American Minute with Bill Federer
Capt. James Lawrence "Don't Give Up the Ship!" & Captain Oliver Hazard Perry "We have met the enemy, and they are ours!"
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Among the many
U.S. Navy and Marine
heroes confronting Tripoli's Muslim Barbary pirates was
Captain James Lawrence.
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In 1804,
Captain Lawrence
was second-in-command, under Lieutenant Stephen Decatur, of an expedition to destroy the captured 36-gun frigate
USS Philadelphia
held in Tripoli's harbor.
It had run aground on an uncharted sandbar. Muslim pirates captured it and were preparing to use it for piracy.
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James Lawrence
also commanded the
USS Enterprise
which fought battles with the Tripolitan Corsairs along the coast of North Africa.
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Victory over the Tripoli's Barbary pirates is memorialized in the Marine Anthem: "From the Halls of Montezuma to the
Shores of Tripoli."
Later, during the War of 1812,
Captain James Lawrence
commanded the
USS Hornet.
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He won fame by capturing the British packet brig
Resolution,
which was carrying $20,000 in gold and silver.
Captain Lawrence
and the
USS Hornet
then captured the British privateer
HMS Dolphin,
blockaded the British sloop
HMS Bonne Citoyenne
at Bahia, Brazil, and sank the British
HMS Peacock.
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President James Madison
wrote May 25, 1813:
"The brilliant achievements of our infant Navy, a signal triumph has been gained by
Captain Lawrence
... in the
Hornet
sloop of war ...
The contest in which the United States are engaged appeals ... to the
sacred obligation of transmitting...to future generations
that ... which is held...by the present from the
goodness of Divine Providence."
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On June 1, 1813, 31-year-old
Captain James Lawrence
sailed his 38-gun frigate
USS Chesapeake
out of Boston's Harbor.
His ship was suddenly attacked by the British ship
HMS Shannon.
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For over an hour, the 38-gun
USS Chesapeake
fired away, hitting the
Shannon
158 times, but the
Shannon
hit the
Chesapeake
362 times, killing nearly every American officer.
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As
Captain James Lawrence
lay fatally wounded on the deck of the
Chesapeake,
he gave the command
"Don't Give Up The Ship!"
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So inspiring was the courage of
Captain James Lawrence
that
Captain Oliver Hazard Perry
named his flagship the
USS Lawrence.
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A little over three months later,
Captain Perry
defeated the British squadron on Lake Erie, September 10, 1813.
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Theodore Roosevelt
wrote in
Hero Tales from American History,
1895:
"Lawrence,
dying with the words on his lips,
'Don't give up the ship'
and
Perry
... with the same words blazoned on his banner ... won glory in desperate conflicts and left a reputation hardly dimmed."
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The background of
Perry's battle
begins with
British Admiral Horatio Nelson
defeat of
Napoleon's combined French and Spanish fleet
at the
Battle of Trafalgar,
October 21, 1805.
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On reason for the victory was the speed of the British ships, aided by their hulls being caulked with
tar
from
Pitch Lake
on the
Island of Trinidad.
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The
world's largest natural asphalt lake,
it was first discovered by
Sir Walter Raleigh
in 1595 in his search for
El Dorado - the City of Gold.
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Britain now had the undisputed
most powerful navy in the world.
Britain began to intercept American ships headed to French ports.
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They seized their goods and
impressed thousands of American sailors into the British navy.
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The British Government, as during the Revolutionary War, again
supplied weapons to Indians
and i
ncited them to terrorize and attack
American frontier settlements.
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In alliance with the British,
Shawnee Chief Tecumseh
approached many tribes across a thousand mile frontier in an attempt to form a confederation.
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In the
Shawnee language,
the name
"Tecumseh"
means
"shooting star."
The appearance of the
Great Comet of 1811,
which reached its brightest in October.
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This was followed by the
New Madrid Earthquakes,
December 16, 1811 to February 7, 1812, which was the greatest earthquake recorded in North America.
It was felt hundreds of miles away, and even
temporarily reversed the flow of the Mississippi River.
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The fear associated with these events contributed to
Tecumseh
raising nearly
5,000 warriors
under his direction.
Some were
Shawnee,
who had been forced from the east and resettled in northwestern Ohio and Northeastern Indiana; and
Lenape
who had resettled in south-central Indiana.
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Others were from:
- Miami in central Indiana;
- Pottawatomie in northern Indiana and Michigan;
- Wea, Kickapoo and Piankeshaw in western Indiana and eastern Illinois;
- Sauk in northern Illinois;
- Iroquois in Canada;
- Chickamauga; Ojibway; Mascouten; Wyandot; Fox; Winnebago; Ottowa; Mingo; Seneca; and Red Stick Creek in Alabama.
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On July 17, 1812
British and Native American tribes
captured
Fort Mackinac.
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On August 15, 1812,
Pottawatomie
attacked
Fort Dearborn,
massacring
38 American soldiers, 2 women, 12 children, and took 41 prisoners.
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The
British with Native American allies
threatened or captured American forts:
- Fort Osage;
- Fort Madison;
- Fort Shelby;
- Rock Island Rapids;
- Credit Island;
- Fort Johnson;
- Fort Cap au Gris; and
- won the Battle of the Sink Hole.
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700 British regulars and Canadian militia
joined
Tecumseh's warriors
in the capture of
Fort Detroit,
forcing 2,500 Americans to surrender August 16, 1812.
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With a rumor British would
pay in gold for American scalps,
over
500 Americans were massacred
by the
Red Stick Creeks
in
Fort Mims,
Alabama, August 30, 1813.
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In September of 1813, with
war hindering supply lines
to British Fort Malden in Amherstburg, Ontario, the
British
attempted to send supplies on a
squadron of six ships across Lake Erie.
The British squadron
was commanded by the one-armed
Commodore Robert Barclay
who had his arm blown off fighting
Napoleon's French fleet.
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The United States had
28-year-old Captain Oliver Hazard Perry
launch ships into
Lake Eire
at
Put-in-Bay, Ohio,
to block the British.
Most of
Perry's crew
were
free Blacks from Ohio.
Built in shipyards along the Erie Canal,
Perry's ships,
called the
Fleet of the Wilderness,
were caulked with lead.
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September 9, 1813, was recommended by
President James Madison
as
a day of Public Humiliation and Prayer:
"Whereas in
times of public calamity
such as that of the war brought on the
United States by the injustice of a foreign government
it is especially becoming that the hearts of all should be touched with the same and
the eyes of all be turned to that Almighty Power
in whose hand are the welfare and the destiny of nations:
I do therefore ... recommending to all who shall be piously disposed to unite their hearts and voices in addressing at one and the same time their
vows and adorations to the Great Parent and Sovereign of the Universe
that they assemble on the SECOND THURSDAY OF SEPTEMBER next in their respective religious congregations ..."
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President Madison
continued:
"He has blessed the
United States
with a
political Constitution
rounded on t
he will and authority of the whole people
and
guaranteeing to each individual security,
not only of
his person
and
his property,
but of those
sacred rights of conscience
so essential to his present happiness and so dear to his future hopes ...
with ... supplications to the same
Almighty Power
that He would look down with compassion on our infirmities;
that He would
pardon our manifold transgressions
and awaken and strengthen in all the wholesome purposes of
repentance and amendment;
that in this season of trial and calamity He would ... inspire all citizens with a love of their country ...
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... that as He was graciously pleased heretofore to smile on
our struggles against the attempts of the Government of the (British) Empire ...
so He would now be pleased ... to bestow
His blessing on our arms in resisting the hostile
and persevering efforts of the same power
to degrade us on the ocean."
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The day after Madison's Day of Prayer,
Captain Oliver Hazard Perry
confronted the British squadron on September 10, 1813.
Strong winds prevented
Perry
from getting into a safe position.
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Long-range British cannons
splintered to pieces
Perry's flagship,
the
USS Lawrence,
killing many of his crew.
Faithful to his battle flag,
"DON'T GIVE UP THE SHIP,"
Perry
and his men did not give up.
They courageously rowed a half mile through heavy gunfire to the
USS Niagara.
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The wind suddenly changed directions and
Perry
sailed broadside
directly across the British line,
firing every cannon continuously.
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After 15 minutes, the smoke cleared to reveal that
all of Barclay's ships had been disabled.
This was
the first time
in history that
an entire British naval squadron
had been
disabled at one time.
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To the sailors on deck
Captain Perry
remarked:
"The prayers of my wife are answered."
That same day,
Captain Oliver Hazard Perry
sent a dispatch to
U.S. Major General William Henry Harrison:
"Dear Gen'l, WE HAVE MET THE ENEMY, AND THEY ARE OURS,
two ships, two brigs, one schooner and one sloop. Yours with great respect and esteem.
H. Perry."
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Captain Oliver Hazard Perry
wrote to the Secretary of the Navy:
"It has
pleased the Almighty
to give the arms of the
United States
a signal
victory over their enemies on this lake.
The British squadron,
consisting of two ships, two brigs, one schooner, and one sloop have this moment
surrendered
to the force of my command
after a sharp conflict."
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President James Madison
stated in his 5th Annual Message, December 7, 1813:
"It has
pleased the Almighty
to bless our arms ...
On
Lake Erie,
the squadron under the command of
Captain Perry
having
met the British squadron of superior force,
a sanguinary (bloody) conflict ended in the
capture of the whole."
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As a result of
Perry's victory,
the British abandoned
Fort Malden.
Major General William Henry Harrison
was then able to
recapture Fort Detroit
and
defeat
the
British
and their
Indian ally Shawnee Chief Tecumseh
at the
Battle of the Thames,
October 5, 1813.
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This was decisive in securing for the United States
the Northwest Territory,
from which eventually six states were formed.
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Captain Oliver Hazard Perry
died AUGUST 23, 1819, being hailed as a national hero for victorious role in the War of 1812.
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Schedule Bill Federer for informative interviews & captivating PowerPoint presentations: 314-502-8924
wjfederer@gmail.com
American Minute is a registered trademark of William J. Federer. Permission is granted to forward, reprint, or duplicate, with acknowledgment.
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