The Battle Of Lake Erie

The battle of Lake Erie was fought on the 10th of September 1813, in Lake Erie off the coast of Ohio during The War Of 1812. Nine vessels of the United States Navy defeated and captured six vessels of Great Britain's Royal Navy. This ensured American control over the lake for the rest of the war, which in turn allowed the Americans to recover Detroit and win the battle of the Thames to break the Native Confederation of Tecumseh. It was one of the biggest naval battles of the war of 1812. At the beginning of the battle (the first shot was fired at 11:45am) the two British large ships, Detroit (British Flagship) and Queen Charlotte destroyed the American flagship (Lawrence). Sadly after this the Detroit and Queen Charlotte collided making them unmanageable for the rest of the battle. They were unable to prevent the other smaller British ships from being captured. Around 3:00pm after the crews of the Detroit and Queen Charlotte untangled themselves, they found themselves surrounded and unable to resist the American fleet. The British and American commanders were Robert Heriot Barclay (British) and Oliver Hazard Perry (American). Casualties: The British had 41 killed and 94 wounded. There were 306 survivors including the wounded. Captain Barclay who previously lost his right arm in 1809 lost a leg and part of his thigh in the action, while his remaining arm was rendered permanently motionless. The Americans had 27 killed and 96 wounded, two of whom later died.                                                                                                                 The Battle Of Lake Erie