BATTLE OF LAKE ERIE

"We have met the enemy and they are ours."

That famous quotation refers to a battle that was more important than winning just a battle, and even more important than winning control of the Great Lakes. During this War of 1812, the United States was very close to losing the Northwest territories. (At that time the Northwest referred to the area of today's Chicago-Detroit.) When Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry's fleet defeated the British, it was the biggest reason for the return of this territory to the United States at the peace conference at Ghent after the war.

In 1813, Perry was given command of U. S. Naval forces on Lake Erie. The British Navy had taken control of the Great Lakes, and allowed British troops to take control of Fort Dearborn, Detroit, and other land south of the Great Lakes. Perry spent several months at Presque Isle, at Erie, PA. Here, Daniel Dobbins and other ship builders worked feverishly to build a fleet of ships suitable for challenging the British. Materials were taken locally and shipped in from various points on the East Coast, a feat that historian Samuel Eliot Morison said was more impressive than the legendary shipbuilding of World War II.

In August of 1813, Perry sailed out onto Lake Erie. In September, British Commander Robert H. Barclay sailed from his base. Very heavy fighting ensued near Put-In-Bay, Ohio, with Perry's flagship Lawrence being sunk. He took the Niagara as his flagship, and from there orchestrated the full defeat of the British squadron.

This victory then allowed American troops to retake the Northwest and drive the attack into Canada. When the war was over, the Americans then successfully claimed control over this territory, or it would have been lost forever to the British.

See also:
Perry's sculpture Flagship Niagara