Alexander Macomb ( general ) Alexander Macomb ( April 3 , 1782 – June 25 , 1841 ) was the Commanding General of the United States Army from May 29 , 1828 to June 25 , 1841 . Macomb was the field commander at the Battle of Plattsburgh , and after the stunning victory was lauded with praise and styled " The Hero of Plattsburgh " by some of the American press . He was promoted Major General for his conduct , receiving both the thanks of Congress and a Congressional Gold Medal . Born at British - held Detroit , Macomb was the son of Alexander Macomb and Mary Catherine Navarre . He moved with his parents to New York City and received a " classical education " at Newark Academy , in New Jersey . Early career . At the age of 16 , he joined a New York militia company . In January 1799 , with the recommendation of Alexander Hamilton during the French emergency , he was commissioned a Cornet in the Regular Army . In March he was promoted to second lieutenant , and honorably discharged , June 1800 . In February 1801 , he was commissioned a second lieutenant , 2d Infantry , serving as secretary to a commission that treated with the Indians of the Southeast . He was commissioned a first lieutenant in the Army Corps of Engineers , which was established in 1802 at West Point to constitute a military academy , thereby being one of the first officers to receive formal training there . He then spent five years in charge of coastal fortifications in the Carolinas and Georgia . He also established fortifications at Fort Gratiot , Michigan , Chicago , Mackinaw , Prairie du Chien , St . Peter ' s , and St . Mary ' s . At the beginning of the War of 1812 , then 30 - year old Macomb was promoted to colonel of the 3rd Artillery Regiment . Command at the Battle of Plattsburgh . He won acclaim during the War of 1812 as brigadier general in command of the frontier of northern New York . At the Battle of Plattsburgh on September 11 , 1814 , with only 1 , 500 regular troops and some detachments of militia , he was opposed by a British force of 10 , 531 men under Lieutenant General Sir George Prevost . Macomb ' s heavily outnumbered troops fell back before the British columns in a series of encounters as Prevost advanced towards the American defensive works . In the weeks leading up to the battle , Macomb , knowing full well he would be outnumbered heavily , worked with his men to move trees and create fake roads in order to obscure the genuine roads and lead the British into dead - end traps far from the three nearby American forts ( a maneuver Macomb called abattis ) . The British attack was diffused . Long narrow lines of marching soldiers were unable to easily stop and about - face . They became entangled in the narrow false road maze , and were sitting targets for the waiting Americans . The British were about to launch an assault on the American defenses when the news came through of the defeat of the British naval squadron on Lake Champlain . Prevost needed the British Lake Champlain squadron to supply his planned advance into Vermont . Without it , he had no choice but to abandon the Expedition . The British invaders marched off back to Canada . Although Commodore Thomas Macdonough ' s sailors and not the Army had been largely responsible for stopping the British invasion , Macomb was nevertheless showered with praise and styled " The Hero of Plattsburgh " by some of the American press . He was promoted Major General for his conduct at this battle , receiving both the thanks of Congress and a Congressional Gold Medal . Commanding General of the U . S . Army . When Major General Jacob Brown , the U . S . Army ’ s commanding general , died in February 1828 , Macomb was the senior Brigadier - General on the Army List and President John Quincy Adams promoted him to substantive Major - General as was Macomb ' s right . The Army ' s 2nd and 3rd ranking Brigadier - Generals bitterly contested this ; Winfield Scott and Edmund P . Gaines — denounced each other publicly and for months had been contesting for the position . Their quarrels scandalized the Army and drove Adams to nominate Alexander Macomb , the Chief of Engineers , who by then had reverted rank to colonel , as the Army ’ s top general . His last active service in a theater of battle was in the Seminole War in 1835 . Macomb ’ s tenure as Commanding General was marked by " continuing uncertainty about the responsibilities and authority of his position . To secure his seniority over the other two - star brevet major generals , Macomb added a provision in the 1834 Regulations that ' the insignia of the major general commanding in chief should be three stars . ' " In the same document he sought to define his relationship to the Secretary of War and establish his primacy over the bureau chiefs , including his successor as Chief of Engineers . This was easier said than done . Most issues were not fully resolved until early the next century . " He advocated doubling Army strength , increasing enlisted pay , providing relief for some widows and orphans , and a regularizing the officer retirement and replacement system . In 1840 the Army Corps of Engineers adopted the castle uniform insignia and first described the Corps of Engineers ’ distinctive Essayons ( Motto : " Let us try " ) button . In 1809 and 1841 , he was the author of a seminal book ( republished in the 21st century ) on conduct of courts - martial and martial law . He also wrote a play on Pontiac ' s siege of Detroit which features his grandfather , Robert Navarre . " See " Published Works and Further Reading , " infra " . Macomb was the first of five Commanding Generals ( Chiefs of Staff after the 1903 reorganization ) who held Engineer commissions early in their careers . All transferred to other branches before rising to the top . The others were George B . McClellan , Henry W . Halleck , Douglas MacArthur , and Maxwell D . Taylor . A curious feature of Macomb ' s career is that , like Dwight Eisenhower , he became a military hero without ever actually coming under enemy fire in his life . Congressional Gold Medal . Following the Battle of Plattsburgh and the end of the War of 1812 , a Congressional Gold Medal honoring Alexander Macomb and his men was struck by Act of Congress ( 3 Stat . 247 ) , to wit : facing the right FÜRST . F ( " ecit " ) . indicates the engraver Moritz Fuerst ( 1782 – 1840 ) , who designed several medals of 1812 heroes for the Philadelphia mint . The bust of Macomb found on the Congressional Medal , however , is reminiscent of the 1809 portrait of Macomb by Saint - Mémin ( 1770 – 1852 ) , in which Macomb is wearing the undressed coat of blue with black velvet collar and cuffs typical of an Engineering officer . Reverse : RESOLUTION OF CONGRESS NOVEMBER 3 . 1814 . The American army repulsing the British troops , who are striving to cross the Saranac river . To the left , Plattsburgh in flames ; to the right , naval battle on Lake Champlain ; in the distance , Cumberland Head . Exergue : BATTLE OF PLATTSBURGH September 11 . 1814 . FÜRST . F ( " ecit " ) . . This was one of 27 Gold Medals authorized by Congress arising from the War of 1812 . Historical recognition . Alexander Macomb is recognized in a Michigan Historical Marker that is situated at the corner of Gratiot Avenue and Macomb Street in Mount Clemens , Michigan . It is Registered Site S0418 , erected in 1974 . It states : Alexander Macomb In 1818 Territorial Governor Lewis Cass proclaimed the third Michigan county to be called Macomb . At that time the young General was Commander of the Fifth Military Department in Detroit . Born in that city in 1782 , son of prominent local entrepreneurs , Macomb had entered the U . S . Army in 1799 . He had gained national renown and honor during the War of 1812 for his victory at Plattsburgh in September 1814 over a far superior force of British invaders . Later as Chief Army Engineer he promoted the building of military roads in the Great Lakes area . From May 1828 to his death in June 1841 , Macomb served as Commander in Chief of the Army . He is buried in the Congressional Cemetery in Washington D . C . His birthday , April 3 , is honored as Macomb County Heritage Day . He is recognized in several statues . One was sculpted by Adolph Alexander Weinman and erected in 1906 in downtown Detroit , Michigan . This statue was made from melted down cannons , and was a notable and monumental task . Another is in downtown Mount Clemens , Michigan in front of the Circuit Court building at 40 N . Gratiot Avenue . Several others exist . Macomb died while in office at Washington , D . C . and is buried in the Congressional Cemetery . His remains , and those of his wife , Catherine , were disinterred in June , 2008 so that the brick - lined burial vault beneath their 6 ton , 13 - foot - tall marble monument could be repaired to prevent its impending collapse . During the month it took to make the necessary repairs , the couple ' s remains were kept at the Smithsonian and were viewed by several of the general ' s descendants including his great - great - great granddaughter . After the $ 24 , 000 repairs were completed by the Department of Veterans Affairs , their remains were re - interred on July 17 , 2008 . The monument to Alexander Macomb is " one of the most unusual in the nation . " Major General Winfield Scott was named his successor , after working " hard at mending fences in the intervening 13 years . . . " Although an amateur , Macomb is recognized as an artist . His painting " Detroit as Seen from the Canadian Shore in 1821 " is a watercolor and pencil in the collection of the Detroit Institute of Arts . Societies . During the 1820s , Macomb was a member of the prestigious society , Columbian Institute for the Promotion of Arts and Sciences , who counted among their members former presidents Andrew Jackson and John Quincy Adams and many prominent men of the day , including well - known representatives of the military , government service , medical and other professions . Legacy and eponymous locations . His son was Commodore William H . Macomb . In addition to the ship , Alexander Macomb has been the source for the name of a number of communities and institutions around the country , including :