Up to this time the English navy had been called the "Mistress of the
Seas." England's vessels could be numbered by the hundred, and the crews
by the ten thousand.
When this war of 1812 was declared, the entire United States navy
comprised about half a dozen frigates, and six or eight sloops and
brigs. Along the American coast alone the English had seven times this
number of war vessels.
The first few months of the war were full of naval surprises. In that
brief time the Americans captured more British ships than the French had
taken in twenty years.
On August 19th, the American frigate _Constitution_, commanded by
Captain Isaac Hull, in one half hour captured the English frigate
_Guerriere_. The English lost one hundred men, and the vessel was so
disabled that she was left to sink. The Americans lost but fourteen men,
and in a few hours the ship was ready for another battle.
Several other victories followed in quick succession. In all this time
the Americans did not lose a ship.
In December, Commodore Bainbridge, the same officer who had been taken
prisoner years before by the Tripolitans and had afterwards been
promoted, was cruising with the frigate _Constitution_ off the coast of
Brazil. He there encountered and captured the British frigate _Java_.
But though so successful on the sea, the Americans were defeated many
times on land.
The possession of the Great Lakes was of the utmost importance to both
the English and the Americans.
Ever since the Revolution the English had kept a naval force on these
lakes. They had hoped that some time they might be able to extend the
Canadian territory along the Great Lakes and down the Mississippi to New
Orleans. This would give them the possession of the great west.
Many prosperous towns and trading posts were scattered along the
Canadian shores. To capture some of these was the task given to the
American army.
The campaign was opened by General William Hull. With two thousand men
he crossed the Detroit River, and marched into Canada.
After a few skirmishes with the Indians, he fell back to the fort at
Detroit. Then, without firing a single gun, he gave up this fort to the
English. This surrender was a great loss to the Americans for many
reasons.
There was, in the west, a bold Indian warrior whose name was Tecumseh.
He had a brother whom the Indians called the Prophet, because he was a
medicine man and could do wonderful things.
[Illustration: TECUMSEH.]
These two Indians wished to form a union of all the tribes from Canada
to the Gulf of Mexico. They hoped that in this way they might prevent
the white settlers from taking their hunting grounds.
"The white men are continually driving the red people toward the west;
by and by we shall be driven into the Great Water," they said.
The governor-general of Canada made the Indians many promises, and tried
to incite them against the United States. In this way he persuaded many
warlike tribes to give aid to the English. Tecumseh himself crossed into
Canada and joined the British army under General Proctor.
After Hull's surrender of Detroit, the British and Indians took
possession not only of that fort, but also of Fort Dearborn, where
Chicago now stands. The territory of Michigan was completely in their
hands, and the settlers along the lakes and all through the northwest
were at the mercy of the Indians.
[Illustration: WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON.]
General William Henry Harrison tried to regain Detroit. His advance
guard was met and defeated at the River Raisin, a few miles south of
Detroit. Every American prisoner was murdered by the Indians; and for
years afterward the River Raisin was a name of horror.
The Americans felt that something desperate must be done. The first
great thing to be gained was the control of the lakes.
At this time nearly the whole of the western country was a wilderness.
The only way of moving men and supplies from place to place, was by the
use of boats on the lakes and water courses.
On Lake Ontario a small fleet had been built, and a skirmish or two had
been fought. But the thing of most importance was the control of Lake
Erie. This would not only give back Detroit to the Americans, but would
also be the means of recovering the whole of the Michigan territory.
The task of building a fleet and driving the English from the lakes was
given to Lieutenant Perry.
At the beginning of the war he had left his quiet home in Newport, and
had hurried to Washington to ask for active service.
He was promised the first vacancy, but in the meantime he was ordered to
protect the harbors of Long Island Sound with a flotilla of gunboats.
During the year 1812 he performed this duty faithfully, all the while
drilling his men, in hopes of being intrusted with a larger
responsibility.