Macdonough’s Victory on Lake Champlain

Before the British fleet had invaded Lake Champlain on September 11, 1814, Commodore Thomas Macdonough and his American fleet had complete control of the lake. The Saratoga, the largest American ship carried 26 guns, the Eagle the Ticonderoga, the Preble and ten other gunboats carried a total of 86 guns that could only do some damage from a short range. The British finally completed their largest ship, the Confiance, a large enough ship to hold 37 guns. Together with the Linnet, the Chub, and Finch and twelve other gunboats the British mounted a total of 92 guns, which were more effective at long range.

On September 4^th the British army under Sir George Prevost marched from Champlain to Chazy, where it split. The right wing went to West Chazy, following the modern Route 22 south to Plattsburgh, while the left wing followed what is now Route 9. Both wings were harassed by units of the American army as well as by Macdonough’s gunboats o the bay. Nevertheless, the British occupied all of Plattsburgh north of the Saranac River on September 6^th.

Macdonough brought his entire fleet into Plattsburgh Bay, where an encounter at close range would put the British guns at a disadvantage. His intricate anchoring system with spring lines would give him flexibility to maneuver the Saratoga in battle. When his starboard guns were emptied, the ship could be swung around so that her port guns could be brought to bear on the enemy.

On September 11^th the British squadron was finally ready for battle. It engaged Macdonough’s forces in Plattsburgh Bay starting about 9 a.m. For two hours and 20 minutes the fighting raged. By 11:20 a.m. it was all over and the British officers made the decision to surrender. The rigging, masts, spars and sails of the British Confiance and Linnet were virtually all shot away and the British galleys were in full fight. The casualties were high on both sides: 52 American dead and 58 wounded with estimates of 54 to 57 British killed (including the commander of the Confiance, Captain George Downie) a 116 wounded.

Part of the credit for Macdonough’s victory on Lake Champlain must be given to General Alexander Macomb, commander of the American land forces. Even though he had less than one-third the troops of the seasoned British fighting force, he refused to accept the counsel of some of his officers to abandon the three American forts south of the Saranac River. By keeping the cannons of these forts out of British hands, Macomb insured the safety of the American fleet from land-based attack and made possible the success of Macdonough’s strategy based on anchorage in Plattsburgh Bay.

With the surrender of the British fleet, Prevost recalled his units’ form south of the river. That night the whole army decamped for Canada. And so the siege of Plattsburgh and the threat to the entire Champlain Valley was dissipated. At the current peace conference in Europe, the British had expected to use their gains at Plattsburgh and elsewhere to obtain a more favorable treaty. But the defeat at Plattsburgh helped to deny them this leverage and the subsequent Treaty Of Ghent, signed on December 24, 1814, was more of a genuine compromise than it might otherwise have been.