Stop #18 | Address: 14669 SR 105, Elmore
On September 10, 1813 the Battle of Lake Erie commenced. The British fleet consisted of six ships with 63 cannons and was commanded by Robert Heriot Barclay. The American flotilla had nine ships with 54 cannons and was commanded by 28-year old naval officer, Oliver Hazard Perry. He and his men first arrived at Presque Isle near Erie, Pennsylvania and over a span of months fashioned a fleet of ships from green oak timber. From Presque Isle, Perry moved his base of operations to Put-in-Bay on South Bass Island. Perry hosted his battle flag inscribed with “Don’t Give Up the Ship,” the last words of his friend Captain James Lawrence, who had been killed in a naval battle in June off the Atlantic coast. Perry would name his flagship after Lawrence. After inflicting significant damage on the British fleet, the Lawrence was severely damaged forcing Perry to move command to the nearby Niagara. Continuing to battle throughout the afternoon, the British ships eventually were incapacitated and one-by-one surrendered. Perry composed his famous message to General William Henry Harrison, “Dear General: We have met the enemy and they are ours. Two ships, two brigs, one schooner and one sloop. Yours with great respect and esteem. O.H.Perry.” The battle was the only time in history that an entire British fleet was defeated.
The victory secured American control of Lake Erie, forcing the British to abandon Fort Malden on the Detroit River and retreat up the Thames where General Harrison defeated the undermanned and un-reinforced British army and its allied Indian force October 5, 1813. Tecumseh died in the Thames battle.
The Battle of Lake Erie and the victory by the army at the Thames ensured the states of Ohio and Michigan would remain sovereign territory of the United States.
The Oliver Hazard Perry barn mural is one in a series of painted barns throughout Ohio as part of an Ohio History Connection project. It was completed by barn artist Scott Hagan in 2017. The barn is geographically located due south of the area in Lake Erie where the Battle of Lake Erie took place.
About “Tracking the Troops, Tippecanoe & Perry, Too!” This driving tour is a five-county collaborative project with Wyandot, Seneca, Sandusky, Wood and Ottawa counties that takes you on a self-guided driving tour following the military trail of General William Henry Harrison during the War of 1812. Harrison would later become the ninth president of the United States and has the shortest presidency, dying from pneumonia one month after having taken the oath of office.
