Foresight and unwearied energy in preparing for battle; a bull-dog courage in the face of personal danger; a John-Paul-Jones tenacity of purpose--the good-will to fight while a plank with a gun floated; a calmness of observation--an eye uninfluenced by excitement when viewing the enemy; a judgment swift to take advantage of every emergency; the ability to inspire the men with confidence. To a civilian it seems that after personal or animal courage the most important characteristic of a great commander in a squadron battle is the ability to take swift advantage of emergencies, for this, of course, implies his tenacity of purpose and his ability to see clear-eyed. What Oliver Hazard Perry had done to show whether he had foresight and unwearied energy has already been told. Whether he exhibited, in spite of youth and lack of experience, the other characteristics of a great naval commander the reader shall be able to judge from the story of the battle itself. It was on September 10, 1813. September the tenth full well I ween, In eighteen hundred and thirteen, The weather mild, the sky serene, Commanded by bold Perry, Our saucy fleet at anchor lay In safety, moor’d at Put-in Bay; ’Twixt sunrise and the break of day, The British fleet We chanced to meet; Our admiral thought he would them greet With a welcome on Lake Erie. Goaded by an impending lack of provisions into trying to open communications with Long Point, where the British had their supplies both for the Malden army and the fleet, Captain Barclay had determined to sail down the lake and meet Perry if he must. It was for this that Perry had been hoping, and “’twixt sunrise and the break of day the lookout at the mast-head of the _Lawrence_, peering into the mists at the north and west, saw the white canvas of the British fleet and bawled in voice heard throughout the fleet,” “Sail ho!” It was a cry that brought the officers of the squadron quickly to the decks of their vessels. A moment later signals were fluttering from the mast-head of the flag-ship saying “Enemy in sight,” and then others arose which said literally “Under way to get.” The shrill whistle of the boatswains and the hoarse cry of “All hands up anchor” followed. At this time a gentle southwest wind was blowing from over the Ohio wilderness, bringing a light rain-squall, but the rain quickly passed away and the breeze shifted to northerly. And so the little squadron had to resort to oars as well as sails in beating its way out of the island-locked harbor. There had been no need of a conference among the officers of the squadron this morning, for they had gathered on the _Lawrence_ the night before for that purpose and had heard their young leader end his instructions with the famous words of Nelson, “If you lay your enemy close alongside you cannot be out of your place.”