Commodore Perry Port Clinton Oliver Hazard Perry

Who Was Commodore Perry?

Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry (August 23, 1785­August 23, 1819) was an officer in the United States Navy. He served in the War of 1812 against Great Britain and earned the nickname "Hero of Lake Erie" for leading American forces in the decisive naval victory at the Battle of Lake Erie.

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. His battle report after victory is famous: "We have met the enemy and they are ours".

The Battle of Lake Erie, sometimes also referred to as the Battle of Put-in-Bay, was fought on September 10, 1813 in Lake Erie off the coast of Ohio. It was between nine ships of the United States Navy and six vessels of Great Britain. The decisive victory of the Americans over the British fleet ensured American control of the lake and the North-Western Territory during the War of 1812, opened supply lines, and improved American morale after a series of U.S. defeats in the Great Lakes theater.

To commemorate the American naval triumph, Perry's Victory & International Peace Memorial was constructed between 1912 and 1915 by a commission of nine states and the federal government. On June 2, 1936 the memorial was established as a unit of the National Park Service by a presidential proclamation of Franklin D. Roosevelt.