ncounter. On the 8th the two Ontario schooners, "Hamilton" and
"Scourge," were lost with nearly all on board; and on the 10th the
"Julia" and "Growler" were captured. After this, it may be imagined
that Chauncey with difficulty parted with men; and in the midst of his
second collision with Yeo the battle of Lake Erie occurred. In it, of
the one hundred and eighty men deemed necessary by Chauncey, Perry's
brig had one hundred and forty-two, of whom thirty were sick; while
the squadron, with nearly all its vessels present, instead of the
intended seven hundred and forty, had but four hundred and ninety. Of
this total, nearly one hundred were received from the army on August
31, only nine days before the action. For the most part these were
strangers to shipboard. Barring them, Perry's fighting force was
barely more than half that required by Chauncey's estimate.

Indirectly, and notwithstanding Perry's disposition to make the best
of his difficulty, this condition came near causing his withdrawal
from the lake service; a loss which, had it occurred, might have
reversed the issues, for in few general actions has the personality of
the commander counted for so much, after the battle joined. In a
letter of July 26 to Chauncey, he had written: "The men that came by
Mr. Champlin are a motley set, blacks, soldiers, and boys. I cannot
think you saw them after they were selected."[75] Chauncey replied,
somewhat testily, "I regret you are not pleased with the men sent you;
for, to my knowledge, a part of them are not surpassed by any seamen
we have in the fleet; and I have yet to learn that the color of the
skin, or the cut and trimmings of the coat, can affect a man's
qualifications or usefulness." To this he added a warning not much
short of a reproof: "As you have assured the secretary that you should
conceive yourself equal or superior to the enemy, with a force in men
so much less than I had deemed necessary, there will be a great deal
expected from you by your country, and I trust they will not be
disappointed in the high expectations formed of your gallantry and
judgment. I will barely make an observation, which was impressed upon
my mind by an old soldier; that is, 'Never despise your enemy.'"[76]

This advice was sound, rightly weighed. Yet it is not too much to say
that the confidence which carried Perry on to decisive victory has in
it inevitably something of that assurance of success which is akin to
contempt of the e