Ohio History Journal

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THE BATTLE OF LAKE ERIE IN BALLAD AND HISTORY

THE BATTLE OF LAKE ERIE IN BALLAD AND HISTORY.

 

 

BY CHARLES B. GALBREATH.

 

Perry's victory on Lake Erie stands out pre-eminent among

the naval exploits of the War of 1812. And this is true, not

only by virtue of the comparative importance of the battle and

its results, but because it combined in an unusual degree the

elements of intrepidity, patriotic fervor and personal valor that

captivate the imagination, live in legend and story and song,

and make up what we are pleased to style the poetry of war.

In spite of Cooper's criticism of the young commander, and the

contention of Roosevelt that the battle was not a remarkable

achievement-that greater things had been accomplished by

McDonough on Lake Champlain, the commanding figure of

Perry, as he passes from the shattered Lawrence to the Niagara

in a frail boat through a storm of bullets and grape-shot, stands

forth undimmed and undiminished in its original luster and

heroic proportions. The premonitory silence of the approaching

fleets; the daring advance of the commander's ship; the roar

of cannon and the fierce onslaught of the encircling line of the

enemy; the shattered hull, the splintered masts and the reeking

deck of the Lawrence, where valor strove desperately to keep

aloft the stars and stripes and the banner inscribed, "Don't give

up the ship;" the reckless bravery of Perry as he bore the latter

from his flag-ship and raised it over the Niagara; the striking

of the colors of the Lawrence; the fierce renewal of the combat;

victory snatched from the jaws of defeat; the thunders of float-

ing armaments forever silenced on our northern "inland seas!"

In the short space of a few hours we have here, on the roman-

tic waters of the West, in action and fortune, an event dramatic

and kaleidoscopic, that lives in ballad and history, and sheds

luster on the "men behind the guns," the young commander, and

the young republic.

The battle of Lake Erie is doubtless destined to more

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