Battle of Lake Erie

“ Hearty cheers came with the boom of that gun.
The Battle of Lake Erie.
From an old engraving.
One must needs hear the thin quaver of “Vive le” this and “Vive le” that, of some Latin race to fully appreciate the power of an Anglo-Saxon cheer. It is significant of the power of the dominant race. But this was a family feud—it was Anglo-Saxon against Anglo-Saxon, and Perry’s men heard the bold shout with smiles.
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A moment later another ball, better aimed, crashed through the bulwarks of the Yankee flagship and some of the landsmen shivered. ”

“ Augustus Louis von Schloetzer, a German historian, died. He wrote a History of Lithuania, &c.
1813. Battle of lake Erie, and defeat and capture of the entire British fleet under Com. Barclay, by the United States fleet under Com. Perry. The British force consisted of 6 vessels, 63 guns; Americans had 11 vessels, 54 guns. The action commenced at 15 minutes before 12, and ended about 3 P. M. The loss of the British was estimated at 200; Americans lost 27 killed, 96 wounded—123. ”

“ In the battle of Chippewa, the capture of Fort Erie, the engagement at Lundy’s Lane, and the defence of Fort Erie the troops, under the command of Generals Winfield Scott and Brown, had more than held their own against superior forces, and had won from British officers the admission that they fought as well under fire as regular troops. More encouraging still was the total defeat of the plan of invasion from Canada undertaken by the now greatly strengthened British forces. These numbered twelve thousand men and were supported by a fleet on Lake Champlain. ”

“ It is fair to call Lundy's Lane a drawn battle. The casualties were something more than eight hundred for each side, and the troops engaged were about twenty-five hundred Americans and a like number of British. Both the shattered columns soon retired behind strong defenses. General Drummond led the British troops into camp at Niagara Falls, and General Ripley, in temporary command of the American brigades, Scott and Brown having been wounded, occupied the unfinished works of Fort Erie, on the Canadian side, just where the waters of Lake Erie enter the Niagara River. ”

“ From the description of the general features of the country, given in a former chapter, it will be remembered that Lake Erie, the Welland River and Canal, and the Niagara River, enclose a section of country very nearly square, with a railway running from Chippawa to Fort Erie, and another from Port Colborne to the same place. ”

“ Should the victory rest with the Americans, Harrison, with his army in the vicinity of Sandusky bay, was prepared to press forward by land or water for the seizure of Malden and Detroit, the recovery of Michigan, and the invasion of Canada.
“All along the borders of the lake within sound of the cannon in the battle (and they were heard from Cleveland to Malden) , women with terrified children, [Pg 307] and decrepit old men, sat listening with the deepest anxiety ”

“ Lake Erie teaches us the advantage of having the odds on our side; Lake Champlain, that, even if they are not, skill can still counteract them. It is amusing to read some of the pamphlets written "in reply" to Cooper's account of this battle, the writers apparently regarding him as a kind of traitor for hinting that the victory was not "Nelsonic," "unsurpassed," etc. The arguments are stereotyped: Perry had 9 fewer guns, and also fewer men than the foe. ”

“ Broad-minded, higher-souled, there is but one
Who was all this and ours, and all men's—WASHINGTON.
PERRY'S VICTORY ON LAKE ERIE JAMES GATES PERCIVAL [Sidenote: Sept. 10, 1813] Throughout the war of 1812 with Great Britain, the navy was more successful than the army. In the battle on Lake Erie, Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry captured six British vessels.
Bright was the morn,—the waveless bay
Shone like a mirror to the sun ”

“ The landing of a body of about five thousand men, mostly regular troops, was aided by a squadron of war-ships in undisputed command of Lake Erie, and the co-operation of a more powerful fleet on Lake Ontario was arranged for when the invaders had fought their way to its shores. Fort Erie was taken with scarcely a show of resistance, and an ill-judged attack by an inferior British brigade near Chippawa was sharply repelled with severe loss. ”

“ When the storm ceased, the dead were buried, the remaining boats repaired, and the forlorn band started back down the lake, unable to render any assistance to the besieged garrison at Detroit on account of the loss of their ammunition and arms.
In the fall of the next year, 1764, General Bradstreet with three thousand men opened a campaign against the Indians on Lake Erie, and after various successes and defeats started in batteaux from Sandusky Bay to coast down the lake, his forces consisting of British regulars, provincials and a large body of Indian allies. ”

“ The vessels had to be vigilantly guarded against attack by the British, who were fully aware of the work being done. The capture of Fort George left the Niagara River open, and several American vessels which had been unable before to pass the Canadian batteries were now, with great exertion, drawn into the lake. These were the brig Caledonia, the schooners Somers, Tigress and Ohio, and the sloop Trippe. An English squadron set out to intercept the new arrivals, but Perry succeeded in gaining the harbor of Erie before the enemy made their appearance. ”

“ The theatre of war was to be much the same as in the French and Indian war (§ 14) . The lines stretched from Nova Scotia to the Great Lakes, but settlement had extended so far westward that Detroit marked the flank of both powers, and Lake Erie was included in the field of operations. Like Braddock in 1755 (§ 16) , the Americans expected to roll the enemy's line up from west to east; and at the same time they meant to penetrate where Loudon and Abercrombie had attacked, through Lake Ontario and Lake Champlain. For harbor and coast defence they relied chiefly on the fleet of gunboats. ”

“ Now, if ever, was Prevost's golden opportunity to end the war with a victory that would turn the scale decisively in favour of the British cause. With the one exception of Lake Erie, the British had the upper hand over the whole five thousand miles of front. A successful British counter-invasion, across the Montreal frontier, would offset the American hold on Lake Erie, ensure the control of Lake Champlain, and thus bring all the scattered parts of the campaign into their proper relation to a central, crowning triumph.
On the other hand, defeat would mean disaster. ”

“ At length, the wind being favorable, they lightened the vessel by sending most of the crew on shore, and with the aid of their sails and ten or a dozen men at the tow-lines, ascended the current into Lake Erie. Thus, on the 7th of August, 1679, the first vessel set sail on the untried waters of Lake Erie. They steered southward after having chanted their never-failing Te Deum, and discharged their artillery in the presence of a vast number of Seneca warriors. It had been reported to our voyagers that Lake Erie was full of breakers and sandbanks, which rendered a safe navigation impossible ”

“ Spectacular as were the exploits of the American navy on the sea, they were of far less immediate consequence in deciding the destinies of the war than were the naval battles fought on fresh water between hastily improvised squadrons. On Lake Erie Perry's victory had recovered a lost empire and had made the West secure against invasion. Macdonough's handful of little vessels on Lake Champlain compelled the retreat of ten thousand British veterans of Wellington's campaigns who had marched down from Canada with every promise of crushing American resistance. ”

“ Shores devoid of inhabitants look upon seas devoid of ships; you alight from the unfrequented waves upon unfrequented coasts.
Lake Erie.
Lake Erie is over one hundred leagues in circumference. The nations of the water-side were exterminated by the Iroquois two centuries ago. It is an appalling thing to see the Indians venturing in their birch-bark wherries upon this lake famed for its tempests, in which myriads of serpents swarmed in former days. These Indians hang their manitous upon the prow of their canoes and dart into the midst of the eddies among the heaving waves. ”

“ He soundly reasoned that unless a movement could be launched against Niagara, at the other end of Lake Erie, the whole strength of the British might be thrown against him and that he was likely to be trapped in Detroit. There was a general plan of campaign, submitted by Major General Henry Dearborn before the war began, which provided for a threefold invasion—from Sackett's Harbor on Lake Ontario, from Niagara, and from Detroit—in support of a grand attack along the route leading past Lake Champlain to Montreal. ”

“ From this moment Perry had the advantage on Lake Erie.
The American fleet was now only waiting to complete its crews before seeking its adversary. Soon a final detachment of one hundred men came from Lake Ontario, brought by Lieutenant Elliott, who was placed in command of the "Niagara." The "Lawrence" was selected by Commodore Perry as his flagship. He had now through his energetic efforts a force superior to the enemy both in guns and men, and the next few days were spent in training the mixed crews, and in reconnoitring and manœuvering on the lake. ”

“ What was to have been gained by landing the men at Fort Erie cannot be imagined. Why these officers should give up the advantage of their vessel to fight ten times their number on shore is perfectly unaccountable. Had they barricaded the vessel and staid in the stream they could have made the village too hot to hold the enemy, and would, without doubt, have inflicted great loss on them, and have prevented vessels from coming over to take them away, or if they had come over could have run them down if they attempted to leave. ”

“ It is remarkable that neither of these officers and one of them an engineer officer, should have thought of trying to strengthen the bulwarks of their vessel, and place her in as favourable a condition for fighting as possible. There was a pile of cord wood on the dock at Fort Erie and plenty also at Black Creek, if that had been piled up against the bulwarks, sloping up from the inside it would have made them musket proof, and the men could have fought behind a defence of that kind with comparative safety. ”

“ Their object is, no doubt, either to blockade or attack us, or to carry provisions or reënforcements to Malden. Should it be to attack us, we are ready to meet them. I am constantly looking to the seaward; every mail and every traveller from that quarter is looked to as the harbinger of the glad tidings of our men being on the way. Give me men, sir, and I will acquire both for you and myself honor and glory on this lake, or perish in the attempt. Conceive my feelings: the enemy within striking distance, my vessels ready, and not men enough to man them. ”

“ Lake Erie, from Miamis Bay to the entrance of the straits of Niagara, is in length 257 miles, in breadth 64 miles, and in circumference 658 miles. The greatest depth of water is between forty and forty-five fathoms, but a very rocky bottom renders the anchorage unsafe in blowing weather. Except Amherstburg, the British have no harbour or naval depôt upon Lake Erie, while the Americans have two or three excellent ones. Presqu'île harbour is situate on the southern side of the lake, not far from the entrance to the Niagara. ”

“ The obstacles to be overcome were so enormous, the people and the Government, militarily, so ignorant and incapable, that it was scarcely possible to move efficiently without adopting, or seeming to adopt, the popular spirit and conviction. Facts had now asserted themselves through the unpleasant medium of experience, and henceforth it was tacitly accepted that nothing could be done except to stand on the defensive, until the navy of Lake Erie, as yet unbuilt, could exert its power. ”

“ Lake Erie is situated between forty-one and forty-three degrees of north latitude, and between seventy-nine and eighty-three degrees west longitude. It is two hundred and eighty miles long; opposite Cleveland, in the state of Ohio, it is about sixty miles broad, to the eastward it is above seventy. The average breadth is from fifty to sixty miles; and its medium depth from forty to one hundred and twenty feet. The water is pure and wholesome, and abounds with fish; such as sturgeon, white-fish, trout, and perch. The lake does not freeze in the middle, but is frequently frozen on both sides ”

“ Emigrants of all nations cross Lake Erie on their way to the colonies west of those great inland seas. But to too many of them has Erie proved a grave. Not long since a vessel of emigrants, mostly Germans, was destroyed by fire on Lake Erie, and hundreds of these poor people found a grave in its waters. Among those who were taken up were seven or eight couples, locked in each other's arms. Death could not divide them. Love is stronger than death. ”

“ Fort Erie is upon the Canadian shore, opposite Buffalo, just at the point where the Niagara river runs out of lake Erie. It was destroyed during the war of 1812.
I have scarcely enjoyed any thing so much as that sail over Lake Erie. The lake is here five or six miles broad. The water rushes swiftly past, as if eager to accomplish its glorious destiny of plunging over the rocks of Niagara, there to be a spectacle which nations come from afar to gaze upon. We caught the excitement which seemed to animate the water, as we were tossed upon its wavelets with{73} quick, gay, tilting motion ”