two-pound
carronades; schooner "Ticonderoga," with eight long twelve-pounders,
four long eighteen-pounders, and five thirty-two-pound carronades;
sloop "Preble," with seven long nines; and ten galleys. The commander
who ruled over this fleet was a man still in his twenty-ninth year.
The successful battles of the War of 1812 were fought by young
officers, and the battle of Lake Champlain was no exception to the
rule.

The British force which came into battle with Macdonough's fleet was
slightly superior. It was headed by the flagship "Confiance," a
frigate of the class of the United States ship "Constitution,"
carrying thirty long twenty-fours, a long twenty-four-pounder on a
pivot, and six thirty-two or forty-two pound carronades. The other
vessels were the "Linnet," a brig mounting sixteen long twelves; and
the "Chubb" and "Finch" (captured from the Americans under the names
of "Growler" and "Eagle"),--sloops carrying respectively ten
eighteen-pound carronades and one long six; and six eighteen-pound
carronades, four long sixes, and one short eighteen. To these were
added twelve gunboats, with varied armaments, but each slightly
heavier than the American craft of the same class.

The 11th of September had been chosen by the British for the combined
land and water attack upon Plattsburg. With the movements of the land
forces, this narrative will not deal. The brunt of the conflict fell
upon the naval forces, and it was the success of the Americans upon
the water that turned the faces of the British invaders toward Canada.

The village of Plattsburg stands upon the shore of a broad bay which
communicates with Lake Champlain by an opening a mile and a half wide,
bounded upon the north by Cumberland Head, and on the south by Crab
Island. In this bay, about two miles from the western shore,
Macdonough's fleet lay anchored in double line, stretching north and
south. The four large vessels were in the front rank, prepared to meet
the brunt of the conflict; while the galleys formed a second line in
the rear. The morning of the day of battle dawned clear, with a brisk
north-east wind blowing. The British were stirring early, and at
daybreak weighed anchor and came down the lake. Across the low-lying
isthmus that connected Cumberland Head with the mainland, the
Americans could see their adversaries' topmasts as they came down to
do battle. At this sight, Macdonough called his officers about him,
and, kneeling upon the quarte