y. Exergue: INTER CLASS. AMERI.
ET BRIT. DIE X. SEP. MDCCCXIII. (_Inter classim Americanam et
Britannicam, die 10 Septembris, 1813: Between the American and British
fleets, September 10, 1813._) FUeRST. F. (_fecit_).

OLIVER HAZARD PERRY was born in South Kingston, Rhode Island, August
23, 1785. He entered the navy as a midshipman, April 7, 1799, on the
sloop-of-war General Greene, then commanded by his father, Captain
Christopher Raymond Perry. He served in the Mediterranean during the
Tripolitan war, was made lieutenant in 1807, and master-commandant in
1812, when he received a division of gunboats at Newport, Rhode
Island. In February, 1813, he was transferred to the command on Lake
Erie, where, on September 10, he defeated and captured the entire
British squadron under Captain Barclay. For this important victory he
received the thanks of Congress and a gold medal, and was promoted to
the rank of captain, and as such commanded the Java in the (p. 177)
Mediterranean for several years. In March, 1819, he set out with a
squadron for the coast of South America, and died of yellow fever at
Port Spain, Trinidad, August 23, 1819. The remains of Commodore Perry
were transferred, in 1827, by order of the Government, in the United
States ship Lexington, to Newport, Rhode Island. His battle-flag on
Lake Erie, with the motto "Don't give up the ship!" is preserved in
the Naval Academy, at Annapolis.

_____

ORIGINAL DOCUMENTS.

_Resolutions of Congress Voting Medals to Captains Perry, Elliott,
etc._

_Resolved unanimously by the Senate and House of Representatives
of the United States of America in Congress assembled_: That the
thanks of Congress be, and the same are hereby, presented to
Captain Oliver Hazard Perry, and through him to the officers,
petty officers, seamen, marines, and infantry serving as such,
attached to the squadron under his command, for the decisive and
glorious victory gained on Lake Erie, on the tenth of September,
in the year 1813, over a British squadron of superior force.

_Resolved_, That the President of the United States be requested
to cause gold medals to be struck, emblematical of the action
between the two squadrons, and to present them to Captain Perry
and Captain Jesse D. Elliott, in such manner as will be most
honourable to them; and that the President be further requested
to pr