The FReeper Foxhole Remembers the Battle of Plattsburg (9/11/1814) - July 20th, 2003

http://www.galafilm.com/1812/e/events/platts.html ^

[SAMWolf]

What a woman! huh?

[Darksheare]

Yeah.
She had guts, I can say that much.
And probably nerves of steel.

[snippy_about_it]

Good night SAM.

[SAMWolf]

Good Night, Snippy.

So far away....

[PhilDragoo]

Fifteen minutes after the battle began, Captain Downie was sighting a gun when the muzzle was struck with a shot from Saratoga. The force of the blow was so extreme that it ripped the 2,000-pound barrel out of the carriage, flipped it up on end and crushed James Downie to the deck, killing him. Today that gun is mounted in front of Macdonough Hall at the US Naval Academy, Annapolis, Maryland. The carnage was incredible; first to strike her colours was the British Chub, while the American Preble and then the Eagle withdrew. Now Linnit added her firepower to Confiance, ripping up the decks of Macdonough's Saratoga. Ticonderoga contended with the Royal Navy's Finch, while British gunboats fired point blank into her hull and attempted to board. At 1030 hours, Saratoga had lost her last gun when the carronade, along with her crew, were blown into the hold.

Macdonough sheltered his crew below and asked for volunteers to wind the capstan which would pull against the kedge anchor set before the battle. The manoeuver rotated the brig in place and presented a dozen loaded guns to Linnit and Confiance, which were also suffering badly. With the discharge of Saratoga's new battery, the British flagship shuttered and struck her colours. A second salvo directed at Linnet produced the same result. In the meantime, Finch had run aground on Crab Island and was captured. The British gunboats withdrew from the cloud of white smoke that obscured that morning, a sign to Sir George Prevost that the most important phase of the battle had been lost. Without control of the water, Wellington had warned, he could not sustain his force in the enemy territory. Without the ships, he could not transport his army south and establish a firm defensible position.

Mark on muzzle from Saratoga's shell.

Battle of Lake Champlain, 11 September 1814. Commodore Macdonough in the Saratoga defeats the British. Watercolour by E Tufnell.

His flagship, the "Saratoga," he ingeniously arranged so that, by a kedge anchor and hawsers on the quarters he could bring her broadside to bear in any desired direction while her bow remained stationery.

Kedge.--The smallest anchor a yacht carries, used for anchoring temporarily by a hawser or warp. To kedge is to anchor by the kedge, or to carry the kedge anchor out in a boat and warp ahead by it.

[SAMWolf]

Good Evening PhilDragoo.

Thanks for the additional info on the Naval Battle.

One thing a lot of rulers never learned was that Sea Power has always translated into land power. That is even more true today where a US Carrier Battlegroup can influence a ground war hundreds of miles inland.

[snippy_about_it]

Thank you Phil for the added information.

[snippy_about_it]

I know I'm behind on my reading, however I've just finished the Plattsburg thread....

there are plenty of useful things the volunteers can do: dig trenches, put up fortifications, demolish buildings to improve lines of fire, and plant trees on roads to mislead the invaders.

The whole story is interesting but this is where I learn something I never thought about...planting trees to mislead the enemy, makes perfect sense but I just never thought about it. Very interesting. Thanks SAM.

[SAMWolf]

planting trees to mislead the enemy

Here we plant trees to mislead the enemy, in france they plant trees so that the German occupation troops can march in the shade. ;-)

[snippy_about_it]

Here we plant trees to mislead the enemy, in france they plant trees so that the German occupation troops can march in the shade.

LOL!!!!! You are so funny!

Did I tell you I love your sense of humor?

[SAMWolf]

Did I tell you I love your sense of humor?

You're one of the few. ;-)

[apackof2]

thanks bump