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Medal Name: Victory of Plattsburgh
Struck for: Major-General Alexander Macomb
Approval: Act of Congress November 3, 1814
OBVERSE
MAJOR GENERAL ALEXANDER MACOMB.
Bust of General Macomb, in uniform, facing the right
REVERSE
RESOLUTION OF CONGRESS NOVEMBER 3. 1814.
The American army repulsing the British troops,who are striving to cross the Saranac river.
To the left, Plattsburgh in flames;
To the right, naval battle on Lake Champlain;
In the distance, Cumberland Head.
Exergue: BATTLE OF PLATTSBURGH SEPT.(September) 11. 1814
BACKGROUND
Alexander Macomb was born in Detroit, April 3, 1782. He entered the army as cornet of cavalry, 1799; was 2d lieutenant, 1801; 1st lieutenant of engineers, 1802; captain, 1805; major, 1808; lieutenant-colonel 1810; colonel 3dArtillery, 1812; and brigadier-general, January, 1814. He gained the victory of Plattsburgh over the British troops, commanded by the governor-general of the Canadas, General Sir George Prevost, September 11, 1814, for which important achievement Congress gave him a vote of thanks and a gold medal, and he was breveted major-general.He was appointed chief of the engineer corps, 1821, and became major-general and commander-in-chief of the army, May 24, 1828. He died at the headquarters of the army in Washington, June 25, 1841.
Resolution of Congress Voting Voting Medals to Generals Brown, Scott, Porter, Gaines, Macomb, Ripley, and Mille
Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled: That the thanks of Congress be, and they are hereby, presented to Major General Brown, and through him, to the officers and men of the regular army, and of the militia under his command, for their gallantry and good conduct in the successive battles of Chippewa, Niagara, and Erie, in Upper Canada, in which British veteran troops were beaten and repulsed by equal or inferior numbers; and that the President of the United States be requested to cause a gold medal to be struck, emblematical of these triumphs, and presented to Major-General Brown.
Resolved, That the President of the United States be requested to cause a gold medal to be struck, with suitable emblems and devices, and presented to Major-General Scott, in testimony of the high sense entertained by Congress of his distinguished services in the successive conflicts of Chippewa and Niagara, and of his uniform gallantry and good conduct in sustaining the reputation of the arms of the United States.
Resolved, That the President of the United States be requested to cause gold medals to be struck, with suitable emblems and devices, and presented to Brigadier-General Ripley, Brigadier-General Miller, and Major-General Porter, in testimony of the high sense entertained by Congress of their gallantry and good conduct in the several conflicts of Chippewa, Niagara, and Erie.
Resolved, That the thanks of Congress be, and they are hereby, presented to Major-General Gaines, and through him to the officers and men under his command, for their gallantry and good conduct in defeating the enemy at Erie on the fifteenth of August, repelling with great slaughter the attack of a British veteran army, superior in numbers; and that the President of the United States be requested to cause a gold medal to be struck, emblematical of this triumph, and presented to Major-General Gaines.
Resolved, That the thanks of Congress be, and they are hereby, presented to Major-General Macomb, and through him to the officers and men of the regular army under his command, and to the militia and volunteers of New York and Vermont, for their gallantry and good conduct, in defeating the enemy at Plattsburgh on the eleventh of September, repelling with one thousand five hundred men, aided by a body of militia and volunteers from New York and Vermont, a British veteran army, greatly superior in number; and that the President of the United States be requested to cause a gold medal to be struck, emblematical of this triumph, and presented to Major-General Macomb.
Approved November 3, 1814.
Source: The Medallic History of the United States of America 1776-1876 by J. F. Loubat, LL.D. (1878)