On 8 October 1812, he and Army Captain Nathan Towson captured captured the British brigs HMS Caledonia and HMS Detroit, anchored near the British Fort Erie in the upper reaches of the Niagara River (the Detroit was the former American USS Adams).
The Caledonia was loaded with furs and managed to make it to an American port. The Detroit, on the other hand, was swept down the Niagara River into range of the British guns at the fort. Elliott battled the fort until he ran out of ammunition and then beached his ship on Squaw Island and fled to the American side of the river.
British and American guns then destroyed the ship. Elliott and Towson were later commended for this action by Congress.
However, in February 1813, Elliott was replaced as commander of the Lake Erie American fleet by Master Commandant Oliver Hazard Perry.
(This very likely led to the problems between the two men at the Battle of Lake Erie later that year.)
--Brock-Perry
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