Mystery of the Deep

Last year, on a beautiful Sunday morning in September, about a hundred history lovers headed out of Put-in-Bay harbor aboard the U.S. Coast Guard Ice Breaker Tug Katmai Bay. Our mission was to put a specially designated buoy at the site where the Battle of Lake Erie took place 199 years prior.  We used the logs and scholarly assessments of historians and archeologists to determine the nearly exact location for the buoy. That spot is now charted and published on the official 2013 Coast Guard charts of Lake Erie. (41-44-50.00 N, 083-02-00.00 W)

But another site, a sacred and forgotten one, not far from where the battle played out 200 years ago remains a mystery. The watery burial site of the men who sailed aboard both the American and British vessels September 10^th 1813 that lost their lives defending liberty and their country’s honor.

The custom of the day was to place the deceased sailors in their webbed hammock or an old sail loaded down with cannon shot. Bound tightly they were lowered over the side and ceremonially  “interred “ in Davy Jones locker. Resting together in an unmarked grave, the men drifted along the bottom, eventually being covered by mud and decomposing algae.

In the years that followed, some random reports later surfaced from Pelee, Marblehead and Cleveland noting that some or (maybe just one) British sailor had washed ashore. According to recorded accounts, the British had not followed such a strict process for sending off their dead perhaps leading to these sightings. Perry had insisted that the 6 officers, 3 British and 3 American, aboard that day be brought into Put-in-Bay and buried in a more traditional style near the present day cannon ball memorial in what would be come DeRivera Park.

No additional substantiated reports of bodies washing ashore from their lake grave were reported again for the next hundred years. In 1913 as part of the Centennial celebration the Brig Niagara was raised from its scuttled grave in Erie, reconstructed and towed to the site of the battle for a solemn remembrance of the lost sailors. In recent years this moving ceremony had been carried out with a wreath laying ceremony on, or around September 10^th.

As we know sometimes nature and time have a way of reminding us of what history books have forgotten or left unwritten. A few years back as this summer’s bicentennial approached we started to wonder where the exact whereabouts of those brave and fallen sailors and soldiers might be. Was it possible after such a long time had passed that we might find their actual grave and honor them in a known and marked grave designation?

NOAA reported that on March 8^th, “The remains of two unknown USS Monitor sailors, recovered by NOAA and the U.S. Navy in 2002 from the ship’s gun turret, were buried, with full military honors, at Arlington National Cemetery. USS Monitor sank in a New Year’s Eve storm just over 150 years ago, carrying 16 crew members to their deaths.”

This report gave us a glimmer of hope. If these men’s remains could be found and partially identified maybe there was a chance that further research and surveys of the western basin of Lake Erie might yield a similar discovery.

Twenty years ago an island diver had privately identified the spot of the Battle of Lake Erie and dove repeatedly on the site bringing up artifacts and cannon shot which was turned over to the then Superintendent of Perry’s Victory. Unfortunately that diver today is in poor health and no specifics of his dive location were recorded.

According to Jim Wilson of Bay Area Divers (BAD) Tom Kowalczk got a grant through the Ohio Historical society to cover some of expenses that he incurred while running many hours of side scan sonar over the area where we think the battle took place.  Tom is part of the CLUE group that had discovered the Anthony Wayne and a few other important shipwrecks that have been featured in the Cleveland Plain Dealer.

Unfortunately, Tom’s efforts only yielded some ordinance from Camp Perry’s yearly target practice into Lake Erie. So we pursued the US Navy, Naval History and Heritage Command (NHHC). After a flurry of emails and a six-month effort we connected with Dr. Bob Neyland, Head of the Underwater Archeology Branch of NHHC. While he and several experts attached to the NHHC showed a flicker of interest in finding this site the “final” word on this matter came from Dr J.B. Thomas, Assistant Director of the Naval History and Heritage Command, “the US Navy regards burial at sea as an honorable form of interment, the [current known} site serves as a military grave site and should be afforded the utmost respect and honor by remaining undisturbed”.

I am certain that it is only a matter of time, now that the battle site is properly marked, that a fisherman or diver will find that sacred spot again. Meanwhile, ‘Dont give up the ship’.

***Please join us, The Perry Group, The National Park Service and Sandusky Maritime Museum June 15^th 10am at the Shelby Street boat basin in Sandusky for the culmination of a year of historic wooden boat building to christen the newly completed Commodore Perry’s longboat.

 

Know Change

Perry’s 1814 Congressional Gold Medal Coin

“Know Change” is one of those kitschy phrases that has made its way into our current inspirational dialog. But you can truly make change happen on Saturday April 20^th amid fanfare, interested onlookers and a gaggle of numismatists. Commodore Perry will begin a new voyage through the purses, banks, pants pockets, and cash registers of America as the newest US quarter.

This was not the first time Perry’s likeness has graced a coin. In 1814 the US Congress minted a special gold coin medal with Perry’s likeness for his bravery and courage under fire in the Battle of Lake Erie. On the backside it said “Viam Invenit Virtus Aut Facit”, Valor finds a way.

Interestingly, the congress also created one for Jesse Elliot, who was the Captain of the Niagara as the battle began to unfold the morning of Sept 10th. Elliot is often left out of the discussion about the Battle of Lake Erie. There are virtually no towns or counties named after him. No stamps or Marble statues, or 350 ft high memorials. His story remains clouded in controversy on that important and fateful day.

The issuing of those coins in 1814 fanned a growing controversy between Perry and Elliot that emerged after the Battle was over. What we know is that in March of 1813, due to timing, Perry out ranked Elliot when Perry was given the commission to build the fleet in Erie. (They had both received recent promotions.) Both were decorated leaders on the rise among commissioned officers. Perry did an admirable job getting the fleet built a head of schedule, though he had ruffled some feathers in the process up the command chain.

As day broke on September 10^th Perry was heading out to complete a task never done successfully before, to defeat the British Navy. Not just a single vessel, but an entire fleet. This was a heavy load on the shoulders of a young commandant. Perry issued his orders to the fleet. Stay in line, don’t overtake the ship in front of you, and don’t fire until you are with in range. Perry led the fleet aboard the Lawrence into Battle.

Shortly after the battle was over in a letter to his wife William Taylor, Perry’s Sailing master wrote “The Lawrence alone rec’d the fire of the whole British squadron 2 1/2 hours within pistol shot—we were not supported as we ought to have been. Captain Perry led the Lawrence into action & sustained the most destructive fire with the most gallant spirit perhaps that was ever witnessed under similar circumstances”.

 

With the Lawrence in tatters, Perry boarded the longboat we see in so many depictions and headed to the Niagara, which had lain back during the initial fight. As Perry assumed command aboard Niagara, Perry historian Gerald Altoff noted “The meeting between Elliott and Perry on the deck of Niagara was terse. Elliott inquired how the day was going. Perry replied, “Badly.” Elliot then volunteered to take Perry’s small boat and rally the schooners, and Perry acquiesced.^”  Perry then ordered Niagara into the battle.

Jesse Elliot’s response to history’s criticism of his inaction, according to Naval History Magazine, was that there had been a lack of effective signaling. Court martial charges were filed but were not officially acted upon.

According to author David Curtis Skaggs, “friends and supporters mounted a campaign that attempted to restore Jesse Elliot’s honor. They embarked on a 30-year campaign that would outlive both Elliot and Perry and ultimately leave Elliot’s reputation in tatters.”

In the final tally, Elliot challenged Perry to a duel, though Perry refused to engage. Perry wrote a letter of commendation for Elliot that praised his valor. Still the smoldering fire of controversy continued. Finally Elliot  requested a court martial hearing.  He was found “not guilty”.

Today Oliver Hazard Perry’s courage and unconventional approach to the Battle is heralded and unchallenged. Perry remains a hero, he defended Elliot’s honor and ultimately was promoted to Commodore. There is “no change” in Perry’s place in history; we are privileged to share in the honor of his actions with this new coin. The US Mint quarter honors both Perry and the memorial, which was built to remember all who gave their lives to ultimately promote a new era of peace. The quarter release event starts at 11:30am at Perry’s Victory and International Peace Memorial upper plaza. What a wonderful way to “change” history and be a part of the bicentennial celebration.

Freeman, sailor, soldier Charles Smothers

Tony Burroughs-Genealogist

Author and War of 1812 historian Gerald Altoff wrote an insightful book several years ago (still available on Amazon.com) entitled “Oliver Hazard Perry and Battle of Lake Erie”. His companion book “Amongst My Best Men”, took a more in depth look at African Americans in the War of 1812. Part of this later work focused on the African American sailors who were a part of Oliver Hazard Perry’s crew during the Battle of Lake Erie.

 
According to Altoff’s book many of the northern states stipulated “that each and every free able bodied white male, citizen of the respective states, resident there in, who is or shall be the age of eighteen … shall be enrolled in the militia.” While many of these states did not strictly forbid the enrollment of African Americans, they were not encouraged either. Ironically, the territory of Michigan and southern states like Virginia enlisted free men of color. In fact Louisiana had a long and proud tradition of black fighting men.

 
These free men enlisted in militia and rifle units that served honorably and bravely in many of the engagements of the War of 1812. It was no surprise that some of these men, probably 10-15 percent would become sailors, transferred by General Harrison and Commodore Chauncey to be crew aboard Oliver Hazard Perry’s ships.

 
So a few months back I got a call from internationally acclaimed and published genealogist Tony Burroughs of Chicago. Tony has quite a resume and has researched genealogy for notable African Americans like Oprah Winfrey, Al Sharpton and Olympic gold medalist Michael Johnson.

 

 

Mr. Burroughs was researching the story of freeman and war of 1812 sailor Charles Smothers. It turns out that Tony Burroughs is a seventh generation descendent of Charles Smothers who Tony believed served in the Battle of Lake Erie under Perry. This is not an easy thing to prove since men like Charles Smothers were often left out or given limited documentation in the records kept during this time period.

 
Mr. Burroughs shared with me his research on his great-great-great-great grandfather. “Charles Smothers was born in 1784 in Henry County, Virginia. He was a farmer and migrated from Virginia to Davidson County Tennessee, near Nashville, sometime prior to 1813 when he enlisted in the military. Smothers enlisted in the Regular Army in March of 1813. He was assigned to the 24th U.S. Infantry [and] was transferred from his army regiment to the Lake Erie fleet on August 28, 1813.”

 
Following these leads Tony Burroughs needed to find records that acknowledged his ancestor’s service. He found one of those on the Battle of Lake Erie website (www.battleoflakeerie-bicentennial.com) that lists all the men who participated in the Battle of Lake Erie according to the purser’s records.

 

 

Mr. Burroughs’s had corroborated this fact about Smother’s by examining the official Prize List compiled by Purser Samuel Hambleton (Commodore Perry’s Purser) which was published in The American State Papers in 1814. Tony found that Hambleton’s official Prize List indicated that Smothers “may” have served aboard the “Schooner Scorpion.”

 
However Tony found that Charles Smothers had stated in his application for “Bounty Land” that he served on board the “Flagship Niagara.” This contradicted the pursers report and meant that further research was needed.

 

It was a common practice of the era for Veterans of the War of 1812 to earn “Bounty Land” as a bonus for their service. Mr. Burroughs had found documentation that Charles Smothers made a successful application for the Bounty Land and a warrant was awarded him based on his service in the War of 1812.

 

 

Mr. Burroughs’s research also revealed that Charles Smothers continued to serve with the Regular Army but was transferred to a unit called the “First Rifles” company led by Captain Edward Wadsworth, December 13, 1813. Charles was honorably discharged on June 3, 1815 in Buffalo, New York. Instead of returning to Tennessee, he decided to settle in Fayette County, Pennsylvania. There he married a white woman named Ruth and they had several children. Two sons served in the Civil War in the Massachusetts 54th Volunteer Infantry. One of them is named Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry Smothers.

 
Mr. Burroughs research was painstaking and still drives him on to find that last piece of written evidence that places Smothers aboard the Flagship Niagara. But the story of Charles Smothers, African American War of 1812 Sailor is now documented. If genealogy is your passion and if you think you might have an ancestor that was aboard one of the US Navy’s ships during the Battle of Lake Erie take the time to check out the celebration website (www.battleoflakeerie-bicentennial.com). Perhaps you will be inspired to sign up to be that person during the reenactment September 2nd.

Boat Show Buzz

One day last fall I got a call from Ken Alvey from the Lake Erie Maritime Trade Association (LEMTA) located in Westlake, Ohio. LEMTA puts on about eight boat shows annually through out the region. Ken said they would like to “help” us and have the Battle of Lake Erie be a feature of the Cleveland Boat Show.

I figured that he meant something in their boat show guide or perhaps a small booth where we could handout information. So we went up to Westlake and met and soon realized he wanted us to “go big”. By the time it was all sorted out we had a giant 40x 60 “Pavilion” in the middle of the show and a feature in the Progressive Mid-Atlantic Boat Show magazine published by Great Lakes Publishing.

Flash forward to January 15th, one day before the show. When I arrive with a van full of boxes, and the almost finished Longboat, there in the middle of the IX center was the biggest patch of bare concrete I had ever seen. It was more real estate than my first house had. There were two risers, a folding table with some skirting to be installed later. That was it. Needless to say I was a little bit overwhelmed.

Twenty-four hours later, and with a whole lot of “Imagineering” we transformed the space into a beautiful Battle of Lake Erie pavilion. I have to say it was just short of a miracle. But with the assistance of the National Park Service, generous donations of help from LEMTA, a 15×50 banner donated by HART Advertising and Cannons, did I mention the cannons from Gillmor Ordnance; we created a beautiful space that soon became the center of attention.

We had people in costume, period music by Tom Kastle and Hoolie and several amazing talks by Captain Wes Heerssen of the Niagara and author Craig Heimbuch. But the longboat and the cannons were like nectar to a bee. Folks just kept coming by and admiring the boat, touching the cannons and posing with our re-enactors.

The volunteers were giving away posters, bumper stickers and brochures as fast as they could, people just kept coming. Five days can seem like a lifetime, but from the moment the doors to the IX Center opened we never stopped greeting and entertaining. On Saturday the number of people through our booth not only reminded us that we had a hit on our hands, but also proof that sincere interest in being a part of a once in a lifetime event was being manifested.

When you step back and look at where we have come in 100 years since Perry’s Monument corner stone was laid, you see that the United States, Canada, Great Britain and the First Nations have worked through many awkward and difficult understandings to get to where are today.

But, save for that day in 1813 this entire discussion would be moot and so would the notion that we could be celebrating two hundred years of peace. The US Navy would have not seen the moral boosting early success they needed, the west would have been settled much more slowly, and the border with Canada might very well have been militarized. Thankfully today we enjoy an open border, a meaningful discourse with the First Nation and two solid allies in Canada and Great Britain.

As we approach this summer’s event, it is clear that many, many people want to participate in the Bicentennial. They will be coming to Put-in-Bay, Amherstburg, Pelee Island, Kelley’s Island, Middle Bass Island, Port Clinton, Kingsville, Leamington and Catawba Island in greater numbers than we have seen in years, perhaps ever. So make your plans now, because the Boat Show Buzz is on and spreading. Next stop the Detroit Boat Show February 16-24th.

The Curious Case of Hezekiah Gear

This past year has brought me some very unusual stories about the Battle of Lake Erie Bicentennial from even stranger sources. Such is the case of one Hezekiah H. Gear, a very successful lead mine entrepreneur from Galena Illinois. Last fall when a group of visiting Road Scholars (formerly Elder Hostile) was in town bird watching, I was talking to one of the scholars. This fellow told me that they had recently been on a trip to Galena Illinois and seen “Commodore Perry’s Battle Flag” from the Battle of Lake Erie on display at the Galena-Jo Daviess Historical Society & Museum.

 
First you might wonder like I did, “Where the heck is Galena?” Well Galena is in the most northwestern part of Illinois just a few miles east of the Mississippi River and just south of the state of Wisconsin. It was barely an encampment on the river at the time of the Battle of Lake Erie. It later became a town of some prominence on the shoulders of the many lead veins that were discovered and subsequently mined in the surrounding area in the mid to late 1820’s. Today It is a beautiful serene “New Englandesque” town and certainly worth visiting (www.visitgalena.org).
Our part of the story centers round Hezekiah H. Gear, oldest of 8 children born in Connecticut in 1791. The version that has been told about young Hezekiah is that he enlisted into the Massachusetts Militia at about the age of 19 or 20 for a very short stint that may have included being in or assigned to the US Navy. We have no documentation that Gear was ever aboard the Lawrence or any of the ships used in the Battle of Lake Erie. Not in the Captain or pursers log or even in any historical retellings of that fateful day. But like many stories from this period in history it has been retold and perhaps embellished over time.

 
By many “post war” published accounts I received from the Galena-Jo Davies Historical Society, Hezekiah was aboard the Brig Lawrence with Commodore Perry during the Battle of Lake Erie. As the ship and crew became overwhelmed by enemy fire, most of the crew dead or mortally injured, Commodore Perry prepared to move his command to the Niagara. Just as he was about to depart, young Hezekiah bravely turned back to fetch the captain’s “ensign”. In this case a hand-sewn American flag with fourteen (and later seventeen) randomly placed stars and nine red and white stripes. Often this type of “Captain’s” burgee or ensign was flown on board when the commanding officer was present and had great sentimental value for its owner.

 
According to an account in the Galena Museum about the flag, written by Curator Daryl Watson, Gear was a hero. He wrote, “Amid a hail of enemy fire, he frantically climbed the rigging and snatched the flag. Dropping back to the deck, he raced to Perry’s side, where the young Captain wrapped the tattered cloth over his arm as the abandoned ship”.

 

Supposedly, soon after the battle, safe on the shores of Put-in-Bay Commodore Perry presented the tattered flag to Hezekiah for his bravery. Some accounts have this actually taking place years later and not by Perry at all. Never the less, he kept the cherished flag in his personal affects and the legend of the flag traveled with Gear.

 
Young Hezekiah Gear went west 1827 after the war filing a claim for land that might be mined for lead. Both the Native Americans and the US Government disputed the land’s ownership. Both believed it was theirs through a treaty. After much court wrangling and even a short stint in jail Gear prevailed and was awarded clear title. The land was very fruitful and Gear became “one of Galena’s most prosperous and philanthropic citizens. He became an Illinois State Senator and commander of the Illinois “Young America” Militia.

 
Today the ensign remains on display at Galena-Jo Daviess Historical Society Museum, though its provenance is now unclear. It has traveled to other museums at times as part of War of 1812 exhibit adding to its lore. The real story of the flag remains a bit murky but the story provides a “great and glorious” picture of the times. What we know for certain is that Gear spent a very short time in the Massachusetts Militia, though in 1871 he was declared eligible for a pension. Before he died in 1877 Hezekiah transferred ownership of the flag to the Customs House near Galena under the watchful eye of the “Young America” and “Wide Awake” guards. In a short address to “Young America” Hezekiah Gear kept the legend of the flag aloft evoking Perry’s bravery in his address “long may it wave over your heads and may the same Almighty Being that shielded the brave Perry and gave him victory in defense of your country and your countries cause”. He closed his speech with those immortal words “we have met the enemy and they are ours.” As Napoleon Bonaparte once said “history is written by the victors”.

 

Gifts of the Season ( of Whale boats & rowing races)

In September of 1910 the “Interstate Board of The Perry’s Victory Centennial Commissioners” was organized to create a permanent tribute to Commodore Perry and enable a “worthy celebration” of the 100th anniversary of the Battle of Lake Erie, and of course do it in grand style. From Milwaukee to Buffalo over a dozen Port cites and ten states planned events and then participated in the Battle of Lake Erie Centennial Celebration.

 
Here in Put-in-Bay, the Commissioners embarked on an ambitious summer schedule of activities that commenced on July 4th with the laying of the Monument corner stone, and concluded with the a seven course dinner at the Cedar Point Ballroom that featured “sweet breads”, Tutti-Frutti ice cream, cigars and fine brandy.

 
In the months leading up to the Centennial celebration, not only did the Commissioners get the completion financing they needed from the Federal Government (with the help of the Taft administration) for the building of the monument, but they also located and restored the Brig Niagara that was slowly falling to pieces in its shallow muddy grave in the Presque Isle harbor. These two projects alone would have been quite an accomplishment, but for the Centennial Commissioners 1913 required an exceptional effort suitable for acknowledging a “Century of Peace” with Great Britain and Canada.

 
So over the summer of 1913, the never-ending celebration commenced. It included a “Centennial Regatta” (under the auspices of the ILYA) that featured sailing and powerboat regattas and an appearance by the yacht “Pricilla”. There were aviation events, swimming competitions and canoe races with trophies and ribbons galore!
But I have to say I was totally unaware of the fact that Put-in-Bay hosted the championship rowing races including the “Commodore Perry Cup” until an alert reader, Paul Polk from Virginia, emailed me. He wrote to ask for help on learning more about the story behind the black and white photograph he has of his grandfather holding a trophy for a rowing championship in his Naval Militia Uniform. He was told that his grand father had been on the team from North Carolina that had come to “Put-in Island” for these rowing championships.

 
Like manna from heaven, out of the blue, this story was truly a gift for the season. As we continue to build our replica pulling boat used by Perry, light dawned on my “marble head”. The Centennial was THE perfect place for this championship. If there was ever an event that celebrated Perry’s “moment” as he moved from the Lawrence to the Niagara, this was it.
I had to know more. I was able to download a copy of the “Official Souvenir Program of the Perry’s Victory Centennial” from the Library of Congress and there it was, on page 74, event 45 of August 28th 1913, “The Commodore Perry Cup”. The US Naval Militia Championship for the 6 Oar Rowing Competition with “individual trophies for each member of the crew of seven and a ‘Championship Flag’ to the winning whale boat”.
So Paul has emailed me again that he has the trophy and is getting it cleaned up. He is hoping that there might be a chance to come next summer and see the bicentennial re-dux of the “Six oared whaleboat race for the Naval Militia US Championship” also known as the “Commodore Perry Cup”. And so do I. It would be wonderful to invite rowing teams from across the region, heck from across the country to come back to Put-in-Bay. We are well on our way to having a boat to race, now all we need is a race to enter and a crew.
You can help us as we head towards the summer of 2013. This holiday season give the gift of the Battle of Lake Erie Bicentennial. Contribute to our Perry’s Longboat project, or buy a flare for the 2013 Harbor Illumination (www.theperrygroup.org). We need you on our team to win this race.

“No time to rest”

By the end of November 1812, as the war with the British staggered on, our 4th US president, James Madison, had been re-elected. The American fleet and our militia had suffered numerous defeats to British and Canadian forces. To make matters worse several strategic ports in South Carolina and Georgia were being successfully blockaded by the British Fleet. By December of 1812 Madison’s Secretary of War, William Eustis, was forced to resign in disgrace.

Oliver Hazard Perry was still on a leave of absence after being exonerated in his 1811 court martial case for the sinking of the USS Revenge. According to Wikipedia “On May 5, 1811, he [Perry] married Elizabeth Mason of Newport, Rhode Island, whom he had met at a dance in 1807. They enjoyed an extended honeymoon touring New England.”

I am certain that news of the various American Fleet setbacks reached very patriotic Perry and motivated him to finally end his extended honeymoon and ask for a return to active duty. In March of 1813 Perry was given his new command and he was sent to Presque Isle to build a fleet to challenge the British control of Lake Erie. And as we know that important decision changed the course of US history. The summer of 2012 was the start of a three-year observance of the War of 1812 and especially the Battle of Lake Erie. For us this was a chance to create a buzz for things to come.

Here in Put-in-Bay our summer of 2012 was one of great hope and success. The National Park Service staff got things rolling here on the island in June with the “Declaration of War” observance. Shortly after that the Perry Group got underway with building Commodore Perry’s iconic “Long Boat”. The longboat, which is now fully planked, is slowly working it’s way through the final stages of its’ completion.

On August 30th beautiful weather made the excursion from Put-in-bay to Cleveland’s Navy week a huge success. The “transfer of command” from The Brig Niagara to Perry Class Frigate USS DeWert capped off the day’s festivities at the Navy’s kick off event for the Battle of Lake Erie Celebration. The summer ended with Historic Weekend hosted by Perry’s Victory and International Peace Memorial, and included re-enactors, carronades, marching bands and parades. Historic weekend would not be complete without music and included an outstanding performance by the Toledo Symphony.

Saturday evening ended with the “Lights of Peace” Harbor Illumination. On Sunday morning a solemn ceremony was held at the placement of the permanent “Battle of Lake Erie” buoy by the US Coast Guard at the battle site.

The upcoming 2013 Battle of Lake Erie Bicentennial celebration planning is well underway. The Perry Group and the National Park Service are preparing for a summer of memorable events here in Put-in-Bay and the Western Basin of Lake Erie from August 30th through September 10th. We have 19 tall ships scheduled to make their way to our area next August 29th. Eleven ports have signed on to be hosts, including Put-in-Bay, Middle Bass Island, Kelley’s Island, Pelee Island, Catawba Island, Port Clinton, Monroe, Windsor, Leamington, Kingsville, and Amherstburg. Perry’s Victory and International Peace Memorial, The Perry Group and the eleven host ports cities will host Twelve days of activities, both on the water and on land.

But we can’t rest yet. Get out your calendars, because on Martin Luther King weekend January 17-21st, the Lake Erie Maritime Association has invited The Perry Group along with the NPS to host a weekend Battle of Lake Erie Celebration preview at the Cleveland Boat Show. We will have the newly completed Perry’s Longboat on site, re-enactors, authors and period musical performers gathered together to help raise the awareness level of our 2013 roster of summer’s event one more notch. Stay tuned!

“199 and counting”

September 10th, 2012

 
Today as I write this column it is the 199th anniversary of Oliver Hazard Perry’s Victory in the Battle of Lake Erie. This past historic weekend (September 8th and 9th) we celebrated along with the National Park Service, US Navy, US Coast Guard, Boy Scouts of America, the community of Put-in-Bay and all our friends who came from near and far the opening salvo to the 200th anniversary in 2013.

 
Just a little over one hundred years ago, newspaper man Webster Huntington and engineer John Eisenmann and group of interested citizens began a success campaign to build a monument of national importance to honor Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry’s incredible accomplishments in the Battle of Lake Erie before the Centennial Year (1913) began. They formed a multi-state commission to raise the funds for building the monument we see today. In 1911 President Howard Taft signed a bill to conditionally fund the monument. Various designs were considered but on July 4th 1913 the cornerstone was laid, not just for a monument, but a truly fitting tribute to Oliver Hazard Perry and the men that collectively changed the course of our history and the enduring peace and friendship we have enjoyed since with Great Britain, Canada and the First Nation.

 
In June of 1915 the International Peace Memorial was completed and opened to the pubic (thought it did not actually become a National Park Service site until July of 1936), providing a view to the battle site, and a call out for generations to come, reminding us why September 10th 1813 was a turning point in the War of 1812.

 
So Sunday morning (September 9th) a group of 50 or so people headed out past Rattle Snake Island to the far corner of the western basin of Lake Erie aboard the Coast Guard vessel “Mobile Bay” to the Battle of Lake Erie site to set a permanent mark. At around 11:30 while stationed on the battle site, we witnessed Bicentennial Chairman Dave Zavagno, who was given the privilege by Captain Stone of the USCG vessel “Mobil Bay” to order the buoy release, the beautiful “Battle of Lake Erie Bicentennial buoy” set in place. The buoy is now located at the precise coordinates of 41-44-50.00 N by 083-02-00.00 W.

 
Now Perry’s monument view is connected exactly to the place and time where so many men died for a fledgling country, and where Perry accepted British Commander Barclays’ surrender. And not far from where Perry scribbled the words “we have met the enemy, and they are ours…” A sacred place is now properly marked for the 200th Anniversary.

 
The Buoy ceremony had capped off a week of activities to denote the advent of the celebration to come in the year ahead that kicked off on Thursday August 30th when over 250 people boarded the Jet-Express 2 in Put-in-Bay and headed to Cleveland’s Navy Week. This year’s Navy Week in Cleveland was especially important since US Navy had designated Cleveland as one of 15 port cities that are part of its’ official observance of the War of 1812.

 
So on that balmy day in Cleveland, Blue Angles streaking by overheard and the Brig Niagara on hand after a day of sailing, the Friends of Perry’s Victory and International Peace Memorial coordinated a special observance that included a moving “Transfer of Command” from the Brig Niagara to the USS DeWert. Oliver Hazard Perry Cabot, a direct descendant of Commodore Perry was rowed from the Niagara to the docked USS DeWert just across the Port of Cleveland Channel. He presented his “Don’t give up the ship flag” to Rear Admiral Greg Nosal. This connection of the past to the present was a poignant symbol of a amazing progression from Perry’s first ever-fleet victory for the fledgling Us Navy to the modern Navy’s current peacekeeping mission. Despite the difference of vessels and costume, Perry’s motto (DGUTS) still resonates just as strongly today as it did 199 years ago.

 
Historic weekend’s festive parade, the NPS ceremonies featuring Rear Admiral Joseph Horn Jr., the Toledo Symphony and the evenings quietly moving “Lights of Peace” Harbor Illumination capped off a wonderful 199th anniversary. As we count the days until the 200th anniversary we are thankful for the sacrifices made on our behalf and savor the continued sacred peace we all enjoy here in Ohio.

“Buoyed Up”

On September 8th the US Coast Guard’s Mobile Bay, a 140 foot bay class icebreaking tug, will leave the Put-in-Bay harbor dock escorted by the US Navy’s Patrol Craft Hurricane, with the Battle of Lake Erie Buoy on board on a voyage into history. She will be sailing to very site where on that nearly windless day 199 years ago the American and British fleets converged, setting into motion a chain of events that would forever change the relationships between Canada, Great Britain and the United States.

September 10th 1813 was a pivotal day for us as a young country, for the emerging US Navy, and the many men aboard the ships of Commodore Perry’s fleet that sacrificed so much for a victory that day. This buoy will be a timeless reminder of the men, valor and courage required to change history’s course.

Finally we will have a permanent marker for the site, this sacred place we refer to as the Battle of Lake Erie.

The site has gone unheralded for nearly 200 years. While scholars like our own Gerald Altoff pinpointed the zone years ago where the battle took place by analyzing the captain’s logs, no one has ever found any real evidence of a battle at the site. Since no ships sank that day, the only evidence we could hope to recover would be the cannon shot, boat fragments, or perhaps some remnants of the ceremonial mass burial at sea of the dead sailors.

We know that the 6 officers who perished that day, both American and British, were buried in DeRivera Park on South Bass Island. Then, as the story goes, on September 10th 1913 their bodies were exhumed, placed in a coffin, and reburied ceremonially under the monument rotunda that was still under construction. But no other verifiable evidence of the battle has every turned up. The real “evidence” of the history made that day lives on in the later recalled written accounts made by the officers and sailors aboard the British and American ships.

A few years back, the National Park Service helped fund an expedition to determine if any artifacts could be found or identified near the battle site. A team of divers, skilled in underwater archaeology spent many days examining side scan sonar data, then dove on the sites, but only ordinance from nearby Camp Perry was ever identified.

That makes this new marker, a non-navigational buoy, so important. Now interested boaters, the descendants of the over 500 officers, sailors, and militia aboard, and those interested in our nation’s history will have a floating “monument” located over this sacred place, this spot to remember that fateful day, September 10, 1813.

The Battle of Lake Erie buoy joins a similar commemorative buoy placed in the approximate spot where Francis Scott Key penned the words to “The Star-Spangled Banner” near Fort McHenry, where the Battle of Baltimore took place in September of 1814.

As editor Marge Neal of the Maryland paper Dundalk Patch noted, “The Francis Scott Key Memorial Buoy” may not aid boaters in a navigational sense, but the red, white and blue buoy, does serve to remind boaters of the historical significance of the spot, marked by the floating monument, where Key penned the words to “The Star-Spangled Banner” during the War of 1812.”

On September 8, 2012, The Battle of Lake Erie Buoy, will be taken to a site about 10 miles from Put-in-Bay, where we will observe, along with the US, British and Canadian Naval representatives the199th Anniversary of the Battle of Lake Erie with a commemoration Ceremony. The placement of the buoy along with a series of presentations at Perry’s Monument Visitor Center later that afternoon keynoted by US Navy Rear Admiral Joseph Horn, Jr. and concluding with the Toledo Symphony and the “Lights of Peace” Harbor Illumination will mark a momentous start to the 2013 Battle of Lake Erie Celebration.

“And his flag was still there”

Perry’s legacy

If we remember just one thing about the War of 1812 from grade school hopefully it is that Francis Scott Key wrote the Star Spangled Banner, actually just the lyrics, in the form of a poem called “The Defense of Fort McHenry”. So while Fort McHenry was being bombarded by British Royal Navy ships in the Chesapeake in 1814, Key penned what would be come our most identifiable American song. (Ironically the tune for the national anthem would come from a British Social Club song called “”To Anacreon in Heaven”.) It was several years later before the lyrics he scrawled on the back of an envelope would become an anthem and it was not until 1931 when Herbert Hoover declared it our national anthem. Today every school kid in America should know the stirring words “And the rockets red glare, bombs bursting in air, gave proof through the night that our flag was still there”.

 
To me, Key’s lyrics evoke an image of survival, perseverance and an emotional victory that in many ways reminds us of the second most notable event of the war (my opinion), Perry’s transfer of command from the Lawrence to the Niagara with his iconic flag. If just one idea lingers in our memory after this Battle of Lake Erie Bicentennial is over it has to be “Don’t Give Up the Ship”. This slogan and flag is Commodore Perry’s most important contribution to our collective historic consciousness.

 
Perry’s flag story in simplest terms… Oliver Hazard Perry was a young, smart, impressionable sailor from Rhode Island, from a family of brave sailors. Oliver went off to serve his country filled with patriotism and guile for the British. He was aboard the USS Chesapeake when his commanding officer, Captain James Lawrence, was mortally wounded during a confrontation with the British ship “HMS Shannon”. Young Perry was influenced and guided by his service with Lawrence. As Lawrence lay dying he implored young Perry to not give up the ship. Perry was so moved by the moment soon after he went and had a personal flag with “Don’t Give up the Ship” made which he carried with him into battle on several occasions and most notably during the Battle of Lake Erie.

 
We may not remember or even know the back-story that propelled Perry to create his flag or carry it with him into battle, but I can tell you first hand that maritime gift shops from Boston to Put-in-Bay, Virginia to San Diego have “DGUTS” flags for sale. Many of the shop owners and clerks may be challenged to explain where the slogan came from exactly, but there is no other more important and identifiable Naval slogan today that I know of.

 
Like so many stories that make up the fabric of our national history, they become just fragments of a larger story that survives to become part of our collective American memory. And because the US Navy uses, promotes and displays the “DGUTS” flag, and the slogan is prominently featured throughout our country’s Naval Bases, ships and recruiting stations, we see it and recognize its’ importance. It rings true not just for our Navy, but for all boaters and patriots I believe.

 
In late August, Navy week comes to the Cleveland waterfront to commemorate the War of 1812. And so in the late afternoon of Thursday August 30th one of Commodore Perry’s direct descendants will be aboard the longboat we have built to ceremonially recreate that iconic transfer of command. As the longboat embarks on a short journey across the harbor from the Brig Niagara to the USS De Wert, it symbolically connects us to this important moment in time, the afternoon of September 10th, 1813 when Oliver Hazard Perry changed the outcome of the war and American history.

 
Hopefully thousands will be on hand as this important event unfolds. Perhaps providing the visual reference we so often need to understand the importance of great days in history and why the flag Perry created was such a big part of that moment. I look forward to that moment as we witness again that Oliver Hazard Perry’s flag “is still here”.