Background
Oliver Hazard Perry was born in South Kingston, Rhode Island, on August 20, 1785.
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Oliver Hazard Perry was born in South Kingston, Rhode Island, on August 20, 1785.
He received his elementary education in South Kingston.
In 1799 he served as midshipman with his father, Capt. Christopher Raymond Perry, in the West Indies during the quasi-war with France. He also served in the Mediterranean during the Tripolitan War, performing creditably.
Perry was in command of a flotilla at Newport, Va. , when war broke out in 1812, but he was given command of American naval forces on Lake Erie in March 1813. Perry built a small fleet under conditions of extreme difficulty. By August he had 10 ships, the brigs Lawrence and Niagara being the largest. Perry could not get his largest ships across the Erie bar in the presence of the enemy fleet led by Comm. Robert H. Barclay until the latter relaxed his blockade for unknown reasons.
Barclay finished a large new ship, the Detroit. Desperately short of supplies, he challenged the Americans. The fleets met on Sept. 10, 1813. The Americans had superior firepower, but there was little difference in manpower. At 10 A. M. the Lawrence was cleared for action and hoisted its battleflag, "Don't give up the ship. " Action lasted from 11:45 A. M. until 3:00 P. M. After all the Lawrence 's guns were disabled, Perry rowed to the Niagara. Fifteen minutes after the Niagara moved into the heavy action, the British fleet surrendered. American casualties numbered 27 killed and 96 wounded, and British losses were 41 killed, 94 wounded. Perry dashed off his famous dispatch following the victory, "We have met the enemy and they are ours. "
The victory was of major significance, for America now controlled Lake Erie until the war ended. Also, Gen. William Henry Harrison was enabled to capture much of Upper Canada, and the American peace negotiators were able to assert American claims to the Northwest.
Perry was promoted to captain in September 1813 and shortly thereafter received the thanks of Congress. Following the war he served in the Mediterranean. He died of yellow fever on Aug. 23, 1819, after completing a diplomatic mission to Venezuela and Buenos Aires. His body was interred at Port of Spain, Trinidad.
Many locations, both in Rhode Island and near Lake Erie, are named in his honor, including:
All of the ten Perry counties in the U. S. ;
Perryville and Perry County, Missouri;
The hamlet of Perrysburg and the surrounding township; and the Village of Perry, New York and the surrounding township;
The city of Perry, Georgia;
All of the ten Perry counties in the U. S. ;
Perryville and Perry County, Missouri;
The hamlet of Perrysburg and the surrounding township; and the Village of Perry, New York and the surrounding township;
The city of Perry, Georgia;
The borough of Perryopolis and Oliver Township, within Perry County, and Oliver Township and Perry Township in Jefferson County, Pennsylvania;
The village of Perryville in the town of South Kingstown, Rhode Island. The portion of U. S. Route 1 near Perryville is named the Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry Highway and Perry Street in Newport;
The City of Hazard in Perry County, Kentucky;
Perry County, Tennessee;
Perry Street, New York.
The national monument commemorating Perry is the Perry's Victory and International Peace Memorial at Put-In-Bay, Ohio. Its 352 ft (107 m) tower, the world's most massive Doric column, was constructed by a multi-state commission between 1912 and 1915.
Other monuments include:
Memorial plaque, Trinity Episcopal Church, Newport, Rhode Island, dedicated by Perry's widow on August 23, 1855, the 36th anniversary of his death.
Perry Monument, Public Square, Cleveland, Ohio, monument and statue by William Walcutt, dedicated on September 10, 1860, the 47th anniversary of the Battle of Lake Erie. Walcutt's marble statue was replaced with a bronze copy in 1929. The monument was relocated to Fort Huntington Park in 1991.
Oliver Hazard Perry by William Greene Turner, Eisenhower Park, Newport, Rhode Island, dedicated September 10, 1885, the 72nd anniversary of the Battle of Lake Erie.
Oliver Hazard Perry by Charles Henry Niehaus, Front Park, Buffalo, New York, dedicated on September 25, 1916.
Perry Monument, Perry Square, Erie, Pennsylvania, designed by Paul Philippe Cret, 1925, features a bronze copy after William Greene Turner's 1885 statue.
Oliver Hazard Perry Memorial Gateway, Port-of-Spain, Trinidad, dedicated April 1925. Captain Henry E. Lackey, the United States Navy representative at the dedication, arrived aboard the newly commissioned light cruiser USS Memphis (CL-13).
Perry Monument at Misery Bay, Presque Isle State Park, Erie, Pennsylvania, dedicated in 1926.
Oliver Hazard Perry (bronze copy after William Walcutt), Rhode Island State House, Providence, Rhode Island, dedicated in 1928.
Perry Monument, Perrysburg, Ohio, dedicated in 1997, features a bronze copy after William Walcutt's 1860 statue.
The reverse of the 2013 "Perry's Victory" quarter shows William Walcutt's statue of Perry (1860) with the Perry's Victory and International Peace Memorial in the distance.
The family farm in South Kingstown, where Perry was probably born and later built a house, was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1982.
The City of Perrysburg in the State of Ohio is named after Commodore Oliver Perry.
Commodore Perry has been repeatedly honored with ships bearing his name.
(Excerpt from A Review of a Pamphlet Purporting to Be Docu...)
Quotations:
"We have met the enemy and they are ours. "
"Of Captain Elliot, already so well known to the government, it would be almost superfluous to speak; in this action, he evinced his characteristic bravery and judgment; and, since the close of the action, has given me the most able and essential assistance. "
"We have met the enemy and have asked them over later for drinks and dancing. "
Quotes from others about the person
"The personal conduct of Perry throughout the 10th of September was perfect. His keenly sensitive nature never interfered with his sweetness of manner, his fortitude, the soundness of his judgment, the promptitude of his decision. In a state of impassioned activity, his plans were wisely framed, were instantly modified as circumstances changed, and were executed with entire coolness and self-possession. The mastery of the lakes, the recovery of Detroit and the far West, the capture of the British army in the peninsula of Upper Canada, were the immediate fruits of his success. The imagination of the American people was taken captive by the singular incidents of a battle in which everything seemed to have flowed from the personal prowess of one man; and wherever he came the multitude went out to bid him welcome. "
George Bancroft, in "Oliver Hazard Perry and the Battle of Lake Erie" published in Battle of Lake Erie (1854) edited by Usher Parsons, p. 123
"He absolutely refused to admit, much less accept, defeat when he was literally beaten on Lake Erie. He was that rara avis in our history, the true hero-patriot. "
Richard Dillon, in We Have Met the Enemy (1978)
"Against a tenacious enemy, this young commodore bequeathed a legacy of combat leadership to future generations of naval officers. "
David Curtis Skaggs and Gerald T. Altoff, in A Signal Victory (1997)
"Nothing could intimidate, nothing dishearten, Perry. Depending on the native energies of his mind he was prepared for those difficulties, and he was also prepared to resist them. "
Sailing Master William V. Taylor, of the Lawrence, as quoted in Oliver Hazard Perry : Honor, Courage, and Patriotism in the early U. S. Navy (2006) by David Curtis Skaggs, p. 63
On May 5, 1811, he married Elizabeth Champlin Mason of Newport, Rhode Island, whom he had met at a dance in 1807. hey enjoyed an extended honeymoon touring New England. The couple would eventually have five children, with one dying in infancy.
He was an officer in the United States Navy who was appointed Chief Justice of the Court of Common Pleas for Washington County, Rhode Island in 1780 and served until 1791.
He was a Commodore of the United States Navy and commanded a number of ships.
