For the biography and exploits of this brave officer, we are indebted
to that valuable work entitled “The Portrait Gallery.”
“Thomas Macdonough was born in the county of Newcastle, in the state of
Delaware, in December, 1783. His father was a physician, but inspired
with a love of liberty, he entered the army of the revolution as a
major; he did not, however, remain long in the service, but returned to
private life and his professional pursuits, until the close of the war,
when he was made a judge; in which office he remained until his death,
which happened in 1795. He left three sons. His eldest son, James, was
a midshipman with Commodore Truxton when he took the Insurgent.
“In that battle he was so severely wounded, that his leg was obliged to
be amputated. He soon afterwards left the navy with the reputation of a
brave officer. In 1798, the subject of this memoir obtained a warrant
as a midshipman, and commenced his career as a naval officer.
“Those who were acquainted with his early life, spoke of Midshipman
Macdonough as a young officer of great promise; but he had no
opportunity of being made known to the public until the country had
the misfortune to lose the frigate Philadelphia. When the gallant
Decatur proposed to burn her, as she lay in possession of the enemy,
he selected Macdonough as one of the young officers to accompany him
on that hazardous expedition; and he reaped an early harvest of honor
in that daring exploit, with his leader and others. The Mediterranean
has been the birth-place of more naval reputations than all the waters
of the world beside, and it was there, too, that our infant navy
displayed some of those acts of valor and good conduct which were of
importance in themselves, and were hailed as presages of future glory
for our country. When Macdonough was first lieutenant of the Syren,
under command of Captain Smith, a circumstance occurred in the harbor
of Gibraltar sufficiently indicative of the firmness and decision of
his character. An American merchant brig came to anchor near the United
States vessel. Macdonough, in the absence of Captain Smith, who had
gone on shore, saw a boat from a British frigate board the brig, and
take from her a man. He instantly manned and armed his gig and pursued
the British boat, which he overtook, just as it reached the frigate,
and without ceremony took the impressed man into his own boat. The
frigate’s boat was twice the force of his own; but the act was so bold
as to astound the lieutenant who commanded the press-gang, and no
resistance was offered.
When the affair was made known to the British captain he came on
board the Syren in a great rage, and inquired how he dared to take a
man from his boat. Macdonough replied that the man was an American
seaman, and was under the protection of the flag of the United States,
and that it was his duty to protect him. The captain, with a volley of
oaths, swore he would bring his frigate along side the Syren and sink
her. ‘This you may do,’ said Macdonough, ‘but while she swims the man
you will not have.’ The English captain told Macdonough that he was a
young hairbrained fellow, and would repent of his rashness. ‘Supposing
sir,’ said he, ‘I had been in that boat, would you have dared to have
committed such an act?’ ‘I should have made the attempt, sir, at all
hazards,’ was the reply. ‘What, sir!’ said the English captain, ‘would
you venture to interfere if I were to impress men from that brig?’ ‘You
have only to try it, sir!’ was the pithy answer. The English officer
returned to his ship, manned his boat, and made his way towards the
brig. Macdonough did the same, but there the affair ended,--the English
boat took a circuitous route and returned to the ship.
“There was such a calmness in the conduct of Lieutenant Macdonough,
such a solemnity in his language, such a politeness in his manner,
that the British officer saw that he had to deal with no ordinary man,
and that it was not prudent to put him on his metal. In that garden of
the world, the shores of the Mediterranean, where nations have grown
up and decayed, and others have taken their places; where everything
is marked with age, luxury, crime, and temptation, and where many a
fine young officer has made shipwreck of his morals and his health,
Macdonough exhibited the Spartan firmness with the Christian virtues.
His bravery was never for one moment doubted, but he was so reserved,
temperate, and circumspect, that the envious sometimes strove to bring
him to their level, and often were snares set for him, but he was never
caught. His character was fair and bright as the surface of a mirror,
before it was brought to reflect any ray of glory upon himself and his
country.
“There is generally a good share of sagacity in the common sailor; he
sees through a character much clearer than we generally suppose. Before
Macdonough had been promoted to a lieutenancy, he had the heart of
every sailor who knew him. There are few so ignorant that they cannot
distinguish moral worth, when connected with professional ability, and
none so bad as not to approve of it. It has often been stated, and
never questioned, that while in Syracuse, he was one night attacked by
three assassins, with daggers.
“He drew his sword, and wounded two of them so severely as to fear
nothing further from them; the other fled, but he pursued him to the
roof of a building, and climbing it after the assassin, would have
caught him, if he had not thrown himself from it with the loss of his
life. At the declaration of war with England, in 1812, our navy was
put into requisition, and every officer panted for distinction. The
elder officers were mostly sent on the ocean; some of the high spirited
juniors to the lakes. Among the latter, Lieutenant Macdonough was
ordered to Lake Champlain, an important station; for through this lake
a communication could most readily be had with the most powerful part
of the Canadas.
“The main armies of the British were always near Montreal and Quebec,
but for the first two years of the war, both sides were busy in another
direction, particularly on the Lakes Ontario and Erie. The contending
powers watched each other’s movements and kept nearly _pari passu_
in the augmentation of their naval forces; the English always in the
advance, having in many respects greater facilities; if not in ship
building, certainly in procuring munitions of war, sails, rigging, &c.
“Towards the close of the summer of 1814, the warlike preparations on
Lake Champlain, and its vicinity, seemed to portend some powerful shock.
“Large bodies of troops, the veterans of Wellington’s army, to the
amount of sixteen thousand, had arrived in Canada, and were preparing
to strike a severe blow on the frontiers, one that would be felt to
the very vitals of the nation. Izard received orders to assist Brown,
and Macomb was left with a handful of men to defend Plattsburgh. The
fleet under Macdonough was put in readiness for an attack. He had only
four ships, the Saratoga, twenty-six guns; the Eagle, twenty guns; the
Ticonderoga, seventeen guns; the Preble, seven guns; and ten galleys,
carrying sixteen guns, making in all eighty-six guns.
“The British force was larger; four ships and thirteen galleys, in all
ninety-five guns; their complement of men was also much larger.
“That the American fleet was commanded by a young officer who ranked
only as lieutenant, and the British by an old experienced officer, gave
Sir George Prevost no doubt of the issue of his naval operations. On
the land, too, with his veterans from Waterloo, he was quite certain
of a signal victory. On the afternoon of the 10th of September, it was
evident that the assault on the lake and on the land was to be made the
next day; and Macdonough deemed it best to await the attack at anchor.
At eight o’clock on the morning of the 11th, the British fleet was seen
approaching, and in another hour the battle had commenced.
“The most accurate description of it must be from his own pen. ‘At
nine,’ says Macdonough, ‘the enemy anchored in a line ahead, at about
three hundred yards distant from my line; his ship opposed to the
Saratoga; his brig to the Eagle, Captain Robert Henley; his galleys,
thirteen in number, to the schooner, sloop, and a division of our
galleys; one of his sloops assisting their ship and brig; the other
assisting their galleys; our remaining galleys were with the Saratoga
and Eagle.
“‘In this situation, the whole force on both sides became engaged, the
Saratoga suffering much from the heavy fire of the Confiance. I could
perceive at the same time, however, that our fire was very destructive
to her. The Ticonderoga, Lieutenant Commandant Cassin, gallantly
sustained her full share of the action. At half past ten, the Eagle not
being able to bring her guns to bear, cut her cable and anchored in a
more eligible position, between my ship and the Ticonderoga, where she
very much annoyed the enemy, but unfortunately leaving me much exposed
to a galling fire from the enemy’s brig.
“‘Our guns on the starboard side being nearly all dismounted, or
unmanageable, a stern anchor was let go, the lower cable cut, and the
ship winded with a fresh broadside on the enemy’s ship, which soon
after surrendered. Our broadside was then sprung to bear on the brig,
which surrendered about fifteen minutes afterwards. The sloop which was
opposed to the Eagle, had struck some time before, and drifted down
the line. The sloop that was with their galleys had also struck. Three
of their galleys sunk, the others pulled off. Our galleys were about
obeying with alacrity the signal to follow them, when all the vessels
were reported to me to be in a sinking condition.
“‘It then became necessary to annul the signal to the galleys, and
order their men to the pumps. I could only look at the enemy’s galleys
going off in a shattered condition, for there was not a mast in either
squadron that could stand to make sail on. The lower rigging being
nearly shot away, hung down as though it had just been placed over the
mast heads.
“‘The Saratoga had fifty-five round shot in her hull; the British ship
Confiance, one hundred and five. The enemy’s shot passed principally
just over our heads, as there were not twenty whole hammocks in the
nettings, at the close of the action, which lasted without intermission
two hours and twenty minutes.
“‘The absence and sickness of Lieutenant Raymond Perry, left me
without the assistance of that excellent officer. Much ought fairly to
be attributed to him for his great care and attention in disciplining
the ship’s crew, as her first lieutenant. His place was filled by a
gallant young officer, Lieutenant Peter Gamble, who, I regret to inform
you, was killed early in the action.’
“The Saratoga was twice on fire during the action, by hot shot from the
Confiance; but the flames were promptly extinguished. At the same time
the land forces were engaged, both armies looking on the sea fight as
in a measure the turning point with them.
“The loss of the Americans was fifty-two killed, and fifty-eight
wounded; that of the British, eighty-four killed and one hundred and
ten wounded. The prisoners taken far exceeded the whole number of
Americans in the action. This victory was hailed by the whole nation
with great joy. The state of New York, in justice and gratitude, gave
the gallant captain a thousand acres of land, of no small value, and
the state of Vermont made a grant of two hundred acres, within a short
distance of the battle ground. The city of New York gave Macdonough
a valuable lot of land, and the city of Albany did the same. Festive
honors were offered him in all places where he chanced to pass through,
which were generally declined.
“Congress presented a vote of thanks and a gold medal, (See Plate XII.)
From the close of the war to the time of his decease, he shared the
honors of the home and foreign service with his compeers.
“He was an excellent member of courts martial, for he brought to those
tribunals a candid mind, ever ready to find matters that made in favor
of the accused as well as against him. For several years before his
death he made his home in Middletown, Connecticut, where he had married
a Miss Shaler, a lady of a highly respectable family of that place. He
died of consumption, on the 10th of November, 1825. His wife had paid
the debt of nature only a few months before.”
The great charms of his character were the refinement of his taste,
the purity of his principles, and the sincerity of his religion. These
gave a perfume to his name which the partial page of history seldom can
retain for departed warriors, however brilliant their deeds.