The Birmingham age-herald., 1913-05-18

iAO"iitd OF SunOOdtS OFT newport anu
made master commandant of fleet to
be built at Erie, Penn, where he Joined
Capt Jesse d. Elliott. who was lay
lng the keels of the ships to make up
the fleet for the defense of the north
west on the waters above the falls of
Niagara
In six months this fleet was COM
pleted, and Perry was ready for the at
| tack, but could do nothing for lack OF
men. Under inaction he chafed, not at
al intimidated by the reputation of
Commander Barclay. a veteran of Ira
falgar, who commanded the British
fleet.
Wanted More Men
At the end of July he wrote to Com
inander Chancey, his superior, as fol-
lows: For Gods sake. and yours, and
m'ne, send me men and officers, and
Will have them all (the British squad
rom in day or two. Commander Bar
clay keeps just out of reach of our
Sunboats--he has been boarding me for
several days; | long to be at him.
In August Captain Elliott and 100
men manned the Niagara, and Perry
was almost in position to attack.
On the evening of September 9, at Glib
raltar island, now known as Perry $
Lookout, the young commander issued
his orders for the next day. He had nine
vessels to the British six. But they
had 6s cartridge guns, one on a pivot, two
swivels and four howitzers including 3;
long guns, opposed to his "a carriage
guns and two swivels, only Is of which
were long guns. The English had
trained crews of moro than 800 men; the
Americans had 400. of whom 116 were
Sick and of whom one-fourth came from
Rhode island. one-fourth were regular
seamen, one-fourth were raw volunteers
and one-fourth were negroes.
Before parting for the night Perry
brought out a large square battle flag
on whose blue background were stitched
the white muslin words: Don't give up
the ship.'
when this flag shall be hoisted to fhe
main royal masthead of the Lawrence,
his fagship-said Perry. sit shall be
your signal for going into action"
little after 10 o'clock on the morning
of September 10, under serene, blue
sky, the American line formed, with the
Niagara, a 20-gun ship and the fastest
of the fleet, in the van. The flag went
up on the awrence. and the decks were
wetted and sprinlSled with sand to pre-
vent slipping when the blood began to
flow.
At H. 45 a bugle sounded on the Detroit
the band struck up Rule, Britannia" !"
and 24-pound shot tore past the Law
ithNt, NiilCn was Il mile ana q HILL away.
Five minutes later a second shot crashed
through her bulwarks. The English,
having long guns. were anxious to fight
a long distance battle, but Perry, knaw-
ing this would be disastrous, gave orders
for close quarters, and commanded that
his ships should stick one-haf cable
length behind each other.
Directed Attacks on Lawrence
Barclay, knowing Perry was the guild
ing mind of the attack, and that once
the flagship had struck colors the rest of
the fleet would follow. directed his en-
tire attack upon the Lawrence. The
Queen Charlotte Joined the Detroit and
concentrated her fire on the Lawrence
For two hours Perry bore the brunt of
the battle. His ships rigging was
smashed, his sails were torn to tatters,
his spars In splinters, and his guns dis
mounted. The Lawrence lay in the water
a helpless wreck of its crew of 1O3 men,
% were killed and 81 wounded, and final
ly there We're left to fire the remaining
gun only Perry and the purser
At the latters fall the guns Of the
Lawrence became silent, and Elliott, on
the Niagara, awoke. He spread his sails.
and, perhaps, In the belief that Perry
was dead, passed the Lawrence on the
windward without going, to her relief
1t was then Perry became the hero.
He realized he would have to strike his
colors If he remained on board. He de-
termined to transfer to the Niagara, a
half mile distant. He laid aside his blue
nankeen Jacket and put on the uniform
of his rank. He lowered his pennant and
his banner and descended into a small
rowboat
There he stood upright, and with BAN
ner folded about him, was for IS minutes
the target of the entire British fleet.
Barclay did not want Perry to ascend
an uninjured ship and thus give the
Americans even a fighting chance. Can
non balls, grape. canister and musket
shot whistled over his head, splintered
the oars and dashed the spray in his
fastened to the quarterback of the Mag
ara and assumed command.
He altered the course of action and
bore down on the British line, while Cap
tain Elliott was dispatched to bring the
other ships to his support and engag ge
at close quarters.
The Niagara passed at half pistol shot
between the Lady Provost and Chippewa,
on the larboard, and the Detroit and
Queen Charlotte. which had run afoul of
each other, and the hunter on his star
board. and poured in tremendous broad
sides. Then ranging ahead of the vessels
on his starboard he rounded to and raked
the Detroit and Queen Charlotte with de-
vastating results.
AS he battered each ship of the line in
turn, taking advantage or the strategic
position of his ship. the Caledonia, Trippe,
Tigress, Somers and Porcupine came to
his aid, and in a few moments both fleets
We're lost to sight in flame pierced clouds
of smoke
Eight minutes after, at p. M, after
three hours of bottle. the Detroit struck
her colors, and the others followed suit,
except the Little Belt and the Chippewa,
which attempted to escape to leewa!d, but
were pursued and brought back by the
Scorpion and Trippe.
1t was then, using the back Of q navy,
Captain Perry dispatched his famous
message to General Harrison. He left the
Niagara, that had saved the day. and re-
turned to the Lawrence. and there re-
ceived the vanquished. Tired out from his
days work. he then sank upon the deck
and fell asleep
The American loss was 27 dead and 123
wounded, while the British dead num-
bered 41 and the wounded 49,
The victory saved the American frontier
from the Indians under Proctor and Te-
cumseh. led to the destruction of the In
dian Confederacy. made 1t possible for
General Harrison to reclaim lost territory
and made the lakes our own.
The Niagara. her day done was used
for some time as a receiving ship, and
finally sank In Little Bay.
A Mark Twain Joke