Page:Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography (1900, volume 4).djvu/781

At the age of eleven he was confirmed in the Protestant Episcopal church. In 1797 he re- moved with his father to Warren. R. I., where the latter supervised the building of the frigate " Gen- eral Greene." and Oliver received his commission as midshipman. 7 April, 17!)!). He cruised in the West Indies, visiting also Louisiana, and in the " Adams," " Constellation," " Constitution," and " Essex " served twice in the Tripolitan war. He was made a lieutenant, 15 Jan., 1807, and, after building a fleet of gun-boats, commanded the schooner " Revenge," cruising off the southern coast of the United States. He was honorably ac- quitted by a court of inquiry that was summoned to examine into the loss of the " Revenge " by wreck ofE Watch Hill, R. I., 8 Jan., 1811. In command of the Newport flotilla of gun-boats, in waiting for tlie war of 1812, he gave prolonged and detailed study to the science and art of gun- nery and naval tactics. When the French engi- neer Toussard, at the request of Gen. Washing- ton, wrote, and in 1809 published, his " Artiller- ist," the name of Oliver Hazard Perry was among the first on the list of subscribers. When the war with England began thei-e was probably no better ordnance otficer in the American navy, and in the training of his crews he was unwearied in personal attention to details. By assembling his gun-boats occasionally, he gained actual knowl- edge of the evolutions of a fleet. He also prac- tised sham battles by dividing his force into two nominally hostile squadrons, and thus acquired facility in manoeuvring several vessels, and a knowledge of how and when to take advantage of critical moments and situations. He applied re- peatedly for a sea command, but being disap- pointed in obtaining either the " Argus " or the " Hornet," he tendered his services to Com. Isaac Chauncey on the lakes, at whose request he was ordered to Lake Erie. Within twenty-four hours after receipt of orders, on 17 Feb. he had sent off a detachment of fifty men, and on the 22d he set out with his younger brothei", Alexander. Travelling chiefly in sleighs, he reached Erie on 27 March. There he found Noah Brown, shipwright, and Sailing-Master Dobbins, awaiting the arrival of fifty carpentei's from Philadelphia, who were more than five weeks in making the wintry jour- ney. From the virgin forest the squadron was to be built, but the keels of two twenty-gun brigs and three gun-boats had already been laid. Incredible toil and protracted attention to details, in a coun- try little better than a wilderness, enabled Perry to collect a force of nine vessels of 1,671 tons, with 54 guns capable of throwing a broadside of 936 pounds of metal, of which 288 pounds could be fired at long range. In his squadron, only the " Lawrence " and " Niagara," of 500 tons burden, could be considered men-of-war. These carried each 20 guns, 2 being long twelve-pounders, and 18 of them thirty-two-pounder carronades. The other vessels were of slight construction, without bulwarks, but were armed with heavy long guns, which constituted their excellence. The long- range guns were the chief dependence of the Americans, as their carronades were useless ex- cept at very short range. These fired a scattering charge at a low velocity, but with frightful effect at a few rods' distance, and could be worked by small squads rapidly. In the " yard-arm engage- ments" of the British these weapons had been very effective since their invention in 1769. They took their name from the Carron iron-works in Scotland. To make his carronade fire most effect- ive, Perry relied not only on grape and canister shot, but on the favorite American ammunition, langrage. This dismantling shot was made out of scraps of iron sewed up in leather bags. En- couraging apparent prodigality at the anvils, though real economy in fixed ammunition, a large quantity of bits of bolts, bars, hoops, chisel-cut- tings, and splinters were collected and made into cari-onade cartridges. As the aim of the naval artillerist of to-day is to pierce the boiler or dis- able the rudder, so in the days of sailing-shi{)s the pui'pose was to cut away masts, sails, and rigging, converting the enemy's ship into a helpless hulk. In addition to numerical superiority in ships and weight of m.etai thrown, the Americans were des- tined to have the advantages of wind and the smooth water, which enabled the small vessels to lie off safely at long range and damage the enemy. Perry's force in men consisted of about 500 lands- men and sailors, many of whom had never seen salt water. These were, after five months' con- stant drilling, changed into good artillerists. On the British side, Capt. Robert Ileriot Barclay, sur- mounting almost equal difficulty, dismantling the fort at Amherstburg to equip his largest ship, final- ly succeeded in collecting a squadron of six vessels of 1,460 tons, manned by nearly 500 men. His cannon were 63 in number, nine more than the American, but most of his metal was carronade, his total broadside was but 459 pounds, and of this only 195 pounds could be fired at long range. In long-gun metal the Americans excelled the Brit- ish three to two, in carronades two to one, in ships three to two. Perry moved out from Put-in bay on the morning of 10 Sept., 1813, with all his squadron, including the " Lawrence," " Niagara," " Caledo- nia," " Scorpion," " Porcupine," " Tigress," " Ariel," " Soraers," and " Trippe," to meet the British force, consisting of the " Chippewa," " Detroit," " Hunt- er," " Queen Charlotte." " Lady Prevost," and "Little Belt." Barclay, one of Nelson's vetei'ans, though "confronted by famine and Indian treachery," ex- pected easy victory. As the fleets approached each other at about eleven o'clock, the bugle sounded from the flag-ship, the men of the whole British line gave three cheers, and the long guns of the De- troit" opened on the "Lawrence " at the distance of a mile and a half. By noon the battle began in earnest, in the form of a duel, the heaviest ves- sel in each fleet confronting the other. Being able to employ at once a heavier battery in a smaller space, Barclay had at first a manifest advantage. With more enthusiasm than science, the gunnei-s of the "Lawrence," depending too much on their carronades, fired too fast, and, overshotling their stumpy guns, were unable seriously to harm the " Detroit," though pitting and denting her sides. The " Lawrence." on the contrary, was reduced by the steady British fire to a hulk. After two hours only one gun was left mounted, the cockpit was crowded with wounded, and only eighteen un- harmed men. including commander and surgeon, were left on board. ^Meanwhile the most effective gunnery on the American side had been done by the heavy cannon of the " Caledonia." " Scorpion," and " Ariel," which had nobly assisted Perry, while the " Niagara," for some reason, had remained in the rear, and the more distant vessels were able to do little to prevent what seemed an imminent Brit- ish victory. At this moment, with the audacity of genius. Perry called four sailors to man the boat, and with his brother Alexander, the flag of the " Lawrence " wrapped round his arm, he left his ship. At first shielded by the battle smoke, and then safely escaping the volley of the enemy, he reached, after a fifteen minutes' pull, the " Niaga-