AmericanBritishWind SW
10 September, 5:30 a.m.
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The battle
At sunrise on 10 September 1813 Master Commandant Oliver Hazard Perry’s nine American vessels, at anchor in Put-in-Bay among the Lake Erie islands, sighted Commander Robert Heriot Barclay’s six British ships, out from Amherstburg. Whoever won would hold the lake.
A shift of wind at ten gave Perry the weather gage. For more than two hours his flagship Lawrence fought Barclay’s Detroit and Queen Charlotte almost alone, while Jesse Elliott’s Niagara stayed at long range, until Lawrence was a wreck and four in five of her fit men were down.
Perry was rowed to Niagara, took her through the British line and raked it from both sides. Within a quarter of an hour the British squadron had surrendered. The Americans lost 27 killed and 96 wounded, the British 41 killed and 94 wounded.
Reading the chart
- No source gives the battle’s position. Lossing puts it about ten miles from Put-in-Bay, and Perry dated his four o’clock letter “off the Western Sister”. The chart opens the action about nine nautical miles west-north-west of Put-in-Bay and lets it drift slowly west; the site is an inference.
- The order and spacing of both lines, the distances (a mile at the first gun, canister range for Lawrence, half pistol shot for Niagara) and the times follow the officers’ letters, Parsons, Lossing’s plans from Stephen Champlin and Roosevelt’s diagrams. The British are hove to, heading south-west.
- Perry’s crossing to Niagara is drawn as fifteen minutes, Lossing’s figure; no 1813 account gives its length. Lawrence strikes about ten minutes after he boards, as Sailing Master Taylor says.
- The British surrender comes five to fifteen minutes after Niagara breaks their line, depending on the account; the chart uses about eight.
- Roosevelt has the wind shifting to the north-east. Every other source, Perry and Barclay among them, says south-east.
- Lengths are recorded only for Lawrence, Niagara, Scorpion and Tigress; the others are estimated from tonnage. Ships are drawn larger than life, in proportion to one another. Rates of fire are representative, not counted.
- The commanders of Somers and Tigress follow Lossing and the Navy’s ship histories; Roosevelt gives them the other way round.
The ships
- LawrenceAmericanBrig, Perry’s flagship until half past two, two long 12s and eighteen 32-pdr carronadesMaster Commandant Oliver Hazard Perry; then Lt. John J. YarnallFought the British line almost alone for more than two hours and struck after Perry left her. 22 killed and 61 wounded.
- NiagaraAmericanBrig, Perry’s flagship from half past two, two long 12s and eighteen 32-pdr carronadesMaster Commandant Jesse D. Elliott; then PerryKept to long range until Perry took her through the British line. 2 killed and 25 wounded. Raised in 1913 and restored at Erie.
- CaledoniaAmericanBrig, a British prize taken in 1812, two long 24s and a 32-pdr carronadeLt. Daniel TurnerFollowed Lawrence down and engaged Hunter. 3 wounded.
- ArielAmericanSchooner, four long 12s, one of which burstLt. John H. PackettFought ahead of Lawrence, on her weather bow. 1 killed and 3 wounded.
- ScorpionAmericanSchooner, a long 32 and a 32-pdr carronadeSailing Master Stephen ChamplinFired the first American shot and the last of the battle, and brought in Little Belt. 2 killed.
- SomersAmericanSchooner, a long 24 and a 32-pdr carronadeSailing Master Thomas C. AlmyKept back by the light wind until the breeze freshened. 2 wounded.
- PorcupineAmericanSchooner, a long 32Acting Master George Serrat (the spelling varies)Came up with the rear schooners at the end. No casualties.
- TigressAmericanSchooner, a long 32Lt. Augustus H. M. ConklingCame up with the rear schooners at the end. No casualties.
- TrippeAmericanSloop, last in the line, a long 24 or 32 (accounts differ)Lt. Thomas HoldupMore than two miles from the enemy when the firing began; caught Chippawa after the surrender. 2 wounded.
- DetroitBritishShip, Barclay’s flagship, new in 1813, nineteen, most of them long guns taken from Fort MaldenCdr. Robert Heriot Barclay (wounded); then Lt. George InglisFell foul of Queen Charlotte under Niagara’s guns and surrendered.
- Queen CharlotteBritishShip, a long 12, two long 9s and fourteen 24-pdr carronadesCdr. Robert Finnis (killed); then Lt. Stokoe (wounded); then Provincial Lt. IrvineStruck first, locked together with Detroit.
- HunterBritishBrig, ten small guns: long 6s, 4s and 2s, and two 12-pdr carronadesLt. George Bignell (wounded)Struck after the two ships.
- Lady PrevostBritishSchooner, a long 9, two long 6s and ten 12-pdr carronadesLt. Edward Buchan (wounded)Her rudder damaged, she fell away to leeward. Struck after Niagara’s broadside.
- ChippawaBritishSchooner, leading the British line, a single long gun on a pivot (accounts differ)Master’s Mate John Campbell (wounded)Ran to leeward after the surrender and was caught by Trippe.
- Little BeltBritishSloop, a long 12 and two long 6sRan to leeward and was brought in by Scorpion at ten that night.
Sources
- William S. Dudley (ed.), The Naval War of 1812: A Documentary History, Vol. II (1992): Perry’s, Barclay’s, Inglis’s, Taylor’s and Parsons’s letters and reports
- William Wood (ed.), Select British Documents of the Canadian War of 1812, Vol. II (1923): Barclay’s report, the British casualty return and the court martial
- Theodore Roosevelt, The Naval War of 1812 (1882): the squadrons compared, and diagrams of the battle
- A. T. Mahan, Sea Power in Its Relations to the War of 1812, Vol. II (1905)
- Usher Parsons, surgeon of the Lawrence, Battle of Lake Erie: A Discourse (1854)
- Benson J. Lossing, The Pictorial Field-Book of the War of 1812 (1868): Champlin’s plans of the battle
- Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships: Lawrence
- Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships: Niagara
- Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships: Caledonia
- Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships: Ariel
- Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships: Scorpion
- Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships: Somers
- Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships: Porcupine
- Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships: Tigress
- Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships: Trippe
- National Park Service, Perry’s Victory and International Peace Memorial: the battle in detail