The Final Invasion

A major event in both America's history and the European wars of the nineteenth century, the War of 1812's Battle of Plattsburgh saw the largest invasion ever of a foreign military into the United States, as the British army and navy, fresh from victories against Napoleon, attempted to conquer Lake Champlain and its shores. Their plan was to seize control of key waterways and port cities, a move that would cripple America's defenses. Outnumbered and outgunned, the U. S. land and sea forces fough