Thomas Macdonough, a young man of thirty years who had received his training in the Mediterranean wars. Both fleets on the lake were more or less deficient in stores and equipment, and the gunboats on both sides were in part manned by soldiers. By any fair measurement, the advantage of the British in guns and equipment was almost as great as that which characterized the army.

The plans for the battle showed Macdonough's superiority over the common run of commanders. He carefully provided against possible disaster, placing his vessels in such a way as to utilize to the full the advantages of the geographical situation. In fact, it might be called a naval battle with a natural land backing. The most dramatic incident of the fight illustrates the quality of Macdonough's ability. After two hours of fighting, the British squadron had a very distinct advantage and was on the point of taking the whole American fleet because Macdonough's chief vessel, the Saratoga, became disabled. He promptly devised means for turning the vessel half-way round by the operation known as "winding ship," so as to present to the enemy what was substantially a new and fresh vessel. This resourcefulness saved the day, and during the folfowing half-hour the Confiance struck her colors, and was followed by other vessels of the squadron.'

This battle resulting in such a distinguished American victory was one of the most stubbornly con1 Niles' Register, VII., 41; James, Naval Occurrences, 401 et seq.

tested of the war, and added one more hero who could rank with Perry in public estimation. He received a vote of thanks and a gold medal from Congress, and later the state of Vermont gave him a farm overlooking the scene of his victory. The decisiveness of this battle was evident at once to the British. Hardly was the result known, when measures were taken for the retreat of Prevost's army into Canada.' At best, Prevost's assault upon the land forces had been so poor as to give little aid to the fleet; and for this failure and his prompt retreat, Prevost was ordered to trial by courtmartial, but died before the trial could take place. The war was practically ended by this retreat of the British army from Plattsburg into Canada. It would seem as though the persistent mismanagement of the American forces in northern New York, the incompetency of Dearborn and Wilkinson, the strange interference of Secretary Armstrong, the diversion of the forces of Izard from the front of Prevost's army, were all atoned for by the brilliancy of the accomplishment of Commodore Macdonough and his handful of sailors and soldiers on Lake Champlain.

1

1 James, Military Occurrences, II., 461 (Prevost's report); Niles' Register, VII., 44, 60; Roosevelt, Naval War (3d ed.), 398.

CHAPTER VIII

THE SOUTHWEST AND THE CENTRE

(1813-1815)

N another quarter the campaigns of 1813 and 1814 were important-in the southwest. The people of Tennessee, Georgia, and Mississippi territory expected that Florida would be their share of the spoils of war, just as Canada would be the reward of the north and west. Had not the United States already taken West Florida and occupied Amelia Island, as evidences of its attitude towards the strip of Spanish territory north of the Gulf? In the winter of 1812-1813, at the call of the war department, the governor of Tennessee despatched Andrew Jackson, major-general of the militia of that state, with two thousand men down the Mississippi to Natchez, there to wait for marching orders, which would, it was expected, direct a movement against Mobile and the "lower country." Congress was already considering the relation of Florida to the course of the war, and the first proposal discussed in the Senate was to sanction the occupation of all or any part of East Florida. But Congress was not willing to go quite

so far even in secret session, as it had gone in 1811; and finally authorized the president, by the special act of February 12, 1813, to take possession of Mobile and the portion of Florida west of the Perdido.1

Thus once more Madison's enemies in the Senate thwarted his desires; and since the troops under Jackson could not be used to occupy Pensacola and St. Augustine, they were ordered dismissed at Natchez, five hundred miles from home. Jackson was angry with the administration, at what seemed to be deception on its part, or what might be a device for coercing the militia to enter the volunteer service; and he marched his troops back to Tennessee on his own guarantee of their rations and pay. Secretary Armstrong later explained the matter to Jackson in a letter in which he thanked the Tennesseeans for their services, which would have been needed "had the Executive policy of occupying the two Floridas been adopted by the national legislature." He further mollified the irascible general by allowing the claims for the expenses of his troops on their return march. While the actual occupation of West Florida to the Perdido, and the erection of Fort Bowyer on Mobile Bay, was carried out by General Wilkinson during the spring of 1813, another year was to elapse before General Jackson could make his longed-for assault on the Spanish

1 See above, p. 27; Annals of Cong., 12 Cong., 2 Sess., 124-127; U. S. Statutes at Large, III., 472.

province and plant the American flag at Pensacola,1

The part of the campaign in the southwest most directly connected with the welfare of the United States was the subjugation of the Indians of the Alabama country. The state of Georgia had long set the fashion of maltreating those Indians within her borders who were settled upon lands which the white man coveted both passively and actively. As the settlements spread to the westward and came in contact with the Creeks and other partly civilized tribes, the irritation of the Indians became acute. The half-civilized tribes took deeper and deeper root as they developed, under the guidance of the federal government, away from the hunting stage to the cultivation of fields; and every piece of evidence that the Indians might remain in the region permanently, roused fresh antagonism among the Georgians and Tennesseeans. The Creeks and Seminoles were by temperament and by their nearness to the weak and poverty - stricken Spaniards, at a disadvantage in their fight against the white "civilization," when compared with the aggressive Indians of the northwest, who profited by the strength of their accommodating British neighbors. The spirit of resistance in the southwest was stirred especially by the visit of Tecumseh in 1811, and by the movements of warriors

'MSS. in war department, quoted by Adams, United States, VII., 210; Parton, Jackson, I., 377-382, 384 (Benton's account).