Perry's Victory on Lake Erie by Currier and Ives.
On this day 200 years ago - 10 September 1813, Master Commandant Oliver Hazard Perry, United States Navy, won a
resounding victory over a British fleet near Put-in-Bay, Ohio, in the Battle of Lake Erie during the War of 1812:
At dawn on the morning of September 10, 1813, a lookout spotted six
British vessels to the northwest of Put-in-Bay beyond Rattlesnake
Island. Immediately Master Commandant Oliver Hazard Perry issued a
flurry of orders and made preparations to sail forth to engage the
British.
Oliver Hazard Perry by Gilbert Stuart
With Perry's fleet on Lake Erie the British supply route from Fort
Malden to Port Dover had been severed. The British had to either fight,
or abandon Fort Malden. The British squadron consisted of six ships with
sixty-three cannons, while the American flotilla comprised nine vessels
and fifty-four guns. The British were armed with long guns that could
throw a cannonball approximately one mile, accurately to about one-half
mile. The American ships primarily armed with carronades had less than
half the range of a long gun. The carronades could inflict much more
damage at close range. Perry needed the wind to his back to close within
carronade range.
When the squadron sailed from Put-in-Bay harbor at 7 a.m. the American
vessels were steering west-northwest; the wind was blowing from the
west-southwest. For more than two hours Perry repeatedly tacks his ships
in an effort to put the wind to his back, but with no success. The
frustrated Perry, conceded to mother nature at 10 a.m., issuing orders
to turn his fleet in the opposite direction. But before the order could
be executed the wind suddenly shifted and blew from the southeast,
placing the wind directly behind the Americans.
Perry's opponent, Commander Robert Heriot Barclay, was an experienced
Royal Navy officer who had fought with Lord Nelson at Trafalgar in 1805,
and two years later he lost an arm fighting the French. Barclay's
options did not alter when the wind shifted, so the Scotsman pointed his
bow sprits to the westward, and hove to in line of battle.
With the wind at his back and the British battle line finally revealed,
Perry made his own tactical adjustments. The Schooners Ariel and
Scorpion were placed off the flagship's weather bow to engage the first
British vessel and to prevent the enemy from raking his fleet. The
Lawrence, a 20-gun brig serving as Perry's flagship, was third in line
and would engage the Detroit, Barclay's 19-gun flagship. Next in line
floated the Caledonia, a small brig with only three guns. Fifth in the
American line of battle was the Niagara, Perry's other 20-gun brig and
the Lawrence's sistership.
The Niagara, captained by Master Commandant Jesse Elliott, would engage
the 17-gun Queen Charlotte, the second largest British ship. Lastly came
the smaller schooners and sloop; these would engage the smaller British
vessels.
Just before the engagement opened Perry hoisted his battle flag to the
flagship's main truck. The large navy blue banner was emblazoned with
the crudely inscribed words, "DONT GIVE UP THE SHIP". For his battle
slogan Perry used the dying words of Captain James Lawrence, a friend of
the commodore who was killed on June 1, 1813. Perry's flagship was
named for the fallen Lawrence, and the dead hero's inspiring words
clearly indicated Perry's determination to prevail.
Perry's Battle Flag, "Don't Give Up the Ship"
U.S. Naval Academy Museum, Annapolis, MD
[...]
By 2:30 p.m. the flagship was a floating wreck; every gun on her engaged
side was disabled and four of every five men fit for duty were either
killed or wounded. Perry was facing the dismal prospect of surrender.
Then, as he gazed across to the Niagara, still out of range and
relatively undamaged, the commodore made a fateful decision. Collecting
four unwounded men Perry manned the flagship's first cutter and rowed
through a hail of shot to the Niagara. Miraculously Perry and his boat
crew reached the Niagara unscathed.
Perry transfers (along with his battle flag) from the badly damaged flagship Lawrence to the unscathed Niagara.
[...]
The British, though they had pounded the Lawrence into a crippled hulk,
had suffered terribly. During the engagement Barclay was severely
wounded, plus the captain and first lieutenant of every British vessel
was incapacitated. The English fleet was now commanded by junior
officers - brave men, but with little or no experience maneuvering ships
in the chaos of combat. When they observed the Niagara bearing down on
their line the British attempted to wear ship - to turn their vessels
around to bring the unused starboard broadsides to bear. Orders were
issued, but amidst the tumult of battle the battered Detroit and Queen
Charlotte collided, becoming helplessly entangled.
Taking full advantage of the enemy blunder, Perry steered the Niagara
through the jumbled British battle line. Unleashing both broadsides, the
American commodore ravaged the vulnerable British ships. As the Niagara
pressed through the British line Perry backed the maintop sail, holding
the Niagara stationary while her belching carronades decimated the
enemy decks. The wind had also picked up by this time, allowing the
sluggish gunboats to rush forward and rake the enemy from astern.
A few minutes after 3 p.m. the British bowed to the inevitable, the four
largest vessels surrendering one by one. The gunboats Chippawa and
Little Belt sheered off and tried to escape, but they were tracked down
and snared by the Scorpion and Trippe. The entire British fleet had been
captured.
The vessels anchored and hasty repairs were underway near West Sister
Island when Perry composed his now famous message to William Henry
Harrison. Scrawled in pencil on the back of an old envelope, Perry
wrote, "Dear General: We have met the enemy and they are ours. Two
ships, two brigs, one schooner and one sloop. Yours with great respect
and esteem, O.H. Perry".
The Battle of Lake Erie proved one of the most resounding triumphs of
the War of 1812. The victory secured control of the lake, forcing the
British to abandon Fort Malden and retreat up the Thames River.
Harrison's army pursued, decisively defeating the small British army and
its allied Indian force on October 5, 1813 at the Battle of the Thames.
And later, during the peace talks, the dual victories of Lake Erie and
the Thames insured that the states of Ohio and Michigan would remain the
sovereign territory of the United States of America.
Perry's Victory and International Peace Memorial and a modern replica of the Flagship Niagara at Put-in-Bay, Ohio, during the Battle of Lake Erie Bicentennial celebrations over Labor Day weekend.
The blogger at Put-in-Bay for the Battle of Lake Erie Bicentennial, wearing his "Don't Give Up the Ship" battle flag tie from Buffalo Jackson Trading Co.
Don't Give Up the Ship!
Additional Online Resources:
Fort Meigs: Ohio's War of 1812 Battlefield
Labels: America, Americana, England, Events, Freedom!, History, Military, Ohio
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