|
 When President
Thomas Jefferson decreased the size of the Navy in 1801,
Oliver Hazard Perry was one of only 150 midshipmen retained.
Commodore Perry's
battle flag in the Battle of Lake Erie was emblazoned with
the motto "Don't Give Up The Ship," the dying words of
Captain James Lawrence for whom Perry's flagship was named.
A group of Erie women made the flag for Perry in July 1813
prior to the sortie of his squadron from Presque Isle Bay en
route to Put-in-Bay. This famous flag is now exhibited in a
place of honor at the United States Naval Academy.
Perry's report of
victory in the Battle of Lake Erie to General Harrison, "We
have met the enemy and they are ours..." has become a
classic quote from American history.
Perry had a long
history of good luck which was dubbed "Perry Luck." On
September 10th, this "Perry Luck " was definitely apparent.
On his flagship, Lawrence, every officer on the
brig was either killed or wounded, except Perry and his
13-year-old brother, James Alexander. As Perry made his
famous transfer from Lawrence to Niagara,
the was again untouched by British fire.
Within 15 minutes
after Perry's transfer from Lawrence to Niagara,
the Battle of Lake Erie was over with the surrender of the
entire British squadron. Within those 15 minutes, Perry put
every ounce of energy into the fight. The real motto was
"Don't Give Up."
Perry stowed his
"spaniel dog" in the china cabinet in the wardroom of
Lawrence during the battle. The cabinet at some point
was struck by a cannon ball that broke the crockery. The dog
was unhurt, but howled throughout the battle.
Commodore Perry not
only won the first United States Navy fleet action, but,
with the victory at Lake Erie, he defeated and captured an
entire British squadron for the first time in British
history.
"Commodore" refers
to an officer in command of several ships. While not an
official rank in the U.S. Navy, it is a grade in the Royal
Navy. "Captain" is a courtesy title for an officer
commanding a vessel. Smaller vessels in the navy are often
commanded by lesser ranks.
1813 -Lieutenant
- Master Commandant- Captain
TODAY -Lieutenant- Commander - Captain
Perry was a
Master Commandant at the time of the Battle, and he was
promoted to Captain afterward.
On the day of the
battle, Perry's entire squadron numbered between 500 and 600
crew. One hundred sixteen of them were incapacitated with
"lake fever," greatly reducing his numbers. At the time
"lake fever" was believed to be caused by spoiled food.
Today it is thought the "lake fever," was caused by
contaminated lake water.
Usher Parsons, a
United States surgeon's assistant aboard the Lawrence
during the battle, although himself severely disabled with
"lake fever," cared for all American casualties because
other U.S. doctors were incapacitated with the "fever."
Parsons, in his weakened condition, made his medical rounds
by being carried from vessel to vessel.
A significant
number of the sailors who manned the U.S. squadron during
the Battle of Lake Erie were African-Americans, perhaps as
many as one-fourth.
Lawrence's
crew alone accounted for 83 of the killed or wounded of the
American total of 123. British casualties were heavier,
totaling 135 killed or wounded.
In naval battles
prize money for each vessel captured was awarded to the
victorious crews. Although Daniel Dobbins was responsible
for initiating construction in Erie of the Lake Erie fleet,
he did not take part in the actual battle as his ship was
enroute from Erie to Perry with vital supplies. After the
battle, however, Dobbins and his crew did receive shares of
the prize money.
Commodore Perry
destroyed British sea power on the upper Great Lakes in the
Battle of Lake Erie. He also assisted General Harrison in
transferring his army across Lake Erie with his ships when
Harrison invaded Canada in late September 1813. Perry was
present at the Battle of the Thames when Harrison's army
defeated the British and Indians.
Perry, at the young
age of 14, survived two bouts of yellow fever while sailing
in the Caribbean. Nevertheless, he died on August 23, 1819,
of yellow fever on this 34th birthday, near Trinidad.
The great Indian
chief, Tecumseh, was killed in the Battle of the Thames.
Tecumseh's death caused the failure of an attempt by Indian
tribes to form a confederation to oppose U.S. settlement of
their lands.
"Don't give up the
ship" was not said by Perry. These were the dying words of
Captain James Lawrence in command of the USS
Chesapeake which was defeated by HMS Shannon
off Boston, in June 1813.
Perry's ship was
named for this officer, chiefly to honor his brave
determination. The Chesapeake had a new and
untrained crew, the Shannon a very experienced
crew. It was foolish to seek battle in such an unready a
condition and despite Lawrence's words, his crew was being
slaughtered, and surrendered in 15 minutes. He died several
days later.
Ironically - the
only way Perry was able to win the Battle of Lake Erie was
to haul down the "Don't Give up the ship" flag and do just
that; leave the Lawrence for the Niagara.
David Bunnell, a
seaman aboard Lawrence, described the scene before
battle as "A time to try the stoutest heart. My pulse beat
quick - all nature seemed wrapped in awful suspense - the
dart of death hung as if it were trembling by a single hair,
and no one knew on whose head it would fall." There were
reports that the cannon fire could be heard from Erie, one
report said Dunkirk, NY -- nearly 200 miles away.
Men spread sand
over the decks, to keep the men from slipping and falling on
the blood and gore in the heat of the battle. By 1:30, the
sand had absorbed all it could; the blood seeped through the
seams of the deck and onto the faces of the wounded men
below.
Only when a leg or
arm hung by a shred did Parsons amputate - that took too
much time; all he could do was tie up the bleeding arteries
and attach a few splints to shattered limbs.
Five cannonballs
ripped through the walls of Parson's hospital in the
wardroom. "One seaman, brought down with both arms
fractured, was scarcely in splints before another ball tore
off his legs." (Berton, 60)
Perry's first
lieutenant, John Yarnell, looked grotesque: "His nose,
perforated by a splinter, had swollen to twice its normal
size. Blood from a scalp wound threatened to blind him, but
Parsons bound it up with a bandana and Yarnell went back to
the deck. At that point, he walked into a cloud of cattail
down, torn from piles of hammocks by a cannonball...Wounded
a third time, he came below once more for medical help, his
bloody face covered with down, looking like a gigantic
owl... the men couldn't help laughing." (Berton 59)
Perry wore a plain
blue jacket throughout the battle, so as not to draw
attention to himself.
One man was riddled
with tiny pieces of iron from a cannon that got shattered by
an incoming cannonball. He recovered.
The British threw
their dead crew men (officers excluded) immediately
overboard in the heat of battle, so they wouldn't litter the
deck during action; Americans were worked around, pulled out
of the way, but later that day buried at sea as well.
Aboard
Detroit, a pet bear roamed the deck
unhurt, licking the blood of the dead and dying.
An obscure woman by
the name of Sally McCommons ran a makeshift hospital on
Presque Isle in the months following the battle, when the
wounded returned to Erie. Little is known of her.
A group of Erie
women headed by Margaret Foster Stuart organized the sewing
of Perry's famous battle flag, Don't Give Up The Ship at a
home on the corner of 4th and French streets.
After the victory,
Captain (he was promoted after the battle) Perry assisted
General Wm. Henry Harrison in transferring his army across
the now secure Lake Erie with his ships. He was there when
Harrison defeated the British and Tecumseh's Indians at the
Battle of the Thames six weeks after the Battle.
Jesse Duncan
Elliot, Commander of the Niagara during the Battle
of Lake Erie, was later the controversial commander of the
Charlestown (Boston) Navy Yard and later, the US Frigate
Constitution. The same Jesse Duncan Elliot was the
nephew of Matthew Elliot, the British Superintendant of
Indian Affairs in Upper Canada from 1808 to 1814, who
changed sides during the revolution and led attacks by
Indians that slaughtered American troops. |
