The Men of the Lake Champlain Squadron: 1812-1826

The Battle of Lake Champlain on 11 September 1814 was the greatest naval victory for the U.S. Navy during the War of 1812. The naval squadron, under the command of Master Commandant Thomas Macdonough, captured the major British warships on this lake, which forced the British Army to retreat back to Upper Canada, ending their siege of Plattsburgh, New York.

A water re-supply route on this lake was essential for the success of the British Army in their campaign to control Lake Champlain and the Hudson River Valley. Had the battle gone the other way, upper New York state would have fallen into British hands and Lake Champlain would have become the king’s lake. New England would have been cut off from the rest of the country, and the British could have been able to penetrate south towards New York City.

Much has been written on this battle and on Macdonough, but little exists for the officers and men who served in this squadron between 1812 and 1826. The primary focus of this book is to identify the men who served with the Lake Champlain Squadron, and not to present to the readers a complete history of the battles and the ships that are associated with this squadron. This book is genealogical in nature in order to help family researchers in discovering their ancestor’s military participation on Lake Champlain during and after the War of 1812.

Mr. Johnson is a lineal descendant of seven veterans of the War of 1812, and he is a Fellow of the Ohio Genealogical Society and a Registrar-General Emeritus for the General Society of the War of 1812. Johnson is currently the District Deputy President General for the Great Lakes Region for the General Society of the War of 1812.

Eric Eugene Johnson

2026, 8.5" x 11", paper, 118 pp.

ISBN: 9780788455520

101-J5552