The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1897-11-08
FAMOUS AND PATRIOTIC UTTER
ANCES.

| FAMOUS AND PATRIOTIC UTTER
ANCEs.
A dispatch in the Sunday Journal from
| Omaha said: 1T remained for a former
| Omaha citizen to destroy piece of pretty
| sentiment with which American patriotism
| has surrounded the immortal Commodore
| Perry" The Omaha citizen is one General
| Stanton. The piece OF pretty sentiment
which he claims to have destroyed is Per-
| RVS celebrated dispatch after the battle of
| Lake Erie: I'VE have met the enemy, and
| they are ours" General Stanton whoever
| he may be, has been mousing among the
records at the War Department in Wash
| ington, and announces with aneair of tri-
| umph, that the famous sentiment was never
uttered by Perry. In proof of the assertion
he quotes the commodore's official dispatch
TO the secretary of war, written immediate
| ly after the battle, in which the sentence
does not occur. This dispatch is very brief,
the gist of it being in the sentence, 1.-THE
| British squadron, consisting of two ships,
two briggs, one schooner and one sloop, have
this moment surrendered to the force under
my command, after a sharp conflict.
General Stanton has not destroyed "the
| piece of pretty sentiment" attributed to
Commodore Perry, nor has he, as he seems
to think made an interesting historical dis
covery. On the contrary, he has shown his
| own ignorance of history. The famous dis
] patch was not sent to the secretary of war;
but to General William Henry Harrison,
then in command of the Army of the North
west. 1t would scarcely have been good
| form for Commodore Perry to have used
| that language in an official dispatch to the
| secretary of war. but he could with entire
| propriety in addressing the commander of
the land forces, then at Camp Seneca, in
northern Ohio. AS soon as the battle
ended, and before the surrender was COM
| plete, he wrote to Harrison with pencil on
| the back of a letter, using his knee for
| desk: I'VE have met the enemy, and they
are ours-two ships, two briggs, one schooner
| and one sloop." This dispatch, or letter, was
dated United States Brig Niagara, off the
Western Sisters, Sept. 10, 1913, p. M" His
| official dispatch to the secretary of war
was dated United States Brig Niagara, off
| the Western Sn., head of Lake Erie, Sept. 10,
D. M" AS both are marked 4 p. m. the
one to Harrison probably written inn
mediately after that to the secretary of
war. The commodore was not wasting any
time just then, and the dispatch to Harri-
son, now so famous, told the whole story.
A facsimile of the letter still exists. The
incident is as we'll authenticated as the one
in which Commodore Perry figured the
night before the battle. After confer
1 ,iaI,
he announced his intention of attacking the
British squadron the next day, and just be-
fore the officers separated, Perry brought
out a square battle flag which he had had
prepared for him. 1t was blue, and bore in
large white letters the dying words of Cap
tain Lawrence-"Don't give up the ship
The hosting of this flag on the commo-
dore's flag ship was to be the signal for
going into battle, as it was the next day.
This flag is preserved at the United States
Naval Academy, Annapolis.
The authenticity of incidents of this kind
should not be attacked. Even if they are
not absolutely verified by history, as in this
case they are, when they once become i'm
bedded in the popular mind as national ira
ditions they should not be disturbed. There
is a world of patriotism in the two express
sions above quoted. They are part of the
glorious legacy of the past and reminders
to our naval officers that they have rec
ord to maintain. Such expressions become,
in time, key-notes of patriotism. Secretary
Dix's famous order IF any one attempts
to haul down the American flag, shoot him
the spot wired to a government official
at New Orleans, Jan. 20, 1861 sent a thrill
of hope throughout the entire country that
the government had at last determined to
defend itself against traitors A medal was
struck commemorative of the event. called
the Dix medal. with the United States flag
on one side and the famous order on the
other with Dix in the center. Scarcely
less potent in their effect on the public
mind were Grants famous words at Fort
Donelson, II propose to move Immediately
upon your works." and in the Wilderness,
II propose to fight it out on this line. if it
takes all summer The authenticity of
these sentences is as well established as
anything in the Bible, but the time may
come when some iconoclast who imagines
he is serving the truth of history will at
tempt to throw doubt upon them Such
iconoclasts should be put down. We need
all the famous fighting expressions and all
the patriotic sentiments we can get. Cen
eral Stanton owes a public apology for hav-
ing tried to discredit Commodore Perrys
famous phrase.
LIBELING THE PRESS.