Battle of Lake Erie (1813): Perry's Victory in the War of 1812

The Battle of Lake Erie was a naval battle fought on 10 September 1813, during the War of 1812, between an American squadron under Master Commandant Oliver Hazard Perry and a British squadron under Commander Robert Heriot Barclay. After a fierce fight off Put-in-Bay, Ohio, the entire British force surrendered. The victory gave the United States control of Lake Erie, reversed the war in the West and produced one of the most famous messages in American military history.

Background: a race to build fleets

In the Great Lakes region, roads were few and armies depended on boats to move troops and supplies. Whoever controlled Lake Erie could supply the forces around Detroit, which the British had captured in August 1812, and threaten the enemy’s communications.

Both sides therefore raced to build warships far from the sea. The Americans chose Presque Isle, present-day Erie, Pennsylvania, where the shipbuilder Noah Brown and his workers built two 20-gun brigs, Lawrence and Niagara, and smaller vessels from green timber in the spring and summer of 1813. Perry, only 27 years old, arrived to take command. The British, led by Barclay, a veteran who had served at the Battle of Trafalgar and had lost an arm in a later action, built the ship Detroit at Amherstburg but struggled to find guns and trained sailors.

Perry’s squadron was trapped behind a sandbar at Presque Isle until early August, when it floated its brigs over the bar while Barclay’s ships were briefly absent. With supplies running short at Amherstburg, Barclay was forced to come out and fight.

The fleets

The American squadron had nine vessels and the British six. The Americans had more firepower, especially at short range, because their brigs carried mainly carronades, heavy short-barrelled guns that were devastating close up. The British had more long guns, which were more effective at a distance. Many of Barclay’s crews were soldiers and Canadian sailors rather than experienced seamen.

The battle

The squadrons met near the Bass Islands late in the morning of 10 September 1813. Perry’s flagship, Lawrence, flew a blue banner bearing the words “Don’t Give Up the Ship”, the dying command attributed to his friend Captain James Lawrence, who had been killed in June.

Perry steered Lawrence towards the enemy to bring his carronades into range, but the Niagara, under Master Commandant Jesse Elliott, stayed back for reasons that were bitterly disputed afterwards. For more than two hours Lawrence fought Detroit and Queen Charlotte almost alone. By about 2.30 pm she was a wreck, with most of her guns out of action and roughly four-fifths of her crew killed or wounded.

Perry then made the decision that made him famous. Taking his battle flag, he was rowed about half a mile through heavy fire to the undamaged Niagara and took command of her. He sailed Niagara straight through the British line, firing broadsides on both sides at close range.

The British ships were also badly damaged, and almost all their senior officers had been killed or wounded, including Barclay. As Detroit and Queen Charlotte tried to turn, they became entangled with each other. Shortly after 3 pm the British squadron surrendered.

“We have met the enemy”

Perry wrote a brief note in pencil to General William Henry Harrison, the American army commander in the region. It began with the words “We have met the enemy and they are ours” and listed the captured vessels as two ships, two brigs, one schooner and one sloop. The phrase quickly became famous across the United States.

Casualties

According to commonly cited figures, the Americans lost 27 killed and 96 wounded, and the British about 41 killed and 94 wounded, with the rest of the British crews taken prisoner. Most American losses fell on Lawrence.

Consequences

The victory transformed the war in the West. Without control of the lake, British General Henry Procter could not supply his forces, and he abandoned Detroit and Amherstburg. Perry’s ships carried Harrison’s army across the lake into Upper Canada, and on 5 October 1813 Harrison defeated Procter at the Battle of the Thames. The Shawnee leader Tecumseh, whose struggle against American expansion had been shaped by the Battle of Tippecanoe, was killed in that battle, and his confederacy collapsed.

Perry was promoted to captain and received the thanks of Congress and a gold medal. The dispute over Elliott’s conduct continued for years. Barclay, badly wounded, was cleared by a British court martial.

Legacy

Perry died of yellow fever in 1819 during a mission to Venezuela. The battle is commemorated by Perry’s Victory and International Peace Memorial at Put-in-Bay, a column about 107 metres (352 feet) high completed in 1915, which also celebrates the long peace between the United States, Britain and Canada. A reconstruction of the brig Niagara sails from Erie, Pennsylvania, and Perry’s battle flag is preserved at the US Naval Academy.

Timeline

• 1812, 16 August: British and Native forces capture Detroit.
• 1813, spring–summer: Perry’s squadron is built at Presque Isle.
• 1813, early August: Perry’s brigs cross the sandbar into Lake Erie.
• 1813, 10 September: Battle of Lake Erie; the British squadron surrenders.
• 1813, late September: The British abandon Detroit and retreat.
• 1813, 5 October: Harrison wins the Battle of the Thames; Tecumseh is killed.

Why it matters

The Battle of Lake Erie is often described as the first occasion on which an entire British naval squadron surrendered. It secured the American Northwest, set up the victory at the Thames and gave the United States lasting naval heroes and slogans.