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.

DESCRIPTION OF THE MEDAL.

Occasion.—Victory on Lake Champlain.

Device.—A bust of Captain Macdonough.

Legend.—Tho. Macdonough stagno Champlain class. Reg. Britan. superavit.

Reverse.—Fleet engaged; many boats on the lake; Plattsburgh in sight.

Legend.—Uno latere percusso alterum impavide vertit.

Exergue.—Inter class. Ameri. et Brit. die 11th Sept. 1814.