The FReeper Foxhole Remembers the Battle of Plattsburg (9/11/1814)

The Plattsburg Bay Naval Battle:
The British

Carpenters and riggers spend the week preceding the battle frantically working to finish the British flagship Confiance. There is so much work to be done that the craftsmen leave the vessel only minutes before the start of the engagement. The British naval commander, George Downie, has been under tremendous pressure from Governor General George Prevost. Prevost is waiting outside of Plattsburg with his army and does not want to attack until the British fleet arrives.

Prevost has sent a series of urgent messages to Downie. At one point, he even questions Downie’s willingness to fight. These letters goad the naval commander into attacking, though he knows his fleet is not ready. Perhaps even more dangerous is the fact that Downie decides to engage the Americans on their terms: U.S. commander Thomas Macdonough has been allowed to dictated the location and strategy of the battle.

The British fleet consists of the Confiance, Linnet, Chubb, Finch and 12 gunboats. George Downie sails his vessels into Plattsburg Bay on the morning of September 11, 1814. Hampered by unfavourable winds and under heavy fire, the Confiance anchors prematurely and fouls some of its anchors. Captain George Downie is killed only fifteen minutes into the action and is replaced by Lieutenant James Robertson on the Confiance, overall command goes to Captain Daniel Pring.

Thomas Macdonough

After knocking the Preble and the Eagle out of action, it looks like the British fleet is poised to win. Macdonough, then makes a surprise move. He winches his flagship Saratoga around to bring a new broadside to bear on the battered Confiance. The British flagship, with its fouled anchors, is unable to copy the maneuver.

The British gunboats flee. Robertson realizes he is beaten and the Confiance strikes her colours. The British squadron surrenders.

The Plattsburg Bay Naval Battle:
The Americans

On September 1, 1814, the very day George Downie arrives at Isle aux Noix to take charge of the British squadron, U.S. Commander Thomas Macdonough moves his ships into Plattsburg Bay. Macdonough is aware that the enemy outgun him, especially at long range. Instead of meeting the British on the open lake, he chooses to anchor his squadron inside Plattsburg Bay.

Macdonough resolves to wait for the enemy to come to him; once the British sail into the bay they will be forced to engage him at close quarters. The naval commander disposes his ships in a north-south line, extending from near Crab Island to within a mile of Cumberland Head. As an added precaution, Macdonough has his vessels set special anchors which will allow the ships to come about a full 180 degrees without using sail.

At approximately 9 am on September 11, the British fleet attacks. The British commander George Downie has been pressured into attacking prematurely by his superior, George Prevost. Downie’s flagship, the newly-built Confiance is not yet ready for battle and is crewed with inexperienced men.

The prevailing northerly winds prove advantageous for the Americans. The British are forced to tack toward the U.S. ships. Soon, all the vessels are engaged in furious battle.

Shortly into the engagement Macdonough is knocked down for several minutes. He has sighted one of the Saratoga’s cannons (one of his new 26 gun ships), when a cannonball cuts the spanker boom in two, and the heavy spar falls on him. As he regains his bearings, he is again knocked to the deck by the flying head of his gun captain, who has received a direct hit by a cannonball. The captain’s severed head hits Macdonough with such force that he is knocked to the other side of his vessel.

By 11 am, both flagships, as well as most of the other vessels are so battered that it is hard to tell who has the upper hand. Macdonough still has a major trump to play: by having his crew haul on some of the Saratoga’s hawsers while letting go of others, he successfully turns his ship around. His fresh port side guns fire renewed broadsides at the Confiance. The British flagship can’t duplicate the maneuver and is quickly forced to strike its colours.

Macdonough then turns his guns on the rest of the British ships. The British gunboats flee and the remaining warships are forced to surrender. The American naval victory is unequivocal and complete.

Prevost at Plattsburg

Prevost’s conduct in Plattsburg resulted in an ignominious end to his career in Canada. He was recalled to London to face his critics at a naval court martial but died before he had the chance to clear his name.

When examining Prevost’s actions in Plattsburg, it is important to remember that his first priority throughout the war had been the defense of Canada. Prevost was in charge of the military invasion of the United States as well as being the Governor General of Canada. It appears that the considerations of one function interfered with his ability to manage the other one. In the end, he decided it was better to save his troops than to expose them to risk on enemy territory.

Sir George Prevost

Prevost was well aware that the outcome of his invasion would have an irreversible impact on his career. His orders from the British war secretary read, “You are to occupy American Territory, but be careful not to over-extend your troops.” As historians have pointed out, this in effect meant: if your campaign is unsuccessful you will be held responsible for over-extending your supply line.

A secure supply line was crucial to the success of any invasion. Conquering territory and then being forced to abandon it because of a lack of food, ammunition and supplies was pointless. Roads at this period were scarcely more than muddy cart tracks and could not be used to move the massive amounts of supplies necessary to sustain an army of occupation. The only practical way to move supplies was by water. This may well have been one of the reasons Prevost ordered a retreat as soon as he learned of the defeat of the naval squadron.

It is harder to understand why Prevost wasted so much time before attacking Plattsburg. His army arrived at the Saranac River on September 6, but waited outside Plattsburg for five days. A hesitant commander, Prevost was unwilling to take any risks. He did not want to proceed with the attack until he had the support of the naval squadron under George Downie.

Prevost was apparently a cautious commander. The question that remains however, is this: why did he put so much pressure on George Downie to attack the American fleet, when the British squadron clearly wasn’t ready for battle?

Additional Sources:

www.hq.usace.army.mil
www.thehistorymart.com
www.geh.org
www.historiclakes.org
freepages.history.rootsweb.com/ ~wcarr1
ina.tamu.edu

The Story of the US Ship Eagle

The U.S. ship Eagle is desperately short of crew members. All the able-bodied men are preparing to repulse the British invasion and no one is available to serve onboard. The Eagle’s resourceful first lieutenant comes up with an idea: he asks for the release of soldiers who have been imprisoned for misbehaviour. The prisoners go straight from their ball and chains, into training as navy gunners.

The naval officer also talks six army musicians into serving on the ship. At least one of the musicians brings along his wife.

By 10:30 am on the day of the battle, the Eagle’s starboard anchor has been shot away. The vessel is in a precarious position as it swings on its remaining anchor. At this point the Eagle’s dead include two of the musicians who had been recruited at the last minute. The wife of one of the musicians volunteers to replace a powder boy who’s also been killed. To get to her post, she has to step over several corpses lying on the deck, one of whom she recognizes as her own husband.

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It was great fun following your day trips.

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We enjoyed sharing some of our exploits with you all and there are more pictures and stories to come.

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On This Day In History

Birthdates which occurred on July 20:
1304 Francesco Petrarch Italy, poet (Italia Mia)
1519 Innocent IX 230th Roman Catholic pope (1591)
1785 Mahmud II Ottoman sultan, Westernizer, reformer
1864 Erik Karlfeldt Sweden, poet (Nobel 1918-refused; 1931-posthumous)
1890 Theda Bara actress (Under Two Flags, Cleopatra) (or 0729)
1890 Verna Felton Salinas Calif, actress (Hilda-December Bride)
1919 Sir Edmund Hillary one of 1st 2 men to scale Mt Everest
1920 Elliot L Richardson Attorney General (1973)/Sec of Defense (1973)
1920 Lev Aronin USSR, International Chess Master (1950)
1924 Lola Albright Akron, Ohio, actress (Delta Country, Kid Galahad)
1924 Thomas Berger US, novelist (Vital Parts, Little Big Man)
1930 Sally Ann Howes London England, actress (Dead of Night)
1932 Nam June Paik Seoul Korea, video artist (The Medium is the Medium)
1933 Nelson Doubleday publisher (Doubleday)/owner (NY Mets)
1938 Diana Rigg Doncaster England, actress (Emma Peel-Avengers, Hospital)
1938 Jo Ann Campbell Jacksonville Fla, Lawrence Welk's champagne lady
1938 Natalie Wood [Natasha Gurdin], SF, (Gypsy, Rebel Without a Cause)
1939 Judy Chicago [Cohen], Chicago, artist (The Dinner Party)
1940 Tony Oliva ball player, batting champ (AL Rookie of Year 1964)
1941 Vladimir A Lyakhov cosmonaut (Soyuz 32, T-9)
1943 John Lodge bassist (Moody Blues)
1944 T.G. Sheppard country singer (Only 1 You, Without You)
1946 Kim Carnes singer (Bette Davis Eyes)
1947 Carlos Santana Mexico, musician (Santana-Black Magic Woman)
1947 Gerd Binnig Frankfurt, physicist (tunneling microscope-Nobel 1986)
1947 James Harris Monroe La, NFL quarterback (Buffalo, LA, San Diego)
1954 Jay Jay French NYC, guitarist (Twisted Sister-Not Gonna Take It)
1955 Michael Anthony bassist (Van Halen)
1956 Mima Jausovec Yugoslavia, tennis player (French Open-1977)
1956 Paul Cook drummer (Sex Pistols)
1957 Donna Dixon Va, actress, Mrs Dan Ackwoyd (Couch Trip, Bossom Buddies)
1958 Michael McNeill rocker (Simple Minds-Don't You Forget About Me)
1968 Chris Kennedy actor (Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure)
1978 Charlie Korsmo actor (Dick Tracy, What About Bob)

Deaths which occurred on July 20:
1609 Federico Zuccari Italian Mannerist painter, dies (birth date unknown)
1923 Pancho Villa, [Doroteo Arango], Mexican rebel, murdered at 55
1951 Abdullah Ibn Hussein Jordan's King assassinated in Jerusalem
1954 Blair Moody (Sen-Mich), dies at 52
1957 Phil Hanna singer (Once Upon a Tune), dies at 46
1974 Allen Jenkins actor (Fugitive from a Chain Gang), dies at 74
1983 Frank Reynolds news anchor (ABC Evening News), dies at 59
1984 Jim [James] Fixx, jogger/writer (Jim Fixx on Running), dies of coronary while running at 52
1986 Helen Craig actress (Rich Man Poor Man), dies at 74
1994 Kim II Sung, pres of North-Korea (1948-94), buried

Reported: MISSING in ACTION

1966 BARBAY LAWRENCE BATON ROUGE LA. [03/04/73 RELEASED BY DRV, ALIVE AND WELL 98]
1966 DILLON DAVID A. SPRING VALLEY CA.
1966 HUBBARD EDWARD L. SHAWNEE MISSION KS.
[03/04/73 RELEASED BY DRV, ALIVE AND WELL 98]
1966 LEWIS MERRILL R. INDIANOLA IA.
POSS EJECT NO PARA BEEP, REMAINS RETURNED 08/29/89]
1966 MC DANIEL NORMAN A. FAYETTEVILLE NC.
[02/12/73 RELEASED BY DRV, ALIVE AND WELL 98]
1966 MEANS WILLIAM H. TOPEKA KS.
[02/12/73 RELEASED BY DRV, DECEASED
1966 NELSON WILLIAM HUMPHREY FILION MI.
[09/30/77 REMAINS RETURNED BY SRV]
1966 NOBERT CRAIG R. AVON CT.
[POSS DIC]
1966 PERKINS GLENDON W. ORLANDO FL.
[02/12/73 RELEASED BY DRV, ALIVE AND WELL 98]
1969 SMILEY STANLEY K. SIDNEY NE.

POW / MIA Data & Bios supplied by
the P.O.W. NETWORK. Skidmore, MO. USA.

On this day...
514 St Hormisdas begins his reign as Catholic Pope
1402 Tamerlane's Mongols defeat Ottoman Turks at Angora.
1588 The Spanish Armada sets sail from Corunna.
1773 Scottish settlers arrive at Pictou, Nova Scotia (Canada)
1808 Napoleon decrees all French Jews adopt family names
1810 Colombia declared independence from Spain
1859 American baseball fans were charged an admission fee for the first time. 1,500 spectators each paid 50 cents to see Brooklyn play New York.
1861 Confederate state's congress began holding sessions in Richmond, Va
1864 Battle of Peachtree Creek-Atlanta Campaign
1868 1st use of tax stamps on cigarettes
1871 British Columbia becomes 6th Canadian province
1872 Mahlon Loomis receives patent for wireless ... the radio is born
1876 1st US intercollegiate track meet held, Saratoga, NY; Princeton wins
1878 1st telephone introduced in Hawaii
1881 Sioux Indian leader Sitting Bull, surrenders to federal troops
1890 Snow & hail in Calais, ME
1894 2000 fed troops recalled from Chicago, having ended Pullman strike
1903 Giuseppe Sarto elected Pope Pius X
1906 Bkln Dodger Mal Eason no-hits St Louis Cards, 2-0
1911 Boston Red Sox Smokey Joe Wood no-hits St Louis Browns, 5-0
1912 Phillies Sherry Magee steals home twice in 1 game
1914 Armed resistance against British rule begins in Ulster
1917 WW I draft lottery held; #258 is 1st drawn
1922 Togo made a mandate of the League of Nations
1923 Yanks hit into a triple-play but beat A's 9-2
1930 106ø F (41ø C), Washington, DC (district record)
1934 118ø F (48ø C), Keokuk, Iowa (state record)
1938 Finland awarded 1940 Olympic games after Japan withdraws
1940 Singles record charts 1st published by Billboard-Tommy Dorsey #1
1941 Yanks beat Tigers 12-6 in 17
1942 Legion of Merit Medal authorized by congress
1942 Women's Army Auxiliary Corps began basic training at Fort Des Moines
1944 Pres FDR nominated for an unprecedented 4th term at Dem convention
1944 US invades Japanese-occupied Guam in WW II
1944 Von Stauffenberg fails on an attempt on Hitler's life
1944 Death March of 1200 Jews from Lipcani Moldavia begins
1945 The U.S. flag was raised over Berlin as the first American troops moved in to take part in the post-World War II occupation.
1949 Israel's 19 month war of independence ends
1950 The U.S. Army's Task Force Smith is pushed back by superior North Korean forces.
1950 "Arthur Murray Party" premiers on ABC TV (later DuMont, CBS, NBC)
1954 Tennis Champ Maureen Connolly's right leg is crushed in an accident
1956 France recognizes Tunisia's independence
1956 Yankee pitcher Whitey Ford ties AL record of 6 straight strike-outs
1960 1st submerged submarine to fire Polaris missile (George Washington)
1960 USSR recovered 2 dogs; 1st living organisms to return from space
1964 1st surfin' record to go #1-Jan & Dean's "Surf City"
1965 46.18 cm (18.18") of rainfall, Edgarton, Missouri (state 24-hr record)
1967 Race riots in Memphis Tenn
1968 Jane Asher breaks her engagement with Paul McCartney on live TV
1968 Iron Butterfly's "In-a-gadda-da-vida" becomes the 1st heavy metal song to hit the charts, it comes in at #117

1969 1st men on Moon at 10:56 p.m. EDT, Neil Armstrong, Edwin 'Buzz' Aldrin, Apollo 11 left behind a plaque that read: "Here men from the planet Earth first set foot on the Moon--July 1969 A.D--We came in peace for all mankind."

1970 1st baby born on Alcatraz Island
1970 LA Angel Bill Singer no-hits Phillies, 5-0
1974 Turkey invades Cyprus
1976 US Viking 1 lands on Mars at Chryse Planitia, 1st Martian landing
1977 Flash flood hits Johnstown, Pa, kills 80 & causing $350 mil damage
1979 44-kg Newfoundland dog pulls 2293-kg load, Bothell, Wash
1982 Bombs planted by Irish Republican Army explode in 2 London parks
1984 Uwe Hohn of East Germany throws javelin a record 104.8 m
1985 Divers find wreck of Spanish galleon Atocha
1987 Don Mattingly ties 1st base majors fielding record with 22 put-outs
1988 Michael Dukakis selected Democratic presidential nominee
1989 93ø F, highest overnight low ever recorded in Phoenix Arizona
1990 Justice William Brennan resigns from the Supreme Court after 36 years
1991 Kirk Cameron marries Growing Pains co-star Chelsea Noble in upstate NY
1991 Mike Tyson is accused of raping a Miss Black America contestant
1993 Deputy White House counsel Vincent Foster was found shot to death in a park in northern Virginia. His death was ruled a suicide.
1994 OJ Simpson offers $500,000 reward for evidence of ex-wife's killer
1996 26th Olympic Summer games opens in Atlanta, Georgia

Holidays
Note: Some Holidays are only applicable on a given "day of the week"
Creative Ice Cream Flavor Day
Space Exploration Day
Columbia-1819, Tunisia-1956 : Independence Day/D¡a de la Independencia
US : Moon Day (1969)

Religious Observances
RC : Comm of St Margaret of Antioch, virgin/martyr (3rd cen)
Old Catholic : Feast of St Jerome Emiliani, confessor

Religious History
1648 The Westminster Larger Catechism was adopted by the General Assembly of the Churchof Scotland at Edinburgh. This and the Shorter Catechism have both been in regular use amongPresbyterians, Baptists and Congregationalists ever since.
1726 Colonial clergyman Jonathan Edwards, 23, married Sarah Pierpont, 16. Theirmarriage prospered for over 30 years, before his premature death in 1758. Sarah herself diedonly six months later, at 48.
1877 Birth of Jesse Overholtzer, who in 1937 incorporated Child Evangelism Fellowshipin Chicago. Today the CEF mission agency works in over 60 countries worldwide.
1910 The Christian Endeavor Society of Missouri began a campaign to ban all motionpictures that depicted kissing between non-relatives.
1962 Pope John XXIII sent invitations to all 'separated Christian churches andcommunities,' asking each to send delegate-observers to the upcoming Vatican II EcumenicalCouncil in Rome.

Source: William D. Blake. ALMANAC OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. Minneapolis: Bethany House, 1987.

Thought for the day :
"Nothing astonishes men so much as common sense and plain dealing."

You might be a computer geek if...
you see a good-looking girl and you DESPERATELY want her e-mail address so you can get to know her.

Murphy's Law of the Day...(Nurses Laws)
You're doing the "Only 27 more minutes of the shift from hell happy-dance", only to turn around to see your supervisor standing there.

You're welcome J
Glad to see your post that you made it back okay J

Good Morning Snippy. Nice to see you doing the morning pings again.

Good Morning Feather.

Me, sleep late?