Someone on social media was wondering why President Trump capitalizes words that shouldn’t be capitalized.
The answer, of course, is that he is the world’s foremost expert on the development of grammar in West Germanic languages and he intuitively understands the complex relationship between capitalization, philosophy, economics, and the evolution of western political thought. Every character of every tweet is painstakingly calibrated to communicate precisely the correct message to precisely the correct audience. He is playing three-dimensional chess while his detractors are playing chutes and ladders. Either that, or he’s an idiot.
America in the 21st century: We don’t vaccinate our kids, but we spend billions of dollars each year on neurotoxins and other suspected carcinogens to kill dandelions in our grass.
Of course, dandelions are a scourge, even if they do sell them as mixed greens in the grocery store. As a poor kid growing up deprived in an inner-ring suburb, I remember the horror of having to play in yards that were infested with dandelions. The razor-sharp leaves, the disgusting puffballs that shot tiny seeds directly into our eyes, and the noxious yellow flowers still give me nightmares. And don’t get me started on clover.
So, today as spring turns to summer, I for one appreciate the stalwart souls among our neighbors who are ready to sacrifice the health of their children and pets – and the health of my children and pets – to defend us all from the yellow peril.
There’s nothing like a beautiful green, weed-free lawn. Nothing in nature, that is. A mono-culture of non-native plants, poorly-adapted to native soil and climate, of no use whatsoever to native birds and animals, and only kept alive by ferocious applications of water, fertilizer, pesticides, and herbicides. What could possibly go wrong?
You know that the chemicals being sprayed around are completely safe to use. That’s why the lawn care companies place little warning flags on your lawn: Keep Off, Lawn Chemicals Applied!
Nearly half of the pesticides most commonly used by lawn care companies are neurotoxins or are suspected carcinogens. While research continues, many are suspected of causing reproductive harm in humans. Clearly, small prices to pay for lush, green lawns that boost the value of our homes. And with luck, we may be around long enough to sell the places. If not, our heirs will appreciate our efforts.
It could have been the greatest rescue in maritime history.
Immediately upon receiving the distress signal, Captain Arthur Rostron ordered his ship to race to the aid of the stricken vessel. His crew rushed to ready their ship to receive two thousand survivors of the sinking passenger liner. Lifeboats were swung out; huge urns of hot coffee and soup were prepared; medical instruments were readied; nets, ladders and lights were rigged along the sides of the ship; and thousands of blankets were pulled from storage and piled for quick distribution.
On the steamship’s bridge, Captain Rostron measured the distance to the sinking vessel. At best speed, they could be there in four hours.
But the passengers and crew of the RMS Titanic didn’t have four hours. And by the time Captain Rostron’s RMS Carpathia arrived on scene, Titanic was gone and 1,517 people were dead – drowned or frozen in the icy sea.
RMS Carpathia
Carpathia rescued 710 survivors of the Titanic from the lifeboats that morning. But the rescue effort – conducted with exacting professionalism, compassion, and heroism – was overshadowed by the tragic deaths of so many others.
Like every disaster, the loss of Titanic and the deaths of more than 1500 persons were the result of a chain of circumstances, errors, misjudgments, and bad luck. Anywhere along the chain a different decision might have changed the outcome. Even after the ship had been built with watertight compartments that failed to reach the main deck; even after she was provided with a grossly insufficient number of lifeboats; even after she had rushed headlong into waters known to be harboring icebergs; even after the lookouts failed to spot the looming white mountain; even after the ship’s desperate last-second course change proved just enough to tear open multiple watertight compartments; and even after lifeboats were launched with empty seats; final catastrophe might have been averted.
If Carpathia had been twenty-five miles nearer, or if SS Californian, which was nearer, had received Titanic’s frantic distress calls, rescue ships might have arrived on scene before Titanic sank. Titanic would then be an ironic footnote – the unsinkable ship that sank – but she would not be remembered today as one of the greatest maritime disasters in history.
But the chain remained intact. Catastrophe wasn’t averted. No rescue ships arrived before fifteen hundred people were forced into the freezing water, where they paid the price for the errors of others: faulty design, overconfidence, inattention, and poor planning.
Captain Rostron, his crew, and the Carpathia’s passengers did everything in their power to save the passengers and crew of Titanic. They treated those that they could save with generosity and kindness during the four-day voyage to New York.
After her rescue mission, Carpathia resumed her passenger service on the Atlantic. Taken up for war service at the outbreak of World War I, she was torpedoed and sunk by a German submarine in July 1918 with a loss of five crew members. 275 persons were rescued.
Despite the enormous impact human development has had on the natural landscape of Ohio, many species of birds are thriving in urban areas, said Harvey Webster of the Cleveland Museum of Natural History. But not all species have been able to adapt, and the continual evolution of the urban landscape will provide both opportunities and perils to the birds that live among us.
Webster’s remarks were delivered in an evening lecture last night at the Natural History Museum, where he is the museum’s Chief Wildlife Officer. His talk was part of the museum’s Explorer Lecture Series.
In Northeastern Ohio – as in almost everywhere else – the natural landscape is continually evolving in ways that either support or fail to support wildlife, said Webster. Birds – and other animals – are forced to adapt to these changes. The birds and animals that we see in our urban and suburban areas today have adapted successfully. If a species could not adapt, we simply don’t see it around.
The evolution of Ohio’s physical landscape opens new opportunities for wildlife to reclaim previous territory or to populate new territory.
An obvious example is the white-tailed deer. No one knows how many deer lived in Ohio in the years before European settlement. But it is known that by 1908, deer were effectively eradicated in the state. But in the 1920’s and 1930’s deer were reintroduced and by 1956 they could once again be found in all Ohio counties.
Four bird species that have adapted especially well to Ohio’s human-dominated landscape are gulls, hawks, falcons, and turkeys, said Webster. All are thriving in urban settings. Other birds that have adapted well and are regularly seen in Ohio include ospreys, turkey vultures, Canadian geese, and bald eagles. Currently there is a nesting pair of eagles along the Towpath Trail in Cleveland and another pair at a playground in Avon, Webster said.
Hawks do especially well in areas where people have erected backyard feeding stations for songbirds, said Webster. “We put out food to attract birds, because we like them,” said Webster. “But so do hawks.” While the hawks undoubtedly appreciate our efforts, we really don’t need to put out food for songbirds, said Webster. “They do very well without the feeding stations.”
Birds look for ways to exploit opportunities in the landscape, said Webster. Ospreys commonly nest on cell phone towers while turkey vultures roost there.
But while many species have adapted well to life near humans, some features of the urban landscape are devastating for birds, especially for migrating birds. And that’s a lot of birds. Each year in the United States, six billion birds migrate north, while 8.7 billion migrate south. Some migrations are truly epic.
Several species of warbler – a family of songbirds that usually weigh less than half an ounce – migrate from Ohio to winter feeding grounds in Mexico, the West Indies, or South America. One species, the Blackpoll Warbler, migrates a preposterous 2,000 miles over open ocean from its breeding grounds in Canada to its wintering grounds in Venezuela. At an average speed of 25 mph, the non-stop flight takes up to 88 hours. During the flight, each warbler loses about twenty percent of its body weight. Birds that did not gain enough weight in preparation do not survive.
No one is exactly sure how the warblers manage to find their way across the sea, but research indicates that they, along with many other migrating birds, navigate using the stars, the sun, and the Earth’s magnetic field. Scientists do know that the warblers fly to the coast where they wait for favorable winds to start their journey.
While warblers have to fly night and day to complete their ocean crossing, many bird species migrate primarily at night. This keeps them safe from predators, but leaves them vulnerable to a modern hazard: lighted buildings. Migrating birds use the stars to orient themselves during their flights. But on cloudy or foggy nights when the stars are not visible, they can become disoriented by building lights and crash into the building or circle it until they fall from exhaustion. A recent study estimated that as many as half a billion birds are killed in collisions with buildings each year in North America.
To reduce the number of migrating birds killed in building strikes, the Cleveland Museum of Natural History partners with the Ohio Bird Conservation Initiative on a program called ‘Lights Out Cleveland,’ which works with building owners to adjust their building lighting during peak migration periods to reduce bird strikes.
Lighted buildings aren’t the only hazards for birds, noted Webster. Wind turbines, power lines, towers, vehicles, and plate glass windows all take a toll. And, of course, cats. Each year hundreds of millions of birds are killed by cats in America, said Webster. “This is a significant source of mortality,” he said. “Something we could easily stop.”
Cat owners should take responsibility for their pets, he said, by keeping their cats indoors. Other actions that anyone can take to help reduce mortality of birds include placing bird tape on windows, volunteering with a bird-supporting organization, creating a mini-habitat or refuge, and planting native plants in your yard.
Recycling can help reduce the amount of materials that go to American landfills, but it won’t solve our solid waste problem.
That
was the message of Kathy Rocco of the Cuyahoga County Solid Waste District yesterday
at the Rocky River Public Library. Rocco spoke to about one hundred Westshore residents
about ways to reduce solid waste and recycle more effectively.
“Recycling
is a partial answer at best,” said Rocco. “I believe waste reduction is where
it’s at.”
Recycling is a popular activity, but it is far more complicated than many people think. Tossing a bottle in a recycling bin isn’t the end of the process, it’s just the beginning. That bottle will be collected, transported, sorted, processed, and marketed. Each step is performed by a different organization, and most steps have to be profitable or they won’t be done. “Recycling only works if the material has value,” said Rocco. “Someone must be able to sell the material.”
Recycling
is a dynamic industry that is constantly changing, said Rocco. At one time, the
thinking was, ‘throw it in, they’ll sort it out.’ That attitude worked for a while, but today, with
the volume of plastic and other waste material growing, markets for recycled
materials disappearing, and profit margins shrinking, the contents of bins that
are contaminated with non-recyclables are likely to end up in the landfill.
“When
we say we will throw something away,” said Rocco, “away means the landfill.”
“Trying
to reduce waste is a personal responsibility,” said Rocco. “We make choices
every day with the things we buy, but we don’t always have complete
information.”
Here
is some information that Rocco shared to help people recycle more effectively.
There are only three choices for disposing of solid waste: landfills, recycling, and composting.
In Cuyahoga County, 43 percent of the solid waste collected is recycled. Six percent is composted. The rest- slightly more than half – is landfilled.
The five items that are most commonly recycled in Cuyahoga County are metal cans, cartons (juice, milk, etc.), glass, paper and boxes, and plastic bottles and jugs.
Recycling programs are managed locally. Every community has different recycling rules. The availability of local markets drives many recycling decisions, so different communities face different constraints.
Aluminum cans have the highest value for recyclers. “They have a higher value than steel,” said Rocco. “Aluminum cans are a great place to start recycling, if you are just starting.”
The next best items for recycling are paper and boxes, including newspapers, cardboard, magazines, phone books, catalogues, mail, and printer paper. Shredded paper should not be added to recycling bins because it won’t be recovered at the Materials Recycling Facility and will only create problems when it blows around the machinery.
The only type of plastic that should go in curbside containers are plastic bottles and jugs. Many other types of plastic are recyclable, but there is very little market demand for them and the company that picks up your curbside bin will almost certainly end up taking those materials to the landfill.
Glass is highly recyclable, but the market for recycled glass is shrinking as manufacturers shift to aluminum and plastic containers. Many recycling firms now must pay to get rid of glass.
“Many other items can be recycled, just not in curbside containers,” Said Rocco. Scrap metal, household hazardous waste, aluminum foil, plastic bags and film, small metal items, holiday light strings, computers, tires, clothing, and construction materials are examples of items that can be recycled with some extra effort.
“The
bottom line is that recycling is a stopgap at best,” said Rocco. “The real
solution to our solid waste problem is to shift to reusable containers,
especially to move away from single-use plastic containers. Recycling starts
with you.”
For more information about recycling in Cuyahoga County, see the Cuyahoga County Solid Waste District website at: https://cuyahogarecycles.org/
Recently,
two Cleveland men who had been wrongly imprisoned for more than 30 years were freed
when a key witness against them recanted his earlier testimony.
News accounts of the story emphasized the decades the men were imprisoned for the crime they didn’t commit. But when I heard more details of the story, I was struck by the fact that they had originally been sentenced to death. Only a decision by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1978 that declared Ohio’s then-capital punishment statute unconstitutional saved their lives.
Of
course, in 1981 Ohio passed a revised death-penalty law and has conducted
executions sporadically ever since.
The story of the two released men – and of a third man who was convicted with them but had been paroled after serving a mere 28 years – was told by author Kyle Swenson in his book, Good Kids, Bad City.
In
the book, Swenson writes that before investigating this case, he had always
assumed that the criminal justice system had safeguards or guardrails to prevent
innocent persons from being sentenced to death. I suspect that many Americans believe
that as well.
Unfortunately,
they are not correct.
The American criminal justice system works largely as designed. But few people understand what it was actually designed for. And it can’t stop a wrongfully-convicted person from being executed.
Actually, to say our system was ‘designed’ at all is something of a misnomer. The criminal justice system that we use – more accurately, the systems, as each state writes its own rules of criminal procedure – has evolved over many centuries. The rules and procedures we use today have been cobbled together from disparate parts, leftover theories, good ideas, rampant prejudices, and lofty assumptions over a period of 400 years. The oldest parts of our criminal justice system predate the United States Constitution by centuries.
So,
what is the purpose of our criminal justice system? Discover truth? Dispense justice?
Unsurprisingly,
no.
The overriding purpose of our system is to reach a decision, hopefully while protecting the rights of the accused. We need a way to decide how to handle allegations of criminal conduct and we want a system that minimizes the possibility that innocent people are convicted.
If the purpose of the system was to understand what really happened – to discover the truth – our rules would be a lot different. First, there’d be no such thing as inadmissible evidence. Any information or evidence that could help determine the truth of an allegation would obviously be allowed.
Also,
we wouldn’t have an adversary system. If
we wanted truth, we’d have a system where the state, the victim, and the
defendant worked together to find out what really happened. We wouldn’t use a
system where each side has an incentive to obscure the truth and discredit
certain information.
So,
our system does work. There are no ties. Every case is ultimately decided, one
way or another. But truth, justice, and
even fairness are not part of the deal.
Which brings us to the death penalty, an irrevocable act that ought to be taken very seriously. There is no argument in favor of the death penalty that can overcome the fact that our criminal justice system is neither intended to nor is capable of discovering the truth. The question then becomes, how many innocent people are we willing to kill to preserve a punishment whose deterrent effects are unclear?
See also: Does the Death Penalty Deter Crime?
Kwame Ajamu and Ronald Bridgeman after their exoneration (AP Photo)
Inside Oliver Hazard Perry’s Triumph at the Battle of Lake Erie
There would be no second chance, and U. S. Navy Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry knew it.
As he approached six British warships on the morning of September 13, 1813, Perry was determined to end the naval campaign on Lake Erie that day. The nine-ship fleet he commanded had been built for this exact moment, and this moment only. If he lost the coming battle his ships would be destroyed, the British would control the lake, and America’s Northwest Territory would likely be lost. There would be no opportunity to try again.
That Perry’s fleet existed at all was something of a miracle, comprised of equal parts tenacity, back-breaking labor, British mistakes, and luck. For more than a year the United States and Britain had engaged in dual arms races on Lakes Ontario and Erie, struggling to build and man warships that could control the critical waterways. The tiny frontier settlements on both sides of the lakes lacked virtually everything needed to build, equip, and crew fighting ships. Skilled workers, sailors, sails, rigging, guns, powder, metal fittings: all had to brought hundreds of miles to the lakes over forest trails, unpaved roads, and barely navigable waterways.
The armies of the War of 1812 fought most battles within sight of the Great Lakes. These inland waterways were often the only way to move troops and control of them was vital.
The British had actually won the race – they had a small force of warships ready to sail by the end of 1812, more than six months before the Americans were able to field their fleet – but they failed to use their naval superiority to halt the American building effort.
Perry knew that the year-long effort to build and crew his ships and the British failure to intervene when they had the chance could not be repeated. His ships were literally irreplaceable.
So, when two hours of combat left his flagship shot to pieces all around him – rigging destroyed, half his guns out of action, blood pooling on the decks – Perry had no thought of quitting the fight. Clambering into his ship’s last surviving boat, he made his way to the largest U.S. vessel remaining and coolly steered her through the British line, raking their decks, ruining their ships, and forcing their surrender.
Oliver Hazard Perry (Image source: WikiCommons)
His victory saved America’s Northwest Territories and opened the way for General William H. Harrison’s invasion of Canada. Harrison’s eventual victory at the Battle of the Thamesbroke the British and Native American alliance and helped shape the peace termsbetween the United States and Great Britain. A remarkable achievement for a small fleet of hastily-constructed ships, manned by untrained crews, led by inexperienced officers.
A New Command
Perry’s part in the Lake Erie campaign began in February, 1813, when he was summoned by U. S. Navy Captain Isaac Chauncey, commander of American naval forces on the lakes. British ships on Lake Erie were threatening American settlements and the lack of U. S. warships derailed American plans to defend the region and invade Canada. The Americans were converting several unarmed schooners into gunboats at Black Rock, near Buffalo, New York, and were building four small armed schooners at Presque Isle Bay, at Erie, Pennsylvania. But resources were limited and progress was slow. Chauncey was preoccupied preparing for operations on Lake Ontario and he needed a capable and experienced officer to oversee the work on Lake Erie.
Oliver Hazard Perry seemed an obvious choice. A well-regarded officer, the 28-year-old Perry was splitting his time commanding a mostly-idle squadron of gunboats at Newport, Rhode Island and agitating for a seagoing assignment.
But while Perry’s appointment might have seemed obvious to Chauncey, Perry, and the Navy Department, it was not at all obvious to Lieutenant Jesse Elliott, already serving on the lakes and who had recently led a daring raid on the Niagara River that captured one British brig and destroyed another.
Unsurprisingly, Elliott and Perry would have a frosty relationship that would deteriorate markedly after Elliott’s lacklustre performance at the Battle of Lake Erie. But as Perry prepared to journey overland to Erie, he had more pressing concerns than Elliott’s feelings.
Far from the busy shipyards of New York or Boston, American commanders needed to construct miniature navies on the remote frontier of the Great Lakes. (Image source: WikiCommons)
Chauncey realized that the converted merchant ships and the small schooners being built would not be powerful enough to wrest control of the lake from the British, so he ordered Dan Dobbins, a skilled Lake Erie pilot who was overseeing construction at Erie, to build a pair of 20-gun brigs that would outgun the largest British ships on the lake. These sister ships would eventually become the USS Niagara and the USS Lawrence, and they would win the Battle of Lake Erie
Shipyard in the Wilderness
When Perry arrived at Lake Erie in mid-March, following an arduous 20-day journey from Newport, trees had been felled for the brigs, but construction had not yet begun. Building those ships would be Perry’s priority that spring and summer. But the obstacles he would face would be daunting.
The brigs were to be built to plans that had been drawn up for construction of the USS Hornet in Baltimore nearly ten years earlier. Captain Chauncey had been Hornet’s first commanding officer and he knew the capabilities of the ship. If actually built, the Lawrence and the Niagara would outclass any vessel the British had on Lake Erie.
But building two brigs in poorly-equipped “shipyards” in the thinly-populated forests surrounding the Great Lakes was nothing at all like building warships in well-provisioned seaports like Baltimore. Wood was certainly plentiful around the lakes – the trackless forests stretched for hundreds of miles in every direction – but skilled workers, sails, rigging, chains, nails, anchors, metal fittings, paint, guns, ammunition, and all the other necessary items were not. The town of Erie could not even provide housing for the workers who were arriving to build the vessels. In fact, the influx of laborers led to food rationing. Even the wood was problematic. The brigs were to be fashioned from trees that had been growing in the forest just a few weeks before. Planks from green or unseasoned wood was prone to warping or splitting once the ships were launched.
HMS Detroit was typical of the sorts of sloops found on Lake Erie. (Image source: WikiCommons)
Perry didn’t have a year to wait for the timber to dry. The fleet wasn’t being constructed to rule the waves for the next 40 years; they were being hastily thrown together to defeat the British in one decisive battle. They would win, and gain control of the lake, or lose, and be destroyed or captured as prizes. Either way, the use of freshly cut wood wasn’t going to make much difference, as long as the ships held together long enough to fight.
Of course, with British warships already operational, Perry would need a large measure of luck and some timely British errors just to get his ships onto the lake. Remarkably, he got both.
The yards at Black Rock and Presque Isle were vulnerable to British amphibious raids. With no ships of his own on the lake, Perry was powerless to stop them. But the local British army commander, Brigadier General Henry Proctor, was operating against American forces near the Maumee River at the western end of the lake, and he could not spare the men.
Even without a ground assault, the British naval commander on Lake Erie, Commodore Robert H. Barclay, believed he could prevent Perry from getting his ships onto the lake. For one thing, geography favored the British. The building yard at Black Rock was on the Niagara River, two miles upstream from Lake Erie. The Niagara doesn’t flow into Lake Erie, it drains into Lake Ontario, plunging over Niagara Falls on the way. To reach Lake Erie from Black Rock, the Americans would need to tow their gunboats against a racing four-knot current and pass beneath the guns of Fort Erie, a British fortification on the Canadian side of the Niagara River. And if they made it past the enemy batteries, the Americans would likely have to contend with Barclay’s ships, as he planned to remain nearby and attack any American ships that made it out of the river.
The yard at Presque Isle posed fewer problems for the Americans, but not by much. There was no current to fight, and the British occupied no forts on the American shore, but the entrance to the bay was blocked by a sandbar. While the bar kept Barclay’s ships from sailing into the bay and pulverizing the American shipyard, it also prevented Perry from getting his ships out.
But getting his vessels into the lake was a problem for another day. Perry’s immediate task was to build them, and to do that he needed to find a way to protect them from possible British attack.
The British weren’t coming, but Perry didn’t know it. What he did know was that there were no fortifications or soldiers at Presque Isle. As soon as he arrived, he ordered construction of a blockhouse to defend the shipyard and arranged for the deployment of troops from the local Pennsylvania militia.
With rudimentary defences in place, and Dobbins on hand to manage construction of the brigs, Perry set out on a series of trips to Pittsburgh to obtain whatever building materials and supplies he could scrape up. He was also hoping to locate 200 carpenters and shipbuilders who had been sent from the east coast to work on the brigs at Erie, but who had not yet arrived. Each journey to Pittsburgh, by road and water, took three days.
A U.S. fleet lands and army at York. (Image source: Toronto Public Library)
With more than 5,000 residents – ten times Erie’s population – Pittsburgh was already an industrial city, boasting metalworking shops, foundries, glass works, textile mills, warehouses, and a wide range of businesses. Much of what Perry needed could be found there, although some items, as well as experienced shipbuilders, would have to come from cities with large shipyards, like Philadelphia and New York.
The Strategic Situation
Though it was likely small comfort to Perry, Barclay’s supply problems were even worse. The British commander based his ships at Amherstberg, on the Detroit River at the western end of the lake. His building materials and men for his crews had to come from York – now Toronto – on Lake Ontario, or Montreal, more than 500 miles away. While the British enjoyed freedom of movement on Lake Erie, American forces on Lake Ontario were a constant threat.
Barclay’s situation was made immeasurably worse in April when Chauncey attacked York, destroying armaments and other supplies that were intended for Barclay’s ships.
Perry eventually secured iron, canvas, cordage, rigging, anchors, cannon balls, and other equipment at Pittsburgh. Soon, 150 ship carpenters reached Erie from New York City and sailmakers, block-makers, and riggers arrived from Philadelphia. A total of 65 cannons were sent to Erie, most from Washington and some from Sackett’s Harbor. The journey from Washington with the guns took more than a month.
As supplies, equipment, and workers trickled into Erie, progress on the ships quickened. Two small schooners were launched in April, and another in May. The Lawrence was launched on June 25 and the Niagara and the last of the smaller ships were launched on July 4.
The Niagara River connects lakes Erie and Ontario. Because of Niagara Falls, no warship could pass between the two water bodies, yet control of the Niagara Peninsula made the region the site of much fighting. (Image source: WikiCommons)
By then, one of Perry’s bigger problems had been partially solved by Chauncey. In May, American ships ferried U. S. soldiers across the mouth of the Niagara River on Lake Ontario, where they captured Fort George. The loss of the fort forced the British to abandon the entire Niagara Peninsula, including Fort Erie, and retreat towards York, opening the way for Perry to sail his gunboats onto Lake Erie.
Even without the threat of British cannon fire, however, getting the gunboats from Black Rock to Lake Erie was a Herculean task. Using oxen to tow the ships against the strong current and uncooperative winds, the transit took an entire week. Once on the lake, Perry, and the 55 sailors he brought with him, set sail for Erie. On the way, they narrowly avoiding Barclay’s more powerful force by staying close to shore and slipping past the British during a fortunate lake fog.
By mid-July, construction of Perry’s little fleet of three brigs, four schooners and six gunboats was complete, though the Lawrence and the Niagara remained on the wrong side of the sand bar. Now, Perry needed to find crews for his vessels.
Perry had enough sailors to get the gunboats to Erie, but naval warfare in the age of sail was a labor-intensive business, and he needed more than 500 men to properly crew his fleet. He had fewer than one hundred. Throughout the winter and spring, the Navy Department had dispatched hundreds of sailors to the lakes, ostensibly to crew American ships on both Lake Ontario and Lake Erie. But Chauncey, whose ships were already sparring with the British on Lake Ontario, kept nearly all of them.
But now it was July, Perry’s ships were ready, and Barclay’s fleet was somewhere on the lake. Both Perry and the Navy Department ordered more sailors to Lake Erie, but Chauncey hesitated. In early July he promised Perry that he would send 120 men, far fewer than what Perry needed. The Navy Department responded with another letter, pointing out that Perry needed more than 400 additional sailors and directed Chauncey to send Perry at least enough men to crew all of the smaller ships and one of the brand-new brigs.
In mid-July, Chauncey did send 115 men to Perry – not quite the promised 120, and still far too few, but it was something. By now though, Perry was thoroughly aggravated and he responded with an ill-advised letter complaining about the quality of the sailors Chauncey had sent.
It seems likely that Chauncey’s officers, when directed to send members of their crews to Perry, picked the men that they would miss the least, so there was probably some basis for Perry’s complaint. But in the meantime, Perry would have to make do with what he could get. His biggest problem was obtaining enough hands to get his ships underway. And if the men he received needed more training, he would have to provide it. Realizing that he wasn’t likely to get the crews he needed from Chauncey, Perry asked for volunteers from the local militia. Around 60 men volunteered while another 35 signed up to serve as marines aboard the ships.
A map illustrating the American port at Presque Isle. (Image source: William L. Clements Library, University of Michigan)
Still critically short of trained hands, Perry now turned his attention to his last major problem: moving Niagara and Lawrence over the sandbar and onto the lake. Perry and his shipbuilders had had six months to think about how they would accomplish this next task.
Perry’s Big Gamble
In those days before accurate nautical charts, professional sailors all knew the basic technique for crossing a sandbar or freeing a grounded vessel: lighten the ship by removing everything that wasn’t permanently attached and haul the vessel – rocking it if necessary – to deeper water.
But the water over the bar at Presque Isle was nearly four feet too shallow for the brigs. The ships could not be lightened enough to get over the sand. So, Noah Brown, the master shipbuilder who had been overseeing construction of the brigs, decided to use wooden “camels” — large, rectangular boxes or barges — to lift the brigs over the bar. Each would be filled with water and attached to the sides of the ships. When the water was pumped out of the camels they would float higher in the water, pulling the brigs up with them. When the ships were high enough, they could be hauled over the sandbar.
While workable, the technique had one significant drawback for Perry. The brigs would still need to be lightened as much as possible, so when they crossed the bar they would be without sails, rigging, guns, and powder. This would be disastrous if Barclay and his fleet appeared before the ships’ equipment and armaments could be returned aboard.
Robert Heriot Barclay. (Image source: UpperCanadaHistory.ca)
Which is exactly what happened.
Throughout July, Barclay’s squadron had remained in the vicinity of Presque Isle, preventing Perry from passing his ships over the bar. But on July 31, the British departed, presumably to obtain fresh supplies. Perry considered that his opponent’s movement might be a ruse, but seized the opportunity anyway. On Aug. 1, he sent his smaller ships over the bar into the lake, where they formed a protective screen. Perry’s men then set to work bringing the Lawrence over the sand. It took three tries, and the removal of the ship’s masts and yards, in addition to guns, ballast, and everything else they had taken off earlier, but by mid-morning on Aug. 3 Lawrence was across. By midnight her armament was back aboard.
The next day, the Americans brought Niagara across, too. Having learned a great deal during their struggle with Lawrence, Perry’s men got Niagara across in one try. But halfway through, while the unarmed Niagara was still stuck on the sand, Barclay reappeared.
For the British, this was the payoff — the reward for all the effort they had spent building their ships and blockading the Americans. Barclay may have failed to destroy Perry’s ships while they were still being built, and he had allowed the Americans to slip past him at Black Rock, but now he only needed to close the distance, scatter the smaller ships, and wreck the immobile and un-armed American brig with cannon fire.
But surprisingly, Barclay hesitated. The American gunboats formed a line of battle, and from a distance he could not tell if the larger brigs were ready for action. Wary of the American ships and aware that his own crews were understrength and undertrained he suddenly found himself reluctant to risk his fleet. He withdrew. Energized by their close call with disaster, the Americans completed the movement of Niagara and rapidly re-armed the vessel.
Perry’s fleet now outgunned Barclay’s. The British were nearly finished building the brig Detroit at Amherstberg, and her completion would give the British a slight advantage. But until then, with a more powerful fleet and more secure supply lines, Perry could dictate the course of events on the lake.
Perry still needed men to fill out his ships’ crews, and on Aug. 9 he received a final group of 101 officers and men from Chauncey. Perry now had more than 400 men. Not as many as he would have liked, but it was clear he wasn’t going to get any more from Chauncey.
On Aug. 11, he set sail for Put-in-Bay, an island at the western end of the lake, where he would continue to prepare his ships and crews for battle and monitor British naval activity. On arrival, he received 100 frontier militiamen from General William H. Harrison, commander of American ground forces, to serve aboard the American ships as marines.
130906-N-ZZ999-002 WASHINGTON (Sept. 6, 2013) A painting shows a scene from the Battle of Lake Erie, Sept. 10, 1813. The battle took place between the opposing forces of the U.S. and Britain on the contested waters of Lake Erie during the War of 1812. The Battle of Lake Erie was one of the pivotal points of the war, with the United States trying to invade parts of Canada to use as a bargaining chip against the British in order to gain Sailor’s rights and Free Trade. (U.S. Navy photo/Released)
Perry’s presence in the lake’s western basin cut the British supply line between their base at Fort Malden on the Detroit River and their source of supply on Long Point. As food stocks dwindled, Barclay had no choice but to come out and fight. As soon as the Detroit was completed, he sailed.
Beat to Quarters
Though the six British ships mounted more guns than the nine American ships – 63 to 54 – Perry was eager to fight. Once the battle began, even the near-destruction of his flagship, the USS Lawrence, didn’t stop him. His audacious maneuvering through the British line aboard the Niagara won the battle. “We have met the enemy and they are ours,” he famously wrote to Harrison. “two ships, two brigs, one schooner and one sloop.”
The victory at Lake Erie was a remarkable achievement for the Americans. They built six wooden warships in eight months in a scarcely populated wilderness where, except for wood, nothing they needed was available. Of the hundreds of Americans who participated in the campaign, Oliver Hazard Perry is best-remembered, though many other men made critical contributions. Yet it was Perry’s relentless determination in building and manning his ships and his unwavering courage at the Battle of Lake Erie that won the Lake Erie campaign.
