“On this the Englishman went on board his ship, and shortly afterwards was seen bearing down in her in the direction of the American vessel. Macdonough ordered his boat manned and armed, got into her himself, and was in readiness for pursuit. The Englishman took a circuit around the American brig, and returned again to the frigate. When Captain Smith came on board he justified the conduct of Macdonough, and declared his intention to protect the American seaman.” Although Macdonough was very young, and his rank but that of a lieutenant, people who knew him were not surprised to hear that he had been appointed to take command of the little squadron on Lake Champlain. These vessels were built of green pine, and almost without exception constructed in a hurried fashion. They had to be of light draught, and yet, odd to relate, their general model was the same as that of ships that were expected to meet storms and high seas. Macdonough was just the man for the place; as in the case of Perry, he had a superb self-reliance and was eager to meet the enemy. Lake Champlain and the country that surrounds it were considered of great importance by the English, and, descending from Canada, large bodies of troops poured into New York State. But the American government had, long before the war was fairly started, recognized the advantage of keeping the water communications on the northern frontier. The English began to build vessels on the upper part of the lake, and the small force of ships belonging to the Americans was increased as fast as possible. It was a race to see which could prepare the better fleet in the shorter space of time. In the fall of the year 1814 the English had one fairly sized frigate, the _Confiance_, mounting 39 guns; a brig, the _Linnet_; a sloop, _Chubb_, and the sloop _Finch_; besides which they possessed thirteen large galleys, aggregating 18 guns. In all, therefore, the English fleet mounted 95 guns. The Americans had the _Saratoga_, sloop of war, 26 guns; the _Eagle_, 20; the _Ticonderoga_, 17; the _Preble_, 7; and ten galleys carrying 16; their total armament was nine guns less than the British.