American Historical Ephemera & Photography, Featuring Property from the James Milgram, M.D., Collection of Broadsides, Ephemeral Americana & Historical Documents

10 11/16 x 17 7/8 in. letterpress broadside (some creasing, small marginal chips); framed to 17 x 25 3/8 in. (not examined out of frame). Signed in type "Zephri" and "M.A."

An illustrated broadside commemorating the victories of Commodore Thomas Macdonough, Jr. (1783-1825)  during the Lake Champlain campaign and the pivotal Battle of Plattsburgh. 

At the beginning of the War, the British were able to destroy the only two American vessels on Lake Champlain. Knowing the strategic importance of the waterway, Macdonough rapidly began construction on the corvette Saratoga, the new sloop Eagle, and additional gunboats. The schooner Ticonderoga was also converted into a 17-gun warship. With this new fleet and a shrewd analysis of British tactics, the Commodore forced the Royal Navy back into Canada and progressed to the strategically important Plattsburgh, New York. In the Battle of Plattsburgh (6-11 September 1814), Macdonough successfully outmaneuvered the 36-gun British Flagship HMS Confiance, forcing her surrender, killing the British Commodore George Downie in the process, and then proceeding to capture the largest ships in the Royal Navy.

Here, nine stanzas rejoice over Macdonough's victories, drawing parallels between the "Hero of Lake Champlain" to Oliver Hazard Perry the "Hero of Lake Erie" in the title and first stanza: "O freemen! raise a joyous strain! Aloft the Eagle towers, 'We've met the enemy' again - Again have made them 'OURS!'" A short biography of Commodore Macdonough is included, highlighting his naval experience in the first Barbary War. RARE: No other copies located.