ad plenty of
ships and men to spare. A flock of her white-winged frigates came
sailing over the ocean and swarmed like bees along our coast. And an
army of the men who had fought against Napoleon was sent to Canada to
invade New York. It was thought the Yankees could not stand long before
veterans like these.

Down marched the British army and down sailed the British fleet. But
MacDonough was not caught napping. He was ready for the British ships
when they came.

[Illustration: BATTLE OF LAKE CHAMPLAIN--MACDONOUGH'S VICTORY.]

And now, before the battle begins, let us give a few names and figures;
for these are things you must know. The Americans had four vessels and
ten gunboats. The vessels were the ship _Saratoga_, the brig _Eagle_,
the schooner _Ticonderoga_, and the sloop _Preble_. The British had
the frigate _Confiance_, larger than any of the American ships, the brig
_Linnet_, the sloops _Chubb_ and _Finch_, and thirteen gunboats. And the
British were better off for guns and men, though the difference was not
great. Such were the two fleets that came together on a bright Sunday on
September 11, 1814, to see which should be master of Lake Champlain.

The American ships were drawn up across Plattsburg Bay, and up this bay
came the British fleet to attack them, just as Carleton's vessels had
come up to attack Arnold forty years before.

At Plattsburg was the British army, and opposite, across Saranac River,
lay a much smaller force of American regulars and militia. They could
easily see the ships, but they were too busy for that, for the soldiers
were fighting on land while the sailors were fighting on water. Bad work
that for a sunny September Sunday, wasn't it?

MacDonough had stretched his ships in a line across the bay, and had
anchors down at bow and stern, with ropes tied to the anchor chains so
that the ships could be swung round easily. Remember that, for that won
him the battle.

It was still early in the day when the British came sailing up, firing
as soon as they came near enough. These first shots did no harm, but
they did a comical thing. One of them struck a hen-coop on the
_Saratoga_, in which one of the sailors kept a fighting cock. The coop
was knocked to pieces, and into the rigging flew the brave cock,
flapping his wings at the British vessels and crowing defiance to them,
while the sailors laughed and cheered.

But the battle did not fairly begin until the great frigate _Confiance_
came