The Montgomery advertiser., 1901-09-17
OLD NAVAL QUARREL
RECALLED BY THE SCHLEY-
 SAMPSON CONTROVERSY.
Now Nearly Forgotten-Dispute Be- tween Commodore Perry and His Lieutenant-Elliot Was Assailed.

While every well w:sher of the Ameri-
 can Navy must deplcre the controversy
 which exists betw cen two of the best
 comfort from the fact that similar dis
 putes have ben by no means unknown in
 former years. Although the conflicts
 may have ragged with no little fierc snsss
 fortunately eftaced most of the evidences
 of these quarrels. writes Richard A. Ger
 egs I,o,,a in The ,d New eSs Serk sor s,lS Press -
 1t might be said that the battle of Lake
 Erie was the most famous victory ever
 won by an American fleet. In this bat
 jSl3, Commodore Perry in command of
 the Americans, defeated Captain Bar | clay, in command of the British. Every
 schooi6oy ,5 i nGws nsx. the history of the fight
 stirring details of that dramatic conflict, when the American commander, aban-
 doning his crippled and shattered flag
 ship. the Lawrence. passed in a rowboat
 through the fire of the British fleet, and,
 shifting his flag to the Niagara, soon re-
 trieved the fortunes of war and made the
 The incident of the shifting of the flag
 and the brief dispatch in which Perry | summed up the conflict have combined to
 perhaps it really deserves. McDonough's s | victory over the British on Lake Cham plain in the following year was in reality
 an action reiiectine more credit upon
 American arms than was the battle of | Lake Erie. There was yet another cir | cumstance connected with the battle of
 Lake Erie, which had the effect of keep | ing its memory fresher in mems minds | than the battle of Lake Champlaln, name l ly, the dispute which arose between Perry | and his second in command, Jesse D. El- Hot. Although the history of this dispute
 is now practically forgotten. 1t contains | a lesson which, even at this late day, we
 may heed with advantage.
 ! lf bod Anrv ~A tssu. piciously for the Americans along the | Canadian frontier and in the lake region. | General Hull's expedition into Canada | had proved a lamentable failure. The British held the command of Lake Erie, | and. although they possessed only a few
 small vessels, the Americans had prac- | Hull finally surrendered his army to the British, and at the end of the season two | British vessels were brought down to the
 eastern end of the lake, where they were | Elliott, who was then in command of the | American forces on the lake. and was
 stationed at Buffalo. planned cutting | The scheme was skilfully conceived and | couI ageously executed. One of the vessels
 was captured, and the other was de- the affair was, Elliott's success never theless. secured for the Americans the | con mand of the lake, and the gallantrry ! of the exploit did much to encourage his somewhat Respondent countrymen. Subsequently Perry superseded Elliot in his command of the American force on built Probably Elliot relinquished his command unwillingly, although it is diff ficult to obtain direct testimony on this
 point, but in the light of future events 1t would seem that the relations beween
 him and his commanding officer were not of the best. The Lawrence, one of the
 Elliott Elliott was s' given % command 'e' of the Mag ara, a sister ship to the Lawrence. In the event of any accident to Perry, ElIi-
 ott would, of course, have assumed coin- mand of the squadron.
 On September 10, isl3, the American squadron, consisting of nine vessels. set
 out from Put-in-Bay. at the western end The squadron had a tonnage of about 1,50O, carried A guns throwing a total
 weight of shot of some m m1,5Oo pounds. and | ish squadron consisted of six vessels, | was manned by about 400 men, It's tom
 mage was s65. and 1t carried 63 guns.
 throwing total weight of shot of S22 l pounds.
 It will be seen that the force of the
 Americans was considerably superior to
 the Lawrence combined had a greater tonnage and threw. a greater weight of ] shot than the entire British squadron.
 Apparently the British were hopelessly The British, however, threw a greater weight of shot from their long guns than did the Americans. The armament of the
 American vessels consisted principally of carrona1es, gun whose range was l limited. At close quarters the carronade | was an effective weapon, but If the British could continue to keep the Ameri- l cans at distance. the greater strength of the British in pieces of long range would have given them something of an ad- Vantage. Moreover. in proportion to its | tonnage, the British fleet was strongly manned, and the disproportion between the two forces was not so great as might | appear at first sight. Still there re- | mained a substantial margin in favor of | the Americans.
 When the British fleet was sighted by the Americans it held the weather gauge
 but a lucky shift of wind gave the
 southwest and the American squadron headed toward the west. bringing the
 wind on the port quarter The British | weakest at the extremities. Perry ac- cordingly placed his smaller vessels at the ends of his line of battle, while the Law
 renee took the third place and the Nigga ra the fifth; the Caledonia-that vessel which was next in strength to the Law renee and the Niagara-wa5 placed fourth
 Perry was anxious to close with the
 enemy as soon as possible, for t was only at close range that the ornaments
 of the Niagara and Lawrence could prove effective He. therefore. crowded on all
 he failed to perceive that he was out, stripping the Niagara, without whose as | sistance he could not hope to achieve | success. The Lawrence probably held a | somewhat better wind than her uoasorts | did, or perhaps the eagerness to close on | the part of her commander improved Ter | rate of sailing. Perry soon found himself engaged in desperate struggle with the British center. The British concentrated
 their fire upon the unfortunate Law l renee ,and although Perry handled his
 vessel we'll and fought with determina- uon his situation was momentarily te- coming more critical
 The Caledonia now contrived to close up and engage the Hunter. one of the
 Lawrence's antagonists, but the Mag
 ara, which could have rendered the most
 effective assistance, still Jagged behind,
 where her carronades were practically useless.
 The injuries to the Lawrence had now became so serious that Perry was com pelled to choose between either surrender or abandonment. Of 1S6 men S3 were kill ed or wounded. The vessel was practi-
 cally helpless all her rigging having been | shot away Leaving the Lawrence in -