Combat· War of 1812
Great Lakes Campaign
The Great Lakes Campaign was the inland naval war, fought on Lakes Erie, Ontario, Huron, and Champlain, where command of the water decided the fate of whole frontiers.
Marines served aboard the squadrons that Oliver Hazard Perry built on Lake Erie and Thomas Macdonough commanded on Lake Champlain, fighting in the two decisive American victories of the northern war. At the Battle of Lake Erie on 10 September 1813, the Marines suffered five killed and thirteen wounded, including Lieutenant John Brooks; Perry's triumph cut the British supply line and forced them to abandon Detroit. At Plattsburgh on Lake Champlain a year later, Macdonough's victory turned back a major British invasion of New York. Marines also served on the smaller craft in the failed Mackinac expedition and the loss of the Tigress, Scorpion, Ohio, and Somers. The lake victories secured the northern frontier.
Engagements in this conflict (7) Podcast episodes on War of 1812
Record no. 216