Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ Commodore Decatur. Derelict. Cutting Away the Flag. Commodore Perry. Barney Regains his Ship. Toasting the Wooden Walls of Columbia. Commodore Macdonough. Hull Makes a Reconnoissance. The British Squadron. Lieut. Allen Fires a Shot. Commodore Rogers Hails. Explosion on the "President". "Hull Her, Boys!" Loading. Ready to Board. Engagement of the Frigates "United States" and "Macedonian," Christmas Day, 1812. Assuming to be British Men-of-War. (p. xiv) Marines Picking Off the Enemy. In the Cross-Trees. Perry's Recruits. Drilling the Raw Recruits. Commodore Perry at the Battle of Lake Erie. ”

“ A gun captain whom Perry has addressed to give a word of caution is just about to fire, when a cannon-ball passes through his body and he falls without a groan at the commodore's feet. Brooks the marine officer, a dashing young lieutenant, is making a smiling response to Perry's cheerful words, when a heavy shot crushes his thigh and throws him across the deck. In an agony of pain he implores the commodore to shoot him dead and put him out of misery. ”

“ 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 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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?” ”

“ 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." ”

“ 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 ”

“ He had made war on British naval vessels and taken captive many as well as those of England's merchant marine. Now he and his country were acting in accord with England in opposition to and in restraint of the French.
Friends had become enemies and enemies had become friendly, so much so that a Barbadoes paper, on his arrival there, could declare: "Whatever good fortune attends Commodore Barry will but increase the public esteem which he already possesses, as to see merit rewarded is the generous wish of every British bosom." ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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? ”

“ 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! ”

“ All was fish that came to the pirate’s net, and if the vessels were foreign, so much the worse for them, the buccaneer captain dealing out his favours with fairly balanced hand till the shores of the great gulf and the islands that formed the eastern barrier rang with the news of his deeds.
Government heard what was said, and replied that five years before they had sent out a ship to capture Commodore Junk, that there was a severe engagement, and the captain was taken and hung, and afterwards gibbeted off the port where his deeds obtained most fame. ”

“ The "Delaware" sailed on its second cruise in the fall of 1779 in company with three other Letter-of-Marque brigs and one schooner. Of this fleet Captain Barry was made Commodore. He was always so appointed whenever two or more vessels were assigned to one cruise or expedition in which he engaged. When abreast of Cape Henlopen the British sloop-of-war the "Harlem," with eighty-five men and fourteen four-pounders, was taken without resistance, though the officers escaped in boats after heaving overboard all the guns. ”

“ The truth is that only one of the navy’s achievements in times of peace has ever been fully appreciated by the American people, and that was the expedition to Japan, in the early fifties, under Captain Matthew Calbraith Perry. This Captain Perry, it is worth noting, was a younger brother of Oliver H. Perry, the hero of Lake Erie. He was made a lieutenant in 1813, but, like many others at that time, did not make a great name simply because he lacked opportunity. He never had a separate command where the qualities that give a naval officer fame might have sway. ”

“ After repeating this manœuvre twice more, the Commodore ordered the sheets slacked off and gave the man at the wheel his bearing for the first leg of the run in.
"Perhaps the pilot has overslept on his siesta today," he remarked dryly; "and if that's the case our anchor gun may wake him up."
We went in neatly and expeditiously. "Keep the eastern outer bluff on the starboard," read the Directions, "rounding the island off it within a cable's length. All the eastern shores of the bay are steep-to and free from danger, and the wind will always lead off." ”

“ The almost unbroken line of victories on the sea, however, which we have won with anything like equality of force from English, French, and Spaniards, enables us to confidently await the issue of any future naval action under conditions of equality; and the names of Jones, Dale, Biddle, Barry, Preble, Hull, Decatur, Bainbridge, Lawrence, Stewart, MacDonough, Perry, Farragut, Dewey, and Sampson will not be outshone by any galaxy. ”

“ Back to the deck springs Commodore Paul Jones, while the face of Captain Pearson is stricken old and white. For the earliest time he realizes the desperate heart of that unconquerable one who has him in a death-grapple, and a premonition of his own defeat pierces his heart like a dagger of ice. As Commodore Paul Jones regains the deck, he observes Boatswain Jack Robinson who has waddled aft. The cloud of anger fades from his brow, and he breaks into a loud laugh that is tenfold worse than the cloud. ”

“ Bill Jepson said slowly, as if talking with himself, "though, of course, I ain't countin' on interferin' with you lads in any way: What I've got to tell the commodore is of more importance than the yarn Macomber can spin for the admiral, an' Darius Thorpe seemed to think I couldn't see the old man any too soon. Now if this 'ere sneak is goin' to wait where he is till the fleet comes, what's to prevent our keepin' on as we started, an' then comin' back to pull him in? ”