It was at 10.15 A.M. that everything was put in order for the battle, but because the wind was light no less than an hour and a half was passed in reaching the enemy. Indeed, even when 11.45 A.M. had come, the flag-ships were still a mile apart, while the little gun-boats at the tail of the American fleet had lagged far behind. A mile was a long range for even the long guns of that day, but the mental strain of the prolonged wait had proved too much for British impatience. A bugle rang with the thrilling signal to begin action, a single long gun on the Detroit’s deck belched flame and smoke, and a round black ball came skipping over the smooth water toward the Yankees. The battle was on! Hearty cheers came with the boom of that gun.
The Battle of Lake Erie.
From an old engraving.
One must needs hear the thin quaver of “Vive le” this and “Vive le” that, of some Latin race to fully appreciate the power of an Anglo-Saxon cheer. It is significant of the power of the dominant race. But this was a family feud—it was Anglo-Saxon against Anglo-Saxon, and Perry’s men heard the bold shout with smiles.
A moment later another ball, better aimed, crashed through the bulwarks of the Yankee flagship and some of the landsmen shivered. But Perry, tall, broad-shouldered, clear-eyed, faced them from the quarter deck and said “Steady boys, steady!”
And that was enough. Not a man flinched—not one man flinched on the deck of the Lawrence thereafter. Barclay was anxious to fight at long range, of course, but Perry was for a contest yard-arm to yard-arm. For ten minutes he held on his course without replying, but Stephen Champlin, who commanded the little Scorpion, was eager, and so let drive the first gun from the American side. As it happened, he also fired the last shot of the battle. At 11.35 A.M. the Lawrence was near enough to the Detroit to satisfy Perry, who opened fire with the long twelve on the bow; the Caledonia, that was astern of him, followed, while the Niagara, next in line, began to fire the long twelve also, though it was at very long range. Meantime the Scorpion and Ariel were doing their best, of course. The squadrons became fogged in with smoke—a smoke bank in which the darting flashes of the guns tore long rifts, and which the variable breeze swayed hither and yon as it swelled on the air.
First View of Perry’s Victory.
From an engraving of a drawing by Corné.