HMS Confiance (1814) - Background

Background

The frigate was constructed at the Ile aux Noix Naval Shipyards and launched on 25 August 1814. To this day Confiance remains the largest warship ever to sail on Lake Champlain. The British built Confiance in answer to the American commander Thomas Macdonough's ambitious shipbuilding program, itself designed to thwart British advances into Vermont and New York State via the lake. The formidable vessel was described as having "the gun-deck of a heavy frigate, with thirty long twenty-fours upon it. She also had a spacious top gallant forecastle, and a poop that came no further forward than the mizzen mast. On the first were a long twenty-four on a circle, and four heavy carronades; two heavy carronades were mounted on the poop."

Captain George Downie was appointed to command soon after the vessel was launched, replacing Captain Peter Fisher, who in turn had superseded Commander Daniel Pring. As a fifth-rate ship, Confiance required a post rank captain in command, and only the distant Admiralty could promote Pring to Post Captain. Like Macdonough, Downie had difficulty obtaining men and materials from Commodore James Lucas Yeo on Lake Ontario, and Macdonough had intercepted several spars and other materials sold to Britain by unpatriotic Vermonters. Downie could promise to complete Confiance only on 15 September; and even then, her crew would not have been exercised.

Sir George Prévost, Governor in Chief of British North America and overall commander of the invasion forces, was anxious to begin his campaign as early as possible, to avoid the bad weather of late autumn and winter, and continually pressed Downie to prepare Confiance for battle more quickly. Although the British sloops and gunboats were already on the Lake, it took two days to tow the frigate Confiance up the Richelieu River from Ile aux Noix, against both wind and current. Downie finally joined the squadron with his flagship on 9 September.