ee other sledges, filled with blue-coated men. Before the little
tavern of the town the _cortege_ usually came to a halt; and the tars,
descending, followed up their regulation cheers with demands for grog
and provender. After a halt of an hour or two, the party continued its
way, followed by the admiration of every villager, and the envy of
every boy large enough to have seafaring ambitions.

With all his energy and unswerving fidelity to the cause of his
country, Chauncey probably did nothing of more direct benefit to the
United States than writing a letter to a young naval officer, then
stationed at Newport, asking him to come West and take charge of the
naval operations on Lake Erie. The name of this young officer was
Oliver Hazard Perry, and a year later no name in American history
carried with it more fame.

Hostilities on Lake Erie had been unimportant up to the time that
Chauncey sent for Perry. The Americans had no naval vessel to oppose
to the fleet of Canadian craft that held the lake. One war-vessel
only had shown the American flag on the lake; and she had been fitted
out by the army, and had fallen into the hands of the enemy at the
surrender of Detroit. But this prize was not destined to remain long
in the hands of the Canadians. Early in the autumn of 1812, Chauncey
had sent Lieut. Elliott to Lake Erie, with instructions to begin at
once the creation of a fleet by building or purchasing vessels.
Elliott chose as the site of his improvised navy-yard Black Rock, a
point two miles below Buffalo; and there pushed ahead his work in a
way that soon convinced the enemy, that, unless the young officer's
energy received a check, British supremacy on Lake Erie would soon be
at an end. Accordingly, two armed brigs, the "Caledonia" and the
"Detroit," recently captured by the British, came down to put an end
to the Yankee ship-building. Like most of the enemy's vessels on the
lakes, these two brigs were manned by Canadians, and had not even the
advantage of a regular naval commander.

On the morning of the 8th of October, the sentries on the river-side
at Black Rock discovered the two British vessels lying at anchor under
the guns of Fort Erie, a British work on the opposite side of the
Niagara River, that there flows placidly along, a stream more than a
mile wide. Zealous for distinction, and determined to checkmate the
enemy in their design, Elliott resolved to undertake the task of
cutting out the two vessels fr