![[simpleton]](img/thesimp.gif)
July 26, 2010
Sailing Ship Battles From the War of 1812
Illustrated
The next four paintings are collected in Richard Hough's A History of Fighting Ships, 1975 edition, Octopus Books LTD. They depict three U.S. victories and one U.K. victory during the war of 1812.
![[Constitution sinks java]](img2/found/constitutionsinksjava.jpg)
Constitution defeats Java
![[Constitution captures Guerriere]](img2/found/constitutioncapturesguerriere.jpg)
Constitution captures Guerriêre
![[United States captures Macedonia]](img2/found/unitedstatescapturesmacedonian.jpg)
United States captures Macedonian
![[Shannon captures Chesapeake]](img2/found/shannondefeatschesapeake.jpg)
Shannon captures Chesapeake
Hough's book, a broad view of western naval history, does not get into an overlooked detail of the always neglected War of 1812. Some of the most important engagements, gems of American maritime history, took place not at sea but on the unpromising waters of the border lakes. The Battle of Put-In Bay on Lake Erie off the coast of Ohio is probably best known:
![[The battle of Lake Put-In Bay]](img2/found/battleoflakeerie.jpg)
Master Commandant Oliver Hazard Perry transfers from Lawrence to Niagara during the Battle of Put-In Bay
The action was not confined to the Great Lakes. The Battle of Plattsburgh rocked slender Lake Champlaign on September 11 1813.
![[The battle of Plattsburgh]](img2/found/battleofplattsburgh.jpg)
The Battle of Plattsburgh
If the freshwater naval engagements of 1812-1815 float your...boat, you may enjoy Thomas Mahon's The War of 1812. It may not be the most exciting book on the shelf, but it's fully loaded with Great Lakes battles on land and water.
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