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.