Lurking just off shore, the 38-gun frigate HMS Shannon, skippered by British Navy Rear Adm. Sir Philip Bowes Vere Broke, patrolled the harbor entrance to make sure no ships passed in or out. Although Shannon and Chesapeake were matched evenly in terms of armament, Broke had captained his ship for seven years, honing his crew into a formidable fighting force. Nevertheless, Lawrence dutifully put to sea at noon, sailing out with his untested crew to meet Shannon.
By late afternoon, the two vessels were in range of each other’s guns, and it was Broke who fired the first volley. Chesapeake responded, inflicting considerable damage, but the ships drew so close Chesapeake’s mizzen sail caught in Shannon’s fore-chains, and Chesapeake lost forward momentum. Virtually dead in the water, Chesapeake was raked unmercifully by the British ship’s cannon, wounding Lawrence in the leg and killing many of his officers and crew. Unbowed, Lawrence gave the order to board but was mortally wounded by grapeshot before word reached the crew.
Instead, the British began to pour over Chesapeake’s bulwarks as Lawrence was carried below-decks, prompting his famous order, “Tell the men to fire faster and not to give up the ship; fight her ’til she sinks!” And fight they did, until every officer was either killed or wounded. But it wasn’t enough; the British force overwhelmed the ill-starred crew, took command of Chesapeake, and sailed it to Halifax, Nova Scotia. Lawrence’s remains were buried there with full military honors, as befits such a gallant warrior.
Showdown on the Great Lakes
The Royal Navy then felt it properly had avenged its humiliating defeats of the previous year, but “Don’t give up the ship!” became a rallying cry for America’s Navy. A colleague of Lawrence’s who took up the flag — literally — was Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry, who ordered a large blue battle flag created bearing his friend’s famous words. When Perry was dispatched to Erie, Pa., to build a fleet of ships to counter the British threat there, he named one of the vessels after Lawrence.
Constructing a fleet of six ships in the remote Northeast was not an easy task; Erie had only 500 residents, so shipwrights, blacksmiths, and other maritime craftsmen were brought in from Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, and other cities. Wood was plentiful, but canvas sails, as well as rigging, cannon shells, and anchors, were crafted elsewhere. By March 1813, two brand-new brigs and four smaller ships floated at anchor in Presque Isle Bay, and Perry took command.
Largest of the six were the two square-rigged brigantines USS Lawrence and USS Niagara, some 118 feet long, with a 30-foot beam. They bristled with 18 32-pounder carronades and two 12-pounder guns in their bows. Today, they would be considered small ships, but in 1813, they were massive. Perry’s fleet, stationed at Put-In-Bay, had been joined by three more ships before the battle, boosting his firepower to 54 guns — but he still was out-gunned by the British flotilla’s 63 cannons.
At daybreak Sept. 10, 1813, Perry’s lookout saw the British fleet approaching and sounded the alarm. His crews rushed preparations to completion and set sail to meet the enemy, with the wind at their backs. At 11 a.m., Perry raised his “Don’t give up the ship!” flag, signaling the onset of battle — but it was the British who fired the first shot. At 11:45 a.m., British Navy Cmdr. Robert Heriot Barclay’s flagship HMS Detroit opened up on the American fleet with its long guns from more than a mile away.
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SEPTEMBER 2013 MILITARY OFFICER 99
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