Battle of Plattsburgh

“ Sigh for the bottle of New England rum.
Oh, face the facts, and let the fiction go—
I'll bet "la vie des tranchèes" will be bum.
One moment's rest, then back into the mill
With butt and point to lacerate and kill.
I often wonder what the Germans teach
One half so cultured as our "Bay'net Drill."
For war is hell, and Plattsburg not a jest,
And yet, by gravy, we will do our best,
Till submarine and Kaiser are forgot,
Or Angel Gabriel hollers out, "At rest!" ”

“ From September 6 to 11, 1814, various land engagements took place about Plattsburgh. The British forces, numbering about 11,500 troops and including many of Lord Wellington’s veterans, were under Sir George Prevost, governor and commander-in-chief in British North America; the Americans, commanded by Macomb and Bissell, numbered 4,500 men. On September 11, 1814, the American navy on the lake, commanded by Thomas Macdonough, defeated the British squadron under the command of Commodore George Downie. ”

“ Lord help Kaiser Bill!
In the morning at the warning,
"Clothes on Company Nine!"
Feeling rocky, into khaki
Jumps our valiant line.
We shun strawberries in the valley
Off the Peru road,
But in mess shack none can beat us
[127] At the order "Load!"
In Pabst-less Plattsburg, bone-dry rookies,
Waiting for our kale,
Our healths we drink in foamless bumpers,
Full of Adam's ale.
But when the "Sammies" take their Münchener
On the river Rhine,
The toast will be to old New England
And to Company Nine. ”

“ We'll be singing this song
As we're marching along.
When marching on the Rhine, boys,
On our hunt for Kaiser Bill,
We'll shoot the Germans out of France,
We'll keep them on the run;
When we get there the world will know,
New England has begun,
To fight for Uncle Sammy.
We'll do our best,
And never will rest,
Until Old Glory rises to the sun.
Over the sea, boys,
Over the sea to Victory,
New England will fight on forever.
[135]
EGGS—AGERATED
Since I've come to Plattsburg
I've eaten so many eggs,
That feathers now adorn my skin,
And spurs are on my legs. ”

“ THE 8TH NEW ENGLAND
(Air: Michael Roy)
The Eighth New England Infantry is the one that shows them how;
If Kaiser Bill could see us drill, the war would be over now.
Out in front of the Hostess House, as we go marching by
Where the ladies are sitting, they drop their knitting, and all begin to cry:
"For oh! For oh! What a wonderful company!
It must be either the General Staff or Company 8 N. E."
If Elihu Root could see us shoot out on the rifle range
He'd send us to Russia to help lick Prussia—oh, what a glorious change! ”

“ And clapped his hands in glee to see his papa start to shoot.
(Chorus)
"O, look at him, Ma-ma, see him hold his gun,
And every time he shoots it off it hits him on the bun.
He puts his hand around the thing and gives an awful pull,
The red flag there is waving, O! it must have been a bull."
[114]
COMPANY 2 NEW ENGLAND
(Air: "Lord Geoffry Amherst")
Oh, good old Uncle Sam declared a war on Kaiser Bill,
When, his pledges "Bill" neglected to fulfill;
And the War Department ordered that a training camp should be,
So they sent us up to Plattsburg, don't you see? ”

“ H. T. Morgan)
1
On guard! We're always on our toes;
Plattsburg has taught us pep.
We're good at being Red or Blue,
But oh, that step!
Though we may lose a few patrols,
Just watch the Allied drive.
Right where they reach the Rhine, there
You'll find New England Five.
2
Forward! We're on our way to France;
We'll make it hot for Fritz.
With bayonet or rifle,
Watch us score all hits.
Heads up! We're after Hindenburg,
We'll show him we're alive;
When we get through with him, he
Will know New England Five.
[130]
DOUBLE TIME
(Air: Tammany)
Double time, double time! ”

“ We can be in or pretty close to every scrap that happens, and all the real military problems are fairly plain to us. Besides, this hike is to be the longest yet. When further you consider that a month of Plattsburg has as many hours of service as a militiaman gets in two years and a half at home, that our continuous service is naturally much more valuable 225 than the militiaman’s weekly drill in his armory, and finally that we are under West Pointers who each day explain and discuss the problem, you can see that a man in the Tenth Regiment has a chance to learn a good deal. ”

“ PLATTSBURG, EXPEDITION TO.—The British squadron against Plattsburg, on Lake Champlain, was designed under General Sir George Prevost, but it was abandoned, after a severe defeat of the naval squadron of England on the Lake, September 11th, 1814.
PODULTZ, BATTLE OF.—Fought, June 28th, 1866, between the Austrians and the Prussians. The Prussians everywhere were victorious. The needle gun of their army was decidedly superior to any other weapon used. ”

“ Had that object been accomplished, Plattsburg might have been occupied by our troops, and from thence, with the assistance of our squadron, they might have been transported to other parts of the Lake for the further annoyance of the enemy. The loss of our squadron, however, immediately rendered all these important operations impracticable. Without the assistance of a fleet, nothing beyond the occupation of Plattsburg could have been accomplished. That Plattsburg would have fallen, neither the Commander of the forces, nor [Pg 167] a man under him, could have entertained a doubt. ”

“ The British army advanced slowly toward Plattsburg, which was held by General Macomb with less than 2,000 effective American troops. Captain Thomas Macdonough, the American commodore, took the lake a day or two before his antagonist, and came to anchor in Plattsburg harbor. The British fleet, under Captain George Downie, moved from Isle-aux-Noix on Sept. 8th, and on the morning of the 11th sailed into Plattsburg harbor. ”

“ We made New England Four.
It's the finest little company
That ever did Squads Right and ran into a tree.
New England, you've got to hand it to us—
Good old Company Four!
'Way up in Plattsburg—that's where they make us soldiers—
They drill us every day.
Damn little time for play,
'Cause when we do not drill we study.
New England number four's our comp'ny,
We're always full of pep.
[108] Now if you want some men for good, hard work
You'll always find this company will never shirk. ”

“ The battles of Valcour and Plattsburgh, and the maintenance here of a permanent military post, are vitally connected with conditions attending the passing through the lake of the first white man.
The patriotic spirit has never slumbered here. The sons of this county and of the city of Plattsburgh who have dedicated their lives to the service of their country, in the army and navy and in civic councils form a long roll of distinguished honor. They have upheld the integrity of their country in every quarter of the globe, and their deeds are glowing on the pages of history. ”

“ After a contest of two hours, the British ships and several sloops of war fell into the hands of the Americans. Before sunset the temporary batteries of the enemy were all silenced, and every attempt to cross from Plattsburgh to the American works was repelled. At nine o’clock the object was abandoned, and the British general hastily drew off his forces. Large quantities of military stores were left behind, and fell into the hands of the Americans.
The people of the United States were at this time divided into two political parties; one party condemned the war as unwise and unnecessary ”

“ We are handy with the rifle and the bayonet and such;
And though Fritz is used to running and is sort of hard to touch,
We will show him when we get there that it doesn't matter much,
When Five is marching on.
(Chorus)
III
You may say that we're not modest, but our faults we will confess,
We hate to rise at Reveille, we're not too fond of mess;
And we never, never, never get a good line at Right Dress,
But we do keep marching on.
(Chorus)
IV
Now all you other fellows who are going overseas,
Just remember that we guarantee the foeman to appease ”

“ Plattsburg.—This was the scene of an American triumph. I was talking with a States officer, who was present during the whole affair, and was much amused with his description of it. There appeared to be some fatality attending almost all our attacks upon America during the last war; and it should be remarked, that whenever the Americans entered upon our territory, they met with similar defeat. Much allowance must at course be made for ignorance of the country, and of the strength and disposition of the enemy’s force ”

“ It was also the soldiers of Vermont, to the number of 800 only, who, led by General Starke, engaged, 213on the same day, two English detachments, took from them seven hundred prisoners, four pieces of artillery, and all their camp equipage. Finally, it was these intrepid Green Mountain boys who formed the troops which preserved Plattsburg from pillage by the English, on the 11th of September, 1814; and the raw crews, who, with vessels built in eighteen days, forced an enemy superior in number, to strike a flag which claimed the absolute empire of the sea. ”

“ That morning Plattsburg was wakened by a renewal of the bombardment. The heavy firing killed a few men knocked down a few walls and chimneys, but did little damage to the earthworks.
It was surprising to all how soon the defenders lost their gun-shyness. The very school-boys and their sisters went calmly about their business, with cannon and musket balls whistling overhead, striking the walls and windows, or, on rare occasions, dropping some rifleman who was over-rash as he worked or walked on the ramparts. ”

“ At Plattsburgh, the American General, Moore, made no opposition to the landing of the British, but retired with fifteen hundred soldiers, Murray, meanwhile, destroying the arsenal, public buildings, commissariat stores, and the new barracks, capable of accommodating five thousand men. Neither did the squadron lie idly by. Captains Everard and Pring, in the Growler and Eagle, proceeded to Burlington, and threw the place into the utmost consternation. Gen'l. Hampton, who was encamped there with four thousand men, was unable to prevent the capture and destruction of four vessels. ”

“ We have at another conference been shown the detail work of supplying our camps both at the training ground and on the hike, and the immense importance of the work of the obscure quartermaster’s department. Talk after talk has impressed us with the amount of work needed to drill, to equip, to work into fighting shape, even a few thousand men; and there is no Plattsburg rookie who does not fully understand, and will not in detail explain to his neighbors when he goes home, the absurdity of Mr. Bryan’s army of a million men which is to spring into being at the call of the President. ”

“ So they sent us up to Plattsburg, don't you see?
And the men from all New England came along and gathered there,
And the companies they chose with greatest care.
But out of all the candidates selected but a few
To organize New England Number 2.
(Chorus)
Oh, Captain Peek and Company Two
They'll be names known to fame the whole world o'er.
They will ever be glorious
When the Hohenzollerns reign no more. ”

“ Were the well men under his command few? then his defences must be the stronger, and the labor of those able to work, the more constant and exhausting.
Calling on New York and Vermont for militia, he toiled night and day at the works, and soon found himself strongly intrenched.
In the mean time, Prevost, at the head of a disciplined army of twelve thousand men, began to advance on Plattsburg. The ulterior design of this invasion of the States has never been disclosed. It is hardly possible that the British General meditated a movement similar to Burgoyne's, hoping to reach Albany. ”

“ A small cavalry force was successful in reaching the tracks on the 23d, and it promptly started the work of destruction which was its mission. Alarmed by the threat to this important supply line, the Confederates launched a sharp attack which forced the withdrawal of the Union forces from the vicinity of the railroad. However, the Union lines confronting Petersburg had been extended across the Jerusalem Plank Road, thus cutting off its use to the city.
In itself the battle of June 22-23 was not important. The North could quickly replace the loss of 2,300 men. ”

“ For Sir George Prevost, Governor-General147146 of Canada, with an army that, at the lowest estimate, contained 11,000 men, chiefly “Wellington’s Invincibles,” was coming to Plattsburg, where General Alexander Macomb could muster at first only 1,500 effective men to meet him, although some thousands of militia, including 2,500 hardy Green Mountain Boys, came to help before the battle occurred. But the supporting of Macomb was only one of the lesser reasons that led the able Yankee lieutenant to anchor his squadron in Plattsburg Bay. ”

“ The U.S. government gauged the situation more correctly, and denuded Plattsburgh of troops to reinforce Sackett’s Harbour. The event showed that Plattsburgh was only of secondary importance.
For the expedition against Plattsburgh Sir George Prevost formed three brigades on the frontier extending from the Richelieu river to the St Lawrence commanded by Major Generals Power, Robinson and Brisbane. The whole division was under command of Major General de Rottenburg, and amounted to 11,000 men. With it was the rest of the 19th Light Dragoons not engaged on the Niagara frontier. ”

“ On 29th July, a flotilla, composed of the two captured vessels and three gunboats, transported over land from the St Lawrence, embarked about 1000 men of the 13th and 100th regiments under Lieutenant Colonel Murray, and arrived, the next day, before Plattsburg. The U.S. militia in charge of the place, retired without making any resistance. The barracks and blockhouses were burned, and a quantity of naval stores carried off. Four thousand U.S. troops under General Hampton, destined to act against Montreal, lay inactive at Burlington, without interfering with Murray. ”