Plattsburgh, New York, at the northwest corner of Lake Champlain, bills itself as the U.S. suburb of Montreal, Canada (about 60 miles north). To most travelers in this sparse and remote area of the Empire State, the city of 31,000 inhabitants is a waypoint on the Interstate-87 trip between Montreal and Albany. But the picturesque region has been much more in American history. The 11 September 1814 Battle of Plattsburgh, also known as the Battle of Lake Champlain, is the focus of the War of 1812 Museum, just two blocks from the shores of Lake Champlain. It is a museum in keeping with the character of the town—small and easily overlooked, yet significant.
At the pivotal battle near the end of the War of 1812, American forces stopped a major invasion of the northern United States by the British army. Some 10,000 Redcoats under the command of Lieutenant General George Prévost, supported by a naval squadron led by Captain George Downie, confronted 3,400 U.S. regular and militia troops commanded by Brigadier General Alexander Macomb. Master Commandant Thomas MacDonough commanded the U.S. Navy flotilla protecting lake approaches to the town. After MacDonough’s surprise victory in the harbor, Prévost retreated to Canada. In his view, even had Plattsburgh been captured, his advance toward Albany would have been stymied without control of the lake.
The museum features an interpretive center, a gallery of artwork focused on the battle, and an exhibition area of rotating displays. The film about the battle is a good starting place, as it gives visitors an overview of the history and the geographical factors that made Plattsburgh the site of this turning-point showdown.
Among the informative graphic panels and exhibits in the Allan S. Everest Interpretive Center are models of the U.S. warships Saratoga, Ticonderoga, and Preble, which fought in the battle. The centerpiece of all this is a 5-by-15-foot diorama of the battle site from 6 September through the 11th, when British and American troops clashed on land and lake. This presentation visually and quickly gives the viewer a solid understanding of the relatively complex battle—the combat spread over 30,000 acres, and action covered nearly a full week. With a series of button-activated lights, visitors can follow the daily movement of forces in relationship to the town, encampments, forts, and batteries.
The museum’s jewel, in the Key Bank Gallery, is a painting of the battle’s turning point. At nearly nine by five feet, Julian Oliver Davidson’s Battle of Lake Champlain (1884) is as imposing in size as it is in impact on the viewer. The work is a prime example of the artist’s melding of the composition and palette of the Dutch marine style, with elements of the Hudson River School. One of six large paintings Davidson completed depicting major naval battles of the War of 1812, its central focus is the clash of the two flagships—MacDonough’s Saratoga on the left and Downie’s HMS Confiance. Regarding its precision, 19th-century art critic Frederick Hopkins Smith noted that Davidson “displayed more knowledge of early American shipping than did any other artist of the period.”
Among other exhibits are “Forgotten Artifacts” of the battle, including musket pieces, uniform buttons, ship parts, and ammunition dredged from Lake Champlain. When I visited in March 2012, the presentation “Smuggling, Soldiering, Shipyards, and Skirmishes,” a chronological look back at the United States and the Champlain Valley 200 years ago, explored the role of the region in the grander scheme of the war. For invading forces, the 125-mile-long lake was the quickest and easiest route south from Canada.
Items such as period clothing and uniforms, musical instruments, and houseware, on loan from the New York State Museum, Lake Champlain Maritime Museum, and Fort Ticonderoga help visitors imagine living through this period in this place. The museum’s hands-on exhibits are especially useful for younger visitors, but anyone can enjoy the life-size ship’s bulwark and small carronade.
The museum also is the caretaker of original bronze plaques from the Soldiers and Sailors Monument on Crab Island, which during the battle was the southern end of Macdonough’s line of ships. This was the site of a military hospital and an artillery battery that engaged HMS Finch, manned by convalescents. The 11-gun sloop had run hard aground on a reef just off the island and fought a vicious battle with the two-gun battery. During a court-martial in Britain, the ship’s commander, Lieutenant William Hicks, testified that his crew “had the pleasure of killing or wounding every man at the guns on shore and silence [sic] them.” About 150 combatants—American and British—remain buried in an unmarked mass grave on the 40-acre island.
Operated by the nonprofit Battle of Plattsburgh Association, the museum’s exhibits occupy a one-story building in what was formerly part of the Plattsburgh Barracks. Built between 1893 and 1934, this later was of strategic importance to the 20th-century defense of the United States. For 40 years of the Cold War, 1954–94, Plattsburgh Air Force Base was a significant cog in the U.S. Strategic Air Command. It was home first to B-47s, then B-52s, and finally FB-111s. And in the 1960s, it was the base for 12 dispersed Atlas F strategic missile sites, the only ICBMs east of the Mississippi. Memorabilia and historical information can be purchased at the museum shop.
The War of 1812 Museum
31 Washington Road, Plattsburgh, New York 12903
Telephone: (518) 566-1814
http://www.battleofplattsburgh.org/museum.html
Open year-round
Tuesday–Saturday, 0900–1500
Admission: Free, donations welcome