ÿþ<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"> <html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"> <head> <title>Historical Battles of the Maumee Valley</title> <meta name="BUILD" content="01-01-96" /> <meta name="UPDATE" content="2/13/99" /> <meta name="Description" content="A simple little page with a few pictures from the Historic sites." /> <meta name="Keywords" content="Maumee River, Perrysburg, Fort Meigs,Lake Erie, Sandusky, Oliver Hazard Perry, Perry's monument." /> <meta name="Organization" content="WebWize Creations" /> <meta name="Author" content="The Wiz" /> <meta http-equiv="Reply-to" content="http://mailto:zeppp@ipfw.edu" /> <meta name="VERSION" content="5" /> <meta name="LAST-MODIFIED" content="11/29/2011" /> </head> <body background="../images/backgrounds/parchmen.gif" link="#551011" vlink="#993300"> <a name="Perry" id="Perry"></a></p> <table width="90%" border="0" align="center" cellpadding="6"> <tr> <td colspan="2"><hr /> &nbsp; <hr /> <h1><font color="#005533"><img src="../Nature/images/laplan2.jpg" alt="Forest Laplante painting his rendition " align="right" />COMMODORE OLIVER HAZARD PERRY</font></h1> <p><strong>defeated the British fleet in the Battle of Lake Erie, fought off Sandusky Bay during the War of 1812.</strong> </p> <p> <b>The Battle of Lake Erie according to Ray Allen Billington and Martin Ridge in <i>Westward Expansion: A History of the American Frontier</i>. N.Y., London: MacMillan. 1982. 282. : </b> </p> <p><b>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<font color="#000099" size="5">W</font>ashington officials finally realizing that control of Lake Erie was essential to a successful western campaign, had entrusted twenty-seven year-old Oliver Hazard Perry with the task of building a fleet strong enough to defeat the British gunboats. Perry's sturdy vessels, painstakingly built at Erie of materials transported from the East by wagon train, sailed westward on August 12,1813, in search of the British force, which was anchored under the guns of Ft. Malden. Not daring to engage the enemy amidst the treacherous currents of the lower Detroit River, the Americans waited at Put-in-Bay Harbor on South Bass Island, knowing the enemy would have to attack or lose control of Lake Erie by default. On September 10,1813, the two fleets met in a furious three-hour engagement that ended in complete victory for the ] superior American force. Harrison heard the good news a day later when a small boat rowed furiously up the Sandusky River bearing an officer who delivered Perry's famous message scribbled on the back of an old envelope:</b><b><font color="#6600ff">&quot;We have met the enemy and they are ours.&quot;</font></b> </p> <p> <strong>Take a short jaunt by plane or boat across Sandusky Bay to the Bass Islands. The Perry's Victory Monument and International Peace Memorial stands at <a href="http://www.put-in-bay.com/perry.htm">Put-in-Bay</a> on South Bass Island. The monument is made of granite and stands 352 feet tall. The International Peace monument honors the enduring peace between the United States and Canada.</b> </strong> </p> <p>&nbsp;</p></td> </tr> <tr> <td colspan="2"> <div align="center"><img src="../images/bars/flagba3.gif" alt="This is flag on a bar." /></div> </td> </tr> <tr> <td><a href="index.html"><font size="-1">History Menu</font></a><font size="-1"><br /> <a href="../default.html">Main Menu</a></font></td> <td>&nbsp;</td> </tr> <tr> <td><font size="-1">Last Updated: 11/29/2011</font></td> <td><div align="right"><font size="2" color="#005533">URL:http://users.ipfw.edu/zeppp/History/battles.html<br /> </font></div></td> </tr> </table> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> </body></html>