He knew that the British were building with new vigor at their shipyard at Isle aux Noix (now Parks Canada's Fort Lennox historic site). On Lake Champlain, 31-year-old Thomas Macdonough was starting his third year of command. Navy commanders an edge in the crucial battles of Lake Erie in 1813 and Lake Champlain in 1814. A powerful, battle-hardened British army was sent from Europe to invade the United States via Lake Champlain in order to end the war from a position of strength.įacing this threat, hundreds of men from New York's East River shipyards traveled to Lakes Erie, Ontario and Champlain to engage their British counterparts in a "War of Shipwrights." Adam and Noah Brown, Christian Bergh and Henry Eckford led the effort to build and launch the amazing array of warships that gave U.S. They pressed the Americans along the Niagara Peninsula, continued their naval race on Lake Ontario, burned Washington, bombarded Baltimore, and attacked New Orleans in a tragic battle that took place after a peace treaty was negotiated. In 1814, with Napoleon defeated in Europe, the British brought new vigor to the war. Through 18 the advantage shifted back and forth along the border with Canada. In that first year of conflict, American land forces saw setbacks while the Navy proved a source of pride.
By 1812, American war hawks led the country to war. Their insatiable need for sailors resulted in repeated confrontations between British naval ships and neutral American vessels. The key to British victory was naval superiority. For Great Britain, the War of 1812 with the United States was far overshadowed by the intense struggle to defeat France's Napoleon Bonaparte. Two hundred years ago, the interconnected waterways of northeastern North America helped to change the world's balance of power. The following was adapted from an original narrative by Art Cohn, senior historian at the Lake Champlain Maritime Museum:
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