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Few naval battles in American history have left a more enduring impression on America’s national consciousness than the Battle of Lake Erie, September 10, 1813. Master Commandant Oliver Hazard Perry’s battle flag emblazoned with the message “Don’t Give Up the Ship,” now enshrined at the U.S. Naval Academy, has become a naval maxim. His succinct after-action report—“We have met the enemy and they are ours”—constitutes one of the more memorable battle summaries in American history.

This splendid collection celebrates the bicentennial of the American victory with a review of the battle and its consequences. The volume is divided into three sections.  The first deals with “Military Operations” in the upper Great Lakes, 1812–14, and provides an overview of the War of 1812 in the Old Northwest and western Upper Canada. The second, “Consequences,” assesses the long-term impact of this campaign upon the Native Americans and Euro-Americans who lived in the region and three individuals whose lives were changed by the American recovery of the upper lakes in 1813. The final section, “Memory,” examines two ways the United States keeps the legacy of its first squadron-to-squadron victory alive by maintaining the fragile battle flag that flew on Perry’s flagships and by sailing the replica of US Brig Niagara on the Great Lakes and the East Coast.

Collectively these essays allow the general reader, the military history enthusiast, and the professional historian to take a fresh look at this significant naval engagement and its impact on subsequent historical events. 

Table of Contents

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  1. Cover
  2. p. 1
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  1. Front matter
  2. pp. 2-5
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  1. Contents
  2. pp. v-vi
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  1. Introduction
  2. pp. 1-8
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  1. Part I. Military Operations
  2. pp. 9-17
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  1. The Maumee River Campaign, 1812–1813
  2. pp. 11-31
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  1. Gaining Naval Dominance on Lake Erie
  2. pp. 32-43
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  1. “It Is Better to Make a Signal Than to Curse One’s Subordinates”: Oliver Hazard Perry and the Battle of Lake Erie
  2. pp. 44-61
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  1. Invading Canada: Joint Operations Across Lake Erie
  2. pp. 62-80
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  1. “No One Acquired Any Military Glory in This Affair”: The American Attempt to Retake Mackinac, 1814
  2. pp. 81-97
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  1. Part II. Consequences
  2. pp. 99-107
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  1. Odyssey’s End: The Battle of Lake Erie and the Failure of the Delaware Indian Struggle for Autonomy
  2. pp. 101-125
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  1. “The Disagreeablest Night I Ever Saw: John Tipton, Tippecanoe, and the Dissolution of the Middle Ground
  2. pp. 126-142
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  1. The Late War: Black Hawk and the Legacies of Violence in the Great Lakes Region
  2. pp. 143-156
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  1. The Aftermath of Victory: The Settlement of Fort Wayne, Indiana, and the Surrounding Region
  2. pp. 157-176
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  1. “A Gallant and Valuable Officer”: The Naval Career of Thomas Holdup Stevens, 1809–1841
  2. pp. 177-216
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  1. Part III. Memory
  2. pp. 217-225
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  1. Not Pretty, but Beautiful: Oliver Hazard Perry’s Battle Flag
  2. pp. 219-235
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  1. Observations on the Sailing Characteristics of the U.S. Brig Niagara
  2. pp. 236-249
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  1. Bibliography
  2. pp. 250-263
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  1. Contributors
  2. pp. 264-266
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  1. Index
  2. pp. 267-274
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