Lawrence River to their base at Isle aux Noix, Macdonough convinced the new Secretary of the Navy, William Jones, to send men, supplies, and ordnance to build fifteen galleys of his own. After spying the British bring several galleys from the St. 4 Despite commanding the lake, Pring could not dislodge Macdonough from the bottleneck that prevented the British Army from advancing south. Macdonough, now a Master Commandant, suffered a serious shortage of officers, seaman, ships, and ordnance. The British seized two small craft and departed. On August 3, two British sloops and a galley attacked Macdonough’s squadron while moored for repairs at Burlington, Vermont.
Macdonough had to race to buy, build, and repair enough ships to reconstitute his fleet. 3 The British, under Commander Daniel Pring, destroyed the American barracks and storehouses and captured the few remaining private vessels on the lake. All Macdonough had left was another sloop in need of repair and two unmanned gunboats. Once raised, the British rechristened the sloops Finch and Chubb, respectively. Navy controlled the lake until June 1813 when one of Macdonough’s lieutenants grounded the sloops Growler and Eagle while trying to chase down British gunboats. Naval forces on Lake Champlain on September 28, 1812. Secretary of the Navy Paul Hamilton assigned Lieutenant Thomas Macdonough to command the U.S. The lake runs 107 miles long, but is only 14 miles at its widest, and drains north into the St Lawrence River via the Richelieu River. The Lake Champlain Valley between the Green and Adirondack Mountains provided a corridor for a large army to transit, but passage required control of Lake Champlain for transportation and logistical support.
Dense wilderness and mountainous terrain covered most of the U.S.-Canadian border in the early nineteenth century. Rear Admiral Alfred Thayer Mahan recognized, “hat even the defects of preparation, extreme and culpable as these were, could have been overcome, is evidenced by the history of the Lakes.” 1 Master Commandant Thomas Macdonough’s preparation and execution on Lake Champlain stands in particular contrast to the greater Navy’s ability to demonstrate the value of enemy-oriented planning and shipbuilding.Īn American defense from a Canadian attack (and, for the War Hawks of Congress, the invasion and annexation of Canada) relied on control of Lakes Ontario, Erie, and Champlain. The final objective, to maintain superiority on the lakes, stands apart from the rest of the U.S. Navy’s failures to effectively prosecute the war at sea and defend the maritime frontier during the War of 1812.
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