An Cosantóir

www.military.ie the defence forces magazine | 29 sent a force of veterans fresh from victory in Europe, sixteen of the best veteran infantry regiments plus cavalry and artil- lery, for the North America campaign. Both as a strategic diversion and as part of an attempt to control the Chesapeake Bay, British forces attacked and burned Washington, and on 11th September 1814, were moving on Baltimore, where Francis Scott Key would write of seeing the "Star Spangled Banner" through the dawn's early light after Fort McHenry survived a major bombardment and rocket attack. Similar operations were underway in the west near Lakes Erie and Ontario and in raids along the Atlantic seaboard. The British main attack force was focused on up-state New York and the Champlain Valley. The decisive encounter of the war was the simultaneous battles of Plattsburg and Lake Champlain. On the 11th of September 1814, outnumbered and outgunned American land and naval forces fought the invaders to a standstill. At the crucial point of the battle Mac- donough carried out a brilliant manoeuvre, rotating his ships using kedge anchors and spring lines to expose the enemy to fire from fresh batteries. This sudden fire superiority devastat- ed the Royal Navy ships (with winds, unanticipated by the Eng- lish commander, but known to Macdonough, had placed them within range of the American carronades), resulting in their defeat. Theodore Roosevelt maintained that Macdonough's victory, though dearly gained after a hard fight, was brilliant and complete. His conduct of the battle was a model of tacti- cal preparation and execution. Having been denied control of the waterways, the English could not continue their invasion. David Fitz-Enz, in "11 Sep- tember 1814" (Military Illustrated, Number 172), points out that because of the American victory at Plattsburg/Lake Cham- plain, and the failure of the strategic diversionary attempt to capture Baltimore, the British negotiators were unable to acquire any land south of the existing Canadian border, or to gain control of the Great Lakes, and so sued for the status quo ante of 1812. This case is also made by David Curtis Skaggs, "More important than Perry's Victory," Naval History, Octo- ber 2013. Consequently the Peace of Ghent was signed on 24 December 1814. Thomas Macdonough was rewarded with promotion to cap- tain, with the honorary title of 'Commodore', and subsequently commanded the USS Ohio, a ship-of-the-line. Always the sailor, Macdonough later insisted on returning to a more active sea duty; his last command was the USS Constitution ('Old Iron- sides'). While on a Mediterranean patrol Thomas Macdonough died passing Gibraltar on 10th November 1825. After a state funeral in New York, he was buried in his late wife's family plot in the Riverside Cemetery in Middletown, Connecticut. The War of 1812 was a contest to see if a free and republican form of government could survive. Macdonough's victory on Lake Champlain was crucial to the outcome of the war. Colonel David Fitz-Enz points out that there were no other regular US Army troops between the garrison at Plattsburg (which had been depleted to send troops to face the threat in the west) and Baltimore. Having lost the naval component of their inva- sion plan, the British land forces withdrew to Canada, ending the threat to the Hudson and Champlain valleys and the threat to partition the United States. "The Almighty has been pleased to grant us a signal victory on Lake Champlain in the capture of one Frigate, one Brig and two sloops of war of the enemy." (Commodore Thomas Macdonough, US Ship Saratoga, off Plattsburg, 11th September, 1814, to Secretary of the Navy) Bibliography: (important reference works used, not cited in text): Winston Churchill. A History of the English Speaking Peoples (New York: Bantam Books, 1977) Colonel David G. Fitz-Enz, US Army (Ret.). The Final Invasion: Platts- burg, The War of 1812's Most Decisive Battle (Lanham, MD: Cooper Square Press, 2001) David Fitz-Enz. Old Ironsides: Eagle of the Sea: The Story of the USS Constitution (Lanham, Maryland: Taylor Trade Publishing, 2005) Michael J. O'Brien. A Hidden Phase of American History: "Ireland's Part in America's Struggle for Liberty" (New York: Dodd, Mead and Company, 1920) Theodore Roosevelt. The Naval War of 1812 (New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1889) David Curtis Skaggs. Thomas McDonough: Master of Command in the Early U.S. Navy (Library of Naval Biography) (Annapolis: Naval Institute Press, 2003) Liam Murphy is a retired naval officer, a Vietnam veteran, and a 1965 graduate of The Virginia Military Institute, with a Master of Arts in American history from Fordham, the Jesuit University of New york City (including a graduate term at the School of Irish Studies in Dublin). A Strategy & Policy alumnus of the US Naval War College, he is currently an adjunct member of the faculty of the State University of New york Maritime College at Fort Schuyler. Battle of Lake Champlain Sketch, credit to David McComb, via Dr. David Winkler, Ph.D., Naval Historical Foundation, Washington Navy Yard (Public Domain)

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