Oliver Hazard Perry

From New World Encyclopedia

Oliver Hazard Perry

Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry (August 23, 1785 – August 23, 1819) was an officer in the United States Navy. He served in the War of 1812 against Britain. Perry and his men constructed a squadron of ships and proceeded to defeat a British squadron at the Battle of Lake Erie. Perry’s victory insured the United States control of Lake Erie for the rest of the war.

Early Life

He was the son of Captain Christopher Raymond Perry and Sarah Wallace Alexander, and his younger brother was Matthew C. Perry, the brother-in-law of John Slidell.

Educated in Newport, Rhode Island, Perry was appointed a midshipman on April 7, 1799 and assigned to his father's frigate, General Greene. He first experienced combat on February 9, 1800 off Haiti. During the First Barbary War, he served on the Adams and commanded Nautilus during the capture of Derna.

Military Career

At his request during the War of 1812 he was given command of U.S. Naval forces on Lake Erie. He supervised the building of a small fleet at what is now Erie, Pennsylvania. On September 10, 1813 Perry's fleet defended against an attacking British fleet at the Battle of Lake Erie. During the battle Perry's flagship the Lawrence was destroyed and Perry rowed a half-mile through heavy gunfire to transfer command to the Niagara, carrying his battle flag which read DON'T GIVE UP THE SHIP, a famous battle cry of naval hero James Lawrence. His battle report after victory is famous: "We have met the enemy and they are ours; two ships, two brigs, one schooner and one sloop."

While this opened Canada up to possible invasion, it simultaneously protected the entire Ohio Valley. It was the only significant fleet engagement of the war.

Perry was honored on 90-cent postage stamps of the late 19th century; this one is from 1879.

In 1819, during an expedition to the Orinoco River in Venezuela, he died of disease caused by indigenous insects while aboard the U.S. Schooner Nunsuch. His body was originally buried in Port of Spain, Trinidad but his remains were later reinterred in Newport, Rhode Island. After briefly resting in the Old Common Burial Ground in Newport, his body was moved a final time to Newport's Island Cemetery where his brother Matthew Perry is also buried.

Monuments and memorials

Perry, New York; Perry, Ohio; Perrysburg, Ohio, Hazard, Kentucky and Perry, Iowa are named in his honor, as are many other towns and cities. All ten "Perry Counties" in the United States are also named in honor of him: Perry County, Alabama; Perry County, Arkansas; Perry County, Illinois; Perry County, Indiana; Perry County, Kentucky; Perry County, Tennessee; Perry County, Mississippi; Perry County, Missouri; Perry County, Ohio and Perry County, Pennsylvania. There is also Perryopolis, a borough located in Fayette County, Pennsylvania.

A memorial was erected at his grave site in Newport. There are also monuments to Perry at Put-in-Bay, Ohio, and Presque Isle State Park in Erie, Pennsylvania.

Various school districts throughout the country are named in Perry's honor. There is a middle school in Providence, Rhode Island, the state in which Perry was born, entitled Oliver Hazard Perry Middle School; it is sometimes shortened and called Perry Middle School or abbreviated as OHP. Commodore Perry School District in Hadley, Pennsylvania, Perry Middle School in Worthington, Ohio Perry Elementary School in Erie, Pennsylvania, and the Perry School District in Perry, Ohio, are among others.

During the 20th century, the United States Navy named the lead ship of a class of guided missile frigates after Perry, the Oliver Hazard Perry class. See USS Perry for other ships named for him.

A beer — The Commodore Perry India Pale Ale — at Great Lakes Brewing Company in Cleveland, Ohio is named for him.


References
ISBN links support NWE through referral fees

  • Dillon, Richard. We have met the enemy: Oliver Hazard Perry, wilderness commodore. New York: McGraw-Hill 1978. ISBN 9780070169814
  • Dutton, Charles J. Oliver Hazard Perry. Cranbury, NJ: Scholar's Bookshelf 2006. ISBN 9780945726364
  • Lewis, Charles Lee. Famous American naval officers. Essay index reprint series. Freeport, N.Y.: Books for Libraries Press 1971. ISBN 9780836921700
  • Perry, Oliver Hazard, and John E. Howard. Hunting expeditions of Oliver Hazard Perry: as recorded in the diaries kept from 1836 through 1855. DeForest, Wis: St. Hubert's Press 1994. ISBN 9780963309433
  • Skaggs, David Curtis. Oliver Hazard Perry: honor, courage, and patriotism in the early U.S. Navy. Library of naval biography. Annapolis, Md: Naval Institute Press 2006. ISBN 9781591147923

External links

Credits

New World Encyclopedia writers and editors rewrote and completed the Wikipedia article in accordance with New World Encyclopedia standards. This article abides by terms of the Creative Commons CC-by-sa 3.0 License (CC-by-sa), which may be used and disseminated with proper attribution. Credit is due under the terms of this license that can reference both the New World Encyclopedia contributors and the selfless volunteer contributors of the Wikimedia Foundation. To cite this article click here for a list of acceptable citing formats.The history of earlier contributions by wikipedians is accessible to researchers here:

The history of this article since it was imported to New World Encyclopedia:

Note: Some restrictions may apply to use of individual images which are separately licensed.