“Don’t give up Connecting the WATERWAYS the ship” OF WAR The words of Naval Commander At the eastern end of Lake Erie, the water of the Great Lakes flows into Oliver Hazard Perry’s battle flag the Niagara River and then joins Lake flown during the 1813 Battle of Ontario. The Niagara River drops four Lake Erie aboard his flagship USS hundred feet in elevation including Lawrence. They were the dying the drop over Niagara Falls. words of his friend, Captain James The restriction to maritime traffic along this route made the Niagara Lawrence who the USS Lawrence River region a crucial waterway of was named after. war between nations attempting to control North America. LAKE ERIE The Battle of LAKE ERIE Original Artwork by Peter Rindlisbacher In the first total defeat of a British naval squadron in “We have met the enemy, history, U.S. Captain Oliver Hazard Perry led a fleet of nine American ships to victory over a squadron of and they are ours” six British warships at the Battle of Lake Erie during - Oliver Hazard Perry the War of 1812. The victory was significant as it provided American forces with control of Lake Erie, thereby cutting off the supply routes to British forces at Detroit and prevented them from seizing control of the Northwest Territories. The Life of USS NIAGARA The two-masted brigs of war Niagara and Lawrence were completed in 1813, and won control of Lake Erie during the War of 1812. In 1820, Niagara was sunk in shallow water at Presque Isle in order to preserve her for possible future warfare. Raised in 1913 and reconstructed several times since, she Original Artwork by Peter Rindlisbacher residesOriginal Artwork at bythe Peter Rindlisbacher Erie Maritime Museum, in Erie PA. Illustration Courtesy of Robert McNamara, The Art of Wilderness/Seaway Trail, Inc..