Oliver Hazard Perry

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This article is about the naval officer. For the U.S. Navy frigate, see Oliver Hazard Perry class frigate.

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

He was the son of Captain Christopher Raymond Perry (December 4, 1760 - June 8, 1818) and Sarah Wallace Alexander (1764 - December 4, 1830), and his younger brother was Matthew Calbraith Perry, the brother-in-law of John Slidell.

Educated in Newport, Rhode Island, Perry was appointed a midshipman on 7 April, 1799 and assigned to his father's frigate, General Greene. He first experienced combat on 9 February, 1800 off Haiti. During the First Barbary War, he served in Adams and commanded Nautilus during the capture of Derna.

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. During the battle Perry's flagship the Lawrence was destroyed in battle and Perry rowed a half-mile through heavy gunfire to transfer command to the Niagara, carrying his battle flag which read DON'T GIVE UP THE SHIP, a famous battle cry of naval hero James Lawrence. His battle report after victory is famous: "We have met the enemy and they are ours; two ships, two brigs, one schooner and one sloop".

While this opened Canada up to possible invasion, it simultaneously protected the entire Ohio Valley. It was the only significant fleet engagement of the war.

Image:Stamp US 1879 90c Perry.jpg

In 1819, during an expedition to the Orinoco River in Venezuela, he died of disease caused by indigenous insects while aboard the U.S. Schooner Nunsuch. His body was originally buried in Port of Spain, Trinidad but his remains were later reinterred in Newport, Rhode Island. After briefly resting in the Old Common Burial Ground in Newport, his body was moved a final time to Newport's Island Cemetery where his brother Matthew Perry is also buried.

[edit] Monuments and memorials

Perry, New York; Perry, Ohio; Perrysburg, Ohio and Hazard, Kentucky are named in his honor, as are all ten "Perry Counties" in the United States: Perry County, Alabama; Perry County, Arkansas; Perry County, Illinois; Perry County, Indiana; Perry County, Kentucky; Perry County, Tennessee; Perry County, Mississippi; Perry County, Missouri; Perry County, Ohio and Perry County, Pennsylvania. There are also many cities and towns named in honor of the hero, including Perry, a city located in Dallas County, Iowa, and Perryopolis, a borough located in Fayette County, Pennsylvania. - - A memorial was erected at his grave site in Newport. There are also monuments to Perry at Put-in-Bay, Ohio, and Presque Isle State Park in Erie, Pennsylvania. - - Various school districts throughout the country are named in Perry's honor. There is a middle school in Providence, Rhode Island, the state in which Perry was born, entitled Oliver Hazard Perry Middle School; it is sometimes shortened and called Perry Middle School or abbreviated as OHP. Commodore Perry School District in Hadley, Pennsylvania, Perry Middle School in Worthington, Ohio Perry Elementary School in Erie, Pennsylvania, and the Perry School District in Perry, Ohio, are among others. - - During the 20th century, the United States Navy named the lead ship of a class of guided missile frigates after Perry, the Oliver Hazard Perry class. See USS Perry for other ships named for him. - A beer -- The Commodore Perry India Pale Ale -- at Great Lakes Brewing Company in Cleveland, Ohio is named for him.