September 10, 1813 · Great Lakes Theater
September 10, 1813
Master Commandant Oliver Hazard Perry met the British squadron near Put-in-Bay, Ohio, in a brutal fight for control of Lake Erie. Perry's flagship USS Lawrence was shot to pieces and he famously transferred his flag to USS Niagara under heavy fire, rowing through a hail of shot in an open boat. From Niagara he broke through the British line and forced the entire British squadron to surrender — the first time in Royal Navy history that an entire squadron had been captured. Perry's dispatch to General Harrison became immortal: 'We have met the enemy and they are ours.'
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