In the War of 1812, whoever controlled Lake Erie, controlled the Northwest Territory. The British had taken Detroit and it may not have stopped there. The British had a fleet on the lake and the United States had to match it. The 28-year-old Oliver Perry was given command on the lake. Perry’s fleet was constructed at Presque Isle. The harbor was protected by a sandbar that prevented big ships from getting at Perry’s fleet, but it also made it difficult to exit the harbor. The British commander on the lake, Robert Barclay, maintained a blockade on the harbor. Fortunately, Barclay was forced to lift the blockade due to lack of supplies and bad weather. (Or because he went to attend a banquet, as some historians claim.) While he was away, Perry was able to get his two largest ships, the Lawrence and the Niagara, over the sandbar using “camels”. A camel was a barge that was lashed to both sides of a ship. When the ballast was removed from the barges, they would lift the ship over the sandbar. This was after all the guns had been removed and then were replaced on the other side of the sandbar. If the British fleet had still been there, the process would have been impossible. When Barclay learned of the development, he rushed his fleet to meet Perry’s. Perry sailed to confront him.
Perry had 5 schooners, 3 brigs, and a sloop. Barclay had two ships (the Detroit and the Queen Charlotte), one brig, two schooners, and one sloop. Perry’s fleet had more cannons. On Sept. 10, 1813, the fleets approached each other in lines with the biggest ships in the middle. At 11:45 A.M., the first cannons were fired. Perry’s flagship the USS Lawrence (named after the James Lawrence of “Don’t give up the ship” fame) was pummeled for twenty minutes with its own guns ineffectual. The Detroit and the Queen Charlotte were able to gang up on the Lawrence because the USS Niagara, under Capt. Jesse Elliot, did not enter the battle. The Lawrence was so badly damaged that Perry decided to leave the ship and rowed over to the Niagara. He carried his personal pennant which was emblazoned “Don’t Give Up the Ship.” His African-American servant Cyrus Tiffany sheltered Perry’s body with his own as the British attempted to kill him. Perry arrived unscathed and took command of the Niagara. His meeting with Elliot must have been awkward. Perry took the ship to cut between the Detroit and the Queen Charlotte. The two British ships had already taken a beating from the other American ships and Niagara’s fresh attack was devastating. Barclay, who would lose a leg as a result of the battle, was forced to surrender his fleet. The British lost 41 killed and 94 wounded and the Americans 29 killed and 94 wounded. Perry became a national hero and his message made him famous. He reported: “We have met the enemy and they are ours.” The battle ended the British threat to the Northwest Territory. America was able to recapture Detroit and win the Battle of the Thames (where Tecumseh was killed).
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/the-battle-of-lake-erie-87245066/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Lake_Erie
https://www.battlefields.org/learn/war-1812/battles/battle-lake-erie
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