LIBRARY OF CONGRESS DDD05Dfil34fi A* - o> o .. v^v °v^v v^v %**••- «?. .♦• '** f4t& **s ?§m>' v/ && %./ .£ J" .♦>! ^b^" ?& *" " " ° ' ^ . . • .. V ' ' ' ">° -Ji:. V* o • » %^-*V v*^ '^ °*^-\*° .. V M V^' V **% S? ^. • ■«2» A> • A * >^> "bv* 5v° ^ t. :- ^o^ : Hq, • O * ? ©ration on flterrv's IDictor^ 2)a^ at tbe Centennial of Cleveland ©bio. ORATION DELIVERED AT THE CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION OF CLEVELAND, OHIO, ON PERRY'S VICTORY DAY, SEPTEMBER 10, 1896, BY HIS EXCELLENCY CHARLES WARREN LIP1T1T. GOVERNOR OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND AND PROVIDENCE PLANTATIONS. T. l«1t t 355 PRESS OF E. L. FREEMAN & .SUNS, PROVIDENCE, K. I. In Exchange Brown University aUG25 1932 PERRY'S VICTORY. Interest in one's birthplace is natural to the human race. Surroundings that become familiar to us in childhood main- tain their hold upon our affections in later life. Love of home constitutes one of the strongest motives for human action. If its environments constitute in themselves a name, a body corporate, of which the home forms a con- stituent part, the affection for the latter extends itself to its surroundings. For the state or the nation of which we form a part, similar sentiments are entertained. The anniversaries now occurring in many parts of the country furnish admiral)! e opportunities for the examina- tion of the results of generations of effort. To recall the services of patriots in behalf of the community, in peace and in war, educates the present generation for similar emergencies. Attention is drawn to what has already been accomplished. Comparison is made with the results secured by neighboring communities. What has been gained inspires the desire for greater advantages. A com- munity extending its influence to distant parts of the earth awakens a natural pride on the part of its units. The power of the Eternal City caused the announcement " Civis llomanus sum " to stand for ages as a guaranty of consideration and protection throughout the civilized world. It was a happy circumstance that caused the settlement of the Western Reserve upon the nation's birthday. With true American spirit the little band of pioneers, under the leadership of Moses Cleaveland, celebrated that to them important fourth of July. Toasts indicating thankfulness for the past and hope for the future were announced in the customary manner. Good punch was provided. The President of the United States was remembered, in accord- ance with time-honored custom. Port of Independence they named Conneaut, the place where the celebration was held. " May the Port of Independence and the fifty sons and daughters who have entered it this day be successful and prosperous," they hopefully offered. " May these sons and daughters multiply in sixteen years sixteen times fifty," again expressed their anticipations. It is recorded that after the celebration, notwithstanding the effect of the punch, they retired in good order. Ohio in 1810 had a population of 230,000. Her people were subject to all the hardships of a frontier life, border- ing upon a territory held by a savage race. Unable to accommodate themselves to the system of the white men, brave and determined as they had often proved themselves, the Indians had no alternative but to fight for an inferior civilization. There could be but one end to such a conflict. Bravely as it was maintained by the savage, it was inevi- table that he should perish with his institutions. While the conflict continued, however, it subjected the frontier to deeds of horror that rendered far more terrible the strug- gle that the early settlers were forced to maintain againsl nature At the opening of the war of 1812, the efforts of the country were at once directed toward an invasion of Canada. The necessity of controlling the water communi- cations furnished by the lakes was not perhaps fully ap- preciated by the government at Washington. Hull was placed in command in Michigan and attacked the Canadian frontier. His defeat, and the surrender of Detroit and the territory of Michigan, astounded and inflamed the country. It permitted the savage allies of the English to attack the settlers of Michigan, and exposed the entire frontier to their inhuman warfare. The invasion of our own country by the English and the Indians overcame in many cases such resistance as could be offered, and carried death and desolation to many homes. Tecumseh had brought to the conflict all the resources of his savage and commanding mind. The defeat at the River Raisin had been turned into a massacre. Colonel Proctor, violating the terms of the capitulation, abandoned the wounded Americans to his Indian allies. The savages tomahawked some of the wounded and set Are to the buildings where others had been placed. Their yells and laughter were the only replies to the shrieks of their burning victims. The best blood of Kentucky was sacrificed to the fury of the Indians. A relative of Henry Clay was among the vic- tims. One officer was scalped in the presence of his friends. Rising upon his knees, with blood streaming from his wound, he helplessly gazed upon their faces. An Indian boy was directed by his father to tomahawk him. 6 Not strong enough to accomplish the deed, his repeated blows only drew faint moans from the wounded man. A blow from the savage father, to exhibit how it should be delivered, ended the tragedy. The cry for vengeance that arose from Kentucky and the neighboring frontier found its satisfaction on another occasion. The savage hate entertained by Tecumseh for the Amer- icans inspired him to unite the Indians of the entire frontier in an organized effort to turn back the tide of immigration that was rapidly taking possession of their lands. With the intelligence and energy of a more civilized man, he traveled nearly a thousand miles through the wilderness to bring the Creeks and the other tribes about the southern frontier into the alliance. The scenes enacted on the north- ern frontier were duplicated, with perhaps increased hor- ror, 'in the south. The influence of England made itself felt in the Spanish possessions of Louisiana. England's assistance in freeing Spain from the French invasion justi- fied Spanish aid to England in America. The capture of Mobile by Wilkinson furnished evidence of the efforts of the Spanish and English to inflame the savages of the southern frontier. Aided by these efforts, Tecumseh suc- ceeded in drawing the Creeks into his combination. At the capture of Fort Minims on the Alabama, which had become the refuge of many frontier families, the horrors perpetrated by the savage foe can never be adequately conveyed in language. The mutilation of bodies and the violation of women marked the scene. The frontier from north to south was open to the incursions of a savage and relentless foe. The successful defence of Fort Meigs by Harrison, and of Fort Stephenson by Croghan, constituted some offset to these disasters. This war was not between a savage and a civilized nation. The parties to it were primarily two peoples speaking the same language, of the same general characteristics, and within a comparatively few years united under one government. That England should have called to her aid in such a conflict her fero- cious allies cannot be contemplated save with exasperation and horror. It marks a page in her history to be remem- bered only with shame and regret. In such circumstances, Captain Oliver Hazard Terry w r as ordered to this region to create a suitable fleet, and with it obtain the command of Take Erie. He brought with him from Ehode Island about 150 men. They had been trained under his direction on the waters in and about Narragansett Bay, and had volunteered to accompany him to Lake Erie. The different detachments left Newport in February, 1813, and in March reached Erie. The advantage of the control of the lake was largely a matter of transportation. Previous to 1818 no regular communication existed with this portion of Ohio and with Detroit. Stao-e routes were first established in these sec- tions in that year. Without good roadways the cost of transportation is tremendously increased. James, in his Naval History of Great Britain, states: ''that every round shot cost one shilling a pound for the carriage from Quebec to Lake Erie, that powder was ten times as dear as at home, and that, for anchors, their weight in silver would be scarcely an overestimate." To transport, therefore, ;i 24-pound shot from Quebec to Lake Erie, at the time men- tioned, would cost six dollars. Similar difficulties existed on the American side of the lake. It was claimed that to transport a cannon to Sackett's Harbor at this period cost a thousand dollars. The cost of transporting provisions to a small detachment of Harrison's forces in the northwest would in present circumstances supply a considerable army. Transportation by water was greatly less in cost and much quicker in time. Facilities of transportation, therefore, in the warlike operations around Lake Erie in 1813, were sufficiently important to determine the question of success or failure. English control of the lake in 1812, and the principal part of 1813, enabled them to attack such points of the American shore as they might select. Their approach could not be foreseen. The uncertainty of their appearance necessarily alarmed the entire American shore. The Eng- lish, knowing the point of attack, could concentrate their forces. Want of this information obliged the Americans to divide their armies. The English shore was practically free from American attack, as the lake intervened. The shortest line of transportation also secured the quickest and most certain means of information. English control of the lake during the first part of the war handicapped the offensive and defensive operations of the Americans. It is difficult, therefore, to overestimate in such circum- stances the importance of the command of the lake. The many difficult and annoying circumstances attending the construction of a fleet in the wilderness furnished an opportunity for the energy, perseverance and determination • of young Perry. Buffalo, Philadelphia, Pittsburg and other points were called upon for supplies. Carpenters, black- smiths, guns, sails, rigging and iron were urgently needed. To hurry forward mechanics and supplies, Perry journeyed to Pittsburg. The resources of the immediate neighbor- hood were taxed to the utmost to supply many unaccus- tomed articles necessary to the construction of vessels of war. The work was pushed with the utmost speed. On the 23d of May, Perry learned that Commodore Chauncey, on Lake Ontario, was to attack Fort George. The Commodore had promised him the command of the sailors and marines on this occasion. lie at once started in an open boat for Buffalo. After a journey of great incon- venience, he succeeded in reaching Commodore Chauncey and in taking part in the expedition. Chauncey was par- ticularly pleased with Perry's arrival, and observed, "No person on earth at that particular time could be more wel- come." His professional know ledge was of great assistance in the landing of the troops, and his example inspired the men with confidence. In his official report Commodore Chauncey said of Perry's services: "He was present at every point where he could be useful, under showers of musketry, but fortunately escaped unhurt." The capture of Fort George enabled Perry to move into Lake Erie five small vessels which had been blockaded at Black Rock by the enemy. They had to be dragged against the current of the Niagara River by oxen, seamen, and a detail of two hundred soldiers. After a fortnight of diffi- culty and fatigue he succeeded in getting the little squadron into Lake Erie. These vessels were much too small to con- tend with the enemy's forces then upon the lake. By good fortune, however, he eluded the English and reached Erie 10 on the evening of the 18th of June, shortly before they appeared. Finally the two brigs, which had been named the Law- rence and the Niagara, were completed, and everything was in readiness to cross the bar at the mouth of the harbor. The English had watched the construction of the American vessels and made various efforts to accomplish their de- struction. To attempt the passage of the bar in the face of the enemy's fleet would have been extremely hazardous. Unexpectedly, about the first of August, the English fleet disappeared from the neighborhood of Erie. It is claimed that the absence of the English was to enable Commodore Barclay and his officers to attend a public dinner in Canada. The commodore is said to have remarked, in reply to a com- plimentary toast : " I expect to find the Yankee brigs hard and fast on the bar at Erie, when I return, in which pre- dicament it will be but a small job to destroy them." This circumstance furnished Perry his opportunity. He hastened by every means in his power the lifting of his heavy ves- sels over the bar. Camels, large wooden scows, had been provided to assist in this purpose. The guns of the Law- rence were hoisted out and placed in boats astern. With much difficulty the vessel was lifted into deep water on the lake side of the bar. The Niagara was still on the bar when the enemy's fleet appeared in the offing. Extra exertions succeeded shortly after in getting her into the deep water of the lake. Perry's fleet as then constituted was more powerful than that under Barclay's command. Commodore Barclay viewed with astonishment the Amer- ican fleet safely floating upon the waters of the lake, and, II realizing that his supremacy for the time being was gone, sailed away to await the completion of the Detroit, then under construction at Maiden. The command of the lake had passed from England to America. In response to Perry's urgent appeals to the authorities, he received on the 9th of August, about one hundred offi- cers and men under the command of Captain Jesse 1). Elliott. This addition to his force enabled him to man the Niagara, which was placed under the command of Cap- tain Elliott. At once taking the initiative, Perry sailed up the lake to cooperate with General Harrison. It is interesting to note how quickly the control of the lake gave the Americans the advantage. Perry's mere presence upon Lake Erie with his then superior squadron forced the English fleet into port, enabled him to join the American land forces and to assume the offensive with safety. The American rendezvous at the head of the lake was at Put-In-Bay. On the 19th of August, Harrison visited Perry on his flag-ship. The subsequent time was occupied in training his men, and in short cruises in the effort to bring the enemy to battle. Many of his men were sick. Perry himself had been stricken with lake fever, and for a time was confined to his cabin. Under the care of Dr. Usher Parsons, the surgeon of the Law- rence, after a week's illness, he partially recovered. His indisposition retarded somewhat the operations of the fleet. The control of the lake again asserts itself with remark- able force at this time. Barclay was not ready to light. General Proctor's army, however, then at Maiden, was in 12 urgent need of provisions and supplies. Land transporta- tion between Long Point, the English supply station, and Maiden, was such that Proctor's army could not l>e pro- vided by that line. It became necessary, therefore, to open communication between Maiden and Long Point by the lake, even at the risk of an engagement. Information of the condition of the English Commissary department had reached Perry at Put-In-Bay, about September 5th, and he expected the arrival of the English fleet. His captains were carefully instructed in his order of battle. On the evening of the 9th of September, the com- manders of the American fleet were summoned aboard the flag-ship, and written instructions given to each for his con- duct during the expected engagement. As the conference broke up, the Commodore, to impress the intent of his orders upon them, and to cover the uncertainties of naval actions, referred to the words of Nelson, upon a similar occasion, and gave as his final directions : " If you lay your enemy close alongside, you cannot be out of your place." Early in the morning of September 10th, 1813, the cry of " Sail Ho ! " from the mast-head of the Lawrence, indi- cated the approach of the English fleet. The day was warm and pleasant. The wind was light from the south- west. Promptly the American fleet was got under way and moved out from the islands. The position of the two fleets gave to the English the advantage of the weather- gage. Perry's anxiety to force an action, however, induced him to waive the advantage of position, and to take the shortest course to the opposing fleet, even at the risk of losing this tactical advantage. During the morning, an eagle 3 hovered in slow, majestic flight over the American squad- ron, gazing down at the unusual scene below. The pres- ence of the chosen emblem of America, could not fail to inspire men about to battle for their country. A little after 10 o'clock the American fleet was formed in line, the Niagara in the van. Calling his crew about him, Perry, in a few sentences, referred to the last words of Captain Law- rence, and displayed a blue Hag upon which had been formed in white letters, "Don't give up the ship.'" Upon being hoisted as the signal for battle, it was received with cheers by the crews of the different vessels. The cheering brought on deck several of the sick. One of them, Wil- son Mays, of Newport, Rhode Island, was ordered below by one of the officers, with the remark, " You are too weak to be here. 1 ' u I can do something, sir." " What can you do." "I can sound the pump, sir, and let a strong man go to the guns." Mays took his position by the pump, and at the end of the fight was found at his station witli a ball through his heart. As the American squadron slowly approached the Eng- lish fleet, a sudden change in the wind gave them the ad- vantage of the weather-gage. The breeze was light, and the squadron made hardly more than three knots an hour. A change in the disposition of the English vessels, that was noticed as the fleets approached each other, caused Perry to change his own order of sailing, and to place the Lawrence in position to bring her opposite the Detroit. In the English fleet were six vessels, in the American nine. The tonnage of the American fleet was 1(171 tons, of the English 1460. The English had 63 guns, the Americans 14 54. In long guns, the English had 33, the Americans 15, while in carronades the Americans had 39, the English 30. In weight of metal to a broadside the American squadron is claimed by some authorities to have been considerably heavier than the English. In number of men the two squadrons were not materially different. A large proportion of the Rhode Islanders who had fol- lowed Perry to the lakes were present upon the different vessels of the squadron. lie had also received a number of volunteers from the inhabitants of the lake shore, and a contingent from Harrison's army consisting largely of Kentuckians. Although many of these men had never seen a man-of-war before, and fought upon an unusual element, they rendered most excellent service. The crews of Barclay's squadron were made up in largely the same way, — a number from the inhabitants of the Canadian shore of the lake, another contingent from the regular English regiments in the neighborhood, and the balance regular seamen. Perry's line of approach to the English squadron brought the Scorpion, the Ariel and the Lawrence first into action. It began about noon by a gun from the Detroit. Eager to bring his enemy to close quarters, Perry forced the Law- rence ahead as rapidly as the wind would permit. The English concentrated their efforts on the flag-ship, and as she approached their line the Lawrence suffered severely. The Niagara did not bear down upon the Queen Charlotte, in accordance with the directions of the Commodore, but was maintained at such distance from the English vessel as to enable the Queen Charlotte to turn her battery upon L5 the Lawrence. In consequence, the heavy vessels of the English squadron gave undivided attention to the Ameri- can flag-ship. Gun after gun was dismounted. Man after man fell dead to the deck or was carried wounded below. Lieutenant Brooks, son of a late Governor of Massachu- setts, a man of remarkable physique and great manly beauty, was struck in the hip by a cannon-ball and suf- fered such agony as he lay on the deck that he called upon the Commodore to kill him. Upon being taken to the cockpit and learning the impossibility of his recovery, he repeatedly inquired how the battle was going, and hoped that the Commodore would escape uninjured. lie died before the end of the action. The Lawrence was so shallow that it had been impossible to place the cockpit below the water line, and the wounded were only a trifle less subject to danger than when in their stations on deck. Midshipman Lamb went below with his arm shat- tered. His wound having been dressed by Surgeon Par- sons, he was directed to go forward and lie down. While the surgeon's hand was upon him, a cannon-ball dashed him across the cockpit and killed him instantly. Lieuten- ant Forest was struck by a spent ball and fell stunned at Perry's feet. Lieutenant Yarnall was badly wounded in the scalp; and with blood flowing over his face went below T for treatment. The enemy's shot had torn the ham- mocks that had been filled with reed or flag tops, and the cotton-like substauee from these cat-tails floated through the air like feathers. It caught upon Yarnairs blood- stained head and gave him much the appearance of an owl. Upon shortly going below to have another wound n; treated, his appearance caused some of the wounded to shout with laughter that the Devil had come among them. This gallant officer later in the action, his face horribly disfigured by a splinter that had been driven through his nose, iu addition to his other injuries, notified the Commo- dore that every officer in his division had been disabled, and asked for assistance. The Commodore had no other officers to detail, and Yarnall was obliged to tight his bat- tery as best he could. One of the guns was somewhat out of order, and Perry approached to aid in correcting the dif- ficulty. The captain of the gun chanced to be one of the Constitution's old men, and had drawn himself up with a manly air in the act of firing when a heavy cannon-shot passed through his body, and he dropped dead at Perry's feet. Young Alexander Perry, only twelve years of age, had two musket-balls pass through his hat, and was laid senseless on the deck by a splinter. At the commencement of the action six men had been detailed to the cockpit to assist the surgeon. After the battle had been raging an hour and a half, Perry, with a countenance perfectly calm, and in an ordinary voice, as though upon every-day duty, called through the cockpit skylight, "Doctor, send me one of your men. 11 At once one of the surgeon's assistants went on deck to assist in fighting the vessel. In a few minutes the Commodore repeated the call, and was obliged to follow it at short intervals with others, until the six men were on deck and the surgeon left alone to care for the wounded. Soon after, in the same calm tone, Perry called through the skylight to know if any of the wounded could pull a rope. At once 17 several of those slightly injured crawled upon deck to aid in continuing the battle. The injury to the Lawrence had somewhat opened the planks of the deck, and in several instances small rivulets of blood flowing from those above fell upon those in the cockpit below. Kvery gun but one had been dismounted. Out of his entire effective crew only fourteen were left uninjured. With the assist- ance of the chaplain and the purser, Perry himself suc- ceeded in loading and firing the last gun. The condition of the Lawrence rendered further offensive operations im- possible. The approach of the Niagara, at this time practi- cally uninjured, enabled the young Commodore to take that momentous step that changed defeat into victory. His passage in an open boat over the bullet-thrashed waters of the lake from the Lawrence to the Niagara at once changed the aspect of the battle. A short conference with her commander, variously reported by different wit- nesses, ended in Perry's at once assuming command of the vessel, and in sending her commander to bring up the small vessels astern. Kadically changing her course, and signalling the other vessels of his squadron for close action, he directed the Niagara toward the English line. With guns double-shotted he passed between the Queen Charlotte and the Detroit on the one side, and the vessels near the head of the English fleet on the other. At half pistol shot these vessels, which had become partly unmanageable in consequence of their injuries, were raked with terrible effect. In about fifteen minutes after Perry assumed com- mand of the Niagara the Queen Charlotte surrendered. Her example was soon followed by the larger English 18 vessels. Returning to the Lawrence, upon her blood- stained decks, amid his dead and wounded companions, he received the formal surrender of the English fleet. The English officers picked their way among the dead and wounded to the quarter-deck, and offered their swords in token of submission. Perry requested them to retain their side arms and extended to his captives every consideration. The loss in the English squadron had been 41 killed and 94 wounded, according to Commodore Barclay's report. The first and second in command of each of the English vessels had been killed or disabled. In the American fleet 27 were killed and 96 wounded. Of this number 22 had been killed and 61 wounded on the Lawrence alone, out of her total crew of 101 effective men. A loss of 83 men, over 82 per cent., in killed and wounded, exhibits the terrific character of the struggle on the flag-ship. Never before in a naval action, except where the defeated vessel has been sunk with all on board, had the percentage of loss equalled that on the Lawrence. Two of the English vessels, the Little Belt and the Chippeway, sought safety in flight. They were pursued by the Scorpion and the Trippe, captured and brought back to the fleet. Sailing- master Champlin of the Scorpion fired the first gun on the American side in opening the action, and in bringing-to the Little Belt he also fired the last gun. The capture of the English fleet was complete. It was one of the few squad- ron engagements in which any portion of the navy of the United States had been engaged. It was also the first time an entire English fleet had ever been surrendered. 19 Literally could Perry report, "We have met the enemj and they are ours." The part taken by the Niagara in this engagement pre- vious to the time that Perry boarded her lias given rise to a long discussion. Until Perry trod her decks she had held aloof from the English fleet, and was not in a position to render that hearty and valuable assistance to the Lawrence that could reasonably have been expected from the second in command. The motives that actuated the commander of the Niagara cannot be discussed at this time. Shortly before Thermopylae, two Greeks were on leave at Alpeni suffering from a severe complaint of the eyes. Eurytus, foreseeing that a decisive action was about to occur, called for his armor and directed his attendant Helot to lead him into the Pass. Joining Leonidas, he became one of the immortal three hundred. He laid his enemy close along- side, and was not out of his place. His memory was vener- ated by his countrymen, and his devotion commanded their admiration. Aristodemus, however, ignoring the example of his comrade, returned home without taking part in the conflict. He was subjected to the scorn and contempt of his fellow citizens. Unable to endure his disgrace, at the end of a year he was killed at the battle of Platsea while striving to retrieve his position. The marked difference between the influence of the Niagara in the action, before and after Perry took command, illustrates his surpassing personal influence upon the conflict. It emphasizes his words as he left the Lawrence, "If a victory is to be gained, I'll gain it." After the conflict, the two fleets anchored in Put-In-Bay. 2<> The control of tlie lake definitely passed to the Americans. They at once assumed the offensive. A portion of Har- rison's army immediately marched on Detroit. The balance were transported by water to the neighborhood of Maiden. General Proctor was obliged to abandon Maiden and re- treat. Tecumseh, unable to comprehend the situation, in forcible language expressed his dissatisfaction with the action of the English commander. The retreat was hurried forward with the utmost precipitation. Harrison re-cap- tured Detroit, and the whole territory of Michigan. The pursuit of Proctor and the Indians was pushed with all possible celerity. Leaving his squadron in command of his subordinates, Perry volunteered as an aid to General Harrison. He ren- dered valuable assistance to the commanding; general, and took a prominent part in the battle of the Thames. " While passing from the right of the front line to the left wing. Perry's horse," according to McKenzie, "plunged into a deep slough near the swamp, and sank nearly to the breast. In an instant Perry vaulted over the horse's head to the dry ground. The horse extricated himself, and snorting as he trod the solid ground again, bounded for- ward at the speed he had held before the accident. Perry clutched the animal's mane, as he released himself from the marsh, and vaulted into the saddle without in the slightest degree checking the speed of the beast or touching bridle or stirrup until he was fairly seated. The circumstance was witnessed by the Kentuckians, who were approaching the enemy at a charging pace, and who cheered the brave sailor as he passed them." 21 Few victories have had more important results. The defeat of Proctor at the battle of the Thames followed, as well as the death of Tecuniseh, that in a measure retrieved the disaster at the River Raisin. The Indian alliance at once collapsed. The frontier was no longer subject to the savage atrocities that had disgraced the war. Canada, north of Lake Erie, was conquered. The Northwest Ter- ritory was secured to the United States. This region now occupied by Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin and Minnesota, and including those portions of New York and Pennsylvania bordering on lake Erie, now supports a population of about seventeen millions of people. One- quarter, therefore, of the present population of the United States have found homes in that territory secured by Perry and his companions. It has developed such cities as Cleve- land, Detroit, Toledo, Chicago, Minneapolis and St. Paul. It teems with agricultural and mining enterprises, with manufactures and with commerce. The lakes upon which it borders furnish means of transportation second only to the ocean. Great ships ply between busy cities that line the borders of these inland seas. An interior commerce has developed far beyond the wildest anticipations of eighty years ago. In either of those great steamships, the product of Cleveland industry, the North Land and the North West, the combined fleets that fought the battle of Lake Erie, could be stowed away and still have room for a thousand tons more. The gross tonnage of each of these steamships is 4244 tons. The combined tonnage of the American and English fleets at the battle of Lake Erie, was 3131 tons. This celebration of " Perry's Victory " uses a term that 90 denotes the unusual influence a single individual exerted upon the conflict. Preeminently was the victory upon Lake Erie due to the personal efforts of Commodore Perry. To fight the flagship to a wreck, to be able in such scenes, and in circumstances so unusual, to transfer his flag to an- other portion of the fleet, to use his remaining resources so effectively as to turn probable defeat into one of the most remarkable victories of his age, established his reputation as a naval commander. The inestimable services of Ad- miral Suffren on the coast of India exerted a commanding influence upon naval affairs in those waters, and secured the commendation of France. Even his English opponents after the war united in recognizing his combinations. The services of Nelson at the Nile, at Trafalgar, and particularly at Cape St. Vincent, have been remembered by a grateful country, and his position as a naval hero recognized by the civilized world. Farragut, in taking the lead of his some- what disordered line at Mobile, and by his passage of Forts St. Philip and Jackson, has placed his name among the great Admirals of the world. Naval history does not fur- nish, however, another instance to equal the overwhelming influence of Perry's services on Lake Erie. The fateful passage from the wreck of the Lawrence to the uninjured Niagara appeals as forcefully to the student of naval his- tory as to the popular comprehension of Perry's part in the battle. That gallant act calls to mind another deed, in- spired by similar motives but of an entirely different char- acter, where an illustrious son of Ohio gained undying renown : 23 " The first that the General saw were the groups Of stragglers, and then the retreating troops ; What was done? What to do? A glance told him both. Then striking his spurs with a terrible oath, He dashed down the line, 'mid a storm of huzzas, And the wave of retreat checked its course there, because The sight of the master compelled it to pause. With foam and with dust the black charger was gray ; By the flash of his eye, and the red nostril's play, He seemed to the whole great army to say : ' I have brought you Sheridan all the way From Winchester down to save the day.' ' The determination to succeed, the readiness to grasp a sudden and unexpected situation, the ability to apply the necessary remedy, and the unusual personal magnetism, were the same in Sheridan as in Perry. It would be indeed a narrow view to assume that Perry's unaided efforts obtained the victory at Lake Erie. Gener- ally he was seconded in the most gallant and effective manner by his officers and men. No commander ever re- ceived more devoted support than was rendered by the crew of the Lawrence. Yarnall, Brooks, Forest, — could men be braver or more faithful to their duty ? Rhode Island cannot forget her heroes. She remembers with pardonable pride the part taken in the battle by her sons. Forty-seven of the fifty-four guns in the American squad- ron wer ecommanded by Rhode Islanders. Perry, Turner, Champlin, Brownell and Almy commanding vessels, Par- sons, Breese, Dunham, Taylor and young Alexander Perry bravely performing their several duties, not forgetting the hardy sailors that came with them from the coast, indicate 24 the important part that the men from Narragansett Bay bore in the conflict. The momentous results of this vic- tory, so largely due to the efforts of her sons, constitute Rhode Island's gift to the West and to the Northwest in the war of 1812, and equal the support she rendered the South during the Revolution through the services of Gen- eral Nathanael Greene. At the opening of the Erie Canal, the cannon of Perry's fleet, and those that they had captured, were located along the line of the water-way at intervals of about ten miles. As the first boats entered the canal at Buffalo, the first of these cannon was fired. As the sound reached the second, it conveyed it to the third. Gun responded to gun, until in an hour and twenty minutes the fact of the opening of the canal at Buffalo was announced to the citizens of New York. The cannon that had gained for America the con- trol of the lakes, and those they had conquered, celebrated the completion of an adjunct to these inland seas that con- nected them directly with the ocean by a route entirely within the limits of the United States. The monument that stands in yonder Park, and the cir- cumstances of to-day, exhibit the gratitude of Ohio for the services of Rhode Island's son. The inestimable gifts of a similar nature that this great state has made to the nation, — Grant, Sherman, Sheridan, — indicate that Ohio can sym- pathize with Rhode Island in the veneration entertained for the character and the services of Perry. No city can be great without inspiring the patriotism of its citizens. Civic pride, as history often tells, has been the motive underlying many noble deeds. The .present 25 centennial lias furnished the occasion for the exercise of similar qualities. The gift of Rockefeller Park proves that the welfare of Cleveland, and pride in her prosperity and success, are dear to her citizens. The $600,000 required to secure the land for the new park represent a vast amount of stored-up human energy. This sum equals the labor of one thousand men for one year. That such a gift is possible from a single individual exhibits the wonderful results to be derived, from intelligent effort in the great republic. The monuments that ornament the Forest City evidence the generosity of her citizens. In their mute magnificence they deny that republics are ungrateful. Cleaveland, Perry, Garfield, and, by that noble tribute in the Public Square, the heroes of the Civil War. have all been fittingly remem- bered. The progress that has been made during the past hundred years is but the basis for still greater advances in the years to come. Distance, as it was understood at the foundation of the Forest City, has practically been annihi- lated by the steamship, the telegraph, the railroad and the telephone. The development of manufactures secures to the most humble facilities unknown one hundred years ago. The skill, enterprise and energy that have developed the United States will shortly push the surplus products from its fields of agriculture, from its mines of iron, coal and precious minerals, and from its ever increasing products of manufacturing, into the markets of the world. To protect the efforts of those engaged in such enterprises, to secure their peaceful consideration in distant parts of the earth, it 26 is necessary to follow them by means that will secure respect for the flag. No state has received greater benefit from the sea power than Ohio, although situated several hundred miles from the ocean. Her people should not rest until there floats upon the deep, fashioned by American designers and constructed of American material by American workmen, a mighty battleship bearing the name and repu- tation of Ohio, — a ship that shall keep the sea in any storm and proudly bear aloft the flag that floated over the Con- stitution when, to the thunder of her guns, the red emblem of England was lowered on the Guerriere; a ship that possibly some brave and patriotic son of this Common- wealth may, in the just cause of the great Republic, guide to a victory as marked for his personal influence as that of Perry or of Sheridan. REFERENCES Lift of Oliver Hazard Perry.— J. M. Niles. Hartford, 1820. Life of Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry. — A. S. Mackenzie. New York, 1840. Inauguration of the Perry Statin of .Y7.— Address by William P. Sheffield. John P. Sanborn, Newport, R. I., 1885. Battle "f Lake A'/vY.— Discourse by Usher Parsons. Benjamin T. Albro, Providence, 1853. Oration on the Fortieth Anniversary of tin Battle of Lake Erie. — George H. Calvert. Metcalf and Company, Cambridge, 1853. Battle of Lake Erie. — With notice of Commodore Elliott's con- duct in that engagement. Tristam Purges. Philadelphia., 1839. New England Historical and Genealogical Register. — January, 1803. Art. by Usher Parsons, giving biographical sketch of the officers of Perry's squadron. History of the Late War in the Western Country.— Robert B. McAfee. Lexington, Ky., 1810. Boston Atheneum. Pictorial Field Bool' of the War of 1812.— B. J. Lossing. Blue Jackets of 1812.— W. J. Abbot. Dodd, Mead & Co.. New- York, 1887. The Naval War of 1812— Theodore Roosevelt. New York, 1889. History of the United States Navy from 1775 to 1898.— E. S. Maclay, A. M. D. Appleton & Co., New York. Navy of tin United States.— Lieut. G. E. Emmons, I'. S. Y. Washington, D. C, 1853. 28 Battles of the United States hy La ml ami Sea. — H. B. Dawson. Johnson, Fry & Co., New York, 1858. Narrative and Critical History of America. — Vol. VII. J. Win- sor, Editor. Boston, 1889. Regimental Losses in fJie American Civil War. — W. F. Fox. Naval History of Great Britain. — William James. London, 1837. Influence of Sea Power upon History. — Capt. A. T. Mahan, U. S. N. Little, Brown & Co., Boston, 1891. Influence of Sea Power upon t/ie French Revolution and Empire. —Capt. A. T. Mahan, U. S. N. Little, Brown & Co., Boston, 1891. Manual of Naval Tactics. — Jas. H. Ward, Commander U. S. N. D. Appleton & Co., New York, 1859. Journal of Royal United Service Institution. — July, 1896. Vol. XL. No. 221. Art. Study of Naval Warfare. Prof. J. K. Laugh- ton, K. N. The Story of ( 'leveland.— Art. by H. E. Bourne. New England Magazine, August, 1896. The Western Reserve University. — Art. by E. O. Stevens. New England Magazine, April, 1896. Historical Collections of <>li io.— Centennial Edition. Grote's History of Greece.— Vol. II. New York, 1883. 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