From what was stated at the beginning of this chapter, it will be seen that this battle was one of the most important of the war.  Not only was it a glorious victory of itself, the occasion being the first time in England’s history that she surrendered a whole squadron, but it settled a much more momentous matter.  The British General Proctor was waiting with his army on the Canadian shore ready to be carried across the lake by the English fleet, in the event of their being successful, and pressing his invasion of Ohio, which would have been an almost fatal blow to our country.

On the Ohio shore General Harrison was waiting with an American force to invade Canada, if Perry gained a victory.  Hardly had the surrender been made when the commandant, using his cap for a desk and the back of an old letter for paper, pencilled the despatch which has become famous:  “We have met the enemy and they are ours—­two ships, two brigs, one schooner and one sloop,” which he sent by messenger to General Harrison.

[Illustration:  THE BATTLE OF LAKE ERIE.]

In the following month Harrison invaded Canada, with Proctor retreating before him, and accompanied by the famous Indian, Tecumseh, and several hundred of his warriors.  Proctor halted near the Moravian Towns, where a battle was fought October 5, in which the British and Indians were decisively defeated.  The Indian confederacy was destroyed and all danger of the invasion of Ohio ended.

Master-Commandant Perry’s victory caused his promotion to the rank of captain, and Congress awarded him a gold medal, besides suitably rewarding his officers and men.  After the war he was sent into southern waters to help suppress piracy, which had become very troublesome.  While engaged on this duty he was seized with yellow fever, and died August 24, 1819, just as his ship reached Port of Spain, Trinidad.

CHAPTER XVII.

A Hero of the Olden Days—­Cruise of the Constitution—­Her Capture of the Cyane and Levant—­Reminiscences of Admiral Stewart—­His Last Days.

During the early days of President Lincoln’s administration, before the firing upon Fort Sumter by the Confederates, the all-absorbing question was as to whether or not the fort should be reinforced by the Government.  A good many opposed, because it was known that the attempt would bring on a conflict, and, if war was to come, each was anxious that the other side should strike the first blow.

It was amid those times of excitement, doubt and trouble that Commodore Charles Stewart left his modest home near Bordentown, N.J., and went by train to Washington.  From the station he made his way straight to the White House and sent in his name to President Lincoln.  As usual, the Executive had a swarm of visitors, but he directed the distinguished caller to be admitted at once.  As the tall, sad-faced man rose from his chair he towered fully two feet above the diminutive form of the naval officer in his blue swallow-tail, who took the proffered hand, and, after a few conventional words, looked up and said in his brisk manner: