooner of 14 guns (originally a part-completed steam vessel).[ Together with the existing sloop-rigged 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 .
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
George Downie (19 January 1778 – 11 September 1814) was a Scottish officer of the British Royal Navy. During the War of 1812, he commanded a British squadron that fought an American squadron on Lake Champlain in the Battle of Plattsburgh, durin ...
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
Sir James Lucas Yeo, , (; 7 October 1782 – 21 August 1818) was a British naval commander who served in the War of 1812. Born in Southampton, he joined the Royal Navy at the age of 10 and saw his first action in the Adriatic Sea. He distingu ...
) 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.
Invasion
On 31 August, Prévost began marching south. Macomb sent forward 450 regulars under Captain Sproul and Major John E. Wool, 110 riflemen under Major Daniel Appling
Daniel Appling (August 29, 1787 – March 5, 1817) was an officer in the United States Army during the first two decades of the nineteenth century. He was born and educated in Columbia County, Georgia. After joining the Army at age eighteen, he wa ...
, 700 New York militia under Major General Benjamin Mooers
Benjamin Mooers (April 1, 1758 – February 20, 1838) was a military veteran of both the Revolutionary War and War of 1812, and a politician, serving in the New York State legislature. He also served as a sheriff of Clinton County, New York ...
and two 6-pounder guns under Captain Leonard to fight a delaying action. At Chazy, New York
Chazy is a town in northeastern Clinton County, New York, United States. The population was 4,284 at the 2010 census. The closest city is Plattsburgh, to the south. Chazy is south of the Canada–United States border. The ZIP code is 12921 ...
, 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 cannonballs 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 from Fort Brown, one of the three main American fortifications. McGlassin and his fellow raiders also killed one British officer and six British troops while wounding several others. Once all of the British artillery equipment was destroyed, they withdrew safely, having suffered no casualties.][Elting, p.258]
While skirmishing and exchanges of artillery fire continued, the British located a ford (Pike's Ford) across the Saranac 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 over the Saranac while Major General Robinson's brigade (less two of its battalions but reinforced by the light infantry companies of several other battalions) 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.
Naval battle
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 carronades.][Elting, p.260] 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 is an island in Lake Champlain in northwestern Vermont, United States. At 7 mi (11 km) by 2 mi (3 km), it lies close to the place that the lake empties into the Richelieu River. It is incorporated as a New England town in Grand Isle ...
, 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 northeast, 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.[Hitsman, p.259] 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 ''Chubb'', ''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, ''Saratoga''. He then proceeded deliberately, securing everything before firing a broadside which killed or wounded one fifth of ''Saratoga''s crew.][Hitsman, p.260] Macdonough was stunned but quickly recovered; and a few minutes later Downie was killed, crushed by a cannon flung from its carriage by a shot from ''Saratoga''.
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 ''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, ''Preble'' to cut its anchors and drift out of the fight. ''Ticonderoga'' was able to fight them off, although it was engaged too heavily 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, ''Eagle'' had the springs to one of her anchor cables shot away, and was unable to bear to reply to ''Linnet''s raking fire. ''Eagle''s commander cut the remaining anchor cable and allowed the brig to drift down towards the tail of the line, before anchoring again astern of ''Saratoga'' and engaging ''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 ''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, James Robertson, 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 ''Linnet''. Pring sent a boat to ''Confiance'', to find that Downie was dead and ''Confiance'' had struck its colours. ''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, 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 Brueys, 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
Sir William Laird Clowes (1 February 1856 – 14 August 1905) 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 ...
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 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 realized 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 refers to certain types of lightly equipped infantry throughout history. They have a more mobile or fluid function than other types of infantry, such as heavy infantry or line infantry. Historically, light infantry often fought ...
[ 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
The 76th Regiment of Foot was a British Army regiment, raised in 1787. Under the Childers Reforms it amalgamated with the 33rd (Duke of Wellington's) Regiment to form the Duke of Wellington's Regiment in 1881.
History
Formation
The regiment ...
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 other man killed 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.[Hitsman, p.263] Very few of these desertions were from the Peninsular War veterans or the two Canadian units in Prévost's force; most were from the Regiment de Meuron, which was a mixed bag of several nationalities, the 2/ 8th Regiment, which was a second-rate unit decimated by sickness in the Walcheren Campaign
The Walcheren Campaign ( ) was an unsuccessful British expedition to the Netherlands in 1809 intended to open another front in the Austrian Empire's struggle with France during the War of the Fifth Coalition. Sir John Pitt, 2nd Earl of Chath ...
, and the 1/ 27th Foot, which had been stationed in Malta and had seen action in the abortive Siege of Tarragona.
The British casualties during the land engagement from 6–11 September were 37 killed, 150 wounded and 57 missing.[Quimby, p.626] Macomb reported 37 killed, 62 wounded and 20 missing but these losses were for the regular U.S. Army troops only. Historian William James
William James (January 11, 1842 – August 26, 1910) was an American philosopher, historian, and psychologist, and the first educator to offer a psychology course in the United States.
James is considered to be a leading thinker of the lat ...
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
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
The Battle of Bladensburg was a battle of the Chesapeake campaign of the War of 1812, fought on 24 August 1814 at Bladensburg, Maryland, northeast of Washington, D.C.
Called "the greatest disgrace ever dealt to American arms," a British for ...
and the Burning of Washington
The Burning of Washington was a British invasion of Washington City (now Washington, D.C.), the capital of the United States, during the Chesapeake Campaign of the War of 1812. It is the only time since the American Revolutionary War that a ...
to counter any American demands during the peace negotiations up to this point, despite the Americans' successful defense at the Battle of Baltimore
The Battle of Baltimore (September 12–15, 1814) was a sea/land battle fought between British invaders and American defenders in the War of 1812. American forces repulsed sea and land invasions off the busy port city of Baltimore, Maryland ...
in the days after this battle, and which ended British activities in the Mid-Atlantic region. American negotiators used the repulse at Plattsburgh to demand exclusive rights to Lake Champlain and denied Britain's claim of exclusive rights to the Great Lakes. Thus, American actions at Plattsburgh and Baltimore denied the British any advantage they could use to make demands for territorial gains in the Treaty of Ghent
The Treaty of Ghent () was the peace treaty that ended the War of 1812 between the United States and the United Kingdom. It took effect in February 1815. Both sides signed it on December 24, 1814, in the city of Ghent, United Netherlands (now in ...
, such as
a pro-British Indian barrier state
The Indian barrier state or buffer state was a British proposal to establish a Native American state in the portion of the Great Lakes region of North America. It was never created. The idea was to create it west of the Appalachian Mountains, bo ...
in the Midwest and the "New Ireland" colony established in the District of Maine
The District of Maine was the governmental designation for what is now the U.S. state of Maine from October 25, 1780 to March 15, 1820, when it was admitted to the Union as the 23rd state. The district was a part of the Commonwealth of Massachu ...
.
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, Commander Pring and the surviving officers and men of the squadron faced a court martial
A court-martial or court martial (plural ''courts-martial'' or ''courts martial'', as "martial" is a postpositive adjective) is a military court or a trial conducted in such a court. A court-martial is empowered to determine the guilt of memb ...
, which was held aboard HMS ''Gladiator'' at Portsmouth, between 18 and 21 August 1815. The court commended Pring and honorably 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 (abbreviated MG, maj. gen. and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. The disappearance of the "sergeant" in the title explains the apparent confusion of ...
and became commanding general of the United States Army
The Commanding General of the United States Army was the title given to the service chief and highest-ranking officer of the United States Army (and its predecessor the Continental Army), prior to the establishment of the Chief of Staff of the ...
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 honor 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 The Thanks of Congress is 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. Altho ...
.Brown, John Howard, ''The Cyclopaedia of American Biography: Comprising the Men and Women of the United States Who Have Been Identified with the Growth of the Nation V5'' (Published by Kessinger Publishing, 2006) 700 pages, Alexander Macomb, p. 305.
, . ''See also''
Seven currently active regular battalions of the United States Army (4-1 FA, 1-2 Inf, 2-2 Inf, 1-5 Inf, 2-5 Inf, 1-6 Inf and 2-6 Inf) perpetuate the lineages of American units that were present at the battle (Brooks's Company, Corps of Artillery, and the 6th, 13th and 29th Infantry Regiments).
Order of battle
Large vessels listed from north to south in order of sailing, or in which initially anchored
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'' (CG-57)
See also
*Ile aux Noix
Ile may refer to:
* iLe, a Puerto Rican singer
* Ile District (disambiguation), multiple places
* Ilé-Ifẹ̀, an ancient Yoruba city in south-western Nigeria
* Interlingue (ISO 639:ile), a planned language
* Isoleucine, an amino acid
* Another ...
*List of conflicts in the United States
This is a list of conflicts in the United States. Conflicts are arranged chronologically from the late modern period to contemporary history. This list includes (but is not limited to) the following: Indian wars, skirmishes, wars of independe ...
* War of 1812 Museum (Plattsburgh)
Footnotes
References
Bibliography
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On-line version at books.bloatedtoe.com
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* National Historical Society Book Prize and American Military Institute
The Society for Military History is a United States–based international organization of scholars who research, write, and teach military history of all time periods and places. It includes naval history, air power history, and studies of technol ...
Best Book Award.
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Further reading
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* Schroeder, John H. ''The Battle of Lake Champlain: A "Brilliant and Extraordinary Victory."'' (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 2015). xiv, 164 pp.
External links
An Overview of the Battle of Plattsburgh.
Battle of Plattsburgh Association.
* ttps://web.archive.org/web/20081011042933/http://www.northnet.org/clintoncc/cccpage/battlep.htm#picture "Defense of Plattsburgh" painting by Lee Hunt, 1992 (Interactive).br>Google maps, Battles of Lake Champlain and of Plattsburgh.
* ttps://web.archive.org/web/20131105043108/http://www.historiclakes.org/Plattsburg/Macomb1.htm Transcript of Alexander Macomb letter on defense of Fort Moreau.br>Transcript of Alexander Macomb letter on British retreat from Plattsburg.
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Plattsburgh, Battle Of
Conflicts in 1814
Naval battles of the War of 1812
History of New York (state)
1814 in New York (state)
Battles of the War of 1812 in New York (state)
Battles on the St. Lawrence/Lake Ontario frontier
September 1814 events
Orders of battle