Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1926-08-15

n K ORE than 100 years have
M passed since the guns of
IV Commodore" Marlborough
Il Numbered defiance at a Brit
ish fleet in the vicinity Of
Plattsburg. on Lake Champlaln, but
he remains hero of the American
Navy.
Marlborough. in this battle" says
Theodore Roosevelt IN his History
of the War of 1872" won higher
fame than any other commander of
the war, British or American"
On August 10 there will be dedi-
Gated at Plattsburg q monument to
the sturdy commander who battled
with the British fleet on Lake Cham
plain. on the historic morning of sun
day, September s, 1914, preserving
Mastery for the American cause and
compelling an army made up OF Wei
lington's trained fighters, under com
mand of Sir George Provost. to re-
treat into Canada in order to AVOID
the fate of Burgoyre.
Outgunned, outmanned and facing
odds of every description. Commodore
Mac Donough won one of the most
brilliant naval victories in history and
fought the decisive battle of the war.
The monument that is to be dedi-
Gated has been placed there by the
Plattsburg Centenary Association.
But in the tribute that will be paid
to the hero of the battle Of Lake
Champlain the Nation will speak
Secretary of State Kellogg will de-
liver the formal address, and the
placid waters of the lake. which lies
like a ribbon between New York and
Vermont, will re-echo in peaceful sa-
Lutte, the thunder of the guns which
hurled destruction at each other
when John and Jonathan fought it
out on the peaceful Sunday morn
ing in 1914.
For two hours and a half. the
American and British fleets hurled
their death-dealing missiles at each
other. The issue was the control of
the lake. the broad, historic highway
of invas sion which had echoed with the
war whoop of the Iroquois long before
Champlain discovered it, and which
had been the scene of conflict in
| every war which had taken place
since the white man displaced the In
dian.
Provost was attempting to duplicate
| the effort Of Burgoyne i'll the second
war with England. and with an eX>
| cellent chance of success, had not
MacDonough's victory foiled him. 1t
| was the most dangerous moment in
| the war with England. Wellington s
soldiers, Injured to battle and hard
/ ships. were the best in the world.
| About $4,000 Of them. a respectable
army in those days. were following
Provost down Lake Champaign, with
| Albany and New York as their OBJ
! iectives, and with only a few regu-
! lars and some unframed militia OPP
posing them. The result rested
| with the little fleet which MacDon-
| commander won.
The battle of PlattSburg, or Lake
Champlain as it is usually called, far
reaching in its results, while fought
| in about two and a half hours, was
almost three years in preparation. 1t
| was fought with a fleet improvised
and nurtured under the guidance of
| the young American commander, as
signed to the important task of main
tanning American ascendancy on the
lake when he was only 2S years of
age.
MacDonoughs flagship. the Sara
| toga, almost as large as the Constl-
tuition. was built for the job. Within
| 90 DAYS from the time the first tree
was felled on the side Of the Green
| Mountains the ship was ready for
| service one OF the most remarkable
| instance of rapidity Of ship construc'
ton in the history of any navy. Forty
| DAYS from the tree to the water was
a brief period Of construction, but
| did not interfere with either the
sailing or the fighting quality of the
vessel. as The event Was@os prove -