Shipwrights in Vergennes Were Key to Battle of Champlain-- Part 5: A Naval Arms Race on the Lake

Learning of the new larger threat of the HMS Confiance, Macdonough pleaded with the Navy to build another large ship.  Navy Secretary William Jones rejected this request saying there was not enough money.  However, President James Madison intervened.

This time, the Navy hired Adam Brown, Noah Brown's brother, who brought along with him about 200 shipwrights.  In just 19 days, they built the Eagle, a 120-foot long, 20-gun brig and launched it on August 11,  two weeks before the Confiance was launched.

The Browns and their bands of shipwrights were invaluable to the American cause, as was proven on September  11, 1814.

At the time, the British had troops invading south along the New York side of Lake Champlain and many of those troops were in the Plattsburgh area.  The British commander wanted to wait for the Royal Navy to defeat Macdonough's ships before storming Plattsburgh. (Plattsburgh with an "h" at the end of it because  that's the most common way the Battle of Plattsburgh is described.)

--Brock-Perry