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The man who was to lead the
Lake Erie fleet to victory during the War of 1812 was born on August 23, 1785
at South Kingstown, near the village of Wakefield, Rhode Island. The eldest
of five sons and three daughters born to Christopher Raymond and Sarah
Alexander Perry, the first son was named after his paternal grandmother's
father, Oliver Hazard, and also for his uncle, Oliver Hazard Perry, who had
recently been lost at sea.
At age 13 the strong-willed and quick-tempered youth decided on a naval
career. In the days before the naval academy a young officer aspirant was
required to obtain a midshipman's warrant from the Secretary of the Navy, and
such an appointment was rendered much easier if the candidate possessed
influence. During the early months of 1799 the U.S. Frigate General Greene
was in the process of fitting out for service against France following the
"X,Y,Z affair," and her captain, Christopher Perry, recommended his
son for one of the coveted midshipman appointments.
Oliver Hazard Perry was warranted a midshipman in the U.S. Navy on April 7,
1799. Over the next six years he participated in the Quasi-War with France
and the Tripolitan War against the Barbary pirates. During that period Perry
served on such famous ships as the Adams, Constellation, Nautilus, Essex, and
Constitution, but he was not involved in any of the memorable engagements of
those little known wars. After an extended leave in 1806-07, Perry
superintended construction of a flotilla of small gunboats in Rhode Island
and Connecticut, a duty he considered tedious, until in April, 1809 he
received his first seagoing command, the 14-gun schooner Revenge.
Perry's vaunted good luck deserted him when he assumed command of the
Revenge. Initially everything progressed well. During the summer and winter
of 1809 the Revenge patrolled northern waters as part of a squadron under
Commodore John Rodgers. Then in the spring of 1810 Perry's ship was ordered
to the Washington Navy Yard for repairs preparatory to an assignment in
southern waters. But in June, 1810, while enroute to Charleston, South
Carolina, the Revenge lost several spars and suffered considerable damage
after battling a severe storm. To make matters worse, Perry was plagued by
illness. His fragile constitution was unable to tolerate the extreme heat and
humidity of a southern summer, forcing him to request a transfer on July 21,
1810. Perry's unhappy tenure on the Revenge abruptly ended on January 8,
1811. In the process of conducting a survey of several harbors along the
southern New England coast, the Revenge was sailing through the western
reaches of Block Island Sound in heavy fog when the unlucky schooner struck a
reef near Watch Hill Point and went down. The obligatory court-martial
exonerated Perry, blaming the vessel's loss on the hapless pilot, who had
assured Perry he would have no trouble navigating the sound.
After the court-martial Perry enjoyed an extended leave of absence. On May 5,
1811 he married twenty year old Elizabeth Champlin Mason at Newport, Rhode
Island. The dashing young naval officer first encountered his future bride at
a dance four years earlier. The newlyweds enjoyed an extended honeymoon,
leisurely touring the New England states. Eventually the union, always
described as a happy one, would produce five children, one of whom died in
infancy.
Perry remained an unemployed officer until May of 1812 when the threat of war
spurred the eager lieutenant to seek employment. When war with Great Britain
was declared on June 18, 1812, Perry was assigned to command a squadron on
tiny gunboats at Newport. Dissatisfied with what he considered an
insignificant appointment, Perry petitioned the Navy Department for a posting
at sea. Over the next few months, while his friends gained glory on sleek
vessels like the Constitution, United States, and Hornet, Perry felt that he
was unfairly being left to rot in a backwater of the war, even though he
received a promotion to master commandant on October 6, 1812. Several
unsuccessful pleas to the naval hierarchy finally prompted the disheartened
Perry to initiate last resort measures to gain an important command. Not
particularly desirous of serving on the Great Lakes, much preferring a
sloop-of-war on the high seas, Perry nevertheless petitioned his old friend
Isaac Chauncey, who then commanded naval operations on the lakes. Perry's
timing was fortuitous since Chauncey was much in need of an experienced
officer for the flotilla then under construction on Lake Erie.
On February 8, 1813 Perry received Navy Department orders to report to Isaac
Chauncey on the lakes. His subsequent success, both with constructing the
fleet and winning the battle, have immortalized Oliver Hazard Perry in
American naval history as the hero of Lake Erie. Shortly after the battle and
the subsequent victory of William Henry Harrison's army at the Thames River,
where Perry served as a volunteer aid to Harrison, the commodore requested a
transfer back to Rhode Island. In November, 1813 Perry resumed duties with
the gunboat flotilla at Newport; however, his promotion to captain, dated
September 10, 1813, and his elevated status with the Navy Department and the
country, assured that it would be a temporary assignment. In July, 1814 Perry
was offered a posting commensurate with his new rank, command of the Java, a
new 44-gun frigate under construction in Baltimore. While engaged in fitting
out the Java, Perry participated in the defense of both Washington and
Baltimore during the late summer British invasion of the Chesapeake Bay
region. Ironically these land engagements would be Perry's swan song, peace
was declared before the new captain could get his ship to sea.
For Perry the post war years were marred by controversy. The Java cruised to
the Mediterranean in 1815 to help quell continuing problems with the Barbary
pirates. While anchored in Naples, an unseemly incident induced Perry to slap
the Java's Marine officer, John Heath. Perry and Heath were both
court-martialed and found guilty, but they received only mild reprimands.
After the Java returned to home waters matters were further complicated when
Heath challenged Perry to a duel. The duel was fought on October 19, 1817 on
the same field where Aaron Burr killed Alexander Hamilton. The Marine fired
first from four paces and missed; honor was satisfied when Perry refused to
pull the trigger.
It was during this same period that Perry found himself entangled once again
with his old nemesis from Lake Erie - Jesse Duncan Elliott. Perry's return
from the Mediterranean prompted an exchange of acrimonious letters, after
which Elliott challenged Perry to a duel. Perry declined, honor
notwithstanding, and instead he decided to once and for all lay this
repugnant business to rest by filing formal court-martial charges against
Elliott. Specifications filed by Perry against Elliott included, "Conduct
unbecoming an officer," "manifesting disregard for the honor of the
American flag," and failure to "do his utmost to take or destroy
the vessel of the enemy which it was his duty to encounter."
The Secretary of the Navy was dismayed by Perry's charges. Both officers had
well-placed connections, and the secretary was all too aware of the scandal
that would ensue, not to mention the divisiveness in the officer ranks
engendered by a lengthy, sordid court-martial. Rather than make a decision
the secretary abdicated responsibility and passed on the charges and relevant
material directly to President James Monroe. Monroe, desiring to defuse the
quarrel and unwilling to expose the Navy or the country to what he envisioned
would be a deleterious encounter for all concerned, opted to suppress the
whole matter. Thus ended the final opportunity to unearth the circumstances
surrounding the Perry-Elliott controversy.
To placate and distract his impetuous young hero, Monroe selected Perry to
preside over an important diplomatic mission to South America. Perry sailed
on board the U.S. Frigate John Adams in June, 1819, arriving off the mouth of
the Orinoco River on July 15. From there he transferred his flag to the USS
Nonsuch. The Nonsuch would carry Perry up the Orinoco to Angostura, the
capital of Venezuela, where yellow fever was said to be a problem,
The Nonsuch arrived at Angostura on July 27. Perry maintained quarters ashore
during the next two-and-a-half weeks, and while the commodore managed to
maintain his own health, twenty Nonsuch crewmen attracted yellow fever, five
of whom died. With his mission success-fully completed Perry rejoined the
Nonsuch, confident that he had escaped the fever and anxious for a quick
passage back to the fresh breezes at Port of Spain, Trinidad. On the evening
of Sunday, August 15 the schooner catted its anchor and rapidly floated
downstream on the Orinoco's current. However, Perry was not to escape. Two
days later he woke abruptly at 4:00 a.m. with chills and a fever. Always susceptible
to illness, Perry's condition rapidly deteriorated. The crew of the Nonsuch
frantically pushed themselves and their vessel in an effort to reach Port of
Spain, but their efforts fell short by only a few miles. At 3:00 p.m. on
Monday, August 23, 1819 - on his 34th birthday - Oliver Hazard Perry died
from yellow fever.
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