- Ohio History in 2000 Words
- Mound Builders
- Native Ohioans
- The Ohio Company
- Ohio's Wood Forts
- Indian Wars
- War of 1812
- Ohio's Canals
- Ohio's Road
- Scenic Railroads / Museums
- Underground Railroad
- Civil War in Ohio
At the onset of the War of 1812, Americans had a strong sense of invincibility. Just 30 years before, we had fought the British and won a long and costly war for our independence. More recently the fledgling American navy had stood up against the Barberry coast pirates along North Africa. A number of politicians in Washington were cocky and ready for a fight.
England had been embroiled in a long drawn out war with France and the general consensus was that we could most assuredly handle the Red Coats one more time. Once the fighting began, we soon learned Great Britain was more than capable of doing more than one thing at a time. We also learned that many of our military leaders were out-classed, out maneuvered, and out-witted by their British counterparts.
Leading up to the actual declaration of war, Governor of Territorial Michigan, William Hull, had been requested the federal government to build a Lake Erie naval fleet that could actually do something should the United States advance their military plans for invading Canada. The government failed to heed Governor Hull's warnings and so when war was declared, the United States had no naval fleet to defend Lake Erie. Only the British had a naval force.
When now General Hull, in command of America's western army, advanced into Canada from Fort Detroit, the British, who were aware of his plans, had already made plans to repulse his invasion and forced him back to Fort Detroit. Here the British naval forces cut him off from his supply lines coming through Ohio. The aging General Hull, did not have the will to see his men butchered by Native Americans, which is what the British were threatening and ultimately surrendered Fort Detroit and all of his men and supplies. This then became a point of entry for the British to begin their invasion of Ohio which happened the following year in May of 1813.
Before General Hull Surrendered Fort Detroit, there was an important event surrounding an American mariner. A common British practice during military engagements in 18th Century was to parole lower level captured military personnel if they swore not to take up arms against the Crown. One of those captured men was Daniel Dobbins, a Great Lakes mariner that had been captured by the British at Fort Michilimackinac in July 1812. Following their custom of catch and release, Daniel Dobbins was paroled, but he claims he never took the oath and thus was not bound by it.
Instead of returning to the United States, Daniel Dobbins went to Fort Detroit and rejoined General Hull, where he was again captured by the British. In such situations, a person paroled, then recaptured, faces immediate execution. However, a good friend of Dobbins before the war, Colonel Robert Nichols, decided to help his old friend escape and provided him passage to Cleveland. From there Dobbins made his way to Washington D.C. where he met with Secretary of the Navy, Paul Hamilton. In his report to the Secretary, Dobbins impressed upon Hamilton the strength and importance the British navy was having on the western frontier.
It didn't take a lot of arguing to convince the Secretary of the Navy the importance of mounting a response to the British navy on Lake Erie, he appointed Dobbins to proceed with the construction of a naval fleet that could stand up to the British. Dobbins then returned to Erie, Pennsylvania and began constructing his fleet of ships on Presqu'Isle.
The ship building being done at Presqu'Isle was in a bay protected by a large sandbar that kept the British navy safely out of firing range. However, when it came time for the ships to leave, special steps had to be taken to get them over the protective sandbar.
Although the American ships had a shallow draft, they still had to be lightened by removing the cannon and supplies off the ship. Two barges were then positioned along either side of the ship and purposely sunk. These sunken barges were then secured to the ship and the water was then pumped out of the barges causing them to rise and lift the ship so it could then be floated over the sand bar.
[This same technique was recently used to refloat the Costa Concordia cruise ship that sank along the coast of Italy]
By mid summer 1813, the new fleet was almost complete. Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry had been collecting abandoned captured ships and training his men in the art of naval warfare. By the end of July 1813, the American fleet was mostly ready to leave the safety of Presqu'Isle Harbor after the British ships ran low on supplies and had to head back to Detroit. Perry wasted no time in getting those ships that were ready, out of the harbor. Together they sailed to west stopping first at Sandusky where they resupplied.
Marker where GEneral Harrison's men boarded Perry's ships (Port Clinton)
While here Perry sent word to General Harrison that the fleet was now in position and requested that Harrison meet with him at Put-in-Bay on South Bass Island. Harrison arrived the next day and met with Perry. Together they laid out a plan to proceed north toward Detroit in a combined land and water assault on the British. Harrison supplied Perry with some 100 Kentucky marksmen to help man his fleet.
Next Perry set sail for Amherstburg, located on the Canadian side of the Detroit River, at the southern tip. As Perry's fleet sailed by the British, the British realized with their naval fleet short on supplies and men, resupplying them by water would be impossible. It would take 5 weeks for fresh supplies to arrive and additional men to man the boats. Finally, Commander Robert Heriot Barclay, who had been appointed to command the British squadron on Lake Erie, received some additional sailors and officers that enabled him to set sail against the waiting Perry on September 10, 1813.
Replica of the Niagara that takes an active part in celebrations and events on Lake Erie
The American and British ships made contact around noon. Perry ordered his ships to form a line that would pass along side of the Royal Navy ships. Commodore Perry was on the Lawrence. After a couple of hours the Lawrence had lost all of its cannon on one side and lost its ability to maneuver. At this point Perry abandoned the Lawrence and on a small row boat transferred his command to the Niagara which had to that point not been involved in the fight.
Painting by William Henry Powell
With Perry in command, the Niagara made a daring move by sailing directly across the British line firing broadsides at the same time from both sides of his ship. In an effort to stop Perry during this maneuver, the HMS Queen Charlotte collided with another British ship the Detroit. Both of those ships were then out of commission. The Niagara opened fire on the entangled ships after after several broadsides, both the Queen Charlotte and Detroit surrendered. The remainder of the British fleet soon followed.
After the battle, the Niagara helped in transporting Harrison's army to the Detroit River in preparation for the second stage of the battle for Lake Erie.
Statue of Commodore Perry inside the visitor center of the Perry Victory and International Peach Memorial on South Bass Island.
After the war most of the ships were sunk. The Niagara was kept as housing for crew members working at the naval station at Port Isle. When that station closed, the Niagara was sunk in 1820. In 1825 someone bought all 4 ships that had been sunk with plans of raising the ships. In 1836 the Lawrence and Niagara were raised, but it was decided that their holds were not large enough to be used for shipping and were once again sunk. In preparing for the 1913 Centennial of the War, the Niagara was once again raised. It's keel was in good enough condition that it was used in building a replica used in the Centennial and remain active until 1917.
On South Bass Island a monument was erected in 1913 in honor of the Centennial of the Battle of Lake Erie, Perry's Victory and International Peace Memorial was constructed on a narrow piece of land. The 352' monument celebrates the lasting peace between Britain, Canada and the United States.
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