Lot Essay
The action on Lake Champlain took place on the 11th September 1814. The Americans under the command of Admiral Macdonough defeated the British -- an important victory which secured the Northern Frontier.
In order to fight, each side had hurridly constructed a 'one battle' temporary fleet having brought their own shipwrights with them. Using local, unseasoned wood, they surprised each other by producing two and three masted frigates -- an extraordinary feat when one considers that they were nearly all produced within a space of two months on a land-locked lake. Nearly all the vessels which survived the battle had sunk on their moorings within three years, no longer required having served their purpose.
In order to fight, each side had hurridly constructed a 'one battle' temporary fleet having brought their own shipwrights with them. Using local, unseasoned wood, they surprised each other by producing two and three masted frigates -- an extraordinary feat when one considers that they were nearly all produced within a space of two months on a land-locked lake. Nearly all the vessels which survived the battle had sunk on their moorings within three years, no longer required having served their purpose.