The U.S. Navy Brig Eagle-Color Print

available only to INA members

INA is proud to offer this color limited-edition print , which honors a truly crucial moment in history.  The fate of North America was in the balance during the late summer of 1814, as a British army assembled in Canada to invade the united States at Lake Champlain.  The inadequate U.S. forces to meet this threat were augmented at the last moment by Eagle, 117-foot brig with 20 cannon.   This remarkable vessel was built at Vergennes, Vermont, in just nineteen days by New York shipwright Adam Brown and a team of two hundred carpenters.  On September 11, the American squadron met the Royal Navy in the battle of Plattsburgh Bay, New York.   With the surrender of the British squadron, the invaders were forced to flee back to Canada. This was the deciding factor leading to the peace treaty signed before the end of the year.

The Eagle was allowed to rot and sink at its moorings in about 1824. The wreck was discovered in 1981 by INA faculty members Kevin Crisman and Arthur Cohn and recorded over the next two years.  Their field data permits an accurate reconstruction of the original design on the ship.  This is reflected in the print, from an oil painting by marine artist Dr. Peter Rindlisbacher of  Amherstburg, Ontario.

The print shows the Eagle on the lake a week after joining the American squadron, and a week before the battle.  Master Commandant Robert Henley and his crew are learning to work the sails as squalls blow in from the west. The other ships of the American squadron - the sloop Preble, schooner Ticonderoga, and ship Saratoga - are visible in the background.

Price

$12.95

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