2 Samuel 11:26-12:10, 13-15
Psalm 32
Galatians 2: 11-21
Luke 7: 36-50
“Don’t Give Up the Ship”
Grace and Peace to you my brothers and sisters in Christ, Amen.
Throughout America’s history there have been a number of decisive battles that if even one were lost America would have ceased to exist. In most of these battles the odds were against us, and in others through the grace of God the odds were surprisingly in our favor. The fact that we won all those battles, some by the skin of our teeth, is proof that God has blessed this nation and looks out for us. One such battle is the Battle of Lake Erie.
Before 1812, in an effort to cripple Napoleon, Great Britain set its sights on America’s economy. They sent their Navy to blockade our ports to prevent us from trading with Europe, again all as an effort to cripple the French military forces. America, still a young country trying to get up on its feet would not have any of the King’s devious tactics. So President Madison and congress declared war on Britain. When war broke out there were two fronts, the Atlantic front and the Canadian front. As some forces focused on the British Blockade located on the Atlantic front, America shifted her aim towards the British military in Canada.
As soon as war broke out though, unfortunately, the British military swiftly took Detroit and established naval supremacy over Lake Erie. When it came to naval capabilities on the lakes, the United States was sorely behind, for most of our fleet was on the
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Atlantic front. So until July 1813, the harbors on and near the lake were in a frenzy building as many ships they could in order to create a fleet for the north. As for the man power for said ships, many navy soldiers were pulled across America to supplement the northern front, to include 150 men from Newport, Rhode Island; of those 150 men we have Commodore Perry and his personal clerk Chaplain Thomas Breese.
From August 1812 to July 1813, the British Navy blockaded the harbors in Lake Erie, preventing American ships from being completed and hindering squadrons from forming. But despite all of this, due to a conveniently placed sandbar one squadron under Oliver Perry was formed. Now due to the blockade, said squadron was incapable of entering the waters of Lake Erie, that is until July 1813, for during that month, while British supplies was dwindling, the weather of the Lake turned into a fierce storm that shattered the confidence of the English seamen. So out of safety from the ship destroying gales, the Enemy abandoned their blockade, which gave Commodore Perry the perfect opportunity to lead his squadron of ships from Erie, Pennsylvania to the predetermined and highly strategic location of Put-In-Bay. This was an act of God. If it wasn’t for His interference, America would have been unable to send a single squadron to Lake Erie.
But before Perry left Erie to South Bass, a friend of his died, Naval Captain James Lawrence. On the Atlantic front, Lawrence was shot down and his final order to his crew was this, “Don’t give up the ship. Fight her till she sinks.” Sadly his crew disobeyed and surrendered the ship, but the command Lawrence gave became a motto that is dear to the hearts of Navy men and has variants
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echoed throughout the military: Never surrender, don’t give up the mission, die fighting, never quit. And when it comes to ships, it is better that your ship sinks, taking down an enemy ship along the way, than it is to surrender said ship thus adding another ship to the enemy’s arsenal. Out of despair for his friend, Perry had his flag ship named the USS Lawrence, and his flag made with Lawrence’s final command on it, “Don’t give up the ship!”
We fast forward to September 10th, 1813. Perry is in Put-In Bay with 9 vessels at the ready. At 5 in the morning, Commodore Barclay of England sails with a squadron of 6 vessels to overtake the anchored American vessels. Now why 6 vessels? Did Barclay not know that America had 9 stationed? Well because of equipment issues and a personnel shortage, Barclay was only able to send 6 vessels, but even though he was out-gunned he still believed he was going to win. Why? One, the wind was in his favor. Two, his slightly smaller ships were faster than the hulky over-gunned American vessels. Three, the cannons on their ships were far more superior with a reach that vastly outstripped the shoddy American cannons. Whereas America had quantity, Britain had quality. But again through the grace of God, the American forces noticed the enemy was setting sail, and prepared for the battle ahead. Before noon, all nine American vessels were ready, and met the long range bombardment of the British cannons. That is when Perry did the unthinkable. When met with superior fire, what type of sane man would dare charge into the naval no-man’s land just to land a couple hits on enemy forces? Perry of course, that crazy man, for he ordered the two biggest ships, which included his own, the USS Lawrence and the USS Niagara, to charge towards the 6 enemy vessels and lay down
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overwhelming fire. The commander of the Niagara disobeyed and stayed behind, thus it was 1 vs 6, the USS Lawrence vs all 6 British ships. And the Lawrence wrecked surprising absolute havoc among the British forces. What really caught the British by surprise was the unfortunate rate that their superior officers fell. Again it must have been an act of God that one single ship was capable of taking down a surprising number of high ranking officers which crippled their military integrity and discipline.
But this surprise was short lived for it was 1 v 6, and the USS Lawrence was quickly turned into Swiss cheese. Yet true to its namesake, Perry and his men did not abandon the USS Lawrence until the last gun was inoperable and the ship was sinking. After that Perry, miraculously was able to escape the ship unscathed, got on a boat that was swiftly rowed to the USS Niagara, released the coward commander who abandoned him, took charge of the vessel with his flag flying high, “Never give up the ship”, and led his entire squadron in battle to defeat the enemy. This is when the tides turned, for the enemy miscalculated. Believing that Perry was fleeing the battle, the British forces turned towards reorganizing command and recovering their now entangled ships. But not only was Perry not fleeing, but the winds, which previously favored England, suddenly did a 180 and was now favoring Perry. This allowed Perry to swiftly overtake and decimate the British squadron.
The end result, Perry lost one ship but gained six for all six surrendered. This battle took roughly three hours, and like that the naval superiority flipped from Britain to America.
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On that day America lost 24 seamen and 3 officers; Britain lost 38 seamen and 3 officers. Because Barclay surrendered, all of Barclays men and Perry’s too were capable of holding a funeral together for the next two following days. Perry’s Chaplain Thomas Breese, using the common book of prayer, led both forces in worship as they as one mourned the loss of their fellow brethren. The seamen had a burial at sea on September 11, 1813. The next day, the officers, all six, were buried together on Put-In-Bay under a lone willow tree. I believe it was Chaplain Thomas’ resolve, his desire to serve both forces, to have compassion upon the captured British soldiers by honoring their fallen, that ultimate led to the 200 plus years of peaceful relationship between Canada and America after the War of 1812.
But who is this Chaplain Thomas Breese, who seems to be in Perry’s shadow? You see, Thomas Breese is more than a dear friend of Perry. They grew up together in Newport, Rhode Island. They went to the same church. They were baptized by the same pastor. They both grew up in naval families. Perry became Breese’ mentor and patron at an early age. Breese was Perry’s personal clerk. He went with Perry to Erie, Pennsylvania. Chaplain Breese joined Perry’s squadron and became Perry’s personal chaplain and the chaplain to whatever ship Perry was captain of.
When the squadron was being formed, Breese was with Perry. When Perry named his flag ship the USS Lawrence with the motto, “Don’t Give Up the Ship”, Breese was with him. When the mighty gales opened a route for Perry from Erie to South Bass, Chaplain Breese was with him. When Perry had the USS
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Lawrence charge into battle Breese was on the ship. Breese even personally manned the last working cannon as the ship started to sink. When Perry miraculously escaped the ship unscathed on a row boat Breese was with Perry on that very boat laying down fire. And when Perry took charge of the USS Niagara and won the battle thus changing the tides of war finally in favor of America, Breese was with him on that ship. Breese was also as Chaplain the one who led the funeral for both American and British Navy men. And today, Chaplain Thomas Breese and Commodore Perry are buried in the same cemetery, their church’s cemetery.
Behind every great man who accomplished true good, there is a God-fearing religious leader; and Breese was always with Perry, supporting him, counseling him, praying for him. Breese is not the source of these miracles, God is. What I am alluding is this, while Perry was doing great things, we know for a fact that Perry was a god-fearing man who trusted in the miracles of God to help lead him in battle for with him was always his friend and chaplain, Chaplain Thomas Breese. And that is something worthy of praise.
Let us pray,
Dear Heavenly Father, in likeness to the relationship between Commodore Perry and Chaplain Breese, we ask that you help lead the church in supplying good leaders of the faith who can instruct and guide and will pray for those who at your
blessing govern and protect the people. In your most holy name we pray: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.