title: Speech of Com. Jesse Duncan Elliott, U. S. N., delivered in Hagerstown, Md., on 14th November, 1843.
text: • H» 'oK '^O^ "oV" %'^f^-V ^^^'*^\/ %^-^/. %'... •j«5?i,._k*^ O • . '*i% A^ » • • » ^•' </\ ''■^.' **'"** ••^•' /\ --^K-' **'"*^ L^<-^i>- /^:^%\ .^'^^ti>- /^;^^ Wk >-r. »<'•• • % ^ ♦V lO"" . •:: ./^ "bV" *n.'^^\** "°<.*^^/ **/^7^\/ 'o^ .0. bV" V^'V SPEECH COM. JESSE DUNCAN ELLIOTT, U. S. N. DELIVERED IN HAGERSTOWN, Md. On 14tli November, 1S43. Published by the Committee of Arrangement of Washington County .1IARYL.AIIID. G. B. ZiEBER «fc Co. No. 3 Ledger Buildings, Third St. 1844. ERRATA. SPEECH. SPEECH Page 18, line 11, for J. S. Newton, read J. t' Newton Paee 48 linp, 7 .nre / '"^f^^« '•0°". read store room, i-age 48, lines 7 and 8 from bottom-for port, read part. jj APPENDIX. Page 24, 30th line from top, after martyr, read, in the Episcopal faitfe. Hagerstotvu, Sov. 24, 1S43, Sir: It is our pleasant duty to convey to you the request ol' many of our fellow-citizens, that you will accept at their hands the compliment of a public dinner to-morrow. You are here, after a long interval, in your native village, and near the tomb of your forefathers. Not many of your old play-fellows remain to take you by the hand, but of those who occupy their places, there are none but will greet with pleasure one who has so long borne the flag of their country 'through the battle and the breeze ;' and none who are not gratified to know that their townsman, -the Old Commodore,' will again " be fit for aea," and bear his country's flag in glorious triumph. We are, respectfully, your obedient servants. J. J. MERRICK, 0. H. WILLIAMS, JERVIS SPENCER, CHS. MACGILL, JNO. T. MASON, GEO. SCHLEY. To Commodore Elliott. Ilagerstoivn, Nov. 24, 1843. To Jos. J. Merrick, O. H. Williams, J. Spencer, Chas. Macgill, John T. Mason and George Schley, Esqrs. Committee. Gentlemen — I am honored with your communication of to-dai^. It would aff'ord me very great pleasure to meet the many old and valued fnends, natives of the totvn of my birth, at the festive board. This pleasure would be the more enhanced, as I recognize of the committee, names to which I feel strongly united by close family relations. The visit, however, I have made the town of my nativity, being somewhat of a pious nature, I thought only to drop a tear of affection on the sepul- chre of a departed mother and sister. I pray you to excuse me, gentlemen, when in addition I assure you that a previous engagement at Baltimore interferes to prevent an accept- ance of so distinguished a favor. I am, very respectfully and truly your servant, J, D. ELLIOTT. The Committee of Arrangement, on thepartof the people of Washington county j Maryland, present the following interesting Speech of their esteemed and distin- guished fellow-citizen to the public. Without pretending to draw attention to its many and distinct excellencies, they will merely remark, that on the occasion of Commodore Elliott's visit to the town of his nativity, they were honored with the request to tender him a public dinner as an evidence of the high consideration, which was generally and deeply entertained for him, and for the valuable and inappreciable services he had rendered his country. This invitation, Commodore Elliott politely declined, from considerations of propriety, and which were honorable to the feel- ings of his heart. Acceding however to the wishes of his numerous friends, expressed through the same Committee, he met them in the Court House of this place, and addressed them in the following speech. With much reluctance, it was allowed by him, to be published as reported : and it is thus given, in the confident belief that the important historical events which it contains and in which it was his lotto participate, will be read with the same profit and delight, that attended;t heir delivery on the above occasion. Hagerstown, January, 1844. SPEECH COMMODORE ELLIOTT, U. S. N DELIVERED IN HAOEJtSTOWN, MD. My Fellow Countymen : In the course of my pilgrimage to the tombs of a sainted mother and endeared sister, I have willingly tarried in the town of my ^^^tjvity, to renew the associations of my childhood, and revive those recollections which are among the dearest and holiest in the heart of man. I have tar- ried, too, that I may return in some measure, the generous and kind evidences of regard, which have been so profusely extended towards me • and even at the risk of personal mortification, to respond to the request to address you upon the events of a life in which you have been pleased to express an awakened interest. Although the task is far from being among those of my vocation, yet I cannot feel at liberty to declme the invitation, presented as it has been, by those for whom I have ever cherished the warmest esteem, and who have, by their many at entions, increased the obligations of gratitude. Permit me then, to ask for an exercise of your charitable indulgence towards the numerous faults of a hasty address, and to be assured that the only regret 1 experience is, that its subject matter is not more worthy of your attention. If, how- ever, among the incidents of my narrative, there occur any, which m your lenient view may claim some commendation, let them be refer- red to the motive which has ever influenced my breast, to serve my beloved country in faithfulness; and if there should appear at times, an undue solicitude to defend myself from undeserved calumny and wrong, I beer you to remember, that next to tliat country, the humble services which I have rendered, are the only legacy which I can bequeath to my children. Clair and myself. It was a spontaneous act of the great Apostle of Liberty, and it cheered the heart of a fond mother, in the season of gloom and painful anxiety. The warrants were dated April 2d, 1804, and were accompanied by orders, attaching St. Clair to the President, Comm. Samuel Barron, and myself to the Essex, Capt. James Barron. We proceeded to the Bar- bary states on the Mediterranean, to humble them ; negotiated a peace with Tripoli, and brought home the crew of the Philadelphia, who had been confined in the dungeons of that city. Having remained on shore until 1807, I was attached to the ill-fated Chesapeake, Capt. J. Barron; and on the 22d of June, departed for the Mediterranean. We had scarcely cleared our coast, before she was attacked by the British ship-of-ihe-line, the Leopard, of greatly superior force ; and such was the utterly defenceless state of our frigate, and our ignorance of an intended attack by a vessel belonging to a nation with which we were at peace, that in a short time we were compelled to strike our flag-— an act to which nothing but the direst necessity could have compelled us to resort. I need not dwell upon an affair which now is properly judged by the world, and particularly by my countrymen. I will merely remark, that Commodore Barron did all that a brave and skilful officer could do, under the circumstances. Although a court martial visited upon him a harsh punishment; yet I rejoice that he has long been restored to the confidence of his fellow citizens, by whom he is cher- ished as one of their noble and chivalrous officers. — [^ee my testimony at Court Martial of Commodore Barron.~\ In connexion with this affair, and on account of my zeal in defend- ing the character of my brave Commander, which I conceived to be unjustly aspersed, I became involved in a personal altercation, from which I could not honorably extricate myself; and accordingly a meet- ing upon the field took place with my antagonist. He fell ; but fortun- ately the wound was not mortal; and it affords me sincere pleasure to say that we lived in close friendship, for years after, up to his death; an event no way hastened by this affair. After this unprovoked attack on the Chesapeake, Government became more strict in her retaliatory proceedings against British cruisers on our coast, and adopted the well known measures of non-intercourse, embargo,- 3 &43. I was at this period appointed acting Lieutenant on board the Enterprise, and subsequently promoted and commissioned to a Lieuten- ancy on board the John Adams, and bearer of despatches to our Min- ister, Wm. Pinckney, at the Court of St. James. During my stay in London, which was about five months, a variety of incidents occurred, which were of some interest to me as an American, and which were expressive of the feelings, &c., at that time existing between us and the English people. [Note A.] Returning to the United States, I shortly afterwards married. Immediately succeeding this event, war having been declared against Great Britain, I parted with my wife, to join my ship at New York ; but she had sailed, leaving me on shore. Having learned from Government, that Admiral Sir John Borles Warren had infor- mation of the instructions given to Commodore Rodgers, to rendezvous in the Chesapeake, and it being considered important that the latter should be apprized of this fact, I volunteered my services to bear the informa- tion, as well as for the chance of joining at sea, the Argus, of which I was First Lieutenant. For this purpose I hired a small pilot boat, called the Patriot,* put one gun and thirty men on board, and cruised 40 days; during which time 1 was chased by two British gun brigs, and narrowly escaped. I returned home, and was ordered to report for servit-e. Commodore Chauncey invited me to join his command, and applied to Government for me. I then received orders to proceed to Genessee Falls on Lake Ontario, and to Black Rock and Buffalo on Lake Erie; there to communicate with Gen. P. B. Porter, Mr. Granger, the Indian Agent, and Gen. Van Rensselaer, upon the subject of purchasing, build-- ing, and equipping boats and vessels for operations on the Lakes. While there, I invited, at the suggestion of Gen. Porter, the aged Farmer's Brother, chief of the Six Nations, to the council. He inquir- ed of me on that occasion, as he cast his eye through the win-dow, and pointed significantly to the Queen Charlotte, then lying at Fort Erie, across the lake, "Do you see that?" I answered "Yes." He then asked me if she was made fast with rope and iron, and if she would go on the rocks astern, provided the ropes were cut, and she let into the rapid stream? I answered him she would. He then proposed that himself and two sons would paddle me over to the ship in his canoe, that I might cut the rope and let her go. But as Daniel O'Connel said recently, in al- luding to an Irish war against England, I told the old Indian "I knew a trick worth two of that."t He was anxious his sons should join me ; I assured him that when I did go, I would take them along. After this, I conceived and carried into execution the capture of the Detroit and Caledonia, and on the day after, old Farmer's Brother sent his tribe down with Red Jacket to Black Rock, to have a war-dance in honor of * This was the ill-fated schooner in which Col. Burr's daughter was afterwards lost at sea. t This old Indian was the only man that ever made me turn aside from a suggested action on a point of gallantry. I am now seeking his portrait to hang it in my house. He was a brave old chieftain. He met the British with his warriors when they were advancing on Black Rock, and in the retreat from there to Buffalo, he fired his xifle with his own hands upon the pursuing enemy nearly one hundred times. 4 the expedition, and to christen me. The qeremony of the latter rite was In this wise. Preliminaries having been arranged in true Indian style, the cognomen of Owl was conferred by Red Jacket, who selected the name from the circumstance of the capture taking place in the night time. The old chief declined coming down, being a little displeased that I did not take his sons with me in the expedition; which I was un- able to do on account of the shortness of the preparation and the nature of the affair. [Note B.] After the capture of the Detroit and Caledonia, the army failing in its operations below, I left for Lake Ontario, where we had only one regular cruising brig; believing that with it and such vessels as Com. Chauncey had purchased, we would be enabled to meet the enemy before the lake should close. In anticipation of what I believed to be the Commodore's wishes, I repaired to Sackett's Harbor, (meeting him at Oswego river,) where that skilful naval architect, Henry Eckford, was engaged in fit- ting the purchased vessels for war. The Commodore assigned me to one of the best, and in compliment to the successful effort I have just alluded to, he called her the Conquest. We soon marshalled our strength on the lake, and drove all the force of the enemy into the harbor of Kingston, where a united attack was made upon it. I refer you to that faithful historian, James Fenimore Cooper, for the result and particu- lars. — The winter having soon after set in, closed our operations for the season. Early in the spring I returned to Sackett's Harbor, and having been detached from the Conquest of 2 guns to the Madison of 24, I two days after took on board Maj. Gen. Dearborn, Brig. Gen. Pike, a park of ar- tillery, and 500 men of the brigade; when wc proceeded, accompanied by the whole fleet and 1200 men, to York, Upper Canada, and landed the whole under a heavy fire from the British troops on shore. I then returned to the Madison to report the safe landing of the brigade, and requested to be further employed. The Commodore answered me, that my ship drew too much water to cross the bar, and that I had done enough that morning. I replied that I was aware that the ship drew too much wa- ter, but that the little Conquest, from which he had withdrawn me a few days before, did not; and with his permission, I would like to lead all the schooners to the assault on the batteries. He assented, with the emphatic remark: "Do so; but be sure you bring your head back on your shoulders!'* * I may here relate a deeply affecting scene, which occurred at that time. I had scarcely set my foot upon the deck of the Conquest, when a noble young lad named Hatfield, about 15 years of age, observed to his fellow-midshipman Clarke, "My dream is up! I dreamed that Captain Elliott came on board, and that I was killed." And true enough, the little fellow was killed! His leg was taken off just below the knee by a shot from the shore, while we were working up to the battery, against an opposing wind, the magazine of which was exploded on Gen. Pike's brigade; and while I was tying up his leg, and endeavoring to stop the blood, he said it was of no use, for he must die. I replied to him that he should not die, but live to be an admiral. He asked me if he had done his duty, and if I was satisfied with him? 1 told him I was, and that he was a brave little fellow. He then asked me if I would call on my way home, and tell his father and mother that he had been faithful. I did so. His father was an industrious mechanic, at Albany. I am thus particular, because the historian, Cooper, for want of in- formation, has failed to state that I had left the Madison for the smaller vessels.* And now 1 am charged with dictating the incidents of his his- tory to him! It is due to that faithful chronicler, unequivocally to de- clare, as I now do in most positive terms, that I did not supply him with one iota of information, whilst he was penning the history of the United States Navy: for until after that history was written we were, in a great measure, strangers. In respect to the charge of employing Mr. Cooper to defend me, it is a charge which has proceeded from those who them- selves being ready to receive the most pitiable bribe for any work of baseness, are ever ready to regard all mankind as possessed of the same depraved principles, and thirst for venal prostitution. After the surrender of York, I obtamed the British flag, and sent it off, to the Madison, with the gallant and noble Gen. Pike, (now mortal- ly wounded) who in the cabin and on my cot, expired with his head upon it. This being the first of a series of operations for the conquest of Canada, Gen. Dearborne, with the whole of the army, made an at- tack on Fort George, which he reduced. The post assigned me in this operation was to keep myself in reserve, wuth Col. McCcmb, late Maj. General, for an expedition in the night; but the success of the army in the attack rendered unnecessary the contemplated movement. Fort George having thus been reduced, the operations of the navy were thrown back exclusively to its peculiar element, to seek a contest with the British fleet. In our advance to the head of the lake, a second movement was made for the dislodgement of the British then in posses- sion of York, and for the capture of their stores; to aid in which I was instructed by Commodore Chauncey to land with a body ol marines and riflemen ; but on our arrival we found our enemy had retreated. On reaching the head of Lake Ontario, 1 was shown a letter by Commodore Chauncey, received from Captain O. H. Perry, senior officer on Lak©5 Erie, in which a call was made for 100 seamen, and with me as their commander, he was pleased to say, that he would insure victory on the waters of Lake Erie. The opportunity to me was too tempting to be permitted to pass av/ay; and I consented, with the condition that, af- ter the capture of the British fleet, I should be permitted to return and join him in the great action on Lake Ontario. Accordingly, I departed for Lake Erie, taking with me more than one hundred efficient men, meeting Captain Perry at Presque Isle. I at once took command of the Niagara, of 20 guns; directing all my efforts in the organization of a crew, and practising them constantly in the use of the battery; and I did not land at Erie until we had conquered the enemy. On the follow- ing day we proceeded to the head of the lake, off" Sandusky, and receiv- ed on board Gen. Harrison, the other general officers, Col. Gaines, the young and heroic Croghan, and the Indian Chiefs who were with them. After their departure, we proceeded to our new anchorage at Put-in-Bay, and there made our calculations for future operations. Our first move was to proceed with all our force in view of Maiden, to challenge the * See letter of Francis Malloby, in Appendix. [Note C] enemy's fleet to combat, and to intimidate the Indians. But failing in our views, we returned to Put-in-Bay. Captain Perry then received a com- munication from General Harrison, stating that unless the difficulty of the British fleet on Lake Erie was removed, he might be compelled to go into winter quarters, and thus would reluctantly fail in his contemp- lated plans. This suggested the necessity of some desperate and eflfec- tive act. Accordingly, Perry and myself agreed upon again going over and giving them a feeling shot, with the hope of thus drawing them out; and in the event of that failing, we were to procure boats and men from Gen. Harrison, proceed over in the night in two divisions, respectively led by each of us, and burn the British vessels under their own guns. How- ever, after the second attempt to get them out, they appeared in the offing on the morning of the 10th of September, when we immediately got un- der weigh, and endeavored to work out of port (having a head Avind) for the combat. The wind soon favoring, we stretched out sufficiently clear; when signal was made to form the established order of battle: the Niagara in the van. Being to windward, we had it in our power to fight them as we pleased, and with a kind of metal, if properly used, to make the action short. Believing from the frequent opportunities I had had of encountering the enemy, that I could successfully lead the van of our line, 1 previously solicited and obtained the position. But when ap- proaching the enemy, nearly within gun shot, Captain Perry made sig- nal to come within hail. I backed my main-top-sails and edged off" the line. Captain Perry then asked to converse with my marine officer, Capt Brevoort of the army, whose family lived in Detroit; and he learned from him the name and force of each ship in the British line. The De- troit being in the van, Captain Perry remarked to me that as the ene- my's senior officer was heading their line, he thought it his duty to lead ours, and ordered me to take his place, under the stern of the Cale- donia. The change was accordingly made, and our line formed, as sworn to by all the witnesses examined on the point, before the Naval Court at New York in 1 8 1 5. When within 1 J miles of the enemy, their ship, the Detroit, with her long guns, commenced a fire upon the Law- rence, Captain Perry, at the head of our line. A few minutes after, about 12 o'clock, M., (both lines on an angle of 15^,) — the head of our line reaching only to the third vessel in theirs — the Lawrence rounded to and commenced firing, aided by the two gun boats on her weather bow. The British fleet was in the following order: — Chippewa, Detroit, Hunter, Queen Charlotte, Lady Prevost and Little Belt. The American thus: — Lawrence with two schooners. Scorpion and Ariel, on her weather bow, distance from her 200 yards ; Caledonia and Niagara in close order with the Lawrence, perhaps half a cable's length apart, (about 120 yards) and the four gun boats astern, distance three-fourths of a mile. Immediately after the Lawrence had opened her battery, th firing became general along our whole line. On perceiving the shot of all our carronades to fall short of the enemy, I ordered the long guns shift- ed over against them. Knowing the distance to be too great, and ob- serving the Queen Charlottu bear up from our fire, I detcrmln<x! to run through the line after her, and directed the weather braces to be manned for that purpose. But there stood by me as good a seaman perhaps as our Navy ever had in it; 1 allude to Humphrey McGrath, purser, and formerly a lieutenant in the service; who observing my movements, asked me to pause a moment, and then directmg my atten- tion to the slackening fire of the Lawrence and her crippled condition, remarked that if the British effected the weather-guage we were gone. I at once saw the propriety of the observation, passed forward to the forecastle, (my flying jib boom over the stern of the Caledonia,) and ordered Lieut. Turner to put his helm up sufficiently to allow me to pass. This he at first refused, stating that he was then m his station in the line. Afterwards however, on a repetition of the order, he did so; changino- his position perhaps fifteen yards; and letting me pass him, he a^ain luffed up into his position. At this time the Lawrence ceased her fire entirely, and no signal being made, after the first, to form in the order of battle, I concluded that the senior officer was killed. The breeze now freshening, I observed that the whole British fleet drew ahead, cheering along their entire line. I then set top-gallant sail, fore and aft mainsail and foresail, and passed within 20 yards of the Lawrence; still not seeing Capt. Perry. Having now exhausted nearly all my 12lb. round shot, I ordered Mr. McGrath with a few brace men to proceed in my boat to the Lawrence, and bring me all hers; and immediately steered directly for the head of the British line, firing con- tinually my whole starboard battery on them, as I passed. When 1 reached within 250 yards of the beam of the Detroit and ahead of the Queen Charlotte, I luffed on a wind, and commenced a most deadly fire; the Niagara then being the only vessel of our fleet, in what I call close action. The British were just before cheering for victory; but their cheers were now turned into groans, and the blood ran from the scuppers of the Detroit and Queen Charlotte, like water from the spouts of your houses, in a moderate rain. The Lady Prevost luffed from her station in the British line and attempted to cross our bow for the purpose, as I thought, of raking us. I immediately ordered the marines under Capt. Brevoort to proceed to the bow of the ship, and fire upon her; which had the effect to force her back into their line. While thus engaged, a boat was reported as coming from the Lawrence, and believ- ing it to be my own boat with the shot, I directed Midshipman Smith to stand by and pass them out. Capt. Perry now perceiving the two ships foul, (being rendered so by the attempt of the Detroit to Avear round and bring her starboard battery into action, the larboard having been destroyed in a great measure by the im- perfect construction of her gun carriages, and the Queen Charlotte run- ning up under her lee, and thus becoming entangled,) and observing that the gun boats were rapidly coming up, made the signal for close action, and then bore up, passing between the Chippewa and the two ships, Detroit and Queen Charlotte; while I shortened sail with the four stern- most gun boats in line abreast, under the sterns of the two latter; dis- tance perhaps 150 or 200 yards. Soon after the British ensigns were hauled down. The flag of the enemy's commander being nailed to the mast, it could not be hauled down, and consequently an officer came aft and waved a white handkerchief, on a boarding pike as a signal of sub- mission; when I ordered the gunboats to cease tiring. After the ene- my had struck, the headmost and sternmost vessels of their line, the Chippewa and Little Belt, put up their helms, made sail, and attempted to escape for Maiden, but were pursued by the gun boats, captured and brought back.* So soon as we had ceased firing, I went on board the Detroit, to take possession, and such was the quantity of blood on the deck, that in cros- sing it, my feet slipped from under me, and I fell ; my clothing becom- ing completely saturated and covered with gore ! I went below to see Capt. Barclay, who tendered me his sword ; but I refused it, and anti- cipated the wishes of Capt. Perry, by assuring him that every kindness ■would be shown himself and the other prisoners. While on board the Detroit, I ordered my coxswain to go aloft and draw the nails which held the British flag to the mast. These nails I presented, through the hands of our old townsman. Dr. Richard Pindel, to the man who was *The following incident will in some degree account for the signal successes which crowned our arms in the war of 1S12. so blessed as to gain the heart of one of Washington county's fairest daughters. My friend, Judge Buchanan, on my right; and my friend. Gen. Williams, before me; as many others, no doubt, in this assem- blage, will recollect the charms of our mutual friend and youthful com- panion, Lucretia Hart. It was to her illustrious husband, Henry Clay, of Kentucky, to whom I felt under obligations, for a high encomium, pronounced the winter before, in Congress, upon the capture of the Detroit and Caledonia, that I presented the nails that were intended to hold the British flag aloft through victory. Returning on board the Niagara, I was mert at the gangway by Capt. Perry, who asked me if I was wounded. I answered him, " No." He then observed to me that " he thought it was impossible I could have pulled down the line without being killed." He further remarked, "I OWE THIS VICTORY TO YOUR GALLANTRY !" I then askcd him why he did not stand further on, and let us all get fairly into action ? He said he found the enemy's shot taking effect on his crew, and therefore, to divert the attention of his men from their fire, he rounded to sooner than he intended.* * Great stress has been laid on my not leaving my station in the line, at the bat- tle of Lake Erie, at an earlier moment; and in doing so, why I did not pass between the Lawrence and the enemy. I'll tell you. Where two fleets are about to engage in battle, a knowledge of naval tactics and evolutions must be resorted to. The line once formed, no captain has a right to change, without authority, or a signal from the commanding vessel. The crisis had arrived, in my opinion; when, at the risk of losing my own head, I changed the order of battle, as before stated. The British fleet being on a wind, and moving ahead, to prevent their getting between me and our small vessels, I directed my course to reach the head of their line, before they could tack and weather us. Here Capt. Perry found the Niagara, as he stated to Mr. He was engaged in preparing a diagram for publication, and thus had the interview with Perry. The agents whom he sent to the frontier, were not known by me to be there. I have learned subsequently, that they were closeted with some of the young oflicers at Erie, who furnished a diagram, placing their vessels where they wished the public to suppose them, but where they never were ; more especially the Caledonia and the Trip, neither of which ever passed my beam or the Somers, until the British flags were struck. — [See diagram, and qicestions and an- swers, before the Court of Inquiry at New York, in my Biography.] And further, what right had I to leave my position in the line, without the autho- rity of a signal ? This I have answered before. Let us try this point by a previ- ous proceeding on Lake Ontario. Sir James Yeo had led our fleet evidently with a view to separate our squadron, by drawing off the two fast sailing vessels from the dull schooners. On one occasion, Comm. Chauncey became impatient for battle — made sail in chase, and the signal for close action— engaged the Wolf— disabled her 2 10 Permit me now, my friends, to remark, in reference to Capt. Perry, that up to the time I went on board my brig, the Niagara, after the bat- tle had ceased, I FOUND HIM TO BE NOBLE, GALLANT, HIGH-MINDED. AND HONORABLE: AND NO MAN IN MY PRESENCE, SHALL SAY AUGHT AGAINST HIM ! LET HISTORY TELL THE BALANCE ! THAT HISTORY CON- TAINS THE REGISTRY OF UNCEASING PERSECUTIONS, DARK AND INGENIOUS CONSPIRACIES, UNMITIGATED AND VINDICTIVE ASSAULTS UPON ME, BY THOSE WHO PRETENDED TO BE HIS FRIENDS! BUT, SO HELP ME GOD, I DO SOLEMNLY DECLARE, THAT I BELIEVE HIM TO HAVE BEEN THE VICTIM OF THEIR HOLLOW HY- POCRISY, AS I HAVE BEEN THE OBJECT OF THEIR INFAMOUS AND VILE SLANDERS \ WHEN THE UNIVER- SAL ENEMY HAD STRICKEN HIM, AND LAID HIM LOW, I TAUGHT MY HEART TO CAST AWAY ALL UNFRIEND- LINESS TOWARDS HIS MEMORY; AND NOW THAT THE GRAVE HOLDS HIM CAPTIVE, THERE IS A FULL, DEEP OBLIVION OF ALL THAT HAS PAST, IN MY BREAST! IN RELIGIOUS SINCERITY, I SAY, PEACE, ETERNAL PEACE, TO THE BRAVE AND GALLANT PERRY ! AND BEFORE MY ETERNAL JUDGE, I DECLARE THAT THERE IS NO HAND, INSTINCT WITH LIFE, THAT IS MORE READY TO DECK HIS TOMB WITH LAURELS, THAN THIS SAME ONE, WHICH ONCE GRASPED HIS, WHEN CONGRATULATING HIM UPON OUR VICTORY! It will be perceived, my friends, that my leaving the line of battle as first established, (and that too, with the halter around my neck — for from what has passed since, it is not hard to tell what would have been my fate for that act, had we lost the battle,) and my hazardous measure of passing down the line and bringing the gun-boats into close action,^ enabled my senior officer to say in the spirit of Cagsar, " We have met the enemy and they are ours !" There were many circumstances which impelled me to the movements I made in this battle. The recol- lection of a father, who had fallen in defence of that frontier which was attempted to be wrested from us — its then exposed condition — the urgenfi necessity for decided demonstrations — the love of country, and my main and mizen mast, leaving her but one mast on which to make sail. The sec- end in command, Capt. Mulcaster, ran in between the two Commodores, in the Royal George, received Chauncey's fire, and thus enabled his own Commodore to make sail on his remaining mast, bear up, and get clear. 11 burning desire to emulate the gallantry of another Washington county boy, the brave Israel, who threw himself on board the Intrepid, at Tripoli, for the purpose of destroying the Tripolitan fleet, and who, when discovered, rather than yield himself a prisoner, with his brave companions applied the torch to the magazine, and went in one common wreck to the other world! — Is it presumptuous to express the hope that he now enjoys that eternity of glory, which true patriots and brave soldiers expect in the home of noble and exal- ted spirits ! After the action on Lake Erie, conformably with the promise to Com- modore Chauncey, I left in the ensuing spring, and returned to Lake Ontario, designing to act as flag captain, on board the Commodore's ship, Superior. But on my arrival 1 found a vacant brig, the Sylph, a fast sailer, of 20 guns, and by agreement I accepted that vessel for the purpose of bringing on the action. Late in the summer we were ena- bled to take the Lake, proceeding to its head and there intercepting a brig of nearly the same size of the Sylph, running from York to Fort George. Comm. Chauncey made signal for me to give chase and attack her, which I accordingly did ; but when I thought her to be in my grasp, the laurel was snatched from me: her captain running her on shore, and finally blowing her up. — \^Cooper's New. Hist. p. 85,] It may be remembered by many of you, my fellow townsmen, that I had another brother, Wilson, who likewise served his country on the frontier. He was a captain in the XIX Regiment U. S. Infantry, and one of those who accompanied Col. Campbell in his campaign against the Mississineway towns; in which expedition there was so much sufl'er- ing from hunger and cold. — \_See Col. CamphelVs Report, p. 102, Mil- itary and Naval Letters.'] He was also one of the four captains who so successfully charged the left flank of the British batteries, when they had invested Fort Meigs. — [_See Gen. Harrison^s letter, p. 156 Military and Naval Letters.'] He contracted disease at Fort Meigs, which con- tinued to weaken him, until it finally caused his death. My Dear Sir: I received your note last evening, after I had turned in, or should have answered it immediately. I am indignant that any report should be circulated, prejudicial to your character, as respects the action on the iOth inst It affords rae great pleasure that I have it in my power to I 12 assure you, that the conduct of yourself, officers and crew, was such as to merit my warmest approbation ; and I consider the circumstance of your volunteering to bring the small vessels into close action, as contri- buting largely to our victory. I shall ever believe it a premeditated plan to destroy our commanding vessel. I have no doubt, had not the Queen Charlotte run away from the Niagara, from the superior order I observed her in, you would have taken her in twenty minutes. With sentiments of esteem, I am, dear sir. Your friend and obed't. serv't., Capt. Elliott. O. H. PERRY. On the morning succeeding, I saw Capt. Perry, and remarked to him that as Gen. Cass and myself were assigned for making the necessary preparations for the embarkation and debarkation of Gen. Harrison's army, in a descent on Upper Canada, it would be well for us to go to his tent, (Gen. Cass') and there discuss the point on which the young officers were at issue, leaving him to make a memorandum of the same. We did so, and the original note, of which the following is a true copy, is now on file in the Navy Department, placed there by Gen. Cass. [extract.] "Washington, Sept. 3d, 1836. "Dear Sir: "A few days after the battle of Lake Erie, 1813, Comm. Perry and yourself called at my tent in Put-in-Bay, by previous appointment, I understood, to converse in my presence, on the subject of the action. The matter was discussed between you and Comm. Perry, in a friendly spirit, and the Commodore expressed his entire satisfaction at tour conduct. You parted, it appeared to me, with the best feeling, and I hoped and expected that the subject would be heard of no more. I am, dear sir, with much respect, Your obed't. servant, LEWIS CASS." Comm. Elliott, U. S. Navy. I must now, my friends, unwillingly open the grave of my departed, once gallant friend, and let him stamp with indelible infamy, the foul charges concerning my movements with the boats on the Thames, on the day of the battle. It is alleged in that paltry collection of trash and falsehood, " Mackenzie's Life of Perry," that I disobeyed orders, in leaving the first position assigned, and going nearer the battle ground. The following is Capt. Perry's letter to me on that occasion : Battle Ground, Moravian Town, 2 P. M. October 5, 1813. Dear Elliott : We have just had a battle. Five hundred British Infantry have laid down their arms. Hurry up with the gun-boats, to receive the prisoners and take care of the wounded. Very trulv yours, Capt. Elliott. [E.] 6. H. PERRY. 13 I proceeded in obedience to this letter,* near the battle ground, where I met my gallant friend, Col. Richard M, Johnson, lacerated and cut to pieces, and put him in my boat for surgical aid. After the last mentioned services on Lake Ontario, perceiving that an interminable ivar of ship-building, would likely be the only duty on the liake for some time to come, I solicited and obtained the command of the sloop of war Ontario, at Baltimore, for the purpose of cruising against the British, and subsequently, to the Mediterranean, against the Algerines, who had made war against the United States. While at New York, fitting for this cruise, in June, 1815, I received information of circulated doubts about my conduct in the battle of Lake Erie; where- upon 1 asked a Court of Inquiry, which was ordered by the Secretary. It resulted in an honorable acquittal, and was accompanied by the high- est eulogium which the Court could bestow. 1 know you will permit it to be read, since it is the result of an examination by a board of officers who were alive to the honor of their country, and jealous of the glory which belonged to the naval arm of its defence. OPINION OF THE COURT OF INQUIRY, 1815. "The Court of Inquiry, convened at the request of Capt. J. D, Elli- ott, having deliberately examined the evidence produced before them, for the purpose of investigating his conduct in the glorious battle of Lake Erie, on the 10th September, 1813, in which he bore so conspic- uous a part, sincerely regret that there should have been any diversity of opinion, respecing the events of that day ; and imperious duty com- pels the Court to promulgate testimony that appears to materially vary, in some of its important points. The Court, however, feel convinced, that the attempts to^wrest from Capt, Elliott, the laurels he gained in that splendid victory, as second in command under the gallant and highly meritorious officer, Capt. Perry, ought in no wise to lessen him in the opinion of his fellow citizens, as a brave and skilful officer, and that the- charge made in the proceedings of the British Court Martial, by which Capt. Barclay was tried, of his attempting to withdraw from the battle, is malicious and unfounded in fact. On the contrary, it has been proved to the satisfaction of this Court, that the enemy's ship. Queen Char- lotte, bore off from the fire of the Niagara, commanded by Capt. Elliott. A. MURRAY, President. Henry Wheaton, Judge Mvocaie. Approved, B. W. CROWNINSHIELD." I will here ask the permission of my friends to interrupt the course of my narrative in order to remark that, after the rendition of such a ver- dict by a court constituted of the honor and chivalry of the service, it might be expected that my conduct in the batde of Erie would no longer be the subject of unjust reflection, even among my enemies. But after events have disappointed such reasonable expectations. My whole pro- fessional life has been marked by persecutions as unrelenting as they * See Comm. Elliott's account of the ascent up the Thames, of the gun-boats, and ihe army, relative to this afiair. [F.] 14 were bitter, and by conspiracies for my ruin, as ingenious as they were dark and vindictive. Not only have individuals enlisted in their crusade against my honorable and fair reputation, and personal feelings been brought to bear against my peace and that of my family, but local and even state prejudices have been called into activity to crush a single, solitary individual. The legislature of Rhode Island gratuitously, and by proceedings wholly ex-paite, considered the circumstances of the bat- tle, and pretended to decide the relative merits of the parties concerned. One Tristram Burges, with an effrontery only equalled by his su- perlative stupidity, has published a small volume, in which the claim to honorable consideration for my part in the affair is denied me. Be- cause the Naval History of the United States by J. Fenimore Cooper has done me justice, the work has been assailed, and its author libelled;* whilst that wretched farrago of errors and nonsense, the "Life of Perry," *I would here commend this faithful historian. Read all his works, for he writes with a vigorous pen, and with great truth; and in defence of truth and jus- tice, he suffered almost martyrdom, and on my account, which endears him to me. When he took up his pen to record the events of the Battle of Lake Erie, we were comparatively strangers. When he (Cooper) advertised to write a History of the Navy, Comm. M. C. Perry, brother-in-law to A. Slidell Mackenzie, went to him at Philadelphia, and asked him if he wanted materials to describe the Battle of Lake Erie. Mr. C. replied, " Yes." " Here they are," said Mr. P., placing a huge pack- age on the table, for which Mr. Cooper thanked him. Some time after this, Mr. P. called again, to inquire if Mr. C. wanted any thing more, when he answered, "Yes, the papers explanatory in the case of Cap". Elliott; yours are all of a con- troverted character. I must seek for truth — Jiiid and record it." "Do you think you will mention the name of Comm. EUiott with respect?" "Most assuredly." " Then your book will be attacked^ "Very well." And sure enough it was attacked — and by whom? A. Slidell Mackenzie; in the North American Review. 