Page 35 - NS-2 Textbook

28 MARITIME HISTORY

o A

LAKE
OHAIIPLAIH

Sackett's Harbor
;;~i;if

. Niagara

STAT E S

Campaigns of the eastern Great Lakes in the War of 1812. Principal actions were fought on Lake Erie and lake Champlain.

portant objective in the early days of the war. Detroit had squadron, he beat a hasty reh'eat to his base at Malden on
been surrendered to the British at the outbreak of wm~ the northwest corner of Lake Erie to await completion of
and the British had control of the entire Northwest Terri- a new flagship, the hventy-glul brig Detroit. Perry moved
tory down to Ohio, where American general William west and consolidated his forces at Put-in-Bay in a group
Harrison was sustaining a difficult defense against the of islands opposite Malden.
British and their indian allies. The British had a small By September things at Malden were getting desper-
squadron of armed vessels on the lake, but the Ameri- ate, as some 14,000 Indian allies of the British there were
cans had no warships there at all. To remedy this situa- running out of food. It was imperative that Barclay move
tion President Madison sent a contingent of shipwrights promptly to regain control of the sea lines of communi-
to Presque Isle (now Erie, Pennsylvania) to begin build- cation through Lake Erie to Malden. So, early on 10 Sep-
ing a small u.s. fleet there. Later, twenty-seven-year-old tembel~ despite knowing he was going against a superior
Captain Oliver Hazard Perry was sent there to take op- force, Barkley sailed forth to meet Peny in a battle that
erational command. would ultimately decide the fate of the entire Northwest
When Perry arrived in the spring of 1813, he fotmd Territory. Besides the Detroit, he had the ship Queell Char-
things in a bad state. Work had begun on hvo hventy- lotte, seventeen gtllS, and fOlu' slnaller vessels.
gun brigs that would be better than anything the British Sighting the British, the American squadron came
had on the lake, but winter delayed their completion and before the wind and approached the enemy. Flying from
fitting out until July 1813. Peny named one brig the Nia- the masthead of the Lawrellce was Perry's blue battle flag,
gara, and the other the Lawrellce for his good friend the inscribed 'with Captain Lmvrence's dying conunand:
late captain of the Chesapeake, and chose it for his flag- "Don't Give Up the Ship." Perry took some punishment
ship. MeaIl,vhile, COll1illodore Yeo sent Comnlander from the Detroit's long gtms. Then at close range he
Robert Barclay, a distinguished Trafalgar veteran, to opened up 'with his carronades and rifle fire from a con-
command the British Lake Erie squadron. tingent of Kentucky marksmen manning the tops of his
After overcoming one obstacle after anothel~ Peny fi- rigging. Soon nearly every 11lan topside on the British
nally went on patrol in August with his two brigs and ship, including most of her officers, was dead. If Lieu-
seven other vessels. When Barclay sighted Perry's tenant Elliot in command of the Niagara had done the