Perry's Victory and International Peace Memorial ⓘ

Perry’s Victory and International Peace Memorial was an engineering marvel of its time and an architectural statement. Surrounded by 25 acres of landscaped grounds this national memorial was established to honor Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry's victory in the Battle of Lake Erie. Of equal significance, the Memorial serves as a symbol of international peace and a constant reminder of the ongoing cooperation between former enemies, Great Britain, Canada, and the United States. The construction was commissioned by nine states, and located on South Bass Island in Lake Erie near the US-Canada border. The location is symbolic for being within sight of the undefended border. Rising 352 feet above Lake Erie and visible for miles across the lake, island visitors often mistake the columnar structure for a lighthouse, but stepping onto the surrounding plaza, and going inside the rotunda, a sense of that peace and victory is revealed.

Designed by architect Freedlander, the solid bronze eight-footed, pinnacle structure was cast by the Architectural Bronze Division of the Gorham Company. The lantern was shipped in pieces and reassembled in place. The diameter is 17 ft 4 in (1.2 m). The height is 22.5 ft (6.9 m), and it weighs about 11 tons.

Erie, October 12, 1813: “About 11 o’clock Capt. Perry produced the flag & having unfurled it, mounted a gun slide & said “My Brave Lads, this Flag contains the last words of the brave Capt. Lawrence. Shall I hoist it?” – “Aye, Aye” they said from all quarters.” [ From Samuel Hambleton’s Diary, transcribed by Gerard T, Altoff] Captain James Lawrence was a friend of Perry’s. He was mortally wounded aboard the USS Chesapeake in June of 1813. While he was carried below deck, he called out to his crew, "DONT GIVE UP THE SHIP". Upon hearing of Lawrence’s death, Perry had a flag sewn with the words emblazoned across a dark background.

When the squadron sails from Put-in-Bay at 7 am, the American vessels are steering west-northwest. The wind is blowing from west-southwest. For more than two hours Perry repeatedly tacks his ships in an effort to put the wind to his back, but with no success. By 10 am, the wind shifts to blow from the southeast, placing the wind directly behind the Americans. Perry's opponent, Commander Robert Heriot Barclay, is an experienced Royal Navy officer. His options do not alter when the wind shifts. Barclay points his bow to the west and into line of battle. With the wind at his back, Perry makes tactical adjustments. The 20-gun brig Lawrence , Perry's flagship, is third in line behind two schooners followed by the Caledonia , a small brig with three guns. The Lawrence is set to engage Barclay's 19-gun flagship, the Detroit . Fifth in the American line of battle is the other 20-gun brig, the Niagara , captained by Master Commandant Jesse Elliott. The Niagara prepares to engage the 17-gun Queen Charlotte , the second largest British ship. Three schooners and a sloop follow the brig Niagara ready to engage the smaller British vessels.

IT IS FOR ME A HAPPY CIRCUMSTANCE THAT I SHOULD SPEAK FOR THE GOVERNMENT AND PEOPLE OF THE UNITED STATES IN JOINING IN THIS WELL DESERVED MEMORIAL TO A GREAT COMMANDER. MEN OF THIS SORT A NATION NEVER FORGETS. THIS MEM- ORIAL IS NOT MEANT SO MUCH TO KEEP HIS MEMORY GREEN AS TO FULFILL A PIOUS NATIONAL DUTY AND TO SHOW TO THE GENERA- TIONS TO COME THAT THE NATION IS NOT UNGRATEFUL AND IS ALWAYS MINDFUL OF THOSE WHO SERVE HER.

PROCLAIMED BY PRESIDENT MONROE, APRIL 28, 1818, AND STILL IN FULL FORCE, THE RUSH-BAGOT AGREEMENT IS THE MOST ENDURING AND FATEFUL RESULT OF THE WAR OF 1812.

IT HAS SAVED MANY MILLIONS IN MONEY AND PROB-ABLY MANY THOUSANDS OF LIVES BY MAINTAINING IN PERFECT PEACE FOR MORE THAN A CENTURY THREE THOU-SAND MILES OF FRONTIER BETWEEN THE UNITED STATES AND THE BRITISH EMPIRE WITHOUT SOLDIER OR SHIP, WITHOUT FORTRESS OR GUN.

IT HAS BEEN THE DECIDING INFLUENCE IN CARRYING THESE TWO GREAT NATIONS IN PEACE AND FRIENDSHIP THROUGH FOUR CRISES, ANY ONE OF WHICH, WITHOUT IT, WOULD PROBABLY HAVE RESULTED IN DESTRUCTIVE WAR.

BECAUSE THIS MEMORIALIS DEDICATED TO COM-MEMORATION OF VICTORY IN WAR NOT MORE THAN TO THE TRIUMPH OF ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF PEACE WITH OUR TRUSTED CANADIAN NEIGHBORS. THIS, THE SHORTEST OF TREATIES BETWEEN GREAT NATIONS IS WRITTEN HERE IN FULL, IN ENDURING BRONZE, TO BE READ BY ALL THE PEOPLE.

THE NAVAL FORCE TO BE MAINTAINED UPON THE AMERICAN LAKES BY HIS MAJESTY AND THE GOVERNMENT OF THE UNITED STATES SHALL HENCEFORTH BE CONFINED TO THE FOLLOWING VESSELS ON EACH SIDE, THAT IS –

ON LAKE ONTARIO, TO ONE VESSEL NOT EXCEEDING ONE HUNDRED TONS BURDEN, AND ARMED WITH ONE EIGHTEEN-POUND CANNON.

ON THE UPPER LAKES, TO TWO VESSELS NOT EX- CEEDING LIKE BURDEN EACH, AND ARMED WITH LIKE FORCE.

ON THE WATERS OF LALE CHAMPLAIN, TO ONE VESSEL NOT EXCEEDING LIKE BURDEN, AND ARMED WITH LIKE FORCE.

ALL OTHER ARMED VESSELS ON THOSE LAKES SHALL BE FORTHWITH DISMANTLED AND NO OTHER VESSEL OF WAR SHALL BE THERE BUILT OR ARMED.

IF EITHER PARTY SHOULD BE HEREAFTER DESIROUS OF ANNULLING THIS STIPULATION, AND SHOULD GIVE NOTICE TO THAT EFFECT TO THE OTHER PARTY IT SHALL CEASE TO BE BINDING AFTER THE EXPIRATION OF SIX MONTHS FROM THE DATE OF SUCH NOTICE.

THE BUILDING OF THE MEMORIAL PERTAINS TO HISTORY EQUALLY WITH THE EVENTS WHICH GAVE IT INSPIRATION.

AS THE MONUMENT SHALL STAND FOR ALL THE AGES, SO THE PATRIOTIC ZEAL, DEVOTION AND INTELLIG- ENCE WHICH GAVE IT TO THE NATION ARE PART OF THE IMPERISHABLE RECORDS OF OUR COUNTRY.

MAY THE HEARTS OF MEN NEVER TURN FROM THE ONE AS THE SIGNET OF HU- MAN WORTH, NOR FROM THE OTHER AS THE HERITAGE OF HUMAN LIBERTY.

IS REMARKABLE, NOT SO MUCH IN ITS DETAILS AND IN THE COURAGE DISPLAYED UPON EACH SIDE BY THOSE WHO PARTICI- PATED, BUT IN THE NOTEWORTHY FACT THAT IT FURNISHES THE “TERMINUS A QUO” OF A CENTURY OF PEACE WITH THAT POWER AGAINST WHICH WE HAD FOUGHT TWO WARS LASTING EIGHT YEARS OF THE PREVIOUS TWENTY-FIVE.

DESPITE THE OPPORTUNITY FOR NAVAL WARFARE ON THE WATER BOUNDARY BE- TWEEN CANADA AND THE UNITED STATES FROM DULUTH TO MONTREAL, AND THE CONSEQUENT TEMPTATION TO MAKE THOSE WATERS BRISTLE WITH FORMIDABLE FLEETS IN TIMES OF PEACE, TO MEET THE EXIGENCIES OF POSSIBLE WAR. THOSE WATERS DURING THE WHOLE CENTURY JUST PAST HAVE BEEN, BY AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE NATIONS, WHOLLY FREE FROM SUCH DOGS OF WAR AND THE BEAU- TIFUL SHORES ON EACH SIDE OF THIS NATURAL BOUNDARY HAVE NOT BEEN VEXED WITH BEETLING ARMAMENTS.

IN THE PRESENT MOVEMENT, BROUGHT ON BY THE CONSCIENCE OF THE WORLD, TO SECURE RELIEF FROM WAR AND THE BURDEN OF ITS PREPARATIONS, THIS CONDITION, EFFECTED BY INTERNATIONAL AGREEMENT, FURNISHES AN INSTRUCTIVE LESSON.

THIS SINGLE COLUMN COMMEMORATES THE END OF A BATTLE AND THE HERA- LDING OF A LASTING ERA OF PEACE BETWEEN CANADA AND THE UNITED STATES – TWO NEIGHBORS DEDICATED

IT PROVIDES LASTING TEST- IMONY THAT OUR COMMON VALUES OF FREEDOM AND DIVERSITY CAN BE ATTAINED AND STRENGTHENED THR- OUGH MUTUAL RESPECT AND

THIS PLAQUE IS DEDICATED TO THE 150 YEARS OF PEACE WHICH FOLLOWED THE WAR OF 1812, IN WHICH SO MANY LOST THEIR LIVES, AND TO THE HOPE THAT THIS HARM- ONY BETWEEN TWO NEIGH- BORS MAY BE A SYMBOL OF INTERNATIONAL COOPERAT- ION IN A WORLD STRIVING TOWARD THE GOAL OF LASTING PEACE.

THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT THE STATES AND THEIR COMMISSIONERS ENGAGED IN THE ERECTION OF THIS MEMORIAL ------------ THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT LIEUTENANT GENERAL NELSON A. MILES, REAR ADMIRAL CHARLES H. DAVIS, MAJOR GENERAL J. WARREN KEIFER. OHIO HORACE L. CHAPMAN, JOHN H. CLARKE, GEORGE W. DUN, HORACE HOLBROOK, WEBSTER P. HUNTINGTON S.M. JOHANNSEN, NICHOLAS LONGWORTH, JOHN J. MANNING, WM. C. MOONEY, GENERAL A.J. WARNER, ELI WINKLER, GEORGE H. WORTHINGTON. PENNSYLVANIA T.C. JONES, GEORGE W. NEFF, MILTON W. SHREVE, A.E. SISSON, EDWIN H. VARE. MICHIGAN ROY S. BARNHART, JOHN C. LODGE, ARTHUR B. LOOMIS, GEORGE WHITFIELD PARKER, E.K. WARREN. ILLINOIS WM. PORTER ADAMS, H.L. BECKEMEYER, RICHARD S. FOLSOM, GENERAL PHILIP C. HAYES, NELSON W. LAMPERT, W.H. MCINTOSH, CHESLEY R. PERRY, JAMES PUGH, WM. HALE THOMPSON, ADAM WECHLER, WILLIS J. WELLS. WISCONSIN JOHN M. BAER, LOUIS G. BOHMRICH, SOL. P. HUNTINGTON, LIEUTENANT GENERAL ARTHUR MACARTHUR, CHARLES B. PERRY, S.W. RANDOLPH, A.W. SANBORN, GEORGE E. SCOTT, REAR ADMIRAL F.M. SYMONDS, JOHN M. WHITEHEAD. NEW YORK SIMON L. ADLER, WILLIAM J. CONNERS, GEORGE D. EMERSON, MARTIN H. GLYNN, CLINTON B. HERRICK, EDWARD D. JACKSON, JOHN F. MALONE, JOHN T. MOTT, HENRY H. NOBLE, WM. L. ORMROD, WM. F. RAFFERTY, EDWARD SCHOENECK, JACOB SCHIFFERDECKER, WILLIAM SIMON, ROBERT F. WAGNER, CHARLES H. WILTSIE. RHODE ISLAND LOUIS M. ARNOLD, COLONEL HARRY CUTLER, HENRY E. DAVIS, SUMNER MOWRY, JOHN R. SANBORN. KENTUCKY COLONEL ANDREW COWAN, R.W. NELSON, MACKENZIE R. TODD, HENRY WATTERSON, SAMUEL M. WILSON. MASSACHUSETTS

KILLED LIEUT JOHN BROOKS HENRY LAUB CHRISTIAN MAYHEW J W ALLEN JOSEPH KENNEDY JOHN C KELLY JOHN SMITH WILLIAM CRANSTON ANDREW MICHAEL JOHN HOFFMAN CHARLES POHIG

KILLED NELSON PETERS JAMES JONES JOHN ROSE JAMES CARTY THOMAS BUTLER WILSON MAYS JAMES BROWN ETHELRED SYKES PHILIP STARPLEY JESSE HARLAND ABNER WILLIAMS

WOUNDED LIEUT JOHN J YARNALL DULANEY FORREST JOHN NEWEN SAMUEL HAMBLETON WILLIAM C KEEN AUGUSTUS SWARTWOUT JONAS STONE THOMAS CLAXTON FRANCIS MASON WILLIAM V TAYLOR JOSEPH LEWIS EZEKIEL FOWLER

WOUNDED JOHN E BROWN WILLIAM JOHNSON JAMES HELAN GEORGE CORNELL THOMAS HAMMOND WILLIAM THOMPSON GEORGE VARNUM JAMES MOSES STEPHEN FAIRFIELD JOSEPH DENNING WILLIAM ROE WILLIAM DARING

WOUNDED GEORGE WILLIAMS LANNON HUSE JAMES WADDINGTON JOHN BURNHAM ANDREW MATTESON JOHN BURDEEN JEREMIAH ESTERBROOKE HENRY SCHROEDER BENONI PRICE THOMAS ROBINSON PETER KINGSLEY THOMAS HILL

WOUNDED NATHAN CHAPMAN BARNEY McCAIN WILLIAM DAWSON WESTERLY JOHNSON ROBERT HILL SAMUEL SPYWOOD THOMAS REED FRANCIS CUMMINGS JESSE WILLIAMS WILLIAM SIMPSON JAMES HADLEY CHARLES VANDYKE

WOUNDED WILLIAM BURNETT DAVID CHRISTIE WILLIAM BAGGS HENRY VANPOOLE THOMAS TRIFF CHARLES HARRINGTON ELIJAH PARTIN WILLIAM B PERKINS JOHN ADAMS NEWPORT HAZARD JOHN CLAY∙JAMES BIRD NATHANIEL WADE

KILLED PETER MORRELL ISAAC HARDY WOUNDED LIEUT JOHN J EDWARDS EDWARD MARTIN JOHN C CUMMINGS RONVELL HALL JOSHUA TRAPVILL WILLIAM DAVIS HENRY DAVIDSON ELIAS WILLEY GEORGE PLATT

WOUNDED JOHN M STIBUCK JOHN FREEMAN THOMAS WILSON JAMES LANFORD CHARLES DAVIDSON DANIEL BENNET CORPORAL SCOTT JOHN FILTON THOMAS MILLER GEORGE M MANOMY SAMUAL COCHRAN GEORGE SCOFFIELD