Thomas Macdonough was born on December 31, 1783, at The Trap (now Macdonough), Delaware. He was the sixth of the ten children of Maj. Thomas McDonough (sic), a physician, and of Mary (Vance) McDonough.
His grandfather, James, who was of the Protestant faith, had emigrated from County Kildare, Ireland, to America about 1730.
Education
Macdonough entered naval life at an early age, receiving a midshipman's commission at the age of sixteen.
Career
On February 5, 1800, Thomas entered the navy as a midshipman, and that year made his first cruise in the West Indies against the French. He next participated in the war with Tripoli, first on the Constellation and later on the Philadelphia. When the last-named ship captured the Moorish vessel Mirboka, he was ordered to the prize as the second officer. Later, he joined the Enterprise, Capt. Stephen Decatur, and took part in the two daring exploits of that officer, the burning of the captured Philadelphia and an attack on the Tripolitan gunboats.
In 1805, he was made first lieutenant of the Enterprise and two years later filled the same office on the Syren, on which vessel he returned to America. In January 1807, he received a permanent appointment as lieutenant. He was ordered to Middletown, Connecticut, in October 1806, to assist Capt. Isaac Hull in the construction of some gunboats. This proved to him an exceedingly important tour of duty, although it lasted only three months, for in Middletown he found a new home among new friends, joined the Episcopal church.
As the first lieutenant of the Wasp, he spent the years 1807-08 in a voyage to England and in cruises along the Atlantic coast enforcing the Embargo. Since the navy at this time offered little chance for advancement, he requested and obtained a furlough, in 1810, in order to make a voyage to the East Indies. He sailed from New York in command of the brig Gulliver, bound for Liverpool and Calcutta, and returned home with a cargo of mixed merchandise. A second venture of a similar character as commander of the ship Jeannette was interrupted early in 1812 by the passage of the Non-Intercourse Act.
On the outbreak of the War of 1812, Macdonough applied for active duty and was ordered to Washington to join the Constellation as the first lieutenant. Finding this vessel not ready for sea, he sought and obtained command of the naval station at Portland, Maine.
A few weeks later he was ordered to take command of the fleet on Lake Champlain, and early in October arrived at the scene of his new duties. Here he was confronted with the task of fitting out a small fleet and maintaining a superiority in naval force over the enemy. He worked at a great disadvantage, since armament, naval stores, artisans, and seamen had to be moved from the seacoast to the lake.
By the time he was ready for operations, the season was too far advanced to undertake them and he went into winter quarters at Shelburne, Vermont. Soon after the cruising season of 1813 opened, he lost two of his vessels through the bad judgment of one of his officers, and the balance of naval power shifted to the enemy. September arrived before he could assemble another fleet and contest the possession of the lake.
As he sailed down the lake, the British retreated into Canadian waters and a decision was postponed until the coming year. The season of 1814 opened with naval superiority on the side of Macdonough. By energetic efforts, he had built or otherwise obtained a fleet of thirteen small vessels, of which his flagship Saratoga, 26 guns, was the largest and most powerful.
By September the British commander, Commodore George Downie, had regained the naval advantage, chiefly by the construction of the Confiance, 37 guns. A formidable British army cooperating with the navy had advanced to the vicinity of Plattsburg. Its further movements awaited the destruction or capture of the American fleet, confidently expected.
Outclassed in a contest in open water, Macdonough made his dispositions in an advantageous position in Plattsburg Bay, with his vessels riding at anchor, and awaited the arrival of the enemy. The action began at about 9 A. M. on September 11. After a sanguinary and indecisive fight of an hour and a half, in which both sides suffered severely, Macdonough wound his ship, a maneuver that he had anticipated and prepared for, and brought to bear on the Confiance an uninjured broadside.
The enemy was too much damaged to make a similar maneuver and was forced to surrender. The American loss was fifty-seven; the British, more than a hundred. The battle of Plattsburg was one of the most decisive engagements ever fought by the American navy. Before it took place the British planned to make the Great Lakes British waters. Macdonough's victory caused the enemy's army to retreat into Canada and left the government of Great Britain no ground upon which to claim territorial adjustments at Ghent.
Macdonough's action has been cited as an illustration of foresight and accurate reasoning in preparation for battle and of undaunted perseverance, gallantry, and skill in fighting. After serving as commandant of the Portsmouth (N. H. ) navy-yard for three years, he took command in 1818 of the frigate Guerriere and conveyed to Russia the newly appointed American minister, G. W. Campbell. Thence he joined the Mediterranean Squadron.
Differences with his commander over a question of precedence respecting a court-martial led to his return home.
In 1820, he was assigned to the command of the Ohio, 74 guns, under construction at New York, and four years later once more visited the Mediterranean, this time as the commander of the squadron. His health, which had been seriously impaired in the War of 1812, now rapidly declined, and, moved by a longing to see his native land, he gave up his command and sailed for home on the merchantman Edwin.
Macdonough died at sea some six hundred miles from the American coast. His body was received in New York City with military honors and after a funeral service, there was conveyed to its last resting place in Middletown, Connecticut.
Achievements
Views
Quotations:
"The Almighty has been pleased to grant us a signal victory on Lake Champlain in the capture of one Frigate, one Brig and two sloops of war of the enemy. "
Personality
In person, Macdonough was tall and slender. If one may judge from the pleasing portrait of him by Gilbert Stuart, his disposition was amiable and generous. His son, Charles S. Macdonough, died in 1871, a captain on the retired list of the navy.
Connections
On December 12, 1812, Macdonough married Lucy Ann Shaler after six years of courtship.