Dromo's Den

[Up] [Dromo's Den]

Thomas Macdonough Biography

Thomas Macdonough Image

MACDONOUGH,  Thomas (1783-1825). An American naval officer, prominent in the War of 1812 and frequently referred to as "The Hero of Lake Champlain." He was born at The Trappe (now Macdonough), Del., of Scotch-Irish parentage; entered the United States navy as a midshipman in 1800; served on the Constellation under Commodore Murray in 1801-02; and in 1803 started for Tripoli in the Philadelphia, Commodore Bainbridge, but at Gibraltar was placed in charge of a captured Moorish frigate, and thus escaped capture and imprisonment at the hands of the Tripolitans when the Philadelphia ran aground on Nov. 1, 1803. He was subsequently attached to the Enterprise, Commodore Decatur, and was one of the 70 men who, on Feb. 16, 1804, entered the harbor of Tripoli under Decatur and captured and destroyed the Philadelphia. For this service he was made a lieutenant in May, 1804, and soon afterward earned special mention for his gallantry in the bombardment of Tripoli.  He served successively on the Enterprise, the Syren, the Wasp, the John Adams, and the Essex, and in 1810 was furloughed and commanded the Gulliver, a vessel in the merchant service. In the War of 1812 he served for a short time as first lieutenant on the Constitution, and commanded the Portland station for several months, and in September, 1812, he was placed in command of the United States naval force on Lake Champlain. In the following year he was promoted to be master commander, and in Plattsburg harbor, on Sunday, Sept. 11, 1814, with a fleet of 14 vessels carrying 86 guns and about 800 men, he completely defeated a British fleet of 16 vessels carrying 95 guns and about 1000 men under Capt. George Downie. For this victory he was commissioned captain, then the highest rank in the United States navy, and received a gold medal from Congress and, an estate on Cumberland Head, near Plattsburg, from the Legislature of Vermont. He subsequently until his death commanded various vessels, and went on various cruises, the last of which was to the Mediterranean as commander of the Constitution in 1824. Consult K. C. Babcock, Rise of American Nationality (New York, 1906).