Commodore Matthew C. Perry

“ The day before the serious bombardment began the squadron was notified by signal from the flagship: "Commodore Perry commands the squadron." There was rejoicing at this, for Perry was regarded as a man who preferred a fight for its own sake rather than to have no fight at all. In this command he proved that he was a good fighter, but he proved also that he knew how to be conservative when necessity made such a course wise. Commodore Conner went home because his health demanded that he should. The Navy Department was not dissatisfied with him. ”

“ Commodore Perry Defeats British Squadron
on Lake Erie, September 10, 1813
Foreign nations, who still smiled incredulously at the pretensions of the United States in carrying on an ocean warfare with the proud “Mistress of the Seas,” as England was everywhere acknowledged to be, were not prepared to receive, in addition to the splendid victory of the United States frigate Constitution over the Guerriere, fresh and decisive proof of the naval supremacy of the youthful Republic, in the magnificent triumph achieved by Commodore Oliver H. Perry on the waters of Lake Erie September 10, 1813. ”

“ Commodore Perry ain’t the one to hang ’round here while there’s a British vessel afloat on Lake Erie, and I’m willin’ to wager all my prize-money that if Commodore Barclay doesn’t come out boldly to meet us, we shall hunt him up, and the battle won’t be long delayed unless it so chances the gallant redcoats surrender without firing a gun. ”

“ Everywhere was color. Tents, banners, houses, and the costumes of men, women and children blazed with it. The American sailors in all their voyages in the East had never seen such a brilliant picture.
Perry was not to be outdone. His men left the ships to the noise of cannon that echoed and re-echoed along the shore. Twenty-seven boats brought five hundred men, and as soon as they landed the marines formed a hollow square, while three bands played martial music. The great commodore, now looked upon by the Japanese with awe, embarked from the Powhatan in his white gig; more guns were fired ”

“ A few years before, the elder Commodore Perry—he of Lake Erie memory—had died of yellow fever, when on a visit, in one of the small schooners of his squadron, up the Orinoco. The old sloop-of-war Lexington, under the command of Commander, now Rear-Admiral Shubrick, was sent to the Port of Spain to bring home his remains. I was one of the midshipmen of that ship. A generation had since elapsed. An infant people had, in that short space of time, grown old and decrepid, and its government had broken in twain. ”

“ Commodore Perry then left her in an open boat, and transferred his flag to the Niagara, which, passing through the British, poured broadsides into five of the vessels at half pistol-shot. Towards four o’clock every vessel had surrendered. The day, however, was not lost to the British until the first or second in every vessel had been killed or dangerously wounded. Poor Barclay’s one arm was shattered before he left the deck. Commodore Perry gave intelligence of the victory to General Harrison thus laconically: “We have met the enemy, and they are ours. ”

“ Returning now, we take up the story of a young officer who, although he had passed fifteen years in the service, had never been so fortunate as to take part in any of its more striking operations, but who was now to leap at one bound to a height of glory and renown unsurpassed by any of his comrades in the navy. This was Oliver Hazard Perry. He had entered the service in 1798, during the hostilities with France, when he joined his father's ship as a midshipman at the age of thirteen. He had served in the Tripolitan war in the squadron of Commodore Morris, and later with Commodore Rodgers ”

“ Oliver Hazard Perry was born in Rhode Island, August 23, 1785. The late Commodore Mackenzie, of the navy, who possessed what we may term a fine biographical faculty, has traced in his interesting narrative of the Life of Perry, with fond minuteness, the early incidents of the boy's career. The chief characteristics, he tells us, "were an uncommon share of beauty, a sweetness and gentleness of disposition which corroborated the expression of his countenance, and a perfect disregard of danger, amounting to apparent unconsciousness." ”

“ For some time the Americans held back, manœuvring to get the weather-gauge; but Perry's impatience for the fray got the better of his caution, and he determined to close at once. His first officer remonstrated, saying, "Then you'll have to engage the enemy to leeward."
"I don't care," responded the commodore. "Leeward or windward, they shall fight to-day." Then, turning to the quartermaster, he called for the battle-flag, which being brought, he mustered the crew aft, and addressed them briefly, telling them of the task before them, and urging them to fight bravely for the victory. ”

“ The consul stared, and then he groaned.
"High-handed outrage stalks the seas," he muttered, "and this poor fool calls it love of country! Well, well! I wonder what Commodore Perry would say if he could hear that? The Japs are our great and good friends, all right, but we don't count for much when there's a little thing like a patent boat on the programme. I'll take care of you, my lad," he added to Tolo. "You'll stay in Para until the first United States warship comes along, and then you'll travel to the States and give an account of yourself." ”

“ At this time Lake Erie was commanded by a British squadron of six vessels. The work of recovering these waters was intrusted to Commodore Oliver H. Perry. His antagonist, Commodore Barclay, was a veteran from Europe. With great energy Perry directed the construction of nine ships, and was soon afloat. On the 10th of September the two fleets met near Put-in Bay. The battle was begun by the American squadron, Perry's flag-ship, the Lawrence, leading the attack. His principal antagonist was the Detroit, under command of Barclay. The British guns had the wider range, and were better served. ”

“ Captain Perry, powerless to obey such commands as came from Washington, yet burning with the desire [Pg 149] to strike a blow in behalf of his country, was forced to remain within the harbor on the defensive, when his one desire was to begin hostilities. With a force of sailors so small that the entire number would not have been sufficient to work the Lawrence, he could do no more than answer Commodore Chauncey’s summons in the following words:—
“The enemy’s fleet of six sail are reported off this harbor. What a golden opportunity if we had men! ”

“ Four days after coming to anchor, General Harrison sent thirty-six men to act as marines, and take the [Pg 235] places of those sailors who were too feeble to even stand watch.
With a view to giving the invalids a needed tonic, Commodore Perry ordered the squadron under way, and we cruised to and fro, where I know not, for at the time I was so ill as to give no heed whatsoever to anything around me. ”

“ With pleasure we welcome you to Yedo Bay, and in doing so, can assure you that your ship, the ‘Lady Pierce,’ is the first foreign vessel that has been received by us with pleasure.
“Commodore Perry brought with him too many large guns and fighting men to be pleasing to us; but you have come in your beautiful ship, which is superior to any we have before seen, to visit us, without any hostile weapons, and the Emperor has ordered that you shall have all the kindness and liberty extended to you that Commodore Perry received. ”

“ It was a hearty reception with which we met when, having come to the shore, signals were made to our vessels in the offing, and a boat put out from the Madison, which for the time was flying Commodore Chauncey’s flag.
Leaving our horses in the care of friendly-disposed people near at hand, we embarked in the commodore’s barge, and on stepping aboard the Madison, Commodore Chauncey said, taking Captain Perry warmly by the hand:—
“No person on earth could be more welcome at this time than yourself.” ”

“ It was Captain Elliott himself who met Commodore Perry at the Niagara’s gangway, and he stared as if facing a ghost, when our commander saluted him ceremoniously, for he believed him dead.
“How is the day going, sir?” Elliott asked, as soon as he could control his voice sufficiently to speak.
“Badly, Mr. Elliott, badly. I have lost nearly all my men; the Lawrence is a wreck, and I am transferring [Pg 292] my flag and the banner to this ship. What are the gunboats doing so far astern? Why do they not bear their full share of the burden?” ”

“ Perry’s appeal for men became at this time stirring: “For God’s sake and yours, and mine, send me men and officers, and I will have them all in a day or two,” he wrote to Commodore Chauncey. He got some men—“a motley set, blacks, soldiers, and boys.” The British historians with one accord say that Perry’s men were all “picked men.” An American can well afford to excuse them for thinking so when the result of the fight this “motley set” made is considered; but it was a “scrub” crew. ”

“ But in spite of odds, Macdonough, was fighting his ship desperately and yet with a perfect mental grasp of the whole situation. Like Perry on Lake Erie, he set an example to his men by working a long gun with his own hands, and every shot he fired told with deadly effect. But as he bent over his gun at one moment a British shot cut the spanker-boom of161 the Saratoga in two and one of the pieces fell on him, knocking him senseless, so that the cry “The Commodore is killed” was passed along the deck. ”

“ The victory having been gained, and the lake thus cleared of the foe, Perry was enabled to act in concert with General Harrison in driving the British from Michigan, and when his fleet was of no avail to follow them in their rapid flight, he joined that officer's land expedition, and was present, acting as his aid, at the battle of the Thames. "The appearance of the brave commodore," writes Harrison in his official report, "cheered and animated every heart." ”

“ On the morning appointed Commodore Perry, with twelve boatloads of sailors and marines, landed with considerable difficulty through the booming surf and, escorted by fifty natives armed with rusty muskets of an obsolete pattern, marched through the jungle to the palaver house. As he entered the town it did not escape the keen eye of the American commander that there was a noticeable absence of natives to greet him; he guessed, and rightly, that the warriors were in ambush and that the women and children had taken to the bush. ”

“ Our ship had been cleared for action some time before, and as the real advance was begun Commodore Perry ordered that the blue banner, with its inspiring words in white, be brought up from his cabin.
Holding it at arm’s length that it might be plainly seen by every one on deck, the commander said, in words that look cold enough when set down in writing, but which thrilled all who heard, and caused my faint courage to increase until I almost longed for the combat:—
“The enemy, for which we have waited so long, is at last before us. You know we are slightly outclassed in guns and number of men ”

“ 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. ”

“ The brief career of Commodore Perry (1785-1819) , midshipman, lieutenant, commander of Lake Erie, and the American squadron in the Mediterranean is given in this volume which is “a eulogy rather than a biography.” (N. Y. Times.)
“As an elementary history the book is good. It should make rather a good ‘reader.’ Mr. Lyman has padded his book tremendously, and has indulged in ‘fine writing’ of the worst sort. The author is very chary of dates.”
Lynch, Frederick. Is life worth living? ”

“ As long as he lived he was always spoken of as "Alvarado" Hunter. A sense of humor is sometimes a dangerous cargo for a public man to carry; but the absence of it also is often dangerous. In this instance Commodore Perry, because he did not see the amusing aspect of Hunter's escapade, made himself so ridiculous that he came near cutting short his own career, which, as will afterward be seen in this history, was destined for greater achievements than any in the past.
Blue-Jackets before Vera Cruz.
The next objective point for the navy was Tuspan, where the "Truxton" had been lost. ”

“ Yarnall, and whatever may be the turn of affairs, count on our speedily coming to your assistance.”
“God bless you, commodore!” was the gallant officer’s reply, and then we left him on a sinking ship with only grievously wounded men as shipmates and crew.
It was the commodore himself who gave the order [Pg 288] for us to push off, and, as if thinking we at the oars needed heartening lest we should falter in the task after reaching that spot where the iron hail was thickest, he wrapped the pennant around his shoulders, standing erect while we pulled out to what seemed certain death. ”

“ So Commodore Perry ordered out his barge with fourteen others to carry guards of honor. The boats formed in line and the advance guard-boat, with an American captain in command, was accompanied by two Japanese boats containing, as a mark of honor, the Governor and Vice-governor of Uraga. There was a band of music, and to the blare of brazen instruments was added the roar of a thirteen-gun salute. ”