THE NEW FEDERALIST

September 13, 1988

Page 6

The Battle of Lake Erie: An American

Victory over Terrorism
Viewpoint
by Anton Chaitkin

Oliver H. Perry changes ships in mid-battle after his flagship was destroyed.
He pressed the attack to victory.

George Elder, Democratic candidate for Congress from Pennsylvania's 21st

District, brought to my attention that Sept. 10, 1988 is the 175th anniversary
of Oliver Hazard Perry's triumph over British naval forces during the War of
1812. This famous victory has such a compelling message for our country
today that it is worth our while to recall the historic framework of the battle.

It was celebrated by Americans at the time as a long-overdue, decisive strike

against terrorism. This is a form of warfare in which the aggressors arm and
employ supposedly independent attackers, hoping that the victims will never
have the courage to stop the aggression at its source.
For many years, the U.S. government had responded impotently to two
forms of terrorism, one carried out openly by an evil empire in its own
name, the other "surrogate warfare." The first was the kidnapping of thousands of seamen from American merchant vessels, who were directly impressed into the British Navy. The second was the continual attack and
slaughter of frontier settlers by American Indians, armed and directed by
British Army units.
Even though we were militarily unprepared, our nationalist leaders finally
brought about a declaration of war against Great Britain in June 1812. Two
months later, General William Hull surrendered the post of Detroit and the
2,000 men under his command to British General Isaac Brock and his 700
troops. Brock threatened to "let loose" his Indian warriors to perform
horrible atrocities on the Americans, and the elderly U.S. general gave up the
fort with no resistance.
Now, the entire western area of the nation was subject to attack, and frozen
to American development.
Perry Looks for a Fight
Because of Treasury Secretary Albert Gallatin's axing of the budget, the U.S.
Navy had embarrassingly few warships to send against the huge British
fleet. Seeing no hope for active ocean duty, Navy Captain Oliver H. Perry
got himself transferred to the Great Lakes service.
Perry set to work at Erie (then called Presque Isle), Pennsylvania, finishing
the construction of a fighting force with the resources at hand. Two brigs
and a number of small gunboats were built in the Erie harbor from green
timber. The brigs, two-masted, square-rigged ships, were named the
Lawrence and the Niagara; each carried 20 short-range cannons. The
gunboats each carried from one to four longer-range cannons.
To man his vessels, Perry was to rely on army soldiers, militia men, and new
naval volunteers, including numerous blacks and teenagers. The new ships
could not be brought out onto the lake, because a harbor sandbar only seven

feet under water was guarded by British blockaders, and enemy spies were
all around the Americans.
But British Captain Barclay temporarily withdrew his blockade on Friday,
Aug. 2, intending to enjoy a relaxing Sunday dinner on the Canadian side
while the choppy water prevented the Americans from passing the sandbar.
Acting under tight secrecy, Perry had his bigger ships towed to the underwater barrier. Their guns were removed to the beach. Prebuilt scows were
set under the Lawrence, and water was pumped out of the scows, lifting the
brig. It was still too low in the water, and the feverish work had to be begun
anew.

Gen. William Henry Harrison's troops, brought to Canada by Perry's lake

fleet, cut off the enemy retreat and defeated the British and Indian forces.

The next morning, calm waters brought the enemy fleet hurrying back
toward the struggling Americans. But cannonades from the small gunboats
kept the British at bay, just as the Lawrence sailed out over the bar. Her
guns were hoisted aboard, and began delivering a broadside against the
British ships, which withdrew after half an hour. The Niagara crossed on its
first attempt; there were now two national powers on Lake Erie.
Perry cruised for several days in pursuit of the enemy, with no success. He
came down with the virulent Lake Fever, and his little fleet went into a
harbor at Put-in-Bay, an island just north of present-day Sandusky, Ohio.
On the morning of September 10, the enemy ships were sighted to the
northwest, and the Americans went out to meet them.

The Battle Is Joined

British Captain Barclay's flagship was the Detroit, carrying 19 guns. The
other six British ships had more total cannons than the Americans, with a
longer effective range, but the Americans weapons had more firepower at
close range.
Perry, now a Master Commandant, was in the Lawrence, with Captain Jesse
Duncan Elliott on the Niagara. The American battle plan was to steal over
to the British ships in rowboats with muffled oars, and attack the enemy in
hand-to-hand combat. Wind shifts and fleet movements made such an attack
impracticable, however, and Perry had to reorient his forces.
Just before noon, when they were one and a half miles away, the British
began concentrating all their fire against the Lawrence, presuming to break
the Americans' will by sinking their command ship. The wind failed in such
a manner as to prevent the other American vessels in the battle line from
coming in to support the lead ship.
By 2:30 p.m., the Lawrence had suffered 22 killed and 61 wounded, most of
them seriously; its sails and masts were blown to pieces. Perry personally
fired the last gun still operative, and the American flag was lowered, to the
cheers of the British seamen.
Perry now crossed in a rowboat, under intense enemy fire, to the Niagara.
Captain Elliott went off to take charge of the gunboats, and the battle was
renewed. Perry took advantage of the new wind shifts to go in close, where
the enemy was most vulnerable.
The British fought gallantly, but Perry's Niagara and the gunboats came in
with such a ferocious concentration of shells and grapeshot that the British
ships were torn to tatters, and were forced to surrender within a few minutes.
The gunboats chased and caught two escaping British ships. Each side lost
about 130 dead or wounded.
Perry now sent a message to the American commanding general, William
Henry Harrison: "We have met the enemy, and they are ours. Two ships,
two brigs, one schooner, and one sloop."
Hit Them While They're Down
With American control of Lake Erie, British forces at Detroiton the far
western end of the lakecould not be supplied, and they beat a hasty retreat

to the east. But Oliver Perry's fleet now ferried General Harrison's troops
across to the Canadian shore ahead of the British.
The Americans caught them on October 5, at Moraviantown on the Thames
River. When Harrison's western horsemen charged into the enemy lines, the
British commander fled the scene, leaving his Indian allies in the lurch.
With this climactic battle, the Americans finally put an end to British
military operations in the west.
Now, for an important span of time, Indian warriors would receive no more
guns from America's powerful national enemy. They were no longer paid
for scalps. The western frontierthe Ohio and Mississippi Valleyswas
now free of terrorism, and at last open for peaceful settlement.

Anton Chaitkin is an historian, and author of the book Treason in America:

From Aaron Burr to Averell Harriman, published by New Benjamin Franklin
House in 1985.