ORATION DELIVERED AT THE UNVEILING OF HIS STATUE AT NEWPORT, R.I.,
SEPT. 10, 1885.
By Hon. William P. Sheffield.
The battle of Lake Erie was fought seventy-two years ago to-day; and we
have convened to dedicate to the public and to posterity a statue in
memory of the Commander of the American fleet on that occasion,
Oliver Hazard Perry needs no monument of bronze or marble to commemorate
his name, or to illustrate his glory. History has taken these into its
keeping and will preserve them for posterity, while genius in battle and
heroic valor and unfaltering energy in the performance of high duty,
receive the homage of the American people.
Wherever the patriotism of the citizen is the only reliance for the
defence of the nation, the people owe it to themselves to show their
appreciation of the conduct of those persons who have arisen among them
that have been public benefactors, and have conferred distinction upon
their localities. They owe it to those who may come after them, that
they so manifest their gratitude that it will inspire succeeding
generations with a due sense of patriotism, and be an incentive to them
to rise above narrow and sinister purposes to the plane of exalted
virtues, and be stimulated to the performance of great actions.
Citizens of South Kingstown, the town in which he was born,--of
Newport, where he was reared, had his home in mature life, and is
buried;--together with the State and people at large, who have
participated in his glory, have been impelled by this common sense of
obligation to undertake the erection of a memorial statue of Commodore
Perry, a task, the execution of which was committed to a native artist,
and here is the artist's finished work.
The statue is designed to represent Perry, not as he was superintending
the cutting down of the forest for the construction of his ships; not as
he was meditating the plan of the battle of Lake Erie or the order of
its execution; not as he appeared the evening previous to the action
advising his subordinate commanders in the words of Nelson, "No captain
can do wrong if he places his ship alongside of that of an enemy;" nor
as he was opening the battle flag which bore upon its folds the dying
words of a gallant captain; not as he was leaving his wrecked ship with
the deck strewed with his dead and dying comrades, when by the received
cannons of naval warfare the Lawrence and the battle were lost; but as
he appeared in that supreme moment of his life, when he had just gained
the deck of the Niagara, before he had recovered his knocked-off cap,
and while in distinct succession he was giving orders to "Back the
main-top-sail," "Brail-up the main-try-sail," "Helm up" "Square the
yards," "Bear down on the enemy's line," "Set the top-gallant-sail,"
"Hoist the signal for close action," orders which infused new enthusiasm
into all the American crews; and as pendant answered pendant, from
mast-head to mast-head indicating the reception of the order to break
the enemy's lines, hearty cheers went up from the entire American force
with a fervor that presaged the result of the impending death struggle.
In contemplating this statue, we should consider the circumstances in
which Perry was placed, and the events impending when the artist has
undertaken to represent him, as well as in the light of Perry's conduct
thereafter and the results therefrom, reflected back upon this critical
juncture in his career. For the battle of Lake Erie did not create, but
illustrated and brought out in bold outline, the real character of the
man.
The crews of the American fleet were of a mixed character. Perry sent
from Newport one hundred and forty-nine men and three boys in three
detachments. Half of one of these detachments was detained by Commodore
Chauncey on Lake Ontario; but shortly before the battle Perry received
from that officer a considerable accession to his force. Upon his
arrival at Lake Erie, Perry found a few men in the service of the
Government on the Lake, and the remainder of his men were made up of new
recruits, with a contingent taken from the North Western army of men,
naturally brave but without experience on ship-board. Perry had arrayed
against him skillful officers who had been taught the art of war, and
the methods of victory under Nelson. Brave and highly disciplined seamen
in whose vocabulary defeat had had no place, with recruits like Perry's
taken from the army, and an auxiliary force of Indian sharp-shooters.
The character of a naval engagement is not to be determined alone by the
number of men, the tonnage of the ships, or the weight of the metal
involved in the conflict. These are elements to be considered, and in
the battle of Lake Erie all of these elements were against the American
fleet, but the surrounding and attending circumstances, the conduct of
the battle, and the results depending upon its issue are the
considerations which go to make the place in the minds of succeeding
generations which the event is to occupy. History has not had committed
to it for preservation the story of the organization of a fleet, and the
conduct of a battle the result of which was more dependent upon the
genius, knowledge, energy, and courage of a single individual, than was
the battle of Lake Erie.
Other commanders have fought in ships completely equipped for service by
other hands, but Perry had to construct, equip, arm and man his ships,
and in person to take two of them in succession into action; and it may
be well questioned whether he is not entitled to as much credit for his
intelligent comprehension of the wants of the occasion, his energy, and
perseverance in collecting the materials to supply those wants, and in
making up his fleet, as for his genius and courage in action.
Perry, in the beginning, was unfortunate in having succeeded an officer
who, in the engagement was his subordinate in command, and in
anticipating a ranking officer in bringing on the conflict; but the
surrounding circumstances and the positive orders of the Secretary of
the Navy made his meeting the enemy a necessity.
The outcome of the attempts which had been made by the Government for
the defence of this section of the country had not been such as to
inspire sanguine hopes of the result of this action.
The Adams, the only vessel the United States had upon the Lake before
the construction of Perry's ships, had been captured. General Hull had
ignobly surrendered his force to the enemy at the head of the Lake,
General Winchester's army had been lost to the Government, and General
Van Rensselaer had been defeated at Niagara.
Perry was to act in conjunction with the northwestern army, under
General Harrison, then awaiting the result of the battle to be
transported across the Lake, in the event of a victory, to operate
against the enemy in his own territory.
Perry's earnest appeal to Chauncey for men, backed by the promise that
if he got them he would acquire honor and glory both for Chauncey and
himself, or he would perish in the attempt, should be considered in
connection with his appeal to the same officer to bring the men, and
take command of the fleet. Together they show that the first appeal was
not the result of an ambitious desire for vain glory; no mere impulse of
emotion or passion; but the outcome of a high resolve wrought in the
laboratory of a noble soul, born of that deliberate purpose which
permeated his subsequent conduct in the action and which is recorded in
the bronze before us.
The men from the army were animated for a desperate exertion; with
them the slaughter at the river Raisin was to be redressed, and its
repetition in the northwest was to be made impossible. In this
disposition for redress the seamen heartily sympathized, for the war was
a contest for Sailors' Rights. The American Flag then trailed in the
dust, but it was to be restored to its appropriate place in the esteem
of the men in that section of the country. With a crew animated by these
motives, Perry went into action with the Lawrence and fought the enemy
almost single-handed until all the guns of his ship were dismounted, and
all but eight of her gallant crew that he left on board, were either
killed or wounded, when with a boat's crew he left the Lawrence, boarded
and took command of the Niagara, and it is at this moment in the
conflict the artist has undertaken to represent him.
Barclay said in his report to the British Admiralty, that when Perry
boarded the Niagara, that vessel was fresh in action. Up to that time
she had been beyond the effective reach of the enemy's guns, but under
her new commander there was no halting in her course as she bore down to
break and pass through the enemy's ranks. Every brace and bowline were
taut, and every man on board, apprised of what was expected of him, was
soon at his post of duty; each, as he took his position, cast a hasty
glance at Perry's battle flag then flying from the masthead of the
Niagara, and as he took in the dying words of the noble Lawrence, formed
a solemn resolve to obey their mandate and made that resolve a
sacrament.
As she went into action, the Niagara belched forth a broadside at the
Detroit and the Queen Charlotte, then a broadside at the Chippawa, the
Lady Provost and the Hunter. These broadsides were repeated in rapid
succession with terrific effect. The other American vessels, now in
action, whose crews were inspired by the daring of their fleet
commander, imitated his example and the combined result was such as
Britons could not endure. The eagles of victory soon perched in triumph
on the mastheads of the American fleet, and Perry had won the battle
which James Madison, then President, said "had never been surpassed in
lustre, however much it may have been surpassed in magnitude."
After the action, Perry returned to the Lawrence, changed the dress of a
common sailor for an undress uniform, that he might appropriately
receive the surrender of the enemy on board the vessel that had been in
the hardest of the fight and had suffered most from it; and that the
remnant of her gallant crew might witness the submission of the foe
which had caused their sufferings.
That relief from apprehension for the safety of the fleet might be given
to General Harrison and the settlers on the widely extended domain about
the Lake, Perry penned and dispatched to that general a hasty note, in
words familiar, and destined to be immortal, telling him "We have met
the enemy and they are ours," and another like hasty note, to the
Secretary of the Navy, informing that officer that, "It has pleased the
Almighty to give to the arms of the United States a signal victory over
their enemies on this lake. The British squadron consisting of two
ships, two brigs, one schooner and one sloop, have this moment
surrendered to the force under my command after a sharp conflict." There
is nothing of the valor of the pen or of the exaggeration of self from
the ink horn in this concise and expressive note.
The enemy's surrender was gracefully received. Perry soon visited the
wounded Barclay, and tendered him every service that it was in his power
to render, and every possible attention was given to the wounded of both
fleets. Then came the roll-call to see who had answered the final
summons to duty on the field of honor, who had received marks of courage
in the fight, and who had gone through the dreadful ordeal of battle
unscathed. It was then that the tears of sorrow mingled with the
exultations of victory which soon were to be shouted along the line of
every highway and by-way, from hamlet to village, from village to town,
and from town to city, throughout the land.
Perry wrote to Governor Brooks of Massachusetts a letter condoling with
him on the fall of his gallant son in action; for while Perry's brow was
laurelled with the wreath of victory, he did not forget that there were
mourners weeping for brave hearts which in the fight had been forever
put to rest.
The name of Perry was now made a household word from the great Northern
Lakes to the Gulf of Mexico, from the Atlantic Coast to the impenetrated
wilderness of the West, often repeated at the baptismal font; and a
nation's gratitude was soon laid at his feet. As humane in victory as he
had been brave in action, his generous kindness won the admiration of
Barclay, and his dying comrades showered upon him their blessings and
remembered him in their final prayers.
Prayers of gratitude to that Almighty Power which had given victory to
the American arms went up from every fireside throughout the Northwest;
and mothers pressed their children more closely to their breasts as they
thought themselves to be henceforth secure from the scalping-knife of
Indian barbarity, and that the savage war-whoop would no more break the
sleep of the cradle.
At night-fall many of the dead with all due solemnity were tenderly
committed to the deep. The wounded had all been visited and their wants
attended to; the worn and weary now sought repose, and a solemn
oppressive silence soon pervaded the fleet, save here and there a sound
of distress from the wounded. The Captain now retired for reflection,
for his mind and heart were too full for rest. He then thought of his
young devoted wife whose prayers he believed had been his shield in
battle; that his work was yet incomplete while the British had an army
on the borders of the Lake, or in Upper Canada,--how he could best aid
General Harrison's army; and then resolved on the work of the morrow;
when, soothed by reflection, his tired nature gave out, and he, too,
sank into a fitful slumber.
The mind of Barclay, relieved of present responsibility, evolved other
less pressing but more pensive thoughts. He thought not of himself or
his bleeding wound, for he had bled before for his country, when he
earned his stars and made his fame secure at Trafalgar; but as the sun
went down that night he thought that no more in the evening twilight
would the mariners of England standing under the cross of St. George, on
that great inland water, sing their national song, "Brittania rules the
waves;" no more the echoes of that stirring air rolling over the silver
surface of the Lake to its islands and shores would arouse the sturdy
dwellers there to join in glad unison in those lofty strains which
everywhere, the world over, melt into one every true and loyal British
heart. He then was moved by the sadder thought, that on that night the
sun of British power which had hitherto dominated the great Northern
Lakes of America had gone down forever.
Perry's available vessels were now taken to transport General Harrison's
army across the Lake, and up the Detroit river. The Lawrence, as soon as
she was put into condition took on board the wounded of both fleets, and
under the command of the gallant but wounded Yarnell carried them to
Erie. The other vessels were repaired and fitted for other duties, or
were to return to Erie.
Perry accompanied General Harrison as a volunteer aid, and participated
and bore an honorable part in the battle of the Thames, as he had done
in the battle of Fort George, under Chauncey, before the engagement on
the Lake.
Upon his return to Detroit, he found a letter from the Secretary of Navy
thanking and congratulating him for the eminent services he had rendered
his country; and, as he had performed the duty committed to him,
granting him leave to visit his family at Newport.
But Perry was first to return to Erie, which he had left the 12th of
August. The news of the result of the battle had long preceded his
arrival and the people had there been watching and waiting his coming.
On the 23d of October, the Aerial, the last vessel of the fleet to leave
the head of the lake, came within sight of Erie. She had on board
General Harrison, who had then lately defeated General Procter at the
Thames, the wounded Barclay, and Commodore Perry. The people from the
surrounding country crowded into Erie to welcome the arrival of the
victors. Barclay was taken to Perry's quarters and there properly cared
for by Harrison and Perry.
The Lawrence was anchored in Misery Bay, in the harbor of Erie, maimed
and battered and scarcely able to float, yet having on board her
precious freight brought across the lake; Perry now visited this ship,
and as he reached her blood-stained deck and beheld his surviving
comrades and thought of those who had been in the fight, that were not
then on board, he reverently raised his hands in fervent supplication to
Him who giveth the victory not always to the strong, to heal the wounds,
and bless, and raise up, the sufferers around him; and to sustain and
help the widows and orphans the battle had made; and in thanksgiving for
the preservation of those who had survived the conflict unhurt. He then
returned to the shore to meet the vast concourse of people awaiting his
arrival. The dead and the disabled men, the dismounted guns and the
broken and tattered ships, told the story of the battle and the price
of the victory with more eloquence than the most brilliant imagination
could compass. These visible evidences of the strife for the mastery
indicated the valor and the woe, incident to the ordeal which had been
passed, with an energy and pathos which overpowered the most obdurate
will; and the multitude greeted Harrison and Perry with tears and
smiles,--rain in sunshine with a heartiness that language is too poor
and barren to describe. The living had earned their title to everlasting
gratitude, and the dead had fallen as the brave desire to fall, at the
post of duty and on the field of victory.
Perry now procured the parole and release of Barclay, and after
arranging for his absence started eastward on his journey home; but his
progress was everywhere obstructed by evidences of the gratitude of
his countymen for his great action. On Monday, the 15th of November,
attended by the faithful crew that rowed him to the Niagara, he arrived
in Newport, by way of the south-ferry. Here, he was received upon his
arrival in a manner alike worthy of his neighbors and friends and of
himself.
August 23d, 1819, at the age of thirty-four, he died of yellow fever,
at Port Spain in the Island of Trinidad. His remains were brought to
Newport in a government ship, and were interred December 4th. 1826. They
were conducted to their final resting place by a funeral cortege such as
up to that time had never been equalled and since that time has here
never been surpassed.
This is but a glance at the man, and the event to which we are here
to-day to rear this tribute of our gratitude. There are other names and
other figures that come up to view in the memory and gather around the
name of Perry, of men who were efficient auxiliaries in the conflict,
shared the dangers, and participated in the glory of the battle of Lake
Erie, and who are inseparably connected with that event.
Turner, Taylor, Champlin, Almy, Breese, Brownell, and the acting fleet
surgeon Parsons were from Rhode Island; Forest, Brook, Stevens,
Hambleton, Yarnell and others not less distinguished, were from other
states; and the gallant commander of the northwest-army, and his
comrades in arms, whom Perry accompanied to the field on the 5th of
October, in the battle of the Thames, where Perry's victory was made
complete by driving the organized forces of the enemy from upper Canada,
are deserving of our remembrance to-day.
[Illustration: THE NEW STATUE OF COMMODORE PERRY.]
To your Excellency the Governor, representing the people of Rhode
Island; To your Honor, the Mayor, representing the people of Newport:--
The Committee charged with the duty of providing and erecting this
statue of Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry, has performed the work
committed to it, and through you dedicate it to the people of the State,
and of this city you represent, as the result of its labors. It is not
for the committee to comment upon the statue which has been formed and
erected under its direction, but with great satisfaction the artist's
finished work is submitted to the candid criticism of all who are
capable of forming an intelligent judgment upon its merits. Take the
statue for those whom you represent, let it be kept as a cherished
treasure by the people of the State at large, and especially by the
people of the city of Newport. Let no vandal hand deface the monumental
bronze. Let it stand defying the wastes of time and the power of the
elements, keeping pace with history in its march through coming ages in
recalling to each succeeding generation the man and the event which this
statue is designed to commemorate, ever inspiring ihe young to
patriotism, and solacing the aged with the reflection that a grateful
people properly appreciate and appropriately reward their benefactors.
Let the ideal Perry shadow the passer by and from its high pedestal
apparently cast a glance at each beholder, which shall penetrate and
permeate his mind and heart, and possess him completely with the noble
and generous purpose, and lofty soul which animated Perry on the
occasion which the artist has undertaken to represent him.
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