Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Oliver Hazard Perry

Most of Oliver Hazard Perry's brief life (1785-1819) was spent in the service of his country. He became a mid-shipman in the new Navy at the age of fourteen. Perry was named a lieutenant in 1807 after his service in the war against the Barbary pirates. Most of the next two years were spent building gunboats.

Oliver Hazard Perry was assigned to build a fleet of boats for use on Lake Erie during the War of 1812. Captain Oliver Hazard Perry reached Presque Isle after his trip through snowy winter roads to find things in a terrible state. Daniel Dobbin, a lake trader, started work on two fine twenty-gun brigs, but the shipwrights were deserting through the woods toward Pittsburg. The shipwrights were on strike, principally because the few store keepers were profiteering outrageously; there was not a cannon, anchor, or cable within a hundred miles. There was no land protection at all for shipyards and there was not enough tools. Dobbin had fitted out three little schooners with a gun each for use as gunboats, but they would not be of great assistance.

Oliver Hazard Perry planned to build a fleet of green-timbered ships, manned largely by even greener seamen, along with Kentucky riflemen. In a distressful engagement on Lake Erie, Perry silenced and captured a less forceful British fleet. "We have met the enemy and they are ours," he announced to his superior, "two ships, two brigs, one schooner, and one sloop." Perry's victory combined with his slogan, brought new life into the flagging American cause. The British holding to the west, both at Malden and at captured Detroit, quickly withered with the control of Lake Erie densely in American hands.

Perry's victory at Lake Erie was a cause of celebration all over the United States. This victory insured American control of Lake Erie for the duration of the War of 1812 by accepting the only surrender of the British fleet in history. It also helped to prevent a western invasion of the United States. The victory at Lake Erie was the first important American achievement of the war and good news for the people who had only heard about unsuccessful attempts and defeats suffered by American forces. Perry's credit only grew when surprisingly, under General William Henry Harrison, he led a cavalry charge at the Battle of the Thomas in Canada, another great American victory.

A few years after the Battle of Lake Erie, Oliver Hazard Perry suffered an untimely death from yellow fever while on a diplomatic mission to Venezuela. Perry died when he was only thirty-four years of age. His death occurred at sea and his body was buried in Trinidad. Later, Perry's body was transferred to Newport, Rhode Island, where the state raised a monument in honor of his accomplishments. Oliver Hazard Perry would never get to see how the young nation for which he fought would develop during the 19th century or how momentous his victory was regarded.

Perry's Victory Monument was dedicated in 1913 near Put-in-Bay on South Bass Island, one hundred years after the Battle of Lake Erie. The attractive 352 foot marble column is visible from the western shore of Lake Erie. However, another deserving tribute to Oliver Hazard Perry had already been in use before the monument was dedicated. Camp Perry had opened in 1907 and was determined to have the best rifle ranges in the world. This camp is located only a few miles from where Perry defeated the British. Camp Perry erected a Naval mast for use as a flagpole. Lawrence, Niagara, Caledonia, Somers, Scorpion, Ariel, and Trippe are some of the streets names. These streets were named after ships of the fleet that Perry not only commanded, but helped to build.

While technology has changed the face of modern warfare, the talent to shoot perfectly and Perry's qualities of courage, bravery, and resourcefulness under fire are just as significant today as they were in 1813.

The people who lived, built, and trained at Camp Perry between 1907 and the present would come to learn the importance of these same qualities. If Oliver Hazard Perry had known these people, he would have been very pleased.