vessels and “impressing”-involuntarily drafting-American seamen into Royal Navy service. Engaged in a titanic struggle with Napoléon Bonaparte’s France and in need of both ships and sailors, London had begun seizing U.S. sovereignty at sea that most aroused American indignation and patriotic fury. The United States went to war with Britain in 1812 for several reasons, among them London’s increasingly restrictive trade policies and its support of Indian attacks on American settlers on the nation’s Western frontiers. fleet had literally been fashioned directly from the forest. The real miracle of the American victory on that remote body of water was that just months earlier the ships of Perry’s flotilla had been nothing more than standing trees. Navy’s victory in what came to be known as the Battle of Lake Erie resulted from Perry’s leadership and his sailors’ skills, it would not have been possible without the efforts of men more accustomed to working with broadaxes and mallets than muskets and cannon. The tiny flotilla-led by Master Commandant Oliver Hazard Perry, already a seasoned mariner at 28-would that day celebrate one of the few clear-cut American triumphs of the War of 1812. The American ships were an impressive sight as they emerged north past Rattlesnake Island and moved into Lake Erie waters, now gilded by a rising sun. Before the officer could ask for details, the lookout again shouted, “Sail, ho! Sail, ho! Six sail in sight, sir!” There was no doubt-it was the British squadron commanded by Captain Robert Heriot Barclay, a veteran of Trafalgar. “Off Rattlesnake Island!” came the swift reply. “Where away?” asked the officer of the deck. ‘The real miracle of the American victory on that remote body of water was that just months earlier the ships of Perry’s flotilla had been nothing more than standing trees’īut where was the Royal Navy squadron? The lookout thought he saw a shape in the distance. The Americans had been playing a deadly game of hide and seek with their British enemy, and most were eager for action. Navy squadron anchored at Put-in-Bay, Ohio. 10, 1813, and Lawrence was the flagship of a nine-vessel U.S. He was stationed at the masthead, and from his high perch could see the great blue expanse of Lake Erie stretching east to the horizon. The lookout aboard the brig USS Lawrence peered into the distance, looking for signs of the enemy in the pale light of dawn. Oliver Hazard Perry and the Frontier Fleet Close
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