Part 55 (2/2)

[Rx]. Uno latere percusso. alterum impavide vert.i.t.

CAPTAIN THOMAS MACDONOUGH.

[_Victory of Lake Champlain._]

THO. MACDONOUGH. STAGNO CHAMPLAIN CLAS. REG. BRIT. SUPERAVIT. (_Thomas Macdonough Stagno Champlain cla.s.sim Regis Britannia superavit: Thomas Macdonough defeated the Royal British fleet on Lake Champlain._) Bust of Captain Macdonough, in uniform, facing the right. FuRST. F.

(_fecit_).

UNO LATERE PERCUSSO. ALTERUM IMPAVIDE VERt.i.t. (_Beaten on one side, he fearlessly turns the other._) Naval action on Lake Champlain, between the United States fleet, carrying eighty-six guns, under Captain Macdonough, and the British fleet, with ninety-five guns, commanded by Commodore Downie. To the right, the city of Plattsburgh in flames.

Exergue: INTER CLa.s.s. AMERI. ET BRIT. DIE XI SEPT. MDCCCXIIII. (_Inter cla.s.sim Americanam et Britannicam, die 11 Septembris, 1814: Between the American and British fleets, September 11, 1814._) On the platform, FuRST. F. (_fecit_).

THOMAS MACDONOUGH was born in Newcastle County, Delaware, December 23, 1783. He entered the navy as a mids.h.i.+pman in 1800; served in the Tripolitan campaign, and was with Decatur in the Intrepid, when the latter blew up the Philadelphia. He was made a lieutenant in February, 1807, and a master-commandant in July, 1813. He defeated the British squadron, commanded by Commodore George Downie, on Lake Champlain, September 11, 1814, for which victory he received the thanks of Congress and a gold medal, and was promoted to the rank of (p. 190) captain. He commanded the Mediterranean squadron for several years, and died at sea, November 18, 1825, of consumption, on his homeward voyage to the United States.

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ORIGINAL DOc.u.mENTS.

_Resolutions of Congress Voting Medals to Captains Macdonough and Henley, Lieutenant Ca.s.sin, etc._

_Resolved unanimously by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress a.s.sembled_: That the thanks of Congress be, and the same are hereby, presented to Captain Thomas Macdonough, and through him to the officers, petty officers, seamen, marines, and infantry serving as marines, attached to the squadron under his command, for the decisive and splendid victory gained on Lake Champlain, on the eleventh of September, in the year one thousand eight hundred and fourteen, over a British squadron of superior force.

_Resolved_, That the President of the United States be requested to cause gold medals to be struck, emblematical of the action between the two squadrons, and to present them to Captain Macdonough and Captain Robert Henley, and also to Lieutenant Stephen Ca.s.sin, in such a manner as may be most honourable to them; and that the President be further requested to present a silver medal,[90] with suitable emblems and devices, to each of the commissioned officers of the navy and army serving on board, and a sword to each of the mids.h.i.+pmen and sailing-masters, who so n.o.bly distinguished themselves in that memorable conflict.

[Footnote 90: The silver medals are copies of the one in gold given to Captain Macdonough.]

_Resolved_, That the President of the United States be requested to present a silver medal, with like emblems and devices, to the nearest male relative of Lieutenant Peter Gamble, and of Lieutenant John Stansbury, and to communicate to them the deep regret which Congress feel for the loss of those gallant men, whose names ought to live in the recollection and affection of a grateful country.

_Resolved_, That three months' pay be allowed, exclusively of the common allowance, to all petty officers, seamen, marines, and infantry serving as marines, who so gloriously supported the honour of the American flag on that memorable day.

Approved October 20, 1814.

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_Resolution of Congress Complimentary to Lieutenant Silas Duncan._

_Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States in Congress a.s.sembled_: That the provisions of the joint resolutions of Congress pa.s.sed October twentieth, eighteen hundred and fourteen, ent.i.tled ”Resolution expressive of the sense of Congress of the gallant conduct of Captain Thomas Macdonough, the officers, seamen and marines, and infantry (p. 191) serving as marines on board of the United States squadron on Lake Champlain,” be so construed and extended as to include the names of Silas Duncan, a lieutenant in the Navy of the United States, in testimony of the sense which is entertained by both houses of Congress of the distinguished gallantry and good conduct of the said Lieutenant Duncan, in an action with the enemy's forces on the sixth of September, eighteen hundred and fourteen, on the same lake.

Approved May 13th, 1826.

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_Captain Macdonough to the Secretary of the Navy._

To the Honorable United States s.h.i.+p Saratoga, William JONES, Off Plattsburgh, September 11th, 1814.

Secretary of the Navy, Was.h.i.+ngton, D. C.

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