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Authors: Wesley B. Turner
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present. 5
Chauncey hurried back to his threatened base while Yeo sailed in the opposite direction, towards Burlington, carrying troops and supplies for the army that had been driven away from Fort George. Yeo used his ships to capture American supply boats and to cannonade the enemy on shore.
For the next two months the cautious Chauncey kept his fleet in Sackets Harbor and sent out only small naval patrols. He feared to face Yeoâs new ship,
Wolfe
(twenty-two guns), until his next warship,
General Pike
(twenty-six guns) was completed. It was launched and fitted by the last week of July whereupon Chauncey sailed his fleet westward. On July 31, the Americans again occupied York, seized supplies, and burned storehouses.
O.H. Perry. A young naval officer when he was sent to Lake Erie,
Perry gained fame and promotion to captain from his victory there
in September 1813. But his naval service was cut short when in
1819, at the age of 34, he died from yellow fever while on active
duty in South America.
[Courtesy of the Buffalo and Erie County Historical Society.]
During August, Yeo and Chauncey sailed near each other, but one or the other always thought conditions wrong for a real battle. The British ships had mostly short-range guns (carronades) and the Americans long-range guns. Yeo therefore wanted to get close to the Americans, while Chauncey wanted to fight at a distance when the water was calm. The result was that they never fought a decisive action.
Chaunceyâs force was weakened by the loss of two schooners, the
Hamilton
and the
Scourge
, which overturned in a storm and sank, taking most of their crewmen with them. Their approximate location in Lake Ontario was known but it would take years of searching underwaterbefore they would be located in 1975, just offshore from Port Dalhousie. Seven years later they would be thoroughly photographed and the results published. 6 In spring 1990, they would again be examined by a remote-controlled submersible and this time video images would be transmitted to audiences of scientists and school children. The pictures of the two vessels would show them resting upright on the lake bottom, containing a great deal of their original equipment and skeletal remains of the sailors, all remarkably well-preserved by the ice cold water. Perhaps, someday, the plans to raise them and place them on a museum in Hamilton, Ontario, will be carried out. Then, instead of knowing only representations of warships from 1812â14, the public will be able to see two ships actually preserved from that era.
Aside from chasing each other, the two fleets did fight two brief battles in September 1813. Yeo got the worst of both although in the second, he managed to inflict severe losses on the enemy. After a running battle lasting almost three hours, both sides broke off the action and Yeo anchored near Burlington Bay while Chauncey fought strong winds and high waves as he sailed to the Niagara River. He then headed for Sackets Harbor and on the way recaptured two schooners Yeo had taken in August, and seized six ships carrying troops from York to Kingston.
Meanwhile, on Lake Erie, Perry had built a fleet within Presque Isleâs sheltered harbour. But the large vessels (brigs) appeared to be trapped because they drew about three metres of water and there was less than two metres over the sand bar that lay across the entrance. Beyond the bar, Barclayâs little fleet maintained a blockade until the end of July when it sailed away. During its absence until August 4, Perry had the brigs hauled over the barrier (the smaller ships were able to sail over it) and out onto the lake. The emergence of Perryâs fleet created an immediate threat to Fort Malden and Procterâs forces. In spite of the weaknesses of his fleet, Barclay had no choice but to fight Perry in order to eliminate the American naval menace.
On September 10, the two fleets approached each other among the Bass Islands near
Chauncey hurried back to his threatened base while Yeo sailed in the opposite direction, towards Burlington, carrying troops and supplies for the army that had been driven away from Fort George. Yeo used his ships to capture American supply boats and to cannonade the enemy on shore.
For the next two months the cautious Chauncey kept his fleet in Sackets Harbor and sent out only small naval patrols. He feared to face Yeoâs new ship,
Wolfe
(twenty-two guns), until his next warship,
General Pike
(twenty-six guns) was completed. It was launched and fitted by the last week of July whereupon Chauncey sailed his fleet westward. On July 31, the Americans again occupied York, seized supplies, and burned storehouses.
O.H. Perry. A young naval officer when he was sent to Lake Erie,
Perry gained fame and promotion to captain from his victory there
in September 1813. But his naval service was cut short when in
1819, at the age of 34, he died from yellow fever while on active
duty in South America.
[Courtesy of the Buffalo and Erie County Historical Society.]
During August, Yeo and Chauncey sailed near each other, but one or the other always thought conditions wrong for a real battle. The British ships had mostly short-range guns (carronades) and the Americans long-range guns. Yeo therefore wanted to get close to the Americans, while Chauncey wanted to fight at a distance when the water was calm. The result was that they never fought a decisive action.
Chaunceyâs force was weakened by the loss of two schooners, the
Hamilton
and the
Scourge
, which overturned in a storm and sank, taking most of their crewmen with them. Their approximate location in Lake Ontario was known but it would take years of searching underwaterbefore they would be located in 1975, just offshore from Port Dalhousie. Seven years later they would be thoroughly photographed and the results published. 6 In spring 1990, they would again be examined by a remote-controlled submersible and this time video images would be transmitted to audiences of scientists and school children. The pictures of the two vessels would show them resting upright on the lake bottom, containing a great deal of their original equipment and skeletal remains of the sailors, all remarkably well-preserved by the ice cold water. Perhaps, someday, the plans to raise them and place them on a museum in Hamilton, Ontario, will be carried out. Then, instead of knowing only representations of warships from 1812â14, the public will be able to see two ships actually preserved from that era.
Aside from chasing each other, the two fleets did fight two brief battles in September 1813. Yeo got the worst of both although in the second, he managed to inflict severe losses on the enemy. After a running battle lasting almost three hours, both sides broke off the action and Yeo anchored near Burlington Bay while Chauncey fought strong winds and high waves as he sailed to the Niagara River. He then headed for Sackets Harbor and on the way recaptured two schooners Yeo had taken in August, and seized six ships carrying troops from York to Kingston.
Meanwhile, on Lake Erie, Perry had built a fleet within Presque Isleâs sheltered harbour. But the large vessels (brigs) appeared to be trapped because they drew about three metres of water and there was less than two metres over the sand bar that lay across the entrance. Beyond the bar, Barclayâs little fleet maintained a blockade until the end of July when it sailed away. During its absence until August 4, Perry had the brigs hauled over the barrier (the smaller ships were able to sail over it) and out onto the lake. The emergence of Perryâs fleet created an immediate threat to Fort Malden and Procterâs forces. In spite of the weaknesses of his fleet, Barclay had no choice but to fight Perry in order to eliminate the American naval menace.
On September 10, the two fleets approached each other among the Bass Islands near
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