America's First Crisis by Watson Robert P

Author:Watson, Robert P.
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: State University of New York Press
Published: 2013-03-15T00:00:00+00:00

A HERO EMERGES

Another turning point in the lakes campaign was the appointment on March 27, 1813, of Oliver Hazard Perry to command Presque Isle. As was abundantly clear with the disastrous invasions of Canada by such inept generals as Hull, Dearborn, Smyth, Van Rensselaer, and Wilkinson, leadership—or lack thereof—mattered. Commodore Perry was the right man for the job. Born in Rhode Island in 1785, Perry grew up around the sea and in a family of sailors. At age fourteen, he was appointed a midshipman and gained skills in boat building and all facets of naval warfare, having served in the West Indies and in the Mediterranean during the Barbary pirate conflicts. Only twenty-seven at the time he assumed command of Presque Isle, Perry had also served with the late Commander James Lawrence and was eager to exact revenge for the attack on the Chesapeake. The losses touched him so personally that he ordered flags to be flown at half-mast and took to wearing a black mourning band in honor of his former commander. Later, Perry would order a special sail for his flagship that featured the words “Don’t give up the ship!” The white letters on a dark blue banner, a reference to his vow to not repeat Lawrence’s decision, would soon become famous at the Battle of Lake Erie.2

Like the Americans, the British understood the vital importance of both lakes, but focused their efforts on Lake Ontario. Therefore, when Robert Heriot Barclay assumed command of British naval forces on Lake Erie, he had only three junior lieutenants, a surgeon, and roughly twenty sailors. Period. Compounding his difficulties, Barclay had run afoul of Sir James Yeo, the officer commanding Britain’s naval forces on the lakes. Accordingly, Yeo ignored most of Barclay’s requests for men, supplies, and ships.

As a commander, Barclay was competent, brave, and experienced. He had fought at Trafalgar and lost an arm while aboard the HMS Diana. Like Perry, Barclay was only in his twenties and was ambitious, but was eternally frustrated by his unappreciated and understaffed command on Lake Erie. The loss of the Caledonia and Detroit to the American raiding party led by Lieutenant Elliot hurt the strength of the lakes’ squadron. But Barclay was committed to rebuilding the Detroit, which was named in honor of General Brock’s victory at the outset of the war and would soon become the most powerful ship on the lakes. Until then, however, Barclay wanted to avoid engagement. He knew about the growing strength of the American fleet under Perry because newspapers in New York foolishly printed the status of ship construction!

Commodore Perry pursued an ambitious, multifaceted agenda on Lake Erie. He sought to supply and support General William Henry Harrison’s Canadian invasion, destroy British trade and supply efforts on Lake Erie, and defeat the British naval presence on the lake. But, to accomplish all this he needed at least 740 sailors and many more ships. A lesser leader might not have been able to build so many warships or train such skilled sailors.

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