At 7:00 am, Perry ordered his two largest ships, the USS Niagara and the USS Lawrence, to set full sail and proceed directly toward the British line. But the Great Lakes' notorious winds put up a long resistance. Despite Perry's wishes, the wind wouldn't back his ships.
Nonetheless, at 10:00, just as he was readying to steer his ships away, the tricky wind suddenly shifted, situating itself directly behind the Americans.
Commanding the British vessels was Commander Robert Heriot Barclay, an experienced Royal Navy officer from Scotland, who ordered his ships to go with the wind, taking the British vessels into battle.
The British ship HMS Detroit crippled the American flagship USS Lawrence, forcing Perry to transfer his men to the USS Niagara. He made sure to bring his battle flag -- emblazoned with the words "Don't Give Up the Ship," the dying words of his friend James Lawrence, who had been killed earlier in the war.
--Brock-Perry
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