The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1858-09-25
lietorif0l.
The Battle Of Lake Erie.

Surgeon Of the flag Ship Lawrence at the time
d the battle.
- At the commencement Of the war orlSl2
| Government undertook the conquest Of IN
per Canada. Gen. Hull was Mt the head Of
the army at Detroit, and Gen Van Rrnsselac,
of another on Niagara river The surr,cr was
captured, and the latter defeated. At this
time the British hold possession Of Lake Erie
with five armed vessels, and had ca,t lf1d the
| Adams, the cnly vessels we owned upon the
! Lake. Their vessels, cftrying sailors and
| Indians, could at any moment strike a fatal
| blow upon any dcfcucrlcsS settlements on the
south SIDE of thc Lake. Three fruitlpSs and
disastrous expeditions tlught the necessity of
creating Il fleet on Lake Erie that should com
nrand it, and cooperate with Gen Harrison,
wlo then commanded the North Western ar
my. Accordingly in the winter Of 1872 - 10.
the krll> Of five vessels were laid at Eic: at
| ;he same time four or five merchant -scloorors
being all that wee then owned hy us on The
! Lake, were purchased and armed with two OF
| three guns each.
! Perry was at ih&t time ,mmanlcr Cfa TO-
! lila Of gunboats at Newport, r. L.. and vol
untc'l,d fer HE lakes. lie WAS ordc!cd to
Supcvntcnd l. C 3ut-littng Of the fleet at AXE
Erie. He took with him many Of the officers
| and scarnrn from Newport, and arrived at
Ere in March, 1873. 1t is worthy Of remark
that majority Of the officers Of the fleet. and
| a large portion Of the men were from Rhode
Island.
In May, 1911 Perry left Eric in rour oar.
| ed boat for Buii,lo, where he arrived in TWEEN.
ty-ionr hou,s from thence he proceeded to
Lake Ontario. and rendered important SER
vice to Com. Chaunccy in the capture Of Fort
George. GA his way he stopped ut Black
flock, to hasten the ming and out-iit'ing of
the five merchant schoonrrs. and on hs> re-
turn lac took with him from ChaEncrv'S fleet
few men, and borrowed two companies of
infantry from the army, with which ne MANN
ed the vessels and sailed to Erie. The feet
narrowly escaped being captured by the Bit
IHh iieet which was in the ncighIorlIood of
Eric, the day before Perry arrived. Many
difficulties had to he encountered in obtaining
coiuagr, canvass, powder and balls anG all
tther Quilts, which were to be brought most.
~ iIlm the scahoa,d, Il distance Of five hun
died miles, over bad roads.
The WrrN progressed rapidly under the su-
pc1lor management Of the officers, and on the
iO;h OF July the guns were mounted on board
all the vessels, and the men we've exercised at
them several times a day. The timber had
been taken from the forest and converted INTO
vessels II less than five months.
The bar at Erie served as ratification to
prevent the enemy from entering the hArbor
where the fleet was building, and also present
I'd curious obstacle to the ,gress Of the lar
ger vessels. All the guns and ammunition had
to be taken of the Lawrence and Niagara to
get them over the bar. Before The large YES
atlS were fairly over the cnerny hove in sight
and iiicd few Shots which failed to do any
execution. The Pennsylvania regiment pa
radtd on thcoid block house grounds. and
made a. iolnIal'le show as possible and
the smaller American vessels which were over
tic lar returned The fire. Fortunately the
cncmydld not know how easy victory might
! have been obtained at the time, and sailed up
the Lake.
On the 9Th of August peIry's feet sailed
! across the Lake, hoping to meet tie enemy
but not discovering them returned 10 Enc the
next day, and was then reinforced by Captain
Elliot with nearly one hundred officers and
men. Perry again made sail up the Lake in
pursuit Of the British, and on the 18Th Of An
gust anchored in putin Bay. On tie l7th he
sailed to the mouth Of Sandusky bay, aud
there hy previous arrangement, was met by
Gen Harrison who remained on board two
days to settle the plan cl lulue ololati1ns.--
\ reinforcement Of somc thirty or forty VOL
nntcc1s a'So joined The fleet. After cruising
about at The head Of the Lake, the feet again
anchored at l'ut-in-l!ay on til: 9th Of Septem-
Der. The following morning The British IL ct
was discovered making up the Lake. All
hands were piprd up, and the American YES
sells got III Trim for battle. The British feet
consisted Of six vessels, carrying siXty-tlrcc
| and Am, ,.r,
| liIty-lour guns. Com. Perry, having got ms
fleet ready for action, brought out his fighting
| flag. 1t was inscribed with the last words Of
the expiring Lawrence, " Don't GIVE Up THE
SNIP, and was hoisted TO The masthead OF
the flag ship bearing his name. A Spirited
appeal as made to the crew assembled on
the quarterback, who returned three hearty
checis that were repeated along the whole
OF the fore royal, where the whole fleet could
read the motto distinctly.
Every preparation beng made, and every
man at his post, profound silence rcened
for more than an hour, the most trying par,
| Of the whole scene. It was the stiffness Of
the atmosphere that rrcccGcs the hurricane
while the fleet moved on steadily TILL quarter
before II NJ, when the awful suspense was re.
!levei by cannon shot AIMED at the Lawrenc.
from the British lag.sIip Detroit, one mil,
distant. IN short time the fleet was engag-
cd, except the Niagara, which was kent out
Of close action by the incxpicabe conduct o!
| Capt. Elliott, who utterly failed to perform
the duty assigned hln in the battle, and hung
back for nearly two hours in the heat of the
contest. The fight was fierce and slneuinarv
and the carnage on board the Lawrence was
fearful. That vessel, after one of the most
determined struggles on record, was at last
disabled, and Perry abandoned her, and pas
Sod i'll an open boat 10 the Niagara, which h,
Immediately brought into action. In shor,
time the tide was changed and the British
surrendered. The battle had ragged for over
three hours The whole loss on the Amcri
can side was twcnty-scv,n killed and ninety.
six wounded, of which twenty-five were Kill
ed and siXty-onc wounded on board the Law.
renee. leaving only five killed and thirty five
wounded Oh all Ihc other American vessels
The whole number killed on the side of tic
BRUSH was forty one wounded ninety four
About four 0 clock Commodore Perry re-
sumed the command Of his tntcred flag shI
the Lawrence determined that the remnant O
her crew should have the satisfaction of wit
Messing the formal sure nder OF the British of
hcers. 1t was a lime OF conflicting emotion!
when he stepped on deck but the deck was
slippery with blood and strewn with tn
bodies Of twenty officers and men, and tn
ship resounded. Those who were spare,
and able to walk met him on board, but TIN
SALVATION was silent one on both sides no
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