At ten o'clock the British squadron, having failed in manoeuvres for the weather-gage, hove to, in line of battle, with their bows to the west and south, and awaited the approach of their enemy, now about nine miles distant. One of the smaller vessels was at the head of the line, and the _Detroit_, Barclay's {131}flagship, next; then came another small vessel, and then the _Queen Charlotte_, a large one, and then the two remaining small ones. The British vessels were all freshly painted, and had new canvas, presenting a handsome appearance to the eye of a sailor. As Perry approached and observed this order, he formed his own line to correspond with it. He placed two schooners in the van, one carrying four guns and the other two; then his flagship, the _Lawrence_; then the _Caledonia_, of three guns; then the _Niagara_, of twenty; and then the other vessels, which, however, as the wind was light, did not come up very promptly. The orders were, that the vessels should be but half a cable's length apart. As he approached the enemy. Perry displayed a blue flag bearing the words, "Don't give up the ship." * A few minutes before twelve o'clock, a bugle was sounded on the British flagship, which was answered by cheers from all the other vessels in the line, and followed by the discharge of one of her long guns, pointed at the Lawrence. As the American was still a mile and a half distant, the shot fell short; but this space was being gradually lessened, and the battle was soon fairly opened. One of the two schooners in the van replied with a * For the origin of this motto, see page 199. {132}long gun, while the _Lawrence_, being armed with carronades, bore down upon the British flagship, to engage her at short range. This she succeeded in doing, but not without suffering considerably, and the three largest of the British vessels concentrated their fire on her. The two foremost schooners fought their long guns well; but as they had been ordered to keep to windward of the flagship (that is, a little farther from the enemy) they did not draw off any of the fire from her. But, after two hours of this, the _Niagara_ drew ahead of the _Caledonia_, thus assuming the place in the line next to the _Lawrence_, and fought most gallantly; still, this hardly lessened the fire that was poured into the flagship, which the enemy seemed determined to sink. Many of her spars were shot away, all of her guns on the starboard side, but one, were rendered useless, and of a hundred men on board, twenty-two were killed and sixty-one wounded--a proportion of casualties that had never been equalled in any similar battle.