Oliver Hazard Perry

Oliver Hazard Perry
The Hero of Lake Erie
Born	August 23, 1785(1785-08-23) South Kingstown, Rhode Island
Died	August 23, 1819(1819-08-23) (aged 34) Trinidad
Place of burial	Newport, Rhode Island
Allegiance	United States of America
Service/branch	United States Navy
Years of service	1799–1819
Rank	Commodore
Commands held	USS Nautilus USS Revenge U.S. Naval Forces, Lake Erie - USS Lawrence - USS Niagara USS Nonsuch
Battles/wars	Quasi-War with France Haitian Revolution First Barbary War - Battle of Derna War of 1812 - Battle of Lake Erie

United States Navy Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry (August 23, 1785 – August 23, 1819) was born in South Kingstown, Rhode Island, the son of USN Captain Christopher Raymond Perry and Sarah Wallace Alexander, a direct descendant of William Wallace.^[1] He was an older brother to Commodore Matthew Calbraith Perry who compelled the opening of Japan to the West by threat of force.

He served in the War of 1812 against Britain. After supervising the building of a fleet at Erie, Pennsylvania, at the age of 27 earned the title "Hero of Lake Erie" for leading American forces in a decisive naval victory at the Battle of Lake Erie, receiving a Congressional Gold Medal and the Thanks of Congress.^[1][2] His leadership materially aided the successful outcomes of all nine Lake Erie military campaign victories, and the fleet victory was a turning point in the battle for the west in the War of 1812.^[2]

Perry became embroiled in a long standing and festering controversy with the Commander of the USS Niagara, Captain Jesse Elliott over their conduct in the battle, and both were the subject of official charges that were lodged. In 1815, he successfully commanded the Java in the Mediterranean during the Second Barbary War. So seminal was his career that he was lionized in the press (being the subject of scores of books and articles),^[3] has been heavily memorialized, and many places and ships have been named in his honor.

Childhood and early career

As a boy, Perry lived in Rhode Island, sailing ships in anticipation of his future career as an officer in the US Navy.^[2] He was educated in Newport, Rhode Island, and at the age of 13 was appointed a midshipman in the United States Navy on April 7, 1799.^[2]

During the Quasi-War with France, he was assigned to his father's frigate, the USS General Greene. He first experienced combat on February 9, 1800, off the coast of the French colony of Haiti, which was in a state of rebellion.^[4]

During the First Barbary War, he served on the USS Adams and later commanded the USS Nautilus during the capture of Derna. Beginning in 1806, he commanded the sloop USS Revenge, engaging in patrol duties to enforce the Embargo Act, as well as a successful raid to regain a U.S. ship held in Spanish territory in Florida. On January 9, 1811, the Revenge ran aground off Rhode Island and was lost. The following court-martial exonerated Perry, placing blame on the ship's pilot.^[A][5] In January 2011, a team of divers claimed to have discovered the remains of the Revenge, nearly 200 years to the day after it sank.^[6][7]

Following the court-martial, Perry was given a leave of absence from the navy. On May 5, 1811, he married Elizabeth Champlin Mason of Newport, Rhode Island, whom he had met at a dance in 1807.^[5] They enjoyed an extended honeymoon touring New England. The couple would eventually have five children, with one dying in infancy.^[8]

War of 1812

At the beginning of the War of 1812 American naval forces were very small, allowing the British to make many advances in the Great Lakes and northern New York waterways. The roles played by commanders like Oliver Perry at Lake Erie and Isaac Chauncey at Lake Ontario and Thomas Macdonough at Lake Champlain all proved vital to the naval effort that was largely responsible for winning that war.

Hero of Lake Erie

Perry standing on a small boat after abandoning the Lawrence in a 1911 painting by Edward Percy Moran

At his request he was given command of United States naval forces on Lake Erie during the War of 1812. U.S. Secretary of the Navy Paul Hamilton had charged prominent merchant seaman Daniel Dobbins with building the American fleet on Presque Isle Bay at Erie, Pennsylvania, and Perry was named chief naval officer.^[1][2][9] On September 10, 1813, Perry's command fought a successful fleet action against a task force of the Royal Navy in the Battle of Lake Erie. It was at the outset of this battle that Perry famously said, “If a victory is to be gained, I will gain it.”^[10] Initially, the exchange of gunfire favored the British. Perry's flagship, the USS Lawrence, was so severely disabled in the encounter that the British commander, Robert Heriot Barclay, thought that Perry would surrender it, and sent a small boat to request that the American vessel pull down its flag. Faithful to the words of his battle flag, "DON'T GIVE UP THE SHIP" (a paraphrase of the dying words of Captain James Lawrence, the ship's namesake and Perry's friend),^[11][12] Perry ordered the crippled Lawrence to fire a final salvo and then had his men row him a half-mile (0.8 km) through heavy gunfire to transfer his command to the USS Niagara. Once aboard, Perry dispatched the Niagara's commander, Captain Jesse Elliot, to bring the other schooners into closer action while he steered the Niagara toward the damaged British ships. Breaking through the British line, the American force pounded Barclay's ships until they could offer no effective resistance and surrendered. Although he had won the battle aboard the Niagara, he received the British surrender on the deck of the recaptured Lawrence to allow the British to see the terrible price his men had paid.^[10] Perry's battle report to General William Henry Harrison was famously brief: "We have met the enemy and they are ours; two ships, two brigs, one schooner and one sloop."^[11]

Perry's battle flag

This was the first time in history that an entire British naval squadron had surrendered, and every captured ship was successfully returned to Presque Isle.^[13] Although the engagement was small compared to Napoleonic naval battles such as the Battle of Trafalgar, the victory had disproportionate strategic importance, opening Canada up to possible invasion, while simultaneously protecting the entire Ohio Valley.^[2][14] The loss of the British squadron directly led to the critical Battle of the Thames, the rout of British forces by Harrison's army, the death of Tecumseh, and the breakup of his Indian alliance.^[13] Along with the Battle of Plattsburgh, it was one of only two significant fleet victories of the war.^[2]

In fact, Perry was involved in nine campaigns that led to and followed the Battle of Lake Erie, and they all had a seminal impact. "What is often overlooked when studying Perry is how his physical participation and brilliant strategic leadership influenced the outcomes of all nine Lake Erie military campaign victories:" Capturing Fort George, Ontario in the Battle of Fort George; Destroying the British munitions at Olde Fort Erie (see Capture of Fort Erie); Rescuing five vessels from Black Rock; Building the Erie fleet; Getting the ships over the sandbar; Blocking British supplies for a month prior to battle; Planning the Thames invasion with General Harrison; Winning the Battle of Lake Erie; and Winning the Battle of Thames.^[2][13]

Perry-Elliott controversy

In his initial report, Perry praised Captain Elliott's role in the American victory at Lake Erie. Once news of the battle spread, Perry and Elliott were both celebrated as national heroes. Soon after, however, several junior officers publicly criticized Elliott's performance during the battle, charging that Elliott allowed the Lawrence to suffer the brunt of the British fire while holding the Niagara back from the fight, and that he had only come to the aid of the Lawrence once he believed that Perry was dead. Elliot rejoined that there had been a lack of effective signaling. Charges were filed but were not officially acted upon. Attempting to restore his honor, Elliott and his supporters began a 30-year campaign that would outlive both men and ultimately leave his reputation in tatters.^[13]

Congressional Gold Medal

On January 6, 1814, Perry was honored with a Congressional Gold Medal,^[15] the Thanks of Congress, and a promotion to the rank of Captain.^[16][17] This was one of 27 Gold Medals authorized by Congress arising from the War of 1812.^[18]

Obverse -- bust of Perry facing right surrounded by Oliverus H. Perry Princeps Stagno Eriense. ~ Classam Totam Contudit. Reverse depicts a sea battle scene with inscriptions: Viam Invenit Virtus Aut Facit Inter Class. Ameri. Et Brit Die X. Sep. MDCCCXIII (Valor finds or makes a way. Between the Fleets of America and Britain September 10, 1813.)[19][20]

Elliott was also recognized with a Congressional Gold Medal^[15] and the Thanks of Congress for his actions in the Battle of Lake Erie. This recognition would prove to fan the flames of resentment on both sides of the Elliott-Perry controversy.^[13]

Later commands and controversies

USN Engraved portrait
Commodore Perry

In July 1814, Perry was offered command of the USS Java, a 44-gun frigate which was under construction in Baltimore. While overseeing the outfitting of the Java, Perry participated in the defenses of Baltimore and Washington, DC during the British invasion of the Chesapeake Bay. In a twist of irony, these land battles would be the last time the career naval officer saw combat. The Treaty of Ghent was signed before the Java could be put to sea.^[8]

For Perry, the post-war years were marred by controversies. In 1815, he commanded the Java in the Mediterranean during the Second Barbary War. While moored in Naples, Perry was provoked into slapping the commander of the ship's Marines, John Heath. The ensuing court-martial found both men guilty but levied only mild reprimands. After the crew returned home, Heath challenged Perry to a pistol duel, which was fought on October 19, 1817, on the same Weehawken, New Jersey, field where Aaron Burr shot Alexander Hamilton. Heath fired first and missed. Perry refused to fire, satisfying the Marine's honor.^[8]

Perry's return from the Mediterranean also reignited the feud with Elliott. After an exchange of angry letters, Elliott challenged Perry to a duel, which Perry refused. He instead decided to file formal court-martial charges against Elliott, including "conduct unbecoming an officer," and failure to "do his utmost to take or destroy the vessel of the enemy which it was his duty to encounter." Wishing to avoid a scandal between two congressionally decorated naval heroes, Secretary of the Navy Smith Thompson and President James Monroe suppressed the matter by offering Perry the rank of Commodore and a diplomatic mission to South America in exchange for dropping his charges against Elliott. This put an official end to the controversy, though it would continue to be debated for another quarter century.^[21]

Death and legacy

Oliver Hazard Perry Issue of 1894

In 1819, after a successful expedition to Venezuela's Orinoco River to consult with Simon Bolivar about piracy in the Caribbean, Perry contracted yellow fever from mosquitoes while aboard the USS Nonsuch. Despite the crew's efforts to reach Trinidad for medical assistance, the Commodore died as the ship was nearing Port of Spain. He was 34 years old. After being buried in Port of Spain, his remains were later taken back to the United States and interred in Newport, Rhode Island. After resting briefly in the Old Common Burial Ground, his body was finally moved to Newport's Island Cemetery,^[22][23] where his brother Matthew C. Perry is also interred.^[24]

His family's descendants include Commander John Rodgers, the second person to become a United States naval aviator,^[25] and well known civilian aviator Calbraith Perry Rodgers, the first person to fly an airplane - the Vin Fiz - across the United States.^[26]

Oliver Hazard Perry La Farge (December 19, 1901 - August 2, 1963) was an American writer and anthropologist, best known for his 1930 Pulitzer Prize-winning novel Laughing Boy.

Oliver Hazard Perry Belmont (November 12, 1858 – June 10, 1908) was an American socialite and United States Representative from New York.

Oliver Hazard Perry Throck Morton (August 4, 1823 – November 1, 1877) (no relation) — the 14th Governor of Indiana, a famous Republican politician and U.S. Senator who was a leader among the Radical Republican reconstructionists — was named in his honor.*^[27]

Geographical namesakes

Many locations, both in Rhode Island and near Lake Erie, are named in his honor, including:

Counties and municipalities (organized by state)

• All of the ten Perry counties in the U.S.^[28] See also Perry (disambiguation)^[B]
• Perry County, Alabama^[29]
• The City of Perryville and Perry County, Arkansas
• The City of Perry, Georgia
• The City of Perrysville, Indiana.^[30]
• The Village of Perry and Perry County, Illinois
• Perry County, and its county seat Hazard, Kentucky.^[31] and the city of Perryville in Boyle County as well. Kentuckians were assigned as sharpshooters in the battle.
• Perry, Maine
• The City of Perry and Perry Township, Michigan.^[32]
• Perry County, Mississippi
• Perryville and Perry County, Missouri
• The Village of Perrysburg and the surrounding township; and the Village of Perry, New York and the surrounding township,^[33]
• The Cities of Perrysburg, North Perry and Perry; and Perry County, Ohio.
• The borough of Perryopolis and Oliver Township, within Perry County, and Oliver Township and Perry Township in Jefferson County Pennsylvania.^[34]
• The Village of Perryville in the Town of South Kingstown, Rhode Island.
• Perry County, Tennessee

Other places

• Perry Hall at Penn State Erie, The Behrend College.
• Perry Square and Perry Street in Erie, Pennsylvania
• Oliver Hazard Perry Schools in: Erie, Pennsylvania; San Diego, California; Chicago, Illinois; Cleveland and Euclid, Ohio; Boston and South Boston, Massachusetts; Brooklyn, New York; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; Providence, Rhode Island; and Lajas, Puerto Rico (built in 1904 and 1907) two classrooms.
• Perry Highway
  • U.S. Route 19 from Meadville to Pittsburgh in western Pennsylvania
  • Pennsylvania Route 505 in Erie County, Pennsylvania
• Camp Perry at Port Clinton, Ohio.
• Perry Nuclear Generating Station
• Commodore Perry Service Plaza, Ohio Turnpike.^[35]

Monuments

Oliver Perry Monument in Newport, RI by William Greene Turner

Monuments to Perry are located in many locations, including:

• Perry's Victory and International Peace Memorial at Put-In-Bay, Ohio — 352 foot (107 m) monument — the world's most massive Doric column — was constructed in Put-in-Bay, Ohio by a multi-state commission from 1912 to 1915.^[36]

• Perry Monument at Misery Bay, Presque Isle State Park in Erie, Pennsylvania

• Front Park, by Charles Henry Niehaus, in Buffalo, New York, dedicated September 25, 1916

• Wade Park by William Walcutt, and Herman Matzen, in Cleveland, Ohio^[37] Dedicated June 14, 1929

• Perry Square, monument designed by Paul Philippe Cret, in Erie, Pennsylvania, 1925

• Island Cemetery in Newport, RI, sculpture by William Greene Turner^[38]

• In April 1925, Captain Henry E. Lackey took the newly commissioned light cruiser USS Memphis (CL-13) and was the U.S. naval representative at the opening of the Oliver Hazard Perry Memorial Gateway in Port-of-Spain, Trinidad.^[39][40]

Eponymous ships

Commodore Perry has been repeatedly honored with ships bearing his name.

• USS Perry (1843), a sailing brig 1843–1865.
• USS Commodore Perry (1859) was an armed side wheel ferry built in 1859 by Stack and Joyce, Williamsburg, N.Y. and purchased by the Navy 2 October 1861; and commissioned later in the month, Acting Master F. J. Thomas was in command.^[41]
• USS Perry (DD-11), Bainbridge-class destroyer 1900–1919.
• USS Perry (DD-340), a Clemson-class destroyer converted into a high speed minesweeper and re-designated DMS–17 effective 19 November 1940. Served 1921–1944; sunk in Battle of Peleliu.
• Oliver Hazard Perry - USAT 2725 a Liberty ship. See, List of Liberty ships: M-R.^[42]
• USS Perry (DD-844), was a Gearing class destroyer 1945–1970.
• USS Oliver Hazard Perry (FFG-7), a guided-missile frigate 1976–1997 and Oliver Hazard Perry class frigates are named in his honor. See also USS Perry.
• SSV Oliver Hazard Perry Rhode Island Educational Tall ship. When completed, it will measure 207 feet (63 m), will be a three-masted Square-rigged vessel, making it the largest privately-owned tall ship in the United States. Scheduled to set sail in 2012, it is intended to be a long 'good will ambassador' for the State of Rhode Island, and a "floating classroom." It is being financed through a tax exempt 501(c)(3) charitable foundation, and public subscription.^[43][44] Ironically, "The ship, as it existed [when acquired by the Rhode Island trust was] a 138 feet (42 m) steel hull, which [was] bought from an organization in Ontario for $325,000. It had cost almost $3 million to build, but the Canadian group derailed before the ship--intended to be a replica of the [20 gun] British ship HMS Detroit [captured by the flotilla commanded by Commodore Perry -- not the six gun sloop HMS Detroit (1812) destroyed by Lieutenant Jesse D. Elliott in the War of 1812] -- could be completed."^[44][45]

See also

• List of books about the War of 1812

Bibliography

Footnotes

References

Further reading

• Axelrod, Alen; Phillips, Charles. The MacMillan Dictionary of Military Biography (New York: MacMillan, 1998.) p. 343.
• Bancroft, George, 1800-1891; Dyer, Oliver, 1824-1907. (1891) History of the battle of Lake Erie: and miscellaneous papers (New York : R. Bonner's sons) 292 pp. at American Library Association.
• Barnes, James, 1866-1936 (1898) The hero of Erie (Oliver Hazard Perry) (microform) (1898) New York: D. Appleton Appleton's Cyclopaedia of American Biography at Internet archive and here for other formats.
• Burges, Tristam (1770-1853) (1839) Battle of Lake Erie, with notices of Commodore Elliot's conduct in that engagement (Providence, Brown & Cady) at Internet Archive.
• Conners, William James, 1857-; Emerson, George Douglas. (1916) The Perrys victory centenary. Report of the Perry’s victory centennial commission, state of New York (Albany, J.B. Lyon Company, Printers).
• Coles, Harry L; Borstin, Daniel J., Ed. August 1966 The War of 1812 (Chicago: University of Chicago Press) ISBN 978-0-226-11350-0.
• Cooper, James Fenimore (1846) Lives of Distinguished American Naval Officers Google Books and here for American Library Association.
• Cooper, James Fenimore, History of the Navy (1839).
• Dillon, Richard. (1978) We have met the enemy: Oliver Hazard Perry, wilderness commodore (New York: McGraw-Hill). ISBN 978-0-07-016981-4.
• "Robert J. Dodge Collection - MS 157". Center for Archival Collections. Bowling Green State University. http://www.bgsu.edu/colleges/library/cac/ms/page44121.html. Retrieved October 2, 2011. 
• Dodge, Robert J. (1962). The Battle of Lake Erie. National Park Service. 
• Dutton, Charles J.(1935) Oliver Hazard Perry (New York: Longmans, Green and Co.) 308 pp. (Scholar's Bookshelf; First Edition. October 15, 2006) ISBN 0-945726-36-8; ISBN 978-0-945726-36-4.
• Downloadable resources regarding Oliver Hazard Perry, American Library Association.
• Eaton, Joseph Giles (1847-1905) (1905) Perry's Victory on Lake Erie. Military Historical Society of Massachusetts (Boston, For the Society, by Houghton Mifflin)at American Library Association.
• Elliott, Jesse D. Address of Com. Jesse D. Elliot, U.S.N., Delivered in Washington County, Maryland, to His Early Companions at Their Request, on November 24, 1843 (Philadelphia: G.B. Zeiber & co., 1844) 137 pp. at Google books.
• Hickey, Donald R. (1990) The War of 1812: The Forgotten Conflict Urbana, Illinois: University of Illinois Press. National Historical Society Book Prize and American Military Institute Best Book Award. ISBN 0252060598; ISBN 978-0252060595.
• Hickey, Donald R. (2006) Don't Give Up the Ship! Myths of the War of 1812. (Urbana: University of Illinois Press) ISBN 0-252-03179-2.
• Langguth, A.J. (2006). Union 1812: The Americans Who Fought the Second War of Independence. New York: Simon & Shuster. ISBN 0743226189. 
• Lyman, Olin H. (1905) Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry and the War on the Lakes.
• Mackenzie, Alexander Slidell 1803-1848. (1915) Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry : famous American naval hero, victor of the battle of Lake Erie, his life and achievements (Akron, Ohio: Superior Printing Co.) at Internet archive.
• Mackenzie, Alexander Slidell, 1803-1848 (1840) The life of Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry. (New York, Harper) Volume 1, Volume 2.
• Mahan, Alfree Thayer (1840–1914)(1905) Sea Power in Its Relation to the War of 1812 (2 vols.) (Boston: Little Brown) American Library Association.
• Paullin, Charles Edward (October, 1918). The Battle of Lake Erie (a collection of documents, mainly those by Oliver Hazard Perry). Cleveland, Ohio: The Raufin Club. http://books.google.com/?id=rH8TAQAAMAAJ&lpg=PA205&dq=Oliver%20Hazard%20Perry%20and%20the%20Battle%20of%20Lake%20Erie%20George%20Bancroft&pg=PA1#v=onepage&q&f=false. Retrieved August 18, 2011. 
• Morton, Edward Payson (1869-1914) Lake Erie and the story of Commodore Perry Chicago: Ainsworth & company Internet Archive digitized by Google.
• Niles, John Milton (Bedford, Mass.: Applewood Books, 1830) The Life of Oliver Hazard Perry.
• Reid, George. (1913) Perry at Erie:how Captain Dobbins, Benjamin Fleming and others assisted him. (Erie, Pennsylvania: Journal publishing company).
• Skaggs, David Curtis. (October 2006) Oliver Hazard Perry: honor, courage, and patriotism in the early U.S. Navy. Annapolis, Maryland:Naval Institute Press, 302 pp. ISBN 978-1-59114-792-3; ISBN 1-59114-792-1.
• Skaggs, David Curtis; Altoff, Gerard T. Altoff A Signal Victory: The Lake Erie Campaign, 1812-1813 (Naval Institute Press), winner John Lyman Book Awards 1997. ISBN 9781557508928.
• Skaggs, David Curtis. Perry Triumphant (April 2009 Volume 23, Number 2) Naval History Magazine United States Naval Institute.
• White, James T. (1895) p. 288. National Cyclopaedia of American Biography.

External links

	United States Navy portal
	Rhode Island portal
	Biography portal
	Erie portal

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• Bibliography Paullin, Charles Edward (October, 1918). The Battle of Lake Erie (a collection of documents, mainly those by Oliver Hazard Perry). Cleveland, Ohio: The Raufin Club. http://books.google.com/?id=rH8TAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA205&lpg=PA205&dq=Oliver+Hazard+Perry+and+the+Battle+of+Lake+Erie+George+Bancroft#v=onepage&q&f=false. Retrieved August 18, 2011. .
• Perry @ the National Park Service.
• Perry @ the Naval Historical Center.
• Perry's account of the Battle of Lake Erie^{[dead link]} (See Further reading, Pauilin, supra.)
• The Oliver Hazard Perry papers William L. Clements Library.
• "Log of the Battle of Lake Erie" by Sailing Master William Taylor.
• US Brig Niagara
• Commodore Perry I.P.A. and Tasting guide, Commodore Perry India Pale Ale by Great Lakes Brewing Co.
• Bloom, Loren (2008). "Information about the epic battle painting by Julian O. Davidson". The Battle of Lake Erie: Julian Oliver Davidson's Painting. Erie Maritime Museum. http://www.battleoflakeerieart.com. Retrieved August 25, 2011. 
• Perry Monument, Buffalo Historical Markers and Monuments website.
• Oliver Hazard Perry at Find a Grave
• Oliver Hazard Perry at Rootsweb.