USA > Ohio > Lucas County > Toledo > Early History of the Maumee Valley > Part 4
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During the summer of 1813 Commodore Perry rendezvoused his fleet in and about the Put-in Bay Islands. Daily messages were received during the month of August from General Harrison. On
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Photo by H. A. Herbster, Put-in Bay
PUT-IN BAY And the Islands, showing where Commodore Perry's fleet was anchored, and where the Battle of Lake Erie was fought.
September 3rd Peter Navarre carried this message to Commodore Perry: "The British are getting ready to sail, under command of Commodore Barclay, with six (6) vessels."
Commodore Perry's fleet sailed into Put-in Bay harbor, where the vessels were prepared for battle. Daily sails were made far out into the lake. Commodore Perry visited, several times a day, Gibraltar, an island containing about eight acres, covered with trees, about fifty feet above the lake. "This remarkable island bears forty-nine different kinds of trees." It is one solid rock. Upon the summit Commodore Perry built a lookout, and upon this spot, many years after, Jay Cooke, the owner of the island, erected a monument to the memory of Commodore Perry, with a lookout tower 130 feet above the water. The entire group of islands can be seen from its summit.
Early in September messages were received from General Har- rison, that the British vessels were prepared for battle, and sailed down the Detroit river and out upon the lake. The fleet was under command of Commodore Robert Heriot Barclay, an able officer who had served with honor and distinction under General Nelson, and contained six vessels, namely: The Detroit, Commodore Bar- clay's flag ship; the Queen; the Charlotte; the Lady Provost; the Brig Hunter, and the Little Belt, with sixty-three guns and four hundred and forty officers and men.
Immediately Commodore Perry began preparations to sail. His fleet consisted of nine vessels, as follows: The Lawrence, Com- modore Perry's flag ship; the brig Niagara; the Caledonia; the Ariel; the Scorpion; the Somers; the Porcupine; the Tigress, and the Tripp; with fifty-four guns and four hundred and ninety officers and men, three-fourths raw recruits.
At sunrise of the morning of the 10th of September, far out to the northwest, the British fleet could be seen slowly sailing towards the islands. A light wind made sailing slow. Commodore Perry ordered his fleet to sail out upon the lake, and for several hours they drifted about, watching the approaching enemy. Com- modore Perry's flag ship, Lawrence, sailed in advance, with a large blue flag floating from the mast, emblazoned on it the dying words of Captain Lawrence, "Don't Give Up the Ship." At ten o'clock the wind changed to the southeast, which brought the American squadron to the windward. "Down the lake came the British fleet with flying colors." The lightness of the wind occasioned the hostile squadrons to approach slowly, and prolonged for two hours the solemn interval of suspense and anxiety which precedes a battle. At fifteen minutes after eleven a bugle sound broke the silence. It came from the enemy's flag ship, the Detroit, and immediately a
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A HOME-MADE BATTLESHIP THAT WON A GREAT VICTORY A CENTURY AGO.
KIEDAISCH
The newly recovered hulk of Commodore Perry's "Niagara," built on the shore of Lake Erie. From it he sent the mes- sage: "We have met the enemy and they are ours!"
Courtesy, Leslie's Weekly. Copyrighted 1913
Courtesy, Commodore G. T. Bliss.
THE HULL OF THE NIAGARA
The newly recovered hull of Commodore Perry's Flag Ship, the Brig Niagara, after resting at the bottom of "Misery Bay" off Erie, Pa., for one hundred years. Being re-built, at Erie, Pa., to take part in the various Perry Centennial celebrations, at many lake ports.
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DONT GIVE UP
THE SHIP
Photo., by permission, C. R. Morgan.
COMMODORE PERRY'S FLAG "DON'T GIVE UP THE SHIP"
"When Commodore Perry was about to leave his flagship-THE LAWRENCE, he hauled down the Union Jack, taking it under his arm, jumped into the waiting boat, and ordered his men to pull him to the Niagara, now more than half a mile distant."
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tremendous fire opened upon the Lawrence from the British long guns. These shots the Lawrence could not return on account of the small guns. About noon the Lawrence, getting closer to the enemy, opened fire, and so continuous were the shots fired into the approaching enemy's vessels, the British thought Commodore Perry intended to board the Detroit. The heavy guns of the De- troit were too much for the Lawrence. Their shots pierced her sides in all directions. The Lawrence was considerably cut up without being able to do much damage to the British fleet. It ap- peared to be the enemy's plan to destroy the flag ship at all hazard. The heavy firing of the enemy upon the Lawrence soon disabled the vessel and she became unmanageable. Many were killed and wound- ed, and while the Lawrence drifted about the enemy "raked the vessel with heavy guns." The utmost order prevailed during the scenes of horror. As fast as the men on the guns were wounded they were taken below, and others stepped into their places. The dead remained in the position in which they fell. At this time the British believed the battle was won. The Lawrence was a wreck. Her deck was covered with the dead and wounded. By this time the Niagara managed to come near and Commodore Perry ordered a boat to take him to the Niagara. Hauling down the Union Jack, waving it above his head, he entered the boat, saying as he left the disabled Lawrence, "If victory is to be gained, I will gain it." The little boat was a conspicuous mark for the guns of the enemy, especially the showers of the muskets from three of the vessels caused the oarsmen to force Commodore Perry to "sit down," said Peter Navarre, "and one shot made a hole in the boat, which Commodore Perry stopped with his coat. He arrived safely on board the Niagara, and, finding the vessel in good condition, gave the signal for all vessels for close action."
When the Union Jack floated at the mast, with its animating motto, new life, new energy, came to the men, and each vessel made every effort to break the enemy's line. The enemy's vessels were soon enclosed between the Niagara and the small vessels, and in this position the Americans kept up a most destructive fire on both quarters until every ship of the British struck her colors. Within forty minutes after Commodore Perry was on the Niagara the British surrendered. The engagement lasted about three hours and never was victory more decisive and complete. More prisoners were taken than there were men left on board of the American vessels. The principal loss in killed and wounded was on board the Lawrence. Of her crew twenty-two were killed and sixty wounded. On board the other vessels but five were killed and thirty-six wounded. The British officers were received on board the Lawrence.
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PERRY'S WILLOW-PUT-IN BAY, LAKE ERIE Where are buried British and American officers.
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One by one, the officers offered their swords, which Commodore Perry requested them to retain. Commodore Barclay was seriously wounded, but was received with the utmost courtesy by every American, as also were all officers and men. As soon as the vic- tory was assured Commodore Perry wrote his famous dispatch to General Harrison :
"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."
A majority of the dead of the British and Americans were committed to the lake after the action.
Commodore Perry's great victory enabled General Harrison to invade Canada and, by the support of Commodore Perry's squad- ron, in the battle of the Thames, October 5th, 1813, restored to the United States and established the supremacy of the Americans in the Northwest frontier.
On September 11 the following British and American officers were buried under a willow tree: The British-Captain Finnis, Lieutenant Stakes, of the Charlotte, and Lieutenant Garland, of the Detroit. The Americans- Lieutenant Brooks, Midshipman Laub, of the Lawrence. Officers and crews of both fleets united in the ceremonies. Friend and foe marched side by side, and friend and foe were buried in one common grave, and for one hundred years these two great nations have been side by side, one mind, one thought-for the welfare, happiness, prosperity and the common good of mankind.
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Photo by H. A. Herbster, Put-in Bay
COMMODORE PERRY'S "LOOKOUT" AND "NEEDLES EYE." GIBRALTER. From this point Commodore Perry watched daily for the coming of the British fleet. On the morning of September 10th, 1813, he saw the fleet far out to the northwest approaching under full sail.
ENNIAL COMMISSION
PERRY . MEMORIAL
PERRY'S VICOECHT
THE PERRY MEMORIAL, 1813-1913, PUT-IN BAY, OHIO Courtesy Perry's Victory Centennial Commission, Copyrighted, 1912
THE PERRY MEMORIAL MONUMENT, PUT-IN BAY This monument will cost about $1,000,000.00. It will consist of a Doric column 365 feet high, in the center of an immense plaza 750 feet long and 500 feet wide, at one end of which will be an historical Museum containing a floor space of 3,000 square feet, and at the other end a building emblematic of the one hundred years of peace that have ensued between two of the greatest nations of the world.
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DETROIT RIVER
MALDEN (AMHERSTBURG)
CANADA
MONROE
RIVER RAISIN
MICHIGAN
MIDDLE SISTER ISLAND
.POINT PELEE
EAST SISTER ISLAND
8
ERIE
MAUMEE BAY
3
12
WEST SYSTER ISLAND
140 1308
011
TOLEDO
OHIO
90
Q4
1
FORT MIAMI
o
1 - PUT-IN-BAY
W-
-E
2 - MIDDLE ISLAND
FORT MEIGS
3 - BATTLE OF LAKE ERIE . Sept. 10.18/3.
4- STARVE ISLAND
S
5.SOUTH BASS ISLAND-(PUT-IN-BAY)
BA
6-GIBRALTER ISLAND
7-MIDDLE BASS ISLAND
8-HENYAND CHICKENS-ISLANDS
9- GREEN ISLAND
SANDUSKY
10-KELLEY'S ISLAND
11-BALLAST ISLAND
12-NORTH BASS ISLAND
13 -RATTLESNAKE ISLAND
14-SUGAR ISLAND.
MAP OF THE ISLANDS OF LAKE ERIE AND SHOWING WHERE THE "BATTLE OF LAKE ERIE" WAS FOUGHT SEPTEMBER 10th, 1813
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20 OGULL ISLAND
N
MAUMEE RIVER
RIVER
PORTAGE
SANDUSKY
SANDUSKY RIVER
FORT STEPHENSON (FREMONT)
POINT PELEE ISLAND
LAKE
THE FIRST LOG CABIN Built in the Maumee Valley, near Fort Miami.
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THE OLD MAUMEE COURT HOUSE-(The site of Col. Dudley's Defeat)
Built in 1841. First court held October 21, 1841. Used until October, 1852, when county seat was transferred to Toledo. Hon. Emory D. Potter was the first judge, and James Wolcott, J. H. Jerome and John Berdan associate judges.
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THE MAUMEE RIVER AND VALLEY, BELOW BRITISH POINT
A view taken from British Point opposite Fort Meigs. From this site the British stationed their artillery during the siege of Fort Meigs. Perrysburg to the right, in the distance.
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THE UPPER VALLEY-MAUMEE
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THE MAUMEE RIVER AND VALLEY
A view taken from British Point, Maumee City. The head of navigation and the foot of the Rapids
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F
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THE TOMB OF GENERAL WILLIAM HENRY HARRSION, AT THE HARRISON HOME, NORTH BEND, OHIO, 16 MILES FROM CINCINNATI It stands upon a summit of a small hill, overlooking the Ohio River,
The Maumee Valley Of Today
It is interesting to note and trace the wonderful growth and development of the Maumee Valley, and especially the city of Toledo. The growth from a wilderness inhabited by Indians and a few whites, to a prosperous community of thousands, is seemingly a miracle. Toledo as a center is but an example of the advance- ment of the whole. Originally Toledo consisted of two sparsely settled townships-Port Lawrence, in 1817, and Vistula, in 1832, and in 1835 the two "active contestants, at a public town meeting, it was called Toledo. Willard J. Daniels had been reading the his- tory of Spain and urged the name of the old Moorish capital for the reason there was no town of that name in America."
Toledo was incorporated in 1836. From a settlement of a few rude log buildings, surrounded by malarial marshes, Toledo has grown to be one of the most beautiful and prosperous cities of the United States; and with a record for healthfulness second to none in the country: This wonderful change has taken place during the lives of many of our citizens, and is due to the public spirited ac- tivity and extraordinary liberality of her people. Toledo today has become a noted important commercial center and is so recognized all over the world.
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IMPORTANT HISTORICAL EVENTS FOR THE STUDENT.
The Maumee Valley was discovered by the French in 1680.
Fort Laurens, Tuscarawas County, was the first fort built in Ohio, 1773.
Fort Harmer, mouth of Muskingum River, built in 1785.
Fort Marietta, the first settlement, 47 persons landed, April 7th, 1788.
Fort Washington (now Cincinnati), built in September, 1791.
Fort Hamilton, built in October, 1791.
Fort Jefferson, built in October, 1791.
Fort Greenville, built in November, 1793; rebuilt in 1812.
Fort Recovery, built in 1793.
Fort St. Clair, built in the winter of 1791-92.
Fort Wayne, built in October, 1794; rebuilt in September, 1812.
Fort Defiance, built April, 1794; rebuilt and called
Fort Winchester, October, 1812.
Fort Deposit, built in August, 1794.
Roche-de-Boeuf (Standing Rock), on which General Wayne and Lieutenant Harrison planned the battle of Fallen Timbers, Au- gust 19, 1794.
Battle of Fallen Timbers, August 20th, 1794.
Fort Meigs, built by General Harrison, February, 1813.
First siege began May 1st, and ended May 11th, 1813.
Second siege began July 20th, and ended 27th, 1813.
Fort Stephenson, built by Colonel Croghan, August, 1813.
Colonel George Croghan was born near Louisville, Kentucky, November 15th, 1791. Died at New Orleans, Louisiana, January Sth, 1849.
General Green Clay was born in Powhattan County, Virginia, August 14th, 1757. Died October 31st, 1826.
Turtle Island Light was discovered by the French in 1679. It was a natural island. Used by the government as a Light House 1831. It was rebuilt in 1867. Abandoned as a Light House May 15th, 1904, and sold December, 1904.
Put-in-Bay Islands-A group of ten, contains about 3,200 acres.
Commodore Oliver H. Perry was born in South Kingston, Rhode Island, August 23rd, 1785. Died at Port Said, Island of Trinidad, August 23, 1819.
Battle of Lake Erie, September 10th, 1813.
Peter Navarre was born in Detroit, Michigan, January 22nd, 1787. Died in Toledo, Ohio, March 20th, 1874.
The Walk-in-the-Water was the first steamboat to land at the foot of the Maumee rapids (now Perrysburg).
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Fort Industry (now Toledo), built as a stockade by General Wayne, in August, 1794. Used as a trading post until 1805, when nine tribes of Indians held a council, conceding certain dividing lines between the whites and the Indians. It was used as a fort by General Harrison in 1813. "For the deposit of surplus ammunition, clothing, etc., while en route to Canada."
Fort Miami, built by the French as a trading post in 1680. Re- built by the British for a fort in 1794 and 1812.
General Henry A. Proctor, Commander British forces in the Maumee Valley, was born in Wales, 1765. Died in Liverpool, 1859.
The Treaty of Greenville, which made Ohio part of the North- west Territory, was signed at this fort, August 3rd, 1795.
Ohio was admitted into the Union by an act of Congress in 1803.
General William Henry Harrison was born at Berkly, Virginia, February 9th, 1773. Died at Washington, D. C., April 4th, 1841.
General James Winchester, born White Level, Maryland, Feb- aury 6th, 1752. Died in Tennessee July 26th, 1826.
Battle and Massacre, River Raisin, January 22-23, 1813.
General Anthony Wayne, was born in Chester County, Penn- sylvania, January 1st, 1745. Died at Erie, Pennsylvania, Decem- ber 15th, 1796.
Fort Meigs, built by General Harrison, April, 1813. The siege began May 5th, 1813. British withdrew, first siege, May 9th, and second, July 20, 1813.
Pontiac, the celebrated chief of the allied tribes of the Ottawas, Ojibways and the Pottawattomies. Born on the Ottawa river- 1720. Murdered by an Indian of the Kaskaskia tribe at Cahakia, Illinois, 1769.
Tecumseh, chief of the Shawnees and one of the greatest chiefs, was born in 1768 and died at the Battle of the Thames, October 5, 1913.
Lake Erie, named after the Erie tribe of Indians, who lived along the lake shore, but were almost exterminated by eastern nations.
Ohio, takes its name from the river (Indian name) Ohionhin, meaning "beautiful river."
Toledo was incorporated January 7th, 1837.
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THE OLD STAGE COACH Method of traveling in 1813, in the Maumee Valley.
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TOLEDO MAUMEE PERRYSBURG
TRAVELING IN 1913. PASSENGER CAR ON THE MAUMEE VALLEY (ELECTRIC) RAILWAY
From the cars of this line, can be seen Fort Industry, Fort Miami, the old Court House, the battle ground of Colonel Dudley's defeat, the old elm tree, the fort where the British batteries were located, opposite Fort Meigs; the battlefield of General Clay, Fort Meigs and monument, and the great Maumee River and Valley.
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CAMPION BOOK STORE 520 Summit St. Toledo, Ohio
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