Noted historian Sir John William Fortescue, in writing A History of the British Army (MacMillan and Co., 1920), stated: “The ablest and soberest of the American historians has written that the battle of Lake Champlain, more than any other incident of the American War, deserves the epithet decisive. In a sense this is true . . .” He explained his qualification thusly: In the wake of the defeat, the Duke of Wellington was offered command in Canada. He did not object. But he bluntly noted that without a “naval superiority on the lakes . . . . I shall do you but little good in America, and I shall go there only to prove the truth of [Lieutenant General Sir George] Prévost’s defence.”
A key portion of the British plan for prosecuting the War of 1812 in its second year was dominance in New York. After U.S. successes in July 1814 at Fort Erie and the Battle of Chippewa, the two opponents fought to a bloody standoff in the Battle of Lundy’s Lane, after which the Americans fell back to Fort Erie. In August, the British moved against the fort, but the Americans held, inflicting serious losses.
This was all prelude to a larger invasion, with almost 15,000 men primed and waiting in Montreal to descend south to New York City. The Battle of Saratoga in the Revolutionary War had taught the British that they needed a water-based supply line. Nearly one-third of the approximately 350 miles from Montreal to New York City, some 110 miles, was skirted by Lake Champlain. Further, its integral water routes, beginning with the Richelieu River in Canada, ran the entire distance. Control of the lake was vital in maintaining the supply line.
The British had held superiority on the lake since June 1813, but with no significant number of ships. In early 1814, Lieutenant Thomas Macdonough, commanding the U.S. naval forces on the lake, established a base at Otter Creek, Vermont, and began gunboat construction. These vessels were purpose-built, stop-gap measures. Laid down on 7 March, the 26-gun corvette Saratoga entered the water for the first time on 11 April; she had been on the stocks just 40 days. Together with the newly launched—on 12 May—14-gun schooner Ticonderoga and the existing 7-gun sloop Preble, the Americans gained lake superiority and established a base at Plattsburgh, New York. On 27 August, the 20-gun brig Eagle joined the flotilla after just 19 days’ construction and 15 days’ fitting out. Six galleys and two gunboats were also built.
Macdonough, in late May, led his flotilla north to block the Richelieu River and stem the smuggling of ships’ stores from Vermont to the British. This initial cruise allowed him to assess his ships. “I find the Saratoga a fine ship. She sails and works well. . . . The schooner [Ticonderoga] is also a fine vessel and bears her metal full as well as expected. The gallies are also remarkably fine vessels.”
The British responded to the new American strength by building the 36-gun frigate Confiance at Ile aux Noix and launching her on 25 August. Captain George Downie was under great pressure to complete the ship in advance of the approaching bad fall and winter weather. On 31 August, British land forces began moving south, reaching Plattsburgh on 6 September. A combination of lack of intelligence about U.S. forces and terrain, stiff resistance, and delays awaiting the arrival of the British flotilla stalled their advance until the 11th.
Macdonough knew he was outgunned, especially in long-range long guns. Thus, he chose to fight at anchor. This would draw the British close to shore where the Americans’ short-range carronades could be brought into effective play and provide some parity between the forces. Further, the British would have to approach against the prevailing wind to their disadvantage, and Downie was to be confounded by the bay’s prevailing north-south current—the opposite of the lake’s prevailing south-north direction. With Plattsburgh on the west shore of the lake, the U.S. commander arrayed his forces across the mouth of the bay in line from slightly northeast to southwest: the Eagle, Saratoga, Ticonderoga, and Preble. Each had bow and stern anchors set with spring lines attached, which allowed the ships to be swung in a wide arc. The Saratoga additionally had kedge anchors set at the quarters that allowed her to be quickly swung through 180 degrees. The squadron’s six galleys and four gunboats were spread among the anchored ships.
By the time Downie and his squadron—in order, the Chubb, Linnet, Confiance, and Finch—had rounded Cumberland Head about 0900 on 11 September to approach the bay, Macdonough was ready. He had practiced his crews in swinging their vessels through great arcs to allow their starboard and port broadsides alternately to bear on the enemy. The brig Linnet was first to gain range of the Americans, but all but one of her salvoes fell short. Legend has it that the mostly spent round bounced across the Saratoga’s deck and destroyed a chicken coop, freeing a gamecock. “The enraged bird flew to the rail of the ship, and as if expressing his outrage, crowed lustily and defiantly. Taking this as a sign of good luck, the Americans fought the British with new-found courage.”
Macdonough personally fired the first American shot of the battle from a long 24-pounder at the Confiance. The ball traversed the length of the enemy flagship, cut her anchor cable, ripped up the deck, and smashed her helm. Shortly thereafter, Captain Downie was mortally wounded, crushed by a cannon flung from its carriage by a shot. Macdonough later reported, “In this situation, the whole force, on both sides became engaged; the Saratoga suffering much from the heavy fire of the Confiance. I could perceive at the same time, however, that our fire was very destructive to her.”
The Saratoga reeled from the Confiance’s first broadside, which killed or wounded one-fifth of the U.S. flagship’s crew. Macdonough himself was stunned by a blow from a spar split by a shot but quickly recovered. Each successive salvo from the Confiance was less effective than the previous one as the ship’s gunners failed to reset the guns’ elevation. The Linnet’s commander, Captain Daniel Pring, explained the failure:
Confiance was Sixteen days before, on the Stocks, with an unorganized Crew, [sic] of several Drafts of Men; who had recently arrived from different ships at Quebec, many of whom only joined the day before, and were totally unknown either to the Officers or to each other, with the want of Gun Locks as well as other necessary appointments, not to be procured in this Country.
The flagships pounded each other to a draw for most of two hours until the Saratoga’s last serviceable starboard gun broke loose from its carriage. Macdonough ordered the bow anchor cut and hauled in the kedge anchors laid out earlier to spin the Saratoga around, bringing her undamaged port battery into action. The Confiance attempted to reply. The frigate’s crew tried to haul in on the springs to her only anchor to replicate the American maneuver, but they could only move so far as to present the vulnerable stern to the U.S. fire. Helpless, the Confiance surrendered.
The Finch and Chubb by this time were in American hands, leaving just the Linnet as the major remaining British warship. The Saratoga further hauled in on her kedge anchors to bring her broadside to bear on the brig, which, although severely damaged and unable to move, battled for nearly another hour before striking her colors. The remaining galleys and gunboats fled to Canada.
Macdonough reported that the “Saratoga had Fifty five round Shot in her Hull—the Confiance One hundred & five.—The Enemy’s shot passed principally just over our heads, as their [sic] were not 20 whole hammocks in the nettings at the close of the action, which lasted without intermission Two hours & twenty minutes. . . . The Saratoga was twice set on fire by hot Shot from the Enemy’s Ship.”
Prévost understood the repercussions of the naval defeat and ended the assault on Plattsburgh. That very night he began a retreat to Canada. The Americans as well appreciated the victory. Now unchallenged on Lake Champlain, the squadron turned south to Whitehall, New York, for the winter. On 19 September, barely a week after the battle, a letter from Secretary of the Navy William Jones acknowledged that Macdonough had “secured the tranquil and permanent command of the Lake” and ordered him to detach “from 250 to 300 of your best men” to Sacketts Harbor, New York. His work on the lake was done.
This was the Saratoga’s one and only battle, her active service life being measured in days, but her victory set the bar for all the Saratogas to follow. The ship remained at Whitehall until she was sold in 1825.