The Washington herald., 1913-06-08
Commodore Perry, Correspondent

and bore up. At fifteen minutes before 4,
the enemy commenced firing; at ave min
| utes before u the action commenced on
our part Finding their IRE very destruc-
| tive, owing to their long guns and its he
ing mostly directed at the Lawrence, I
made sail and directed the other vessels
TO follow for the purpose of closing with
the enemy.
Leaves the Lawrence. .
Every brace and bovine being soon
| shot away she became unma ageable
notwithstanding the great exertions Of
tha sailing master. In this situation she
sustained the action upward OF two hours
within canister distance. until every gun
was rendered useless. and the greater
part Of her crew either killed Of wound
ed Finding she could not longer annoy
the enemy. left her in charge Of Lieut..
iarnell, who. / was convinced from the
bravery already displayed by him. would
DO what would comport with the honor
Of the nag
AT half past the wind sprung up.
Capt. Elliott was enabled to swing his
vessel, the Niagara. calamity into close
action: / Immediately went on board of
her. when he anticipated my wish by
volunteering to bring the schooners.
which had been kept astern by the light
ness OF the wind. into close action.
IT was with unspeakable pain that
1 saw, soon after / got aboard the Nj
asara, the flag of the Lawrence come
down, although I was perfectly sensible
that she had been defended TO the last
and that to have continued TO make a
show OF resistance would have been q
wanton sacrifice OF the remains Of her
brave crew. But the enemy was not
able to take possession of her. and cir
cumstances soon permitted her flag again
to be hoisted- At forty-fve minutes past
the signal was made for close action
Praises His Men.
THE Niagara being very little injured
determined to pass through the enemy's
line; bore up and passed ahead of then
two ships and brig. giving a raking FIRE
to them from the starboard guns, and
to a large schooner and sloop from the
larboard side at half-pistol-shot dis
lance. under the direction of Capt Elliott
and keeping up a well-directed fire. Tht
two ships a brig and a schooner, sur,
rendered. a schooner and a sloop making
a vain attempt to escape.
Those officers and men who were i'm
mediately under my observation evinced
the greatest gallantry, and I have No
doubt that all others conducted them
selves as became American officers and
seamen."
Commodore Perry's letter continued
with the report OF the ships captured,
giving their names, the number and size
of guns carried. and number of men TO
each vessel. The British had sixty-three
guns TO the ffty-four guns Of Perry's
seamen.
The exact number of the enemy's
force has not been ascertained,' Commo-
dore Perry wrote, but have good rea-
son TO believe that II exceeds ours by
nearly 100 men" His report showed that
twenty-seven men were killed in the bat
tie and ninety-six wounded The full
name of every man was given That part
of the report was made by S. Hambleton,
purser.
Relics of Battle.
The historical society has a great many
relics of the battle Of Lake
Erie. The sextant. an instrument used by
seamen for determining locations. used
by Perry upon the Niagara after taking IL
from one Of the captured British vessels,
is among the collection.
A fine copy of Gilbert Stuart's painting
Of the burial of Commodore Perry. nearly
as old as the original painting. is one of
the most valuable articles in the museum
cartoon printed In a Boston paper IN
1915. based on Perry's victory, is also
CAREFUL guarded:
The medals struck by Congress and by
the State OF Pennsylvania, commemorat-
ing the battle OF Lake Erie and honorins
the young naval hero, together with
scores of newspapers, clippings, and
poems, written and published during III.
wcr of 1872 period, are also on exhibition
at the museum.