72 Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.
vindication of national honor and the
only certain protection of
vital interests is in respecting the
nationality of others and in
trusting for justice to the growing
conscience of the race codified
in international law and expressing
itself through international
arbitration.
On that, as on a sure foundation, rests
the hope of the
world's peace. Once men dreamed of peace
through the world
sovereignty of some master mind like
Alexander or some ruling
race like the Romans. But that dream of
peace, the peace not of
free men but of weaklings and slaves,
was doomed forever when
Napoleon and his army staggered back
through the snows of
Russia under the curse of God.
But a new day has dawned, dawned for the
statesmen,
dawned for the nations. It is the day of
national rights and
national responsibilities. The two
nations of America have seen
the coming of that day, have seen it
through these generations
of peace, have seen it and are glad. We
of to-day, standing on
this historic boundary line, a boundary
no longer of separation,
but of union, are pledged, we and our
nations with us, pledged
to preach this gospel of freedom,
good-will and peace. This is
America's vision; this America's
message; this America's obliga-
tion to all the world.
ADDRESS OF HON. WALLING.
Hon. Emory A. Walling, presiding judge
of Erie County,
Pa., spoke as follows:
The only excuse that I have for now
coming before you is
that my home is in Erie, Pennsylvania, a
place so linked with
the great national event, the
anniversary of which we are here
celebrating, that as one of her citizens
I would be less than an
American if I shrank from the
performance of any duty to
which I might be here called by your
committee.
The end of the year 1812 found the war
going on with
the great territory of Michigan in full
possession of the enemy,
who to extend the invasion into Ohio and
possibly Pennsylvania,
must have control of Lake Erie and so
must we to drive the
enemy out of Michigan and carry the war
into Canada. This
lake was the key to the situation. The
British saw it and pres-
The Centennial of Perry's Victory. 73
ently had a war fleet upon the lake. We must meet them there. We, too, must have a fleet. There was but one safe place to build it, and that was Presque Isle Bay at Erie, being then and still the finest natural harbor on the great lakes; land locked and protected by the peninsula which extends nearly three miles outward from the main shore line of the lake; and the only entrance to the bay |
|
being then too shallow for the enemy's largest gunboats, and also to some extent protected by fortifications. The guns on the enemy's boats then only had an effective range of about one mile. So our harbor was the place to construct the fleet. Fortunately in that crisis, Captain Daniel Dobbins, the ablest navigator on the lakes, lived at Erie, and he went to Wash- ington and laid before the president and the secretary of the navy the facts with such force that Presque Isle Bay was chosen as the place to build the fleet and he was made sailing |
74 Ohio
Arch. and Hist. Society
Publications.
master in charge of the work. So when
Commodore Perry, who
at his own request had been assigned to
duty on this lake, came
to Erie, March 27, 1813, he found that
American patriotism had
preceded him and that some of the
intended war boats were
already on the stocks. The best
protection to a free country is
not great navies nor standing armies,
but the courage and patriot-
ism of a loyal people. Nevertheless,
even in this twentieth cen-
tury if we wish abiding peace we must be
wise enough to desire
it and strong enough to maintain it.
Under the inspiring presence of Perry,
that fleet arose as
if by magic. The forests, where is now
the heart of our city,
were converted into war ships almost in
a night. The songs
of the birds were lost in the crashing
of trees felled along the
shore. Men came from far and near to
join in the work. House
carpenters became ship carpenters. Even
those long days of the
early summer were too short for the work
that must be done,
and the music of axe and mallet, of
hammer and saw was heard
far into the night.
Supplies and munitions of war were
secured at Buffalo,
Pittsburg, Philadelphia and
elsewhere. Even powder was
brought six hundred miles in the Old
Dupont Powder Wagon
from Wilmington, Delaware, and much of
the way was little
better than an Indian trail.
With boundless enthusiasm Perry was
everywhere. And
in three and one-half months from the
day he landed in Erie,
an American fleet of nine vessels was
floating in our harbor
fully completed and equipped for
service. That fleet cost eight
thousand dollars, some of which was
advanced by a patriotic
citizen whose descendants still live in
our city. That was before
grafters were born.
Then came the most herculean task of
all-to get officers
and sailors to man the fleet. Here Perry
succeeded by efforts
almost superhuman. Some came as raw
volunteers, some from
Commodore Chauncey, some from General
Mead, some from
places far away and before the battle
some from General Har-
rison. At last the fleet was manned, and
early August, the
heavier ships being lightened and
floated over the bar, sailed out
to meet the enemy.
The Centennial of Perry's Victory. 75
That was a perilous summer. Oft did the
enemy's ships
sail by close to our shore. The danger
of an attempt to enter
the harbor, or of an attack by a force
landed nearby was ever
present. We had there a few soldiers and
every citizen was a
minute man ready to respond at the call
of the village bell.
Our people stood along the shore to
watch the fleet as it
sailed away. Their hearts and prayers
went with it. Aye, their
fathers, their brothers, their sons went
forth in that fleet to join
with Perry in the struggle for the
mastery of the lakes.
But that was not a local campaign. For
on those ships
were men from all or nearly all the
states, including some col-
ored men, and this is no local
celebration. Perry did not belong
to any one state, but to the country, to
humanity and to the ages.
And what a broad, splendid spirit our
Canadian brothers
show to join with us here today in
making this an international
jubilee.
Perry came to Put-in-Bay somewhat
because of the harbor
and to be near the land forces of
General Harrison, and also
because he was in quest of the enemy,
who were then at this
end of the lake. He did not have long to
wait, for there was
never a time on sea or land when the
Briton was not ready for
a square open fight.
It must have been an inspiring sight, on
the morning of
September 10th, when the British with a
favorable breeze came
down the lake in battle line, and Perry
rising from a sick bed,
went forth to meet the enemy. Well
matched in numbers and
equipment, it was Anglo Saxon meeting
Anglo Saxon, on equal
terms, in deadly strife. All realized
that the day of battle had
come. Our men were served an early
dinner. Our decks were
dampened and sprinkled with sand. All
knew they would soon
be wet with blood.
The British having longer carrying guns,
sought to fight at
a distance. The Americans with shorter,
heavier guns, sought
to come to close range. At a quarter of
twelve, all the enemy's
bands struck up "Rule
Brittania," and the battle was on, our
flagship Lawrence leading the attack.
And against it the enemy
concentrated its fire of shot and shell,
until it was literally a
floating bloody hulk. On it the carnage
was terrible. Of its
76 Ohio
Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.
one hundred and three men not twenty
were left able to stand.
Perry with his own hands fired the last
shot from her deck.
That was the psychological moment, which
changed the history
of North America.
A mile away was the twin ship 'Niagara'
yet unscathed.
Then came the strangest sight ever
recorded in the annals of
naval warfare. The American commander,
still unhurt, though
thought dead, pulled down the pennant
which had been given
him by an Erie lady, and on which were
the immortal words of
Lawrence, 'Don't give up the ship.' And
with a few companions
entered the only row boat still attached
to the Lawrence and
headed for the Niagara. Never since
Washington crossed the
Delaware had the life of one man been of
such controlling im-
portance to the country, and never was a
life in greater peril.
The British commander, twice wounded,
but still confident
of victory, from the deck of his
battered flagship, saw the sig-
nificant move and at once turned the
guns of his fleet upon the
little boat as it swiftly cut the waves,
and for fifteen minutes it
went literally through a baptism of
cannon shot, grape shot,
canister and musket balls. The boat was
hit, the oars splintered,
the water dashed in foam around them,
but not a man was
touched.
Perry hastily re-arranged his line of
battle and amidst
deafening cheers that pennant rose
again. At that moment a
fresh breeze came as from Heaven and
drove the old Niagara
right through the enemy's lines, and
with broadsides to right
and left, midst blinding smoke,
shattered the opposing ships, two
of which had become fouled in an effort
to resist the onslaught,
so that in less than fifteen minutes
every opposing flag went
down. The first and only time that a
British squadron ever
surrendered. And from then until now no
nation has ever raised
a hostile flag upon the Great Lakes.
Then Perry took his pencil and with his
cap as a rest, wrote
that famous message to General Harrison:
"'We have met the enemy and they
are ours. Two ships,
two brigs, one schooner and one sloop.'
The forest fleet had done its work, and
shortly the Law-
rence, the Niagara and other ships were
returned to Erie. And
The Centennial of Perry's
Victory. 77
their commander came back to us in his
little boat, the 'Arial,'
and it was the proudest hour in Erie's
history when Commodore
Perry sailed back into our harbor with
his flag of victory waving
in the bright autumn sky. Do you wonder
that the tenth of
September has, for a hundred years, been
a great holiday in all
parts of the country?
Do you wonder that this great succession
of centennial
events began at Erie where for a week we
revelled in gala attire
and had such a celebration as we never
knew before? Do you
wonder that the great commonwealth of
Pennsylvania reached
down with arms of love and from the
bottom of Lake Erie,
where she rested for five and ninety
years, lifted up and rebuilt
the old Niagara so that during this glad
year hundreds of
thousands might reverently tread upon
her deck as upon con-
secrated ground?
Do you wonder that as Pennsylvanians we
come here in-
spired by what our ancestors have done,
and eager to join with
you in an eternal pledge of fidelity to
the future, so 'that these
dead shall not have died in vain?'
After the battle, General Harrison
marched forward, drove
the enemy back to Canada, destroyed its
Indian allies, regained
possession of all that had been lost,
and again the banner of the
stars was raised over the Great American
Northwest, where it
has floated in peace for a hundred
years. In fact, Harrison's
campaign was so brilliant as to make him
a popular idol and
twenty-seven years later, the slogan of
'Tippecanoe and Tyler
too' swept the country, and in our
greatest political campaign,
landed the old general in the White
House.
That war showed the world, what it did
not know before,
that Americans could fight upon the
water. After what Perry
did on Lake Erie, what McDonough did on
Lake Champlain,
what Decatur, Hull, Bainbridge, Lawrence
and others did upon
the sea, it took no black lettered
treaty to defend the rights of
our sailors. And, sir, for a hundred
years the best protection
any American has had is the flag of his
country.
Considering what he had to do with, what
he had to con-
tend against and what he accomplished,
Commodore Perry's
victory is not surpassed in the annals
of modern warfare. But
78 Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.
he was also great as a man. And, my
friends, the century of
peace must be the highest feeling in all
our hearts, and it is
fitting that it be here celebrated. For
it began just a hundred
years ago this afternoon out yonder on
the battered and bloody
hulk of the old Lawrence when Commodore
Perry accepted the
surrender of the British officers with
such genuine kindness as
to make them forget the bitterness of
defeat. It began when
he secured a parole for Commodore
Barclay and returned the
crippled and wounded hero to home and
country. It began right
here on this island when, after the
battle, the Britons and Amer-
icans mingled their tears together at
the common open graves
of their dead, who here were buried side
by side.
Let us hope that such peace between the
two great English
speaking nations will forever remain
unbroken, and that it may
tend to lead all other nations up to
that final era of peace on
earth and good will to men. Such era
will dawn when all men
the world around can look into one
another's faces and know
and feel that they are brothers.
Other addresses were made by Governor R.
B. Burchard of
Rhode Island and Rev. A. J. Carey of
Chicago.
The exercises on Put-in-Bay were
followed by a banquet
at the Hotel Breakers on Cedar Point,
Sandusky. This
banquet was announced as "in
connection with the national and
inter-state observance of the one
hundredth anniversary of the
battle of Lake Erie and of General
William Henry Harrison's
northwestern campaign in the War of 1812 and to
commemorate
the century of peace between English
speaking peoples which
will conclude December 24, 1914.
Toastmaster Clarke introduced the
exercises by reading the
following communication from President
Wilson:
"It is a matter of deep regret with
me that my duties here
render it impossible for me to be
present and share in the notable
celebration of the victory at
Put-in-Bay. I am kept away by
the thought that no man can truly praise
those who did their
duty by neglecting his own.
"I need not attempt to characterize
the great service of the
"I need not attempt to characterize
the great service of the
72 Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.
vindication of national honor and the
only certain protection of
vital interests is in respecting the
nationality of others and in
trusting for justice to the growing
conscience of the race codified
in international law and expressing
itself through international
arbitration.
On that, as on a sure foundation, rests
the hope of the
world's peace. Once men dreamed of peace
through the world
sovereignty of some master mind like
Alexander or some ruling
race like the Romans. But that dream of
peace, the peace not of
free men but of weaklings and slaves,
was doomed forever when
Napoleon and his army staggered back
through the snows of
Russia under the curse of God.
But a new day has dawned, dawned for the
statesmen,
dawned for the nations. It is the day of
national rights and
national responsibilities. The two
nations of America have seen
the coming of that day, have seen it
through these generations
of peace, have seen it and are glad. We
of to-day, standing on
this historic boundary line, a boundary
no longer of separation,
but of union, are pledged, we and our
nations with us, pledged
to preach this gospel of freedom,
good-will and peace. This is
America's vision; this America's
message; this America's obliga-
tion to all the world.
ADDRESS OF HON. WALLING.
Hon. Emory A. Walling, presiding judge
of Erie County,
Pa., spoke as follows:
The only excuse that I have for now
coming before you is
that my home is in Erie, Pennsylvania, a
place so linked with
the great national event, the
anniversary of which we are here
celebrating, that as one of her citizens
I would be less than an
American if I shrank from the
performance of any duty to
which I might be here called by your
committee.
The end of the year 1812 found the war
going on with
the great territory of Michigan in full
possession of the enemy,
who to extend the invasion into Ohio and
possibly Pennsylvania,
must have control of Lake Erie and so
must we to drive the
enemy out of Michigan and carry the war
into Canada. This
lake was the key to the situation. The
British saw it and pres-