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The Naval War of 1812

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Lake Erie.

Captain Oliver Hazard Perry had assumed command of Erie and the upper
lakes, acting under Commodore Chauncy. With intense energy he at once
began creating a naval force which should be able to contend successfully
with the foe. As already said, the latter in the beginning had exclusive
control of Lake Erie; but the Americans had captured the _Caledonia_,
brig, and purchased three schooners, afterward named the _Somers_,
_Tigress_, and _Ohio_, and a sloop, the _Trippe_. These at first
were blockaded in the Niagara, but after the fall of Fort George and
retreat of the British forces, Captain Perry was enabled to get them
out, tracking them up against the current by the most arduous labor.
They ran up to Presque Isle (now called Erie), where two 20-gun brigs
were being constructed under the directions of the indefatigable
captain. Three other schooners, the _Ariel_, _Scorpion_, and
_Porcupine_, were also built.

The harbor of Erie was good and spacious, but had a bar on which
there was less than seven feet of water. Hitherto this had prevented
the enemy from getting in; now it prevented the two brigs from
getting out. Captain Robert Heriot Barclay had been appointed
commander of the British forces on Lake Erie; and he was having
built at Amherstburg a 20-gun ship. Meanwhile he blockaded Perry's
force, and as the brigs could not cross the bar with their guns in,
or except in smooth water, they of course could not do so in his
presence. He kept a close blockade for some time; but on the 2d of
August he disappeared. Perry at once hurried forward every thing;
and on the 4th, at 2 P.M., one brig, the _Lawrence_, was towed to
that point of the bar where the water was deepest. Her guns were
whipped out and landed on the beach, and the brig got over the bar
by a hastily improvised "camel."

"Two large scows, prepared for the purpose, were hauled alongside,
and the work of lifting the brig proceeded as fast as possible.
Pieces of massive timber had been run through the forward and after
ports, and when the scows were sunk to the water's edge, the ends
of the timbers were blocked up, supported by these floating foundations.
The plugs were now put in the scows, and the water was pumped out
of them. By this process the brig was lifted quite two feet, though
when she was got on the bar it was found that she still drew too
much water. It became necessary, in consequence, to cover up every
thing, sink the scows anew, and block up the timbers afresh. This
duty occupied the whole night." [Footnote: Cooper, ii, 389. Perry's
letter of Aug. 5th is very brief.]

Just as the _Lawrence_ had passed the bar, at 8 A.M. on the 5th,
the enemy reappeared, but too late; Captain Barclay exchanged a few
shots with the schooners and then drew off. The _Niagara_ crossed
without difficulty. There were still not enough men to man the vessels,
but a draft arrived from Ontario, and many of the frontiersmen
volunteered, while soldiers also were sent on board. The squadron
sailed on the 18th in pursuit of the enemy, whose ship was now ready.
After cruising about some time the _Ohio_ was sent down the lake,
and the other ships went into Put-in Bay. On the 9th of September
Captain Barclay put out from Amherstburg, being so short of provisions
that he felt compelled to risk an action with the superior force
opposed. On the 10th of September his squadron was discovered from
the mast-head of the _Lawrence_ in the northwest. Before going into
details of the action we will examine the force of the two squadrons,
as the accounts vary considerably.

The tonnage of the British ships, as already stated, we know exactly,
they having been all carefully appraised and measured by the builder
Mr. Henry Eckford, and two sea-captains. We also know the dimensions
of the American ships. The _Lawrence_ and _Niagara_ measured 480
tons apiece. The _Caledonia_, brig, was about the size of the _Hunter_,
or 180 tons. The _Tigress_, _Somers_, and _Scorpion_ were subsequently
captured by the foe and were then said to measure, respectively,
96, 94, and 86 tons; in which case they were larger than similar
boats on Lake Ontario. The _Ariel_ was about the size of the _Hamilton_;
the _Porcupine_ and _Trippe_ about the size of the _Asp_ and _Pert_.
As for the guns, Captain Barclay in his letter gives a complete
account of those on board his squadron. He has also given a complete
account of the American guns, which is most accurate, and, if any
thing, underestimates them. At least Emmons in his "History" gives
the _Trippe_ a long 32, while Barclay says she had only a long 24;
and Lossing in his "Field-Book" says (but I do not know on what
authority) that the _Caledonia_ had 3 long 24's, while Barclay gives
her 2 long 24's and one 32-pound carronade; and that the _Somers_
had two long 32's, while Barclay gives her one long 32 and one
24-pound carronade. I shall take Barclay's account, which corresponds
with that of Emmons; the only difference being that Emmons puts a
24-pounder on the _Scorpion_ and a 32 on the _Trippe_, while Barclay
reverses this. I shall also follow Emmons in giving the _Scorpion_
a 32-pound carronade instead of a 24.

It is more difficult to give the strength of the respective crews.
James says the Americans had 580, all "picked men." They were just
as much picked men as Barclay's were, and no more; that is, the ships
had "scratch" crews. Lieutenant Emmons gives Perry 490 men; and Lossing
says he "had upon his muster-roll 490 names." In vol. xiv, p. 566,
of the American State Papers, is a list of the prize-monies owing
to each man (or to the survivors of the killed), which gives a grand
total of 532 men, including 136 on the _Lawrence_ and 155 on the
_Niagara_, 45 of whom were volunteers--frontiersmen. Deducting these
we get 487 men, which is pretty near Lieutenant Emmons' 490. Possibly
Lieutenant Emmons did not include these volunteers; and it may be
that some of the men whose names were down on the prize list had
been so sick that they were left on shore. Thus Lieutenant Yarnall
testified before a Court of Inquiry in 1815, that there were but
131 men and boys of every description on board the _Lawrence_ in
the action; and the _Niagara_ was said to have had but 140. Lieutenant
Yarnall also said that "but 103 men on board the _Lawrence_ were
fit for duty"; as Captain Perry in his letter said that 31 were unfit
for duty, this would make a total of 134. So I shall follow the
prize-money list; at any rate the difference in number is so slight
as to be immaterial. Of the 532 men whose names the list gives, 45
were volunteers, or landsmen, from among the surrounding inhabitants;
158 were marines or soldiers (I do not know which, as the list gives
marines, soldiers, and privates, and it is impossible to tell which
of the two former heads include the last); and 329 were officers,
seamen, cooks, pursers, chaplains, and supernumeraries. Of the total
number, there were on the day of action, according to Perry's report,
116 men unfit for duty, including 31 on board the _Lawrence_, 28 on
board the _Niagara_, and 57 on the small vessels.

All the later American writers put the number of men in Barclay's
fleet precisely at "502," but I have not been able to find out the
original authority. James ("Naval Occurrences," p. 289) says the
British had but 345, consisting of 50 seamen, 85 Canadians, and 210
soldiers. But the letter of Adjutant-General E. Bayne, Nov. 24, 1813,
states that there were 250 soldiers aboard Barclay's squadron, of
whom 23 were killed, 49 wounded, and the balance (178) captured;
and James himself on a previous page (284) states that there were
102 Canadians on Barclay's vessels, not counting the _Detroit_, and
we know that Barclay originally joined the squadron with 19 sailors
from the Ontario fleet, and that subsequently 50 sailors came up
from the _Dover_, James gives at the end of his "Naval Occurrences"
some extracts from the court-martial held on Captain Barclay. Lieut.
Thomas Stokes, of the _Queen Charlotte_, there testified that he
had on board "between 120 and 130 men, officers and all together,"
of whom "16 came up from the _Dover_ three days before." James, on
p. 284, says her crew already consisted of 110 men; adding these
16 gives us 126 (almost exactly "between 120 and 130"). Lieutenant
Stokes also testified that the _Detroit_ had more men on account
of being a larger and heavier vessel; to give her 150 is perfectly
safe, as her heavier guns and larger size would at least need 24
men more than the _Queen Charlotte_. James gives the _Lady Prevost_
76, _Hunter_ 39, _Little Belt_ 15, and _Chippeway_ 13 men, Canadians
and soldiers, a total of 143; supposing that the number of British
sailors placed on them was proportional to the amount placed on board
the _Queen Charlotte_, we could add 21. This would make a grand
total of 440 men, which must certainly be near the truth. This number
is corroborated otherwise: General Bayne, as already quoted, says
that there were aboard 250 soldiers, of whom 72 were killed or wounded.
Barclay reports a total loss of 135, of whom 63 must therefore have
been sailors or Canadians, and if the loss suffered by these bore
the same proportion to their whole number as in the case of the
soldiers, there ought to have been 219 sailors and Canadians, making
in all 469 men. It can thus be said with certainty that there were
between 440 and 490 men aboard, and I shall take the former number,
though I have no doubt that this is too small. But it is not a point
of very much importance, as the battle was fought largely at long
range, where the number of men, provided there were plenty to handle
the sails and guns, did not much matter. The following statement
of the comparative force must therefore be very nearly accurate:

PERRY'S SQUADRON.

Crew Broad
Total fit for side;
Name. Rig. Tons. Crew. Duty. lbs. Armament.

_Lawrence_, brig 480 136 105 300 -+- 2 long 12's
'-18 short 32's
_Niagara_, " 480 155 127 300 -+- 2 long 12's
|-18 short 32's
_Caledonia_, " 180 53-+ 80 -+- 2 long 24's
| '- 1 short 32
_Ariel_, schooner 112 36 | 48 4 long 12's
_Scorpion_, " 86 35 | 64 -+- 1 " 32
| '- 1 short 32
_Somers_, " 86 35 +- 184 56 -+- 1 long 24
| '- 1 short 32
_Porcupine_, " 83 25 | 32 1 long 32
_Tigress_, " 96 27 | 32 1 " 32
_Trippe_, sloop 60 35-+ 24 1 " 24
--------- ---- --- ---- --- ---------------
9 vessels, 1,671 532 (416) 936 lbs.

During the action, however, the _Lawrence_ and _Niagara_ each fought
a long 12 instead of one of the carronades on the engaged side, making
a broadside of 896 lbs., 288 lbs. being from long guns.

BARCLAY'S SQUADRON.

Broadside;
Name. Rig. Tons. Crew. lbs. Armament.

,- 1 long 18
| 2 " 24's
_Detroit_, Ship 490 150 138 -+ 6 " 12's
| 2 " 24's
| 8 " 9's
| 1 short 24
'- 1 " 18
,- 1 long 12
_Queen Charlotte_, " 400 126 189 -+ 2 " 9's
'-14 short 24's
_Lady Prevost_, schooner 230 86 75 -+- 1 long 9
| 2 " 6's
'- 10 short 12's
_Hunter_, brig 180 45 30 -+- 4 long 6's
| 2 " 4's
| 2 " 2's
'- 2 short 12's
_Chippeway_, schooner 70 15 9 1 long 9
_Little Belt_, sloop 90 18 18 -+- 1 " 12
'- 2 " 6's
-------- ---- --- ------
6 vessels 1460 440 459 lbs.

These six vessels thus threw at a broadside 459 lbs., of which 195
were from long guns.

The superiority of the Americans in long-gun metal was therefore
nearly as three is to two, and in carronade metal greater than two
to one. The chief fault to be found in the various American accounts
is that they sedulously conceal the comparative weight of metal,
while carefully specifying the number of guns. Thus, Lossing says:
"Barclay had 35 long guns to Perry's 15, and possessed greatly the
advantage in action at a distance"; which he certainly did not. The
tonnage of the fleets is not so very important; the above tables are
probably pretty nearly right. It is, I suppose, impossible to tell
exactly the number of men in the two crews. Barclay almost certainly
had more than the 440 men I have given him, but in all likelihood
some of them were unfit for duty, and the number of his effectives
was most probably somewhat less than Perry's. As the battle was
fought in such smooth water, and part of the time at long range,
this, as already said, does not much matter. The Niagara might be
considered a match for the Detroit, and the Lawrence and Caledonia
for the five other British vessels; so the Americans were certainly
very greatly superior in force.

At daylight on Sept. 10th Barclay's squadron was discovered in the
N. W., and Perry at once got under weigh; the wind soon shifted to
the N. E., giving us the weather-gage, the breeze being very light.
Barclay lay to in a close column, heading to the S. W in the
following order: _Chippeway_, _Master's Mate J. Campbell; _Detroit_,
Captain R. H. Barclay; _Hunter_, Lieutenant G. Bignall; _Queen
Charlotte_, Captain R. Finnis; _Lady Prevost_, Lieutenant Edward
Buchan; and _Little Belt_, by whom commanded is not said. Perry
came down with the wind on his port beam, and made the attack in
column ahead, obliquely. First in order came the _Ariel_, Lieut.
John H. Packet, and _Scorpion_, Sailing-Master Stephen Champlin,
both being on the weather bow of the _Lawrence_, Captain O. H.
Perry; next came the _Caledonia_, Lieut. Daniel Turner; _Niagara_,
Captain Jesse D. Elliott; _Somers_, Lieutenant A. H. M. Conklin;
_Porcupine_, Acting Master George Serrat; _Tigress_, Sailing-Master
Thomas C. Almy, and _Trippe_, Lieutenant Thomas Holdup. [Footnote:
The accounts of the two commanders tally almost exactly. Barclay's
letter is a model of its kind for candor and generosity. Letter of
Captain R. H. Barclay to Sir James. Sept. 2, 1813; of Lieutenant
Inglis to Captain Barclay, Sept. 10th; of Captain Perry to the
Secretary of the Navy, Sept. 10th and Sept. 13th, and to General
Harrison, Sept. 11th and Sept. 13th. I have relied mainly on Lossing's
"Field-Book of the War of 1812" (especially for the diagrams furnished
him by Commodore Champlin), on Commander Ward's "Naval Tactics," p. 76,
and on Cooper's "Naval History." Extracts from the court-martial on
Captain Barclay are given in James' "Naval Occurrences," lxxxiii.]

As, amid light and rather baffling winds, the American squadron
approached the enemy, Perry's straggling line formed an angle of
about fifteen degrees with the more compact one of his foes. At 11.45
the Detroit opened the action by a shot from her long 24, which fell
short; at 11.50 she fired a second which went crashing through the
_Lawrence_, and was replied to by the _Scorpion's_ long 32. At 11.55
the _Lawrence_, having shifted her port bow-chaser, opened with both
the long 12's, and at meridian began with her carronades, but the
shot from the latter all fell short. At the same time the action
became general on both sides, though the rearmost American vessels
were almost beyond the range of their own guns, and quite out of
range of the guns of their antagonists. Meanwhile the _Lawrence_
was already suffering considerably as she bore down on the enemy.

[Illustration: The Battle of Lake Eire: a painting done for Thomas
Brownell, sailing master of the _Ariel_, by George I. Cook in 1815-16.
The composition was inspected for accuracy by Commodore Perry and
three other officers as well as by Brownell himself, "all of whom,"
he wrote years later, "were in the battle, and in whose minds all
its incidents, the positions of the fleets & appearance of the vessels
was fresh. In the last two particulars the picture is the product
of our joined opinions and recollections; it is, therefore, to be
presumed that it is a correct representation of that naval combat."
Here published for the first time, it depicts the second stage of
the battle, in which Perry, having transferred his flag to the
_Niagara_, brought the entire American squadron into action. The
vessels, from left to right, are American unless denoted (Br):
_Lady Prevost_ (Br), _Trippe_, _Chippeway_ (Br), _Caledonia_,
_Niagara_, _Detroit_ (Br), _Queen Charlotte_ (Br), _Hunter_ (Br),
_Scorpion_, _Ariel_, _Porcupine_, and _Lawrence_. (Courtesy U.S.
Naval Academy Museum)]

It was twenty minutes before she succeeded in getting within good
carronade range, and during that time the action at the head of the
line was between the long guns of the _Chippeway_ and _Detroit_,
throwing 123 pounds, and those of the _Scorpion_, _Ariel_, and
_Lawrence_, throwing 104 pounds. As the enemy's fire was directed
almost exclusively at the _Lawrence_ she suffered a great deal. The
_Caledonia_, _Niagara_, and _Somers_ were meanwhile engaging, at
long range, the _Hunter_ and _Queen Charlotte_, opposing from their
long guns 96 pounds to the 39 pounds of their antagonists, while
from a distance the three other American gun-vessels engaged the
_Prevost_ and _Little Belt_. By 12.20 the _Lawrence_ had worked
down to close quarters, and at 12.30 the action was going on with
great fury between her and her antagonists, within canister range.
The raw and inexperienced American crews committed the same fault
the British so often fell into on the ocean, and overloaded their
carronades. In consequence, that of the _Scorpion_ upset down the
hatchway in the middle of the action, and the sides of the _Detroit_
were dotted with marks from shot that did not penetrate. One of the
_Ariel's_ long 12's also burst. Barclay fought the _Detroit_
exceedingly well, her guns being most excellently aimed, though they
actually had to be discharged by flashing pistols at the touchholes,
so deficient was the ship's equipment. Meanwhile the _Caledonia_
came down too, but the _Niagara_ was wretchedly handled, Elliott
keeping at a distance which prevented the use either of his carronades
or of those of the _Queen Charlotte_, his antagonist; the latter,
however, suffered greatly from the long guns of the opposing schooners,
and lost her gallant commander, Captain Finnis, and first lieutenant,
Mr. Stokes, who were killed early in the action; her next in command,
Provincial Lieutenant Irvine, perceiving that he could do no good,
passed the _Hunter_ and joined in the attack on the _Lawrence_, at
close quarters. The _Niagara_, the most efficient and best-manned
of the American vessels, was thus almost kept out of the action by
her captain's misconduct. At the end of the line the fight went on
at long range between the _Somers_, _Tigress_, _Porcupine_, and
_Trippe_ on one side, and _Little Belt_ and _Lady Prevost_ on the
other; the _Lady Prevost_ making a very noble fight, although her
12-pound carronades rendered her almost helpless against the long
guns of the Americans. She was greatly cut up, her commander, Lieutenant
Buchan, was dangerously, and her acting first lieutenant, Mr. Roulette,
severely wounded, and she began falling gradually to leeward.

The fighting at the head of the line was fierce and bloody to an
extraordinary degree. The _Scorpion_, _Ariel_, _Lawrence_, and
_Caledonia_, all of them handled with the most determined courage,
were opposed to the _Chippeway_, _Detroit_, _Queen Charlotte_,
and _Hunter_, which were fought to the full as bravely. At such
close quarters the two sides engaged on about equal terms, the
Americans being superior in weight of metal, and inferior in number
of men. But the _Lawrence_ had received such damage in working down
as to make the odds against Perry. On each side almost the whole
fire was directed at the opposing large vessel or vessels; in
consequence the _Queen Charlotte_ was almost disabled, and the
_Detroit_ was also frightfully shattered, especially by the raking
fire of the gun-boats, her first lieutenant, Mr. Garland, being
mortally wounded, and Captain Barclay so severely injured that he
was obliged to quit the deck, leaving his ship in the command of
Lieutenant George Inglis. But on board the _Lawrence_ matters had
gone even worse, the combined fire of her adversaries having made
the grimmest carnage on her decks. Of the 103 men who were fit for
duty when she began the action, 83, or over four fifths, were killed
or wounded. The vessel was shallow, and the ward-room, used as a
cockpit, to which the wounded were taken, was mostly above water,
and the shot came through it continually, killing and wounding many
men under the hands of the surgeon.

The first lieutenant, Yarnall, was three times wounded, but kept
to the deck through all; the only other lieutenant on board, Brooks,
of the marines, was mortally wounded. Every brace and bowline was
shot away, and the brig almost completely dismantled; her hull was
shattered to pieces, many shot going completely through it, and the
guns on the engaged side were by degrees all dismounted. Perry kept
up the fight with splendid courage. As the crew fell one by one,
the commodore called down through the skylight for one of the
surgeon's assistants; and this call was repeated and obeyed till
none were left; then he asked, "Can any of the wounded pull a rope?"
and three or four of them crawled up on deck to lend a feeble hand
in placing the last guns. Perry himself fired the last effective
heavy gun, assisted only by the purser and chaplain. A man who did
not possess his indomitable spirit would have then struck. Instead,
however, although failing in the attack so far, Perry merely determined
to win by new methods, and remodelled the line accordingly. Mr. Turner,
in the _Caledonia_, when ordered to close, had put his helm up, run
down on the opposing line, and engaged at very short range, though the
brig was absolutely without quarters. The _Niagara_ had thus become
the next in line astern of the _Lawrence_, and the sloop _Trippe_,
having passed the three schooners in front of her, was next ahead.
The _Niagara_ now, having a breeze, steered for the head of Barclay's
line, passing over a quarter of a mile to windward of the _Lawrence_,
on her port beam. She was almost uninjured, having so far taken very
little part in the combat, and to her Perry shifted his flag. Leaping
into a row boat, with his brother and four seamen, he rowed to the
fresh brig, where he arrived at 2.30, and at once sent Elliott astern
to hurry up the three schooners. The _Trippe_ was now very near the
_Caledonia_. The _Lawrence_, having but 14 sound men left, struck her
colors, but could not be taken possession of before the action
re-commenced. She drifted astern, the _Caledonia_ passing between
her and her foes. At 2.45, the schooners having closed up, Perry,
in his fresh vessel, bore up to break Barclay's line.

The British ships had fought themselves to a standstill. The _Lady
Prevost_ was crippled and sagged to leeward, though ahead of the
others. The _Detroit_ and _Queen Charlotte_ were so disabled that
they could not effectually oppose fresh antagonists. There could
thus be but little resistance to Perry, as the _Niagara_ stood down,
and broke the British line, firing her port guns into the _Chippeway_,
_Little Belt_, and _Lady Prevost_, and the starboard ones into the
_Detroit_, _Queen Charlotte_, and _Hunter_, raking on both sides.
Too disabled to tack, the _Detroit_ and _Charlotte_ tried to wear,
the latter running up to leeward of the former; and, both vessels
having every brace and almost every stay shot away, they fell foul.
The _Niagara_ luffed athwart their bows, within half pistol-shot,
keeping up a terrific discharge of great guns and musketry, while
on the other side the British vessels were raked by the _Caledonia_
and the schooners so closely that some of their grape shot, passing
over the foe, rattled through Perry's spars. Nothing further could
be done, and Barclay's flag was struck at 3 P.M., after three and
a quarter hours' most gallant and desperate fighting. The _Chippeway_
and _Little Belt_ tried to escape, but were overtaken and brought
to respectively by the _Trippe_ and _Scorpion_, the commander of
the latter, Mr. Stephen Champlin, firing the last, as he had the
first, shot of the battle. "Captain Perry has behaved in the most
humane and attentive manner, not only to myself and officers, but
to all the wounded," writes Captain Barclay.

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