Battle of Plattsburgh

The Battle of Lake Champlain (engraving by B. Tanner, 1816)

date	September 11, 1814
place	near Plattsburgh on or on Lake Champlain , USA
output	American victory

Parties to the conflict
United Kingdom 1801 United Kingdom	United States 15 United States
Commander
Sir George Prevost (High Command, Land Forces) George Downie (Naval Forces)	Alexander Macomb (Land Forces) Thomas Macdonough (Naval Forces)
Troop strength
Land: 11,000 men Sea: 4 ships 12 rowing gunboats	Land: 3,400 men Sea: 4 ships 10 row cannon boats
losses
Land: unknown sea: 4 ships approx. 300 dead and wounded	Country: unknown approx. 200 dead and wounded

The Battle of Plattsburgh (also known as the Battle of Lake Champlain ) between British and US land and naval forces took place at Plattsburgh on Lake Champlain on September 11, 1814 during the War of 1812 and ended in an American victory.

prehistory

After Napoleon Bonaparte abdicated in 1814 and the war in Europe was temporarily over, the British government was able to send extensive reinforcements to Canada , where its own troops had so far remained largely on the defensive compared to the vastly outnumbered US armies . Due to these reinforcements, the Canadian Governor General Sir George Prevost was able to increase his army to around 11,000 men. In order to force the Americans to make concessions in the peace negotiations in Ghent , Prevost planned a large-scale advance along Lake Champlain into New York State . He was to be supported in this by a naval association under Captain George Downie with four larger ships and 12 rowing cannon boats . However, while Prevost was a skilled administrator and organizer, he lacked experience in large-scale military operations. In the course of his career he had only gained combat experience in small operations in the Caribbean ; during the war with the USA he almost always left the field commands to his subordinate officers. The strictly defensive warfare practiced by Prevost and aimed at avoiding risks as far as possible had proven to be overall successful in the phase of American superiority, but was extremely unsuitable for an offensive approach, as it prevented him from asserting the superiority of his To use available troops effectively.

The American troops in this area were under the command of General George Izard , who, on the instructions of Secretary of War John Armstrong, assigned about 4,000 men to defend Sackets Harbor , an important American base on Lake Ontario . Brigadier General Alexander Macomb remained in Plattsburg only 1,500 men to repel possible British attacks. By demands of militias on the governors of New York and Vermont , Macomb was able to increase his troop strength to 3,000 men, but many of the newcomers were poorly trained and hardly usable, which is why they could only use Macomb for digging work. Macomb received further support from a US Navy fleet under Thomas Macdonough . The 3,000 residents of Plattsburgh had so little faith in the skills of the defenders that they largely left the place.

The invasion

On September 4th, Prevost began his advance southward, which the Americans slowed down with barricades, etc., and minor skirmishes. Meanwhile, the Americans tried to complete an improvised fortification ring around Plattsburgh from earthworks, small forts and log houses . A side effect of the invasion was that the residents of Vermont , who had previously been indifferent to the war , began to set up militia units to fight the British, as they had also entered their state's territory when they invaded. Prevost's troops reached American positions on September 6th. On the same day, the opposing forces met for the first time when an American detachment under Major John Ellis Wool prevented a British attempt to cross the Saranac River and thus get closer to the American positions. Instead of exploiting the great superiority of his troops, which would undoubtedly have taken the American positions if they had taken decisive action, Prevost then stopped all attacking efforts and had positions built, the construction of which the Americans disrupted with artillery fire. On September 9th, they also succeeded in capturing an advanced British gun battery with a nightly surprise attack.

The naval battle

involved ships

Royal Navy	Number of cannons	US Navy	Number of cannons
HMS Confiance ( frigate , flagship ) Commander George Downie	37	USS Saratoga ( Corvette , flagship ) Captain Thomas Macdonough	28
HMS Linnet ( Brigg ) Commander Daniel Pring	16	USS Eagle (brig) Captain Robert Henley	20th
HMS Chubb ( Sloop ) Lieutenant James M'Ghie	11	USS Ticonderoga ( schooner ) Lieutenant Commander Stephen Cassin	17th
HMS Finch (Sloop) Lieutenant William Hicks	11	USS Preble (Sloop)	7th
12 oar gunboats Lieutenant Christopher James Bell	17th	10 rowing gunboats	16

Strength comparison

	Royal Navy	US Navy
Number of cannons	92	86
Weight of a broadside	1,192 pounds	1,194 pounds
of which from long barrel guns	660 pounds	480 pounds
of which from carronades	532 pounds	714 pounds
entire tonnage	approx. 2,400	approx. 2,200
Crews	900- 1000	approx. 900

(based on WL Clowes 6, pp. 132–33)

The balance of power between the British and American naval associations was relatively even. Downie's ships had more long-barreled artillery, which gave them an advantage in a long-range firefight, while Macdonough's ships had the upper hand in carronades, which were more effective at shorter distances . In both flotillas, the crews of the rowing cannon boats consisted of soldiers. The crews of the larger ships were made up of seamen, but they had been hastily assembled and most of them lacked experience on the seas and with their newly built ships. However, the Americans had three major advantages. On the one hand, the British ships were not yet completely finished - the Confiance still had 25 carpenters on board, who carried out work until immediately before the start of the battle, and the ignition locks of the cannons were also missing, which is why they fired with pistol shots directed against the ignition holes or poorly fitting carronade locks had to be. Second, Downie had recently taken over and was unfamiliar with the ships at his disposal or the waters in which he operated. Third, Macdonough could choose the position of his ships for the upcoming battle, which he did with great skill so that the British were considerably disadvantaged by the prevailing currents and winds.

The American commander had withdrawn his fleet in Plattsburgh Bay and had it anchored there on the north-south battle line, with anchors deployed at both the bow and the stern. Downie on the other side hesitated to attack the well-positioned opponent due to the deficits mentioned. Prevost eventually compelled Downie to attack despite his concerns through massive pressure, a reprimand to his higher rank and the promise of a simultaneous relief attack on land.

The British force penetrated Plattsburgh Bay on the morning of September 11th and maneuvered within artillery range to the Americans. At the same time, the British artillery on land began to bombard American positions, but Prevost held back the attack. Why the governor-general broke his promise to Downie and thereby likely disadvantaged his fleet in a decisive way is still unknown - artillery fire from land would have forced the Americans to lift anchor, possibly putting them at a decisive disadvantage. Around 9:00 a.m., the Eagle opened the fight with a volley from its long-barreled guns. The Confiance , the Linnet and the Chubb aimed their fire mainly at the Saratoga , while the Finch attacked the Ticonderoga with the gunboats . After about half an hour, the Ticonderoga managed to put the Finch out of action. The incapacitated ship, in which half of the crew were dead or wounded, was driven to the island of Crab Island, which was occupied by US soldiers, and had to surrender to them. The British rowing gunboats managed to put the Preble out of action at about the same time and force it to retreat. A subsequent attack on the Ticonderoga , however, had to be stopped after a tough battle that was costly for both sides. The British gunboats suffered such severe crew losses that they could no longer intervene effectively in the further course of the battle. The battle, which was decisive for their outcome, developed between the Confiance , the Linnet and the Chubb on the one hand and the Saratoga , the Eagle and the American rowing gunboats on the other. Downie was killed by an overturning gun shortly after the start of the battle, while Macdonough was knocked unconscious by a block shot from the rigging of his ship, but recovered. Although the Americans managed to incapacitate the Chubb (they drove into the American line and surrendered to a command of the Saratoga ), the British initially managed to gain the upper hand. The excellently managed Linnet first sold the US gunboats, damaged the Eagle considerably and then took the Saratoga together with the Confiance in a devastating crossfire. Although the US flagship no longer had a functioning gun on the broadside facing the enemy after about two hours, the Confiance also suffered severe damage.

In this situation, by cutting the stern anchor and with the help of a rope construction, Macdonough succeeded in heaving his ship around so far that the wind turned it completely around and the ailing British ships could turn the working guns on the other broadside that had previously been turned away. The Saratoga now opened a destructive fire on the largely defenseless Confiance , whose crew tried in vain to carry out a similar turning maneuver. Since in the end only five crew members were completely unwounded on the British flagship and two or three operational guns were still available, it finally dropped the flag. A quarter of an hour later, the incapable of maneuvering and slowly sinking Linnet had to surrender to the Americans, after Commander Pring initially continued the fight in the hope of being saved by the rowing gunboats. The battle ended after two and a half hours.

When the surviving British officers boarded the Saratoga to hand over their swords to Macdonough, they received their weapons back from the victorious commander in recognition of their bravery. The hardship of the fight is shown by the fact that the British ships were sinking wrecks and that no one in the American flotilla was able to set sail. The losses were correspondingly heavy: the Americans had about 200 dead and wounded, the British with over 300 about a third of their crews, 41 dead and about 60 seriously wounded on the Confiance alone .

The battles on land

Prevost had announced that it would storm the American positions and provide fire support for the attack from Downie's association from land. Had he implemented this plan energetically and forcefully, the naval battle would have been different. However, the governor-general held his troops back until 11:00, when this had already been decided, and then only allowed his units to attack very half-heartedly. Several flank attacks on the US positions carried out across the Saranac River were repulsed by the Americans; in a further attack planned in the west, the British were able to push back the defenders, but were stopped by reinforcements as they advanced into the rear of the American positions. In this situation, Prevost received news of the destruction of Downie's fleet, whereupon he canceled all attacks and ordered the retreat. He disregarded the officers subordinate to him, who, if they proceeded decisively, believed a victory to be possible without the fleet. This decision aroused anger, horror and contempt among the Prevost subordinate generals, but it was plausible, since the Americans were able to interrupt the British supply lines with their fleet and substantial reinforcements for Macomb were approaching from Vermont.

Results

The American victory was in large part the result of the hesitation and half-heartedness of the British Commander in Chief Sir George Prevost . Even if Macomb was a competent officer who made the best of his situation and made the best use of the troops at his disposal, there can be little doubt that his units could not have withstood a determined British attack. A success of the attack on land would have forced Macdonough to relinquish his advantageous position in Plattsburgh Bay, thereby greatly improving the conditions for Downie's squadron. The mysterious delay in the attack promised to Downie was therefore seen as the decisive cause of the defeat shortly after the battle. Prevost therefore faced massive pressure and sharp criticism on his return to Canada and was called back to England to justify himself, but died before formal proceedings could begin. His great contribution to the preservation of Canada for the British Crown is overshadowed to this day by the failure of Plattsburgh. Macomb, however, was promoted to major general and in 1828 received the rank of commander in chief of the US Army . Macdonough, who received the rank of commodore , was also promoted.

The political consequences of the battle were far-reaching, as it undermined calls by the British government for territorial concessions by the Americans, particularly for sole control of the Great Lakes . Together with the failure of the attack on Baltimore , the Battle of Plattsburgh was an essential factor in the conclusion of the Peace of Ghent on December 24, 1814, which ended the war on the basis of the status quo .

literature

Pierre Berton : Flames Across the Border. 1813-1814. Anchor Canada, Toronto 2001, ISBN 0-385-65838-9 .
Theodore Roosevelt : The War with the United States. In: William Laird Clowes : The Royal Navy. A History from the Earliest Times to the Present. Volume 6. Sampson, Low & Marston, London 1901, pp. 1-180, here pp. 130-142 (reprinted. Chatham, London 1997, ISBN 1-86176-015-9 ).

Web links

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