On September 10, 1813, during the War of 1812, U.S. naval forces under Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry defeated a British squadron at the Battle of Lake Erie. Perry’s famous report, “We have met the enemy and they are ours,” signaled a clear American victory. Control of the lake allowed the United States to secure its northwest frontier. The win forced British and allied Indigenous forces to retreat from the Detroit area. It also boosted American morale at a time when earlier campaigns had seen mixed results.
