VIII.—Oliver Perry Builds a Fleet.
In February, 1813, Lieutenant Perry was ordered to go to Lake Erie. He was to take with him, from his gunboats, the men whom he thought best fitted for the service and report to Commodore Chauncey, who was in command of the squadron on Lake Ontario. The American headquarters, on that lake, were at Sacketts Harbor.
It was almost impossible to reach the place. From the Hudson River to the shores of Lake Ontario, was a vast wilderness. No road had been cut through it; none but Indians could follow the difficult trails.
The only route known to the white men was along the Mohawk River to Lake Oneida, then by the Oswego River to the little village of Oswego on Lake Ontario. To transport men and arms along this route was a great task, requiring much time, skill, and patience.
Oliver Perry was a man of action. On the very day that he received his orders, he started fifty men to Lake Ontario, and the next day fifty more.
On February 22d, in the coldest part of winter, he left his home and his young wife in Newport, and with his brother Alexander, began the difficult journey towards the north.
Sometimes they traveled in rude sleighs over the roughest of roads. Sometimes, when the river was not too full of ice, they embarked in canoes. At other times, they could only go on foot through the thick underbrush. On all sides was a vast wilderness, inhabited only by wild beasts and unfriendly Indians.
At Oswego, they embarked in boats and followed the shore of Lake Ontario to Sacketts Harbor. On one side of them was the dreary inland sea full of tossing white caps and overhung by the leaden sky of winter. On the other side lay the trackless forest.
To relieve their loneliness, they occasionally fired a musket. The echoes would roll along the shore, growing fainter and fainter. This only made the silence which followed seem greater than before.
A cold rain began to fall, and by the time they reached Sacketts Harbor they were drenched to the skin.
On March 16th, Lieutenant Perry set out for Lake Erie. Upon reaching the harbor at Erie he found that twenty-five ship carpenters had already begun work on three gunboats and two brigs. Fifty more carpenters had started four weeks before from Philadelphia, but had not yet arrived.
The task which lay before Oliver Perry seemed almost an impossible one. Mechanics, seamen, guns, sailcloth,—everything needed for the ships must be brought hundreds of miles through a wild and half-settled country.
But by the end of the summer, a fleet, which seemed to have been built by magic, was ready to meet the English. Six months before, the timbers used in building the vessels had been growing trees; the iron that held these timbers together was either in the mines or in warehouses or farmers' barns, in the shape of plowshares, axes, or horseshoes.
The shipbuilders had come through the wilderness from Philadelphia. The guns, ammunition, and rigging had been brought in ox-wagons, hundreds of miles over almost impassable roads.
While Perry was building this fleet, a sad event had taken place on the sea. The British frigate Shannon met and captured the American frigate Chesapeake, June 1, 1813, near Boston harbor.
CAPTAIN JAMES LAWRENCE.
Captain Lawrence of the Chesapeake fought bravely, but, in the battle, was mortally wounded. As he was being carried below, his last words were: "Don't give up the ship!"
The Secretary of the Navy sent word to Lieutenant Perry to name one of the vessels of his new fleet the Lawrence, after this gallant captain. Lieutenant Perry therefore gave this name to his flagship.
By the 10th of July the fleet was ready for sea, but there were only officers and men enough to man one ship. Several of these were ill with fever.
Lieutenant Perry wrote many letters to General Harrison, Commodore Chauncey, and the Secretary of the Navy.
"Give me men, and I will acquire both for you and for myself honor and glory on this lake, or die in the attempt," he said.
By the end of July he had over four hundred men for his nine vessels. But, as he said, they were a "motley crew" of regular soldiers, negroes, and raw recruits. During the battle which followed, over a hundred of these men were too sick to be of any use.
The English fleet of six vessels was commanded by Captain Barclay. In his crews were over five hundred men and boys.