SHIP [CONTINUED FROM PAGE 99]


Setbacks and victory When finally in range some 10 minutes later, Perry’s cannons responded, and the battle between Lawrence and Detroit raged for more than two hours — an extraordinarily long time for a naval engagement of the period. By 2:45 p.m., Perry’s flagship was in tatters, with 22 of his 103 crew dead and another 61 wounded. Any observer would have been certain Perry and his crew were about to meet the same fate as his comrade Lawrence. But Perry wasn’t ready to give up just yet. He ordered his battle flag struck, had four of his surviving crew lower a rowboat, and standing with the flag draped over one shoulder, ordered his crew to make for Niagara. Fifteen minutes later, after dodging cannon fire and grapeshot, he arrived at the relatively unscathed brig and raised his flag once again. Although the British ships had been damaged heavily in the exchange, Barclay fully expected Perry to lead his ships away in retreat. Instead, Perry ordered his fleet to attack.


As Perry’s guns raked the flagships Detroit and HMS Queen Charlotte at “half pistol shot distance apart,” as the captain’s log reported, the two ships became entangled and were unable to respond. Under a ceaseless barrage of cannon fire, Barclay finally surrendered at 3 p.m. Perry not only avenged his friend’s death, but he also secured the U.S. northern border and made it possible for U.S. forces to capture Detroit.


Great Britain never before had lost an entire fleet in battle, much less to an upstart former colony. Barclay was returned to England and summarily court-martialed, while Perry’s victory galvanized the American public for a century afterward. For the young U.S. Navy, he truly embodied its unofficial motto non sibi sed patriae — “Not self but country.”
MO


— Mark Cantrell is a freelance writer based in North Carolina. His last feature article for Military Officer was “Simulating Disaster,” August 2013.


108 MILITARY OFFICER SEPTEMBER 2013

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