The Battle of Plattsburgh, a combined land/naval action, was fought on Lake Champlain near, as well as in the actual town of, Plattsburgh, New York. The result of this battle was a crushing American victory, which not only brought a British invasion to a screaming halt, but also prevented Britain gaining any advantage from two years of war, including the burning of the American national capitol.

The abdication of Napoleon in 1814 had put a halt to the Napoleonic Wars (for the moment -- Napoleon would return for the Hundred Days the next year), and freed up seasoned British combat units for use against the Americans. Some 16,000 were sent to Canada, along with several experienced officers; the Secretary for War and the Colonies, Henry Bathurst (3rd Earl Bathurst), authorized the Commander-in-Chief in Canada (and Governor-General of Canada), Sir George Prevost, to attack the northern US, so long as he did not risk being cut off.

The US controlled Lake Ontario absolutely (and would continue to do so until the British completed a ship-of-the-line, HMS _St. Lawrence_, later that year), so Prevost could not attack Sackett's Harbor (a major US Lakes fleet base) directly, as Bathurst desired; Prevost set upon an indirect approach, taking control of Lake Champlain, thereby securing supply lines to Vermont (a US state which thus far had not been fully-committed to the war, and retained trade ties with Canada) while cutting off Sackett's from landward supply. To avoid provoking Vermont, Prevost's advance would be down the west side of Champlain toward the US base of Plattsburgh.

The forces involved were badly mismatched -- Prevost's 1st brigade alone was made up of Peninsular War veterans; the total force numbered some 11,000. Against this, the US had some 1,500 regular troops and 2,000 militia (who were only usable for digging trenches), including an "invalid battery" on Crab Island (a small fort with cannons manned by the ill and crippled) under Alexander Macomb. On the water, forces were more even, though the US (under Master Commandant Thomas MacDonough) still had fewer ships and less tonnage with a lower weight of shot (14 at 2,264 tons, with 779 lbs. long guns and 1,128 lbs. carronades; to 16 at 2,402, with 1,224 lbs. long guns and 922 lbs. carronades); the British (under captain George Downie) had even gone so far as to build a 36-gun fifth-rate frigate, HMS _Confiance_, while the US's biggest ship was a 26-gun corvette, _Saratoga_ (in some accounts, _Saratoga is optimistically called a frigate). However, while the British forces were stronger in numbers, they were not without their flaws -- particularly, there was tension between the Peninsular veterans and Prevost; Prevost had dressed them down for their appearance, not understanding that their previous commander, the Duke of Wellington, was more keen on gunnery than brightwork. Worse, Prevost and the Canadians had developed a deserved reputation for excessive caution and hesistancy; and their intelligence-gathering capabilities were poor.

Prevost's forces crossed the border on August 31, 1814; on September 6, they reached the now-deserted town of Plattsburgh, where they found the bridges over the Saranac River had been destroyed. Prevost's poor intel now rose up to bite him -- it took him two days to find Pike's Ford, where he could attempt a crossing; meanwhile, the Americans had forced him out of Plattsburgh using red-hot cannon shot to burn buildings in town, and a raid on Sept. 9 had destroyed one of the British Congreve rocket batteries. Once the ford was found, Prevost planned his attack -- first, a feint by the land forces; then the naval forces would destroy the US ships; then the "feint" would be developed into a full attack.

However, the attack was delayed -- first, _Confiance_ took two days to be towed to Plattsburgh; then contrary winds delayed the attack another day. When the wind shifted to the NE on Sept. 11, Prevost ordered the attack.

The Americans were waiting for him. Macdonough, knowing his forces lacked the long guns needed for a long-range fight, determined to force a close-range battle where the near-equal weight of carronades would even the odds; he anchored his ships in Plattsburgh Bay, and rigged them with springs so they could be pivoted using manpower. The British were forced to sail "down the throat" of the US defense -- and with the wind being "light to variable", the British spent a long time bow-on to fire, which rendered them unable to return fire effectively. _Confiance_ took a particular pounding from _Saratoga_, but repaid it in spades when Downie was finally forced to drop anchor some hundreds of yards away -- the first broadside from _Confiance_ killed or wounded 20% of _Saratoga_'s crew! Downie did not get any time to appreciate his crew's work; he was killed a few minutes later.

The rest of the British ships were not much better off. _Chubb_ was shot to pieces, drifted into the US line, and surrendered in short order. _Finch_ failed to reach the line at all, then drifted ashore just under the gun of the "invalid battery" and also promptly gave up. Only _Linnet_ reached its station at the head of the US line, where it first raked USS _Eagle_, eventually forcing _Eagle_ to cut its remaining anchor line and re-station itself at the other side of _Saratoga_; then raked _Saratoga_.

The turning-point of the sea battle was quite literally that -- after an hour of battle, _Saratoga_'s entire starboard broadside was out of service, while the death of Downie had marginalized the effectiveness of _Confiance_'s fire. Macdonough cut his bow anchor, and used his springs to pivot _Saratoga_ 180 degrees, presenting an undamaged port broadside to the British. Unable to withstand this new fire, _Confiance_'s commander attempted to match this maneuver, but succeeded only in presenting his unarmed stern to the US fire; at this point, the British frigate surrendered. _Saratoga_ then swung to face _Linnet_, which was promptly bludgeoned into submission. With the British main ships all taken, the British gunboats unceremoniously fled. The British officers who attempted to hand over their swords to Macdonough were told by him: "Gentlemen, return your swords to your scabbards; you are worthy of them".

Upon seeing the fall of the British ships, Prevost ordered a retreat from Plattsburgh. This was a bit unusual, as the British land forces had successfully pushed across the ford, and were driving back the US infantry when the order came. Not only did the land attack go nowhere, the British lost the entire light company of the 76th Regiment of Foot -- the unit did not get the recall signal, and was surrounded on the wrong side of the river. Worse, the British failed to destroy the supplies they left behind. Final sums for the land battle were: British -- 37 killed, 150 wounded and 57 missing; US -- 37 killed, 62 wounded and 20 missing among the regular troops, 115 killed and 130 wounded total.

The defeat of the British was total -- the invasion died aborning; and the loss deprived Britain of a bargaining chip at the peace-negotiation table, canceling out the US defeat at Bladensburg and the burning of Washington DC. Britain was forced to accept peace on the basis of "status quo ante bellum", plus US control of Lake Champlain and US rights to use of the Great Lakes. To the surprise of no one, Prevost was removed from his posts and sent back to England; the ship captains were acquitted in courts-martial for their losses. On the US side, Macomb was promoted to Major-General and he and his men were given the Thanks of Congress, while Macdonough made Captain (plus a brevet Commodore rank, for having commanded a squadron); all US commanders received gold medals as well.

William Clowes, British historian, described the naval battle thus: "[A] most notable feat, one which, on the whole, surpassed that of any other captain of either navy in this war". Comparisons have been made between this battle and the Battle of the Nile; Macdonough's performance illustrating how French Admiral Brueys could have defeated Admiral Nelson.

For further details: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Plattsburgh .