ght under
Wellington. The conclusion of the Peninsular campaign had released them
for service in America, and England was now able for the first time to
throw her military strength against the feeble forces of the United
States. It was announced as the intention of the British Government to
take and hold the lakes, from Champlain to Erie, as territorial waters
and a permanent barrier. To oppose the large and seasoned army which was
to effect these projects, there was an American force of only fifteen
hundred men, led by Brigadier General Alexander Macomb. All he could do
was to try to hold the defensive works at Plattsburg and to send forward
small skirmishing parties to annoy the British army which advanced in
solid column, without taking the trouble to deploy.

On the 6th of September Sir George Prevost with his army reached
Plattsburg and encamped just outside the town. From a ridge the British
leader beheld the redoubts, strong field works, and blockhouses, and at
anchor in the bay the little American fleet of Commodore Thomas
Macdonough. To Prevost it looked like a costly business to attempt to
carry these defenses by assault and he therefore decided to await the
arrival of the British ships of Captain George Downie. A combined attack
by land and sea, he believed, should find no difficulty in wiping out
American resistance.

Such was the situation and the weighty responsibility which confronted
Macdonough and his sailors. It was the most critical moment of the war.
With a seaman's eye for defense Macdonough met it by stationing his
vessels in a carefully chosen position and prepared with a seaman's
foresight for every contingency. Plattsburg Bay is about two miles wide
and two long and lies open to the southward, with a cape called
Cumberland Head bounding it on the east. It was in this sheltered water
that Macdonough awaited attack, his ships riding about a mile from the
American shore batteries. These guns were to be captured by the British
army and turned against him, according to the plans of General Prevost,
who was urging Captain Downie to hasten with his fleet and undertake a
joint action, for, as he said, "it is of the highest importance that
the ships, vessels, and gunboats of your command should combine a
cooperation with the division of the army under my command. I only wait
for your arrival to proceed against General Macomb's last position on
the south bank of the Saranac."

These demands became more