Existing comment:
Oliver Hazard Perry
1785-1819
Perry was born to the Navy. His father had fought in the Revolution, his four brothers served in the Navy, and two of his three sisters married naval officers. He was appointed a midshipman at age 14 and commissioned lieutenant three years later.
At the outbreak of war, he was assigned to gunboats in Newport, Rhode Island. Although he really desired a sea-going billet, he accepted duty on Lake Erie, where action was a possibility. It is said that Perry was lucky: fog and dark helped him get his vessels past the British at Fort Erie; temporary absence of the British enabled him to float his brigs over the bar at Presque Isle; and a fortunate shift of wind gave him the weather gauge in the Battle of Lake Erie. But this luck came as a result of hard work and diligent preparation. |