THE CHEMAWA AMERICAN
H. E. WADSWORTH, Superintendent
VOLUME 15
APRIL,
1913
NUMBER 7
HISTORY REVIEW ED
A X AC CO UNT OF A FAM OUS N A V A L E N G A G E M E N T
H K anchievem ents of Com modore Perry on Lake E rie
have alw ays been of g reat interest to stu d en ts of h is
tory. N ex t fall th e centennial of th is im portant n a
val battle is to be celebrated and the flag ship, after a
subm ersion of alm ost 100 years in Misery Bay of
Lake E rie, has been raised and found to be in an u n
usually good condition, all th in g s considered. Com
modore P erry is one of the historic naval heroes of o u r country and
some idea of w hat he undertook and accom plished will be gained by
reading the follow ing w hich appeared recently as an editorial in T he
O regonian:
N ext Fall th e centenary of P e rry ’s fam ous victory on Lake E rie will
be celebrated by th e dedication of a m onum ent now in course of erec
tion, T he naval battle w hich won him rank am ong his c o u n try ’s he
roes was fought Septem ber 10, 1813. Perry was sent to tak e com mand
on th e lake in th e preceding M arch, but he had no fleet and it devolved
upon him to build one from the native tim ber on the banks of th e lake.
T h is w ork he pursued so diligently th a t by Ju ly he had two respectable
vessels, the Law rence and the N iagara, ready for action, together with
six others assembled in various ways. Some he had built. O thers were
trad in g vessels com m andeered for the occasion. T h e U nited States
plunged into th e W ar of 1812 w ith o u t adequate preparation on either
land or w ater. A series of lucky accidents enabled the fleet to come off
w ith credit w herever it m et the B ritish, b u t the land arm ies, liastlv
raised and m iserably com m anded as a rule, were defeated everyw here.
It was not until H arrison took com m and in the W est and Jackson in
the South th a t th e disgrace of continual loss was retrieved. C om petent
action in th e W est both by land and w ater was p articularly im portant.
T he B ritish had enticed the In d ian s to th eir alliance and were using