Index of Historians

Decarie: Prevost was fairly severely criticized by a naval court martial, not by an army court martial. A very interesting point. Because the navy had lost the battle, a battle they shouldn't have lost. After all, they had guns that out ranged the Americans'. If they could have just stayed away from the Americans, like to stay five hundred yards away from the ships, the Americans couldn't have touched them; and they would have reduced the American force to match sticks in about twenty minutes.

But, instead, because Downie was new on the lake, he'd only been here two weeks, wasn't familiar with the winds, the force had to drift in. He now has himself in a new naval engagement. He's simply bombarding ships that can bombard him back, and it becomes a slugging contest. And he loses that contest because at the last minute the American ships can -- one of them can rotate, establish a new side of guns and finish the battle.

The Duke of Wellington supports Prevost's decision afterwards, when he says that, "When you lose the lake, you lose your lines of communication, and when you lose your lines of communication, you can no longer maintain a force there." Remember, this is not a raid. The British aren't coming here to raid Plattsburg and go home like they did in Washington and Baltimore.

This is an invasion, and they plan to stay as far south as they can. He can't stay south without the fleet. He's got to have command of the lake. He's got to have vessels that can transport his troops and the supplies, as long as the lake is open. And in spring, to resupply them and to go further south. The army taking Plattsburg would have cost him some men. Why take those casualties when he'll have to go home anyway, he says.

Fitz-Enz: But if he had taken Plattsburg, he was then in a position to destroy McDonough's fleet because McDonough's fleet couldn't go anywhere; it was barely afloat, and the result would be that McDonough would not command Lake Champlain and the British would at least have the use of it, if not the command of it.