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George Downie (19 January 1778 – 11 September 1814) was a Scottish officer of the British Royal Navy. During the War of 1812, he commanded a British squadron that fought an American squadron on Lake Champlain in the Battle of Plattsburgh, during which he was killed.
Downie was still first lieutenant of Seahorse in July 1808, under Captain John Stewart, patrolling in the Aegean Sea,James, Vol. V (1857), p. 57. when on 5 July she encountered two Turkish vessels off Skopelos. They were the Badere-Zaffer, a large frigate armed with fifty-two guns, mainly 12 and 24-pounders, but also two 42-pounders, and with a complement of 500 men under the command of Captain Scanderli Kichuc Ali. The other was the Alis Fezan, armed with twenty-four 13-pounders and two mortars, commanded by Captain Daragardi Ali, with a complement of 230. Despite being out-gunned and out-manned Seahorse engaged the Turks at 09:30 in the evening. At 10:00 he came up close alongside the Alis Fezan and within 15 minutes reduced her to a wreck, without sails and incapable of returning fire, and then engaged the larger Badere-Zaffer and in an action lasting until 01:15 reduced her to a motionless wreck. At dawn Stewart observed that her colours where still flying and so gave her a broadside into her stern, and she struck. Badere-Zaffer had suffered 165 men killed and 195 wounded; while Seahorse had 5 killed and 10 wounded, and lost her mizzen mast. On Stewart's recommendation Downie was subsequently promoted to commander.
On 11 September 1814, during the Battle of Plattsburgh, Downie was leading into battle inexperienced crews, most of them from provincial units and not from the cream of the Royal Navy. The crew of Confiance consisted of 270 men; 86 Marines, artillerymen and soldiers, and the rest "volunteers" from ships at Quebec who were of inferior quality and bad character, several having been in irons. They were all strangers to each other and to their officers; Downie was acquainted with no officer on board his ship except his first lieutenant.James, Vol. VI (1857), p. 342. The American forces had both time to prepare and were readily familiar with that area of the Lake. Early in the ensuing battle, Downie was crushed by a cannon aboard his flagship Confiance and killed instantly; the gun having been struck on its muzzle by a cannonball from the American flagship which had sent the piece reeling backwards onto him. One eyewitness later recorded how Downie appeared when the gun, which weighed several tons, was removed:
The loss of Downie, who was arguably the most experienced officer in the British fleet, greatly increased the odds of the American forces winning the engagement that day.
A 24-pound cannon from the captured Confiance, the same gun responsible for the death of Downie, can be found today on display in front of Macdonough Hall at the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland. The deep indentation on the muzzle of this gun left by the ball from the USS Saratoga is still present. The anchor from Downie's Confiance is in the lobby of Plattsburgh City Hall in Plattsburgh, NY.
Downie is buried in the Riverside Cemetery, Plattsburgh.
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