But now came to the aid of the Americans the nervousness of the incapable British general who insisted upon immediate action by the British squadron in his support. The _Confiance_ had only been launched on August 25th; to make her ready for action in seventeen days was a task of Hercules, and that she was, in a way, made ready, reflects the highest credit upon the energy and ability of those in charge. Commodore Downie had joined only on September 2d; the crew had been hastily gathered from ships at Quebec, the last detachment coming aboard only the night but one before the battle. The men were thus largely unknown to the officers and to one another. The ship hauled into the stream on September 7th with the artificers still hard at work on the hundreds of fittings so necessary in the equipment of a man-of-war. They did not leave her until two hours before the beginning of battle. The situation of unpreparedness was very comparable to that of the _Chesapeake_ in like circumstances, except that Macdonough’s own ship had been launched but four months earlier. Prevost, by the fact of his position as governor-general, was in a position to command obedience, and his peremptory insistence caused Downie to move earlier than he should, undoubtedly against the latter’s better judgment. He thus on the morning of September 11, 1814, stood up the narrow reaches of the northern part of the lake, with a fair wind from the northeast. He had every reason to expect a simultaneous attack by Prevost on the American troops, but none came. Having passed Cumberland Head, it was too late to await any action by Prevost. Macdonough had so admirably chosen his position that the British in rounding Cumberland Head were forced to stand nearly northwest and almost head on to the American line. They were thus subjected to a raking fire (lengthwise of the ship). The _Confiance_, being in the lead and having thus a concentration upon her of the American fire, suffered severely before anchoring within five hundred yards of the line. Within fifteen minutes her captain was dead. The day was finally won by “winding” the _Saratoga_ (turning her end for end), for which excellent previous arrangements had been made. A new and, in great degree, uninjured broadside was thus brought into use, and shortly after, about 11, the _Confiance_ hauled down her colors. The whole action lasted, by Macdonough’s report, two hours and twenty minutes.[41] The immediate effect of the victory was Prevost’s retreat without delay into Canada. The general result was the end of the war, of which it was really the “decisive” battle. No longer could Castlereagh, the British foreign minister, hold Great Britain “entitled to claim the use of the lakes as a military barrier.”[42] To Macdonough and Perry, the former under thirty-one, the latter but twenty-eight years old at the time of their victories, our country owes the preservation of its northern boundaries at the coming peace. It is a great debt.