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Cornell University Library 1993.From a Portrait Owned by the Buffalo Historical Society.LIFE OF STEPHEN CHAMPLIN
THE MAN WHO FIRED THE FIRST SHOT AND THE LAST
SHOT IN THE BATTLE OF LAKE ERIE.
Paper read before the Buffalo Historical Society, December 5, 1870,
BY HON. GEORGE W. CLINTON
Acting upon impulse, and as a labor of love, I at once
undertook, upon the request of our esteemed fellow-citizen,
Oliver H. P. Champlin, to prepare for our society a paper in
memory of our departed friend, his father; and Mr. Cham-
plin very promptly supplied me, in great abundance, with
materials which he deemed important to enable me to day
before you a full and perfect history of the life, public serv-
ices and character of his venerated father. Those materials
(common justice requires me to state it) form the substra-
tum of this paper—prepared in enforced haste and with
many misgivings. Had I anticipated the difficulty of satis-
fying myself, to say nothing of pleasing others, I should
have declined this undertaking. What seemed in prospect
easy and pleasant of performance, wears, on approach, an
aspect of great difficulty. This notice is for you, who knew
him as well as I did—for you, not merely as his friends and
neighbors, but as a Historical Society; not for you only,
but for our archives, for posterity. It becomes necessary
381382
LIFE OF STEPHEN CHAMPLIN.
then to guard against one’s heart, to temper the warmth of
friendship and repress the gushes of eulogy, to measure and
weigh one’s words so that they may express exact truth, or
what is believed such, nor do I deem it proper on this occa-
sion, to discuss mooted questions in our history, or to revive
old controversies. The time which I am permitted to con-
sume in the reading of this paper—barely sufficient for the
matters I deem germain—would be wholly inadequate for
such a discussion. In this memoir I must be, so far as I can,
as simple, as plain, as conscientious as was the good man,
my subject; I know that I shall not satisfy myself; I fear
that I shall not satisfy his family and many most loving
friends, whom I would be so pleased to gratify; I have little
hope of satisfying your reasonable expectations. Let me say
to those who loved him, and who revere his memory, that,
while I cannot make him or any man a demigod; that while
I must and do shrink from anything like exaggeration, and
have no time, if I had ability, to dilate upon the acts and
upon the traits of character which made Stephen Champlin
estimable, those acts and traits, however simply stated, do
prove him, and must prove him, to all posterity, to have been
no ordinary man, and to have deserved the estimation in
which he was held while living, and the honor paid to him
in death.
He was born at South Kingston, R. I., on the 17th of
November, 1789; he died in our midst on the 20th of Feb-
ruary, 1870. His father, Stephen Champlin, a native of
Rhode Island, was a farmer, one who volunteered to fight,
and I believe, did fight for freedom in the Revolutionary
war. But we have no reason to believe that he was in any
respect distinguished among the respectable class to which
he belonged. His mother, Elizabeth Perry, was the daugh-
ter of Freeman Perry, Esq., and the sister of Christopher
Raymond Perry, who was the father of Oliver Hazard
Perry, the hero of the battle of Lake Erie, and of Commo-
dore Matthew C. Perry, who has done our country good
service. The Perrys won their fame long after their cousin
Champlin’s character was formed. There was nothing in
his truly respectable parentage and connections to thrustLIFE OF STEPHEN CHAMPLIN.
383
greatness upon him, nor was he born to it. He was what
we call a self-made man. Under Providence success did not
come to him, but was earned. To his own honest heart,
clear intellect, and untiring industry, heaven favoring, he
owed all that he enjoyed of honor and prosperity.
He was born and sprung up to manhood with no prom-
ise or prospect of distinction. For years before his death his
age and infirmities shrouded him from the public. When
he died, how we mourned ! And you remember the honors
that were paid to his remains, not only by this great city in
which he dwelt, but by his country. To cold philosophy,
this mourning of a country and of its Government may seem
chilly and formal; but there were, behind all formal pagean-
try, fleshly mourners with warm hearts. Such public dem-
onstrations, when, as in this case, enforced by meritorious
public service, are grateful to the surviving relatives and
friends, and beneficial to the public, but the throbbing hearts
of those who were won to love by the warm and well-ordered
walk in life, by the kind heart and the liberal hand—these
are the true mourners, not without hope, whose tears must
be grateful to the disembodied spirit. When all things shall
be tried by fire, what will prove golden ?
With such a beginning of life, how came so honored and
honorable an ending? Heaven, indeed, gave opportunity,
but whence the victory ? Must not this life of eighty years
and upwards, have been, as a whole, well spent? Does not
the result show clearly, it being considered that no mean-
ness, indirection or unmanliness led to it, that Stephen
Champlin was in all things a well-compacted man, perhaps
in no respect rising high above the ordinary average of
American manhood, but having every one of the qualities
the combination of which leads to true success in life? His
history seems to prove that he had them all; and, so far as
I can judge, the quality which tempered and bound all to-
gether and made the man successful, was persistent will.
From the beginning, whatever duty was devolved upon him,
he performed it coolly, but with all his might and energetic,
unflinching thoroughness.
When Champlin was about five years old, his father384
LIFE OF STEPHEN CHAMPLIN.
moved to a farm in Lebanon, then in Windham county,
Conn. The journey seemed a long one to the child, and it
was impressed deeply on his memory, and he loved, in his
old age, to tell its incidents; but, as they do not seem to have
influenced his character or career, I pass them by. He
worked on his father’s farm from the time when he became
capable of labor, until his sixteenth year, enjoying, I suppose,
the ordinary means of education in the country then held
out by, in this respect, most admirable Connecticut. And
then—how it chanced I know not—-he had imbibed so strong
an inclination for adventure and what he deemed a sailor’s
life, that he forgot his duty to his parents, and with a neigh-
boring lad of about his own age, ran, or rather walked away
twenty-eight miles to New London, on the river Thames.
Though in the gristle, he must have been hardy and resolute.
There his companion’s courage failed him, or his conscience
smote him so that he turned back. But Stephen persevered,
and about the 8th of March, 1806, shipped on a schooner
bound on a trading voyage with live stock to Demarara. The
outward voyage was tempestuous and slow, and they lost
their lading; and, very likely, the lad experienced the feeling
of fear and remorse which overwhelmed poor Robinson
Crusoe on his runaway first trial of the sea. But if so, the
return voyage being in every way delightful, such feelings
were very transient. At any rate, after returning to New
London, and at his father’s request and upon his promise
that he might go to sea again if he chose, visiting his home,
he seems to have made up his mind to follow a seafaring life.
I am afraid that the commodore never took the proper
view of this escapade, because, as he told his son Oliver, he
frequently told parents whose sons had run off and gone to
sea, and who came to him for sympathy, that he had done so
himself and had never regretted it, and that any boy who
could do it was smart enough to take care of himself.
He shipped again on the same schooner for Demarara;
and, on this voyage, an incident occurred which may have
had influence upon his subsequent career. Somewhere in
the West Indies he was impressed and detained for a few
days on a British man-of-war. As a matter of curiosity 1LIFE OF STEPHEN CHAMPLIN.
385
now read you a copy of “The Protection/’ which in con-
junction with the influences his captain brought to bear, pro-
cured his release. Thank heaven, the great ocean has be-
come almost free, and such a document is no longer needed
for such a purpose:
“No. 3598. United States of America.
“I, Jedediah Huntington, Collector of the District of New Lon-
don, do hereby certify that Stephen Champlin, an American seaman,
aged sixteen years or thereabouts, of the height of five feet four
inches, light complexion, scar on his head, has this day produced to
me proof, in the manner directed in the act entitled ‘an act for the
relief and protection of American seamen,’ and pursuant to the said
act, I do hereby certify that the said Stephen Champlin is a citizen of
the United States of America.
“In witness thereof I have hereunto set my hand and seal of of-
fice this twenty-fifth day of February, 1806.
“Jed. Huntington, Collector.”
It would be natural that this arbitrary, gross violation of
his own personal rights, and the indignity to the flag of his
country, should be remembered by the lad when, having at-
tained a manly age, the War of 1812 occurred. That war
was justified if the haughty infliction of repeated injuries
by a then far superior power could justify it. And we may
thank God that, though the treaty which closed it, vindicated
not one of the rights which we claimed, and secured us from
not one of the wrongs which we resented, yet, the exhibition
of our nascent power insured a respect which has peacefully
given us all that we hoped to win by arms, and more.
Pity it is that the hatred excited by the misdoings of
those in authority, outlives the doers, and far more than
“rivers interposed/’ makes enemies of nations. Far greater
the pity that just revenge cannot distinguish between rulers
or governments and their people; that the tyrant and the
evil government can be reached only through the bleeding
bosom of the people whom they sway. When, oh, when will
Christ truly reign, and men discard the phantasms that make
them enemies, to act upon the belief of the unity of the hu-
man race and replace, by true devotion to the Prince of886
LIFE OF STEPHEN CHAMPL1N.
Peace, by a love of man, co-extensive with manhood, the
blind devotion to their government! Poor Europe! the
German and the Frenchman, if they would see it, have no
cause for the horrid war which makes both so wretched in
the present, and must make them so unhappy in the future.
Their governments, rather than they, are in fault, and, but
for inveterate habit, misplaced enmity and delusive phan-
toms, those governments would be destroyed, or chidden and
compelled to peace by their own people.
Champlin’s next voyage was a fishing one to Newfound-
land. There he shipped on an unfortunate schooner, bound
to Bordeaux with fish, but which was driven into Ferrol, by
stress of weather. He was rising in his calling, for, on this
voyage he acted as second mate and kept the captain’s watch.
On his return in March, 1808, the embargo being in force, he
went to work a-farming. In the winter he went to school at
Colchester, Conn., and paid for his board and schooling by
his work. He then worked by the month on a farm for
about six months. In the autumn of 1809, the embargo be-
ing removed, he sailed, in what capacity I am not informed,
in the ship Passenger, commanded by his uncle, Christopher
R. Perry, from New York to Rio Janeiro. On the ship’s
return to Baltimore, in May or June, 1810, he acted as sec-
ond mate. His cousin Matthew, then a midshipman on
leave, took this voyage, and during it the lads contracted a
friendship lasting as life. In 1810 he entered upon another
voyage in the ship Latona, to Buenos Ayres, as second mate.
In the summer of 1811, he voyaged to the West Indies, in
the brig Dove, as mate, and the captain having died of the
yellow fever, he performed his duties on the return voyage,
which was so tempestuous as to give him full opportunity to
display his seamanship; but he brought her safely home and
was appointed by her owners, her captain, with more than
ordinary privileges, he then being only twenty-two. Before
he could purchase and ship a cargo, an embargo of ninety
days was declared preparatory to the war. While it was
operative he was offered a warrant as sailing-master in the
navy and accepted it on condition that war should be de-
clared. When war was declared he was appointed to theLIFE OF STEPHEN CHAMPLIN.
387
command of a gunboat then lying near Norwich, and he
fitted her up and joined with her, Perry’s fleet at Newport,
of which she was a part. He did not see any fighting, or
much that could be called active service on the coast. Twice
he was dispatched by Perry to carry important letters to the
post-office at New London so as to insure speedy transmis-
sion. Both letters were from Hull, one giving the Secretary
of the Navy an account of his escape from the British fleet
off Boston, the other an account of his capture of the Guer-
riere. Afterwards Perry sent him with a letter to Commo-
dore Rogers, then in command at Boston, informing him
that the British fleet was off Newport. Indeed, whenever a
service required unflinching energy, Champlin was most
likely to be called upon to render it. He performed these
services with admirable dispatch. I think the trifling amount
of the expenses incurred by him in such journeys, and duly
charged to the Government, would surprise you.
In February, 1813, I think it was, Perry was designated
to take command on our lake. He was ordered to report to
Chauncey at Sackett’s Harbor, which he did, before proceed-
ing to Erie. By his order our sailing-master took charge of
forty-two men and two officers, and conducted them to Sack-
ett’s Harbor. Here, as seems to have been the case with
everything he did, Champlin acted with more than ordinary
promptitude, discretion and energy. He achieved the dis-
tance with his men in two days less time than it took any
other draft. The army left Albany twelve hours before, and
arrived at Sackett’s Harbor twelve hours after him. But I
must not dwell upon such details. During the winter he
fitted up the schooner Asp in preparation for the expedition
against Little York (Toronto), and acted in her as second
in command in that expedition, and after that took part in
the battle of Fort George. Then Perry sent him to Bain-
bridge at Boston for a draft of men, telling him: “All I ask
of you is to use your usual dispatch.” Bainbridge could not
spare the men. On his return to Sackett’s Harbor, Chauncey
sent him to Utica to collect a draft of $36,000, pay $9,000 to
a Mr. Van Rensselaer, and return with the balance. This
commission he fully performed in a little over two days.388
LIFE OF STEPHEN CHAMPLIN.
The distance of the two places was ninety-six miles, and he
traversed it, using relays of horses, in about ten hours, each
way.
He was the very next morning, directed by Chauncey to
take seventy-one men and three officers to Perry, at Erie,
and left Sackett’s Harbor with them in the evening. At
Schlosser he chartered a two-masted boat, which he took up
the river by setting-poles. At Buffalo he supplied his men
with arms, and by rowing with the enemy in sight the
greater part of the way, brought them safely to Perry. A
lieutenant with fifty men, left Sackett’s Harbor in a schooner
about two hours before Champlin, and arrived at Erie ten
days after him; and the draft under Elliott was equally long
in making that journey. Champlin, with the men, arrived
at Erie on the 24th of July, 1813, and the next day was or-
dered to fit out and take command of the Scorpion, which
carried a long 32 and a 12-pounder. Then came the hurried
fitting out of our fleet in what, in consequence of the bar at
its mouth, was little better than a lake.
It has always seemed surprising to me—though perhaps
it does not to military men—that no attempt was made by the
enemy to destroy it while in embargo. If it had been so
destroyed, or if the battle of Lake Erie had ended in a Brit-
ish victory as complete as heaven vouchsafed to us, the whole
complexion of the war, in this frontier at least, would have
been far different. You remember the disasters which had
befallen us; the disgrace that tarnished our arms. Lake
Erie and the lakes above, were, for all practical purposes,
wholly British. They furnished no highway for our troops,
nor for supplies for them. We have reason to surmise that
the war was not wholly popular with the then people of our
frontier. True patriots there were, probably a large major-
ity of such patriots among them; self-sacrificing men and
women, too; but there had been many intermarriages and
many close friendships, and intimate business and social
ties, to draw our people and the Canadian frontiersmen close
together; and it seemed hard to many, undoubtedly, to be
barred from a land, foreign though it were, they had been
used to tread as freely as their own. Politics, too, ran veryLIFE OF STEPHEN CHAMPLIN.
389
high, and the politics of this state deserved the epithet be-
stowed on them. They were ferocious. Had that battle
been lost, the evil consequences must have been grievous and
far-reaching. But it resulted gloriously for us and not in-
gloriously for the conquered. It was complete—no victory
was ever more so. It inspired the whole nation, repressed
discontent and heralded and prepared the way for victory
everywhere. Surely it was a great privilege to aid in win-
ning that victory. I do not value very highly the fame that
flows from such achievements, or any except as a proof of
a righteous and discerning heart in the people, whose breath
makes fame. It is the great deed, which, for its own sake,
is worth the doing. Blessed are they who aided by prepara-
tion, for or in the great battle to compel victory to perch
upon our standard. Commodore Champlin did much by
way of preparation for and much in the battle. His was
not, indeed, the great directing mind; his was not the name
that infused confidence in the sailors, nor the voice that im-
pelled them to do their duty to the utmost. He had no op-
portunity to do the heroic act Perry did when in his open
boat, under the fire of the enemy, he shifted his flag to the
Niagara. But Stephen Champlin did everything he was or-
dered to do by way of preparation with a zeal and thorough-
ness which could not be surpassed, and in the battle, played
his part with a gallantry which deserved and received the
commendation of his commander and of the Government.
As to the preparations at Erie, the crossing of the bar,
the search for the enemy’s fleet and the encounter which
made it “ours,” it is not for me to describe or dwell upon
them. But it does seem right to me, that I should read
that portion of a letter of Champlin, which relates them.
The letter was drawn from him in January, 1840, by a com-
munication from the Rhode Island Historical Society, re-
questing him to furnish it with “a candid and impartial
statement of the facts within” his “recollection, respecting
the service rendered by Commodore O. H. Perry in creating
and equipping the fleet, and the part he sustained as com-
mander of it in the battle of Lake Erie.” Captain Champlin
in answer writes:390
LIFE OF STEPHEN CHAMPLIN.
Stephen Champlin’s Own Narrative.
“I am able to furnish the following particulars of that
memorable event, from a journal kept by me at that time.
“Pursuant to orders, I arrived at Erie, Penn., the station
of the United States fleet on Lake Erie, July 24th, 1813,
with a draft of seventy men and boys of the most ordinary
kind ana nearly all new hands. By the almost incredible
exertions of the few officers and men upon that station, the
vessels composing our little fleet were nearly ready for
service. Upon my arrival with recruits, Commodore Perry
commenced operations for crossing the bar, upon which
there were only four feet of water. The enemy’s fleet, at
this time, lay off the harbor, with the intention to cut off all
supplies from our squadron. A small battery with two or
three 12-pounders was therefore erected so as to command
the entrance of the harbor as well as to give protection to
the vessels that should first cross the bar.
“At daylight, on the 1st of August, the Scorpion, under
my command, with some of the other small vessels, by light-
ering and warping, were got over. The Niagara and one
of the small vessels were then placed as near the bar as pos-
sible, to protect the others while on it. A few guns were
also left upon the Lawrence, to enable her to make some de-
fense in case of an attack. With all the exertion we could
make we were nearly two days in getting the Lawrence over,
and had we then been attacked, the issue must have been
most disastrous. Indeed, while she was still on the bar, we
discovered the enemy standing in with a leading breeze;
but, by renewed and most unparalleled exertions, the Law-
rence was got into deep water at 9 or 10 a. m., and at 12 m.
her guns were aboard, and she was ready for action. To
gain time in this emergency, Commodore Perry ordered the
Ariel, Lieutenant Packet, and the Scorpion, commanded by
myself, to get under weigh and stand out towards the enemy,
and annoy them at long shot. We dashed directly at them.
Upon seeing the boldness with which they were approached,
they changed their course and stood towards Long Point.
Late in the afternoon we were recalled. Every officer andLIFE OF STEPHEN CHAMPLIN.
391
man in the squadron was engaged all night in getting the
fleet ready for action. At 3 a. m. the signal was made to
get under weigh, and at daylight the whole squadron was in
motion. Although, for three days, neither officers nor men
had had any sleep, except such as could be snatched upon
deck, the greatest anxiety was manifested to pursue the
enemy. After a cruise of twenty-four hours off Long Point,
without getting sight of the enemy, the fleet returned to
Erie for the purpose of taking in supplies for the army un-
der Gen. Harrison.
“We were now reinforced by the arrival of Capt. Elliott
with several officers and about ninety men, most of whom
he took on board the Niagara, which ship was manned with
more experienced, and consequently much better sailors,
than the Lawrence. The crew of the Lawrence was made
up principally of ordinary seamen and volunteers, many of
whom were on the sick list. On the 12th of August we
sailed for the head of the lake. On the arrival of the fleet
off Sandusky, I was ordered by Commodore Perry to pass
up between Sandusky and Put-in-Bay, as a lookout, and if
the enemy hove in sight, to make a signal by hoisting the
ensign. Soon after passing the point, I discovered a
schooner lying at anchor in Put-in-Bay. I made the signal
and gave chase, followed by the whole fleet. But darkness
and a severe gale compelled us to come to an anchor, to pre-
vent going ashore. The enemy’s schooner was driven
ashore by the gale.
“On the 10th of September, while lying at anchor in
Put-in-Bay, the enemy was discovered, at break of day, in
the direction of Malden. The signal was at once made to
get under weigh. At this time the Niagara was in a situa-
tion to clear the islands before the Lawrence. There was a
light breeze from the southwest, and it was with great dif-
ficulty that the Lawrence was enabled to clear the islands to
windward. At 10 a. m. the wind shifted to southeast and
brought our squadron to windward. When the enemy per-
ceived this, he hove to, in a line, with his ships’ heads to the
westward. The signal was now made by Commodore Perry:
‘Engage as you come up, every one against his opponent, 111392
LIFE OF STEPHEN CHAMPLIN.
the line before designated.’ The order for our squadron to
close was passed by trumpet through Capt. Elliott. The
situation of the Niagara should have been abreast of the
Queen Charlotte, and of course, as near as she could get;
as, previous to the action, I had always understood, from
Commodore Perry, that it was his intention to bring the
enemy to close action in case of a conflict. About 12 o’clock
the enemy commenced action by throwing a 24-pound shot at
the Lawrence. At this time the Scorpion was hailed and
directed to return the fire with her long guns. The second
shot from the Detroit passed through both bulwarks of the
Lawrence, and the fire was immediately returned, and kept
up in a most gallant style, followed by the Caledonia, under
the command of Lieut. Turner, and supported by the Ariel,
Lieut. Packet, and the Scorpion, ahead upon her weather-
bow. The Queen Charlotte made sail and closed up with
the Detroit, shortly after the action commenced, and' di-
rected her fire at the Lawrence. It seemed to be the enemy’s
plan to destroy the commodore’s ship, and then cut up the
fleet in detail. For this purpose their heaviest fire was di-
rected at the Lawrence. Commodore Perry made every ef-
fort to close with the enemy, but the tremendous fire to
which he was exposed cut away every brace and bowline,
and soon rendered the Lawrence unmanageable. She still,
however, held out, for more than two hours, within canister-
shot distance, the Niagara remaining a long way astern,
firing at long shot from her 12-pounder. A short time be-
fore Commodore Perry’s going aboard of her, she ranged
ahead of the Lawrence, and to windward of her, thus bring-
ing the commodore’s ship between her and the enemy, when
she might have passed to leeward and relieved the Lawrence
from the destructive fire of the enemy; the wind being at
that time southeast, when, the American squadron steering
large, with the exception of the Lawrence, she being entirely
disabled, and lying like a log upon the water, the Caledonia
took and maintained her station on a line which was just
astern of the commodore during the whole of the action.
“Soon after Commodore Perry got on board of the Ni-
agara, Capt. Elliott left her to bring up the small vesselsLIFE OF STEPHEN CHAMP LIN.
393
that were kept astern by the lightness of the wind. Com-
modore Perry now made signal for close action. The smaller
vessels put out their sweeps and made every exertion to com-
ply with the order. At this time the Niagara bore up with
a view to break the enemy’s line, which threw them into
confusion. In passing the enemy she poured in her star-
board and larboard broadsides within half pistol shot, sup-
ported by the smaller vessels, which were at that time en-
abled, with the aid of their sweeps, to get up. The enemy
soon struck, with the exception of the Little Belt and Chip-
pewa, which were brought to by the Scorpion and Trippe—
the Little Belt by the former—and so near were they to
making their escape that it was 12 p. m. before I came to
an anchor under the stern of the Niagara with the Little
Belt in tow.”
This is the whole of the letter stating facts. Certain
comments of the worthy commodore I omit, and I doubt not
he would have omitted them had he not written in a heat,
and under the influence of what he deemed just indignation.
The view which he gives us of this famous battle, though in-
artistic, has the stirring element of truth, and suffices with
our knowledge of other details, to bring the dreadful scene
before us—the triumph chastened by sorrow for the fallen—
the inevitable and inexpiable slaughter—the agony of the
wounded, the spiritual anguish of the noble conquered re-
lieved and soothed so far as might be by the pitying hand
and chivalric sympathy of that true gentleman, that Chris-
tian hero, the noble Perry. May our glorious lakes, fit chan-
nels, God-given, for free trade and kindly communication,
never more witness such contests!
After the battle, Champlin was engaged in transporting
portions of Harrison’s army from Portage river to the
Middle Sister, from which it was taken in a body, by the
fleet, including the Scorpion, and in batteaux, to Malden.
His next cruise was on Lake St. Clair and the river Thames.
He took the Scorpion forty miles up the river to within
three miles of the battle-ground where Col. Johnson won
immortal fame by killing Tecumseh, and secured a vessel394
LIFE OF STEPHEN CHAMPLIN.
loaded with baggage of the British army, and took it, with
Col. Johnson, who had been severely wounded, to Detroit.
He was then incessantly employed in minor but necessary
services, until the 15th of December, when, he being at Erie,
Elliott ordered him to Put-in-Bay to take charge of the
prizes, the Detroit and the Queen Charlotte. What with be-
ing frozen in for four days upon the lake, and baffled by
storms, he did not arrive there until Christmas day. He
sent back his own vessel, and took judicious and effectual
measures to defend the prizes from apprehended attacks;
remained there until the spring of 1814, and then rigged
them with jury-masts, and in conjunction with Lieut.
Packet, sailed them to Erie.
Next he was put in command of the Tigress, which
formed a portion of the fleet which, under Sinclair, cooper-
ated with Col. Croghan in his unfortunate attempt upon the
island of Mackinac. He continued to do good service, in
command of the Tigress, until the night of the 3d day of
September, when, while lying off St. Joseph’s Island, she
was captured, by boarding, by an overwhelming force in
boats, after a resistance which may well be called desperate.
In defending his vessel, he and all his officers were wounded.
His wound was made by a grape-shot, which, after passing
through the flesh of his right thigh, entered the left one, and
shattered the bone. Eighteen days thereafter the ball was
extracted, at Mackinac, where he had been taken as a pris-
oner.
He was, not long thereafter, paroled, and sent to Erie,
where he remained until January, 1815, when he left for
Connecticut, and, traveling by easy stages, reached it in
March. Thence, in performance of orders, dated the 28th
of that month, he joined Perry’s squadron, destined for the
Mediterranean, and was attached to his flagship, the Java;
but, in the autumn, in consideration of the condition of his
wound, he was ordered to Erie, whither he went in the
spring of 1816, and there underwent a most painful opera-
tion—the extraction of splinters of the fractured bone. He
was then placed in command of the Porcupine, and, with
her, assisted the commissioners in their survey of the boun-LIFE OF STEPHEN CHAMPLIN.
895
dary line along the upper lakes. On his return with the
commissioners, his vessel was beached by a strong gale at
Buffalo, there being no harbor here. That wind was no ill
one: it blew him good luck indeed. During his enforced
residence in Buffalo he courted a lady whom many of you
will remember as his best blessing—Minerva L. Pomeroy;
and they were married, in Buffalo, by the Rev. Miles P.
Squier, pastor of the First Presbyterian church, on the 5th
day of January, 1817. In the spring following, he was com-
pelled to submit to another operation for the removal of
pieces of the fractured bone. In 1818 he was detached from
the station at Erie and permitted, for his health’s sake, to
reside in Connecticut, until November, 1828, when he was
ordered to duty on board the receiving-ship Fulton, at New
York. Being found unfit for subaltern duty, in consequence
of his wound, he was detached from her on the 30th of De-
cember, only a few days before she blew up. Prior to this,
he had undergone three similar operations. He returned
to and resided in Connecticut until 1834, when he came to
our city, and, with the exception of the two or three years
during which, as you will all remember, he commanded the
United States steamer Michigan, and did good service to
our commerce, thenceforth, to the time of his death, he was
one of our most noted and respected citizens.
The so-called Patriot War, in 1838, made it incumbent
on the United States to restrain, along our frontier, armed
aggression upon Canada, and the military, arm as well as
the revenue service was called to that duty. Champlin at
once volunteered, and was put in command of the expedition,
consisting of the steamboats New England and Robert Ful-
ton, which, on the 22d- of January, 1838, broke through the
ice of the Buffalo Creek and proceeded up the lake. Cham-
plin’s steamer was the New England ; and, if I am not mis-
taken, he, upon this or some subsequent occasion, rendered
good service by vindicating the good faith of the Govern-
ment, and by extricating some of the deluded men who were
bent upon forcing what they deemed freedom upon an un-
willing colony.
In the winter of 1842, a naval rendezvous or recruiting396
LIFE OF STEPHEN CHAMPLIN.
station was opened in Buffalo, principally for recruiting
naval apprentices, and Commander Champlin put in com-
mand of it, and so conducted it, that, in less than four
months, 400 apprentices., seamen and ordinary seamen, were
added to the navy. His warrant as sailing-master is dated
May 22, 1812; his commission as lieutenant, Dec. 9, 1814;
as commander, June 22, 1838; as captain, Aug. 30, 1850;
and as commodore, March 12, 1867. On the 13th of Sep-
tember, 1855, upon the recommendation of the board or-
ganized under the act of February of that year, he was
placed on the reserved list, with leave-of-absence pay. His
wound was never perfectly cured and his inability, in con-
sequence of it, to keep the lieutenant’s watch, for a long
time barred his deserved promotion by reason of a regula-
tion of the Department forbidding the promotion of a lieu-
tenant until after a certain number of years of active serv-
ice as such. But, despite his sufferings, his heart was in his
profession, and he always longed for active service, and
more than once applied for it. He was always ready to
spend his life for the country he had served with such fidel-
ity and zeal. When the Rebellion broke out he felt that
liberty was imperilled, and that it was the duty of every
lover of our institutions and of our race to sustain the
Union; and so, on the 18th day of April, 1861, he wrote to
the Secretary of the Navy: “I am old and shattered, but
what there is left of me is at the service of my country,” and
applied for assignment to active duty.
As to his naval and military career not a stain rests upon
it. He was humane, but firm, and a reasonable friend of or-
der and of discipline. His honor was unimpeachable, his
bravery beyond question. His gallant conduct in the battle
of Lake Erie was attested by Perry, and he, with the mid-
shipmen and other sailing-masters, who, in the language of
the act of January 1814, “so nobly distinguished themselves
in that memorable battle,” was in pursuance of that act pre-
sented with a sword by the President, which sword is pre-
served by Oliver H. P. Champlin, and is rightfully regarded
as a most honorable heirloom.
As to his habits and character I have not much to say.LIFE OF STEPHEN CHAMPLIN.
397
He was, I believe, in all things temperate. Indeed, he is be-
lieved to have abstained wholly from the use of spirits and
of tobacco in any form from his youth unto his death. His
address was not always easy, nor had he in dress or in de-
meanor any extraordinary polish or refinement. He was, in
these respects, simply a gentlemanly sailor. He was an up-
right, honest man; reasonably shrewd and prudent. In his
business he was just and liberal, and, to use the common
phrase, his word was as good as his bond. His manners and
his virtues had, in the opinion of some politicians, made him
so popular in this city, that, in 1842, they desired to present
him as a candidate for the mayoralty—a position which he
declined as incompatible with his office in the navy. He
was not distinguished, in civil or private life, by any extra-
ordinary act or virtue, but kept the even tenor of his way in
the quiet discharge of every duty. If one thing which is
said of him be true—that he conciliated the affection of every
worthy woman who knew him well—then, truly, he must
have been a true and admirable gentleman. During his life,
he, of course, bore many sorrows; but he was most blessed
in all his family relations. He enjoyed the society and coun-
sels of his wife, until her death, on the 8th day of June,
1859. Her mother, Mrs. Pomeroy, resided with him many
years before his demise, and still survives, honored and
cherished by his family. When Mrs. Champlin died, his son
Oliver H. P. Champlin and his newly-married wife were
with him, and lived thereafter with him until he left us,
cheering and sustaining his declining years.
Although she is yet living, I cannot refrain from thus
publicly expressing my respect for Mrs. Champlin’s conduct
to her infirm and suffering father-in-law. She was to him
a most affectionate and loving friend and daughter, antic-
ipating his wishes, and ever ready to soothe his pains by
gentle tendance. She was firm and fearless in her treatment
of the invalid; for, on one occasion, when his life was en-
dangered by the sudden bleeding of his wound, she applied
the torniquet unflinchingly, and so stayed the hemorrhage
until the surgeon could arrive. Five children were born
to Oliver in his father’s house, and they all loved and were398
LIFE OF STEPHEN CHAMPLIN.
loved by their grandfather. The two oldest were taken away
by diphtheria, at nearly the same time, and the old man
mourned for them indeed; but, though bowed with grief,
and though his affection followed the lost ones to their tomb,
he drew the survivors close to his heart. His last years were
painful, his sufferings often intense; but he had troops of
friends, books such as he loved, a loving family, and, above
all, religious consolation. He was, indeed, a right good
man as we count goodness, but he was no saint, and, like ail
of us, had, I doubt not, committed sins he could not answer
for. At any rate, he felt so, and, as his years bowed his body,
he erected his mind and dismissed his doubts and drew near
unto our Saviour. His was a calm and happy death. Like
the patriarch he died with his children by his bed, but he
smiled upon and blessed them all, and kissed them, and then
gave up the ghost. And so the man who had fired the first
gun and the last gun in the battle of Like Erie, and who had
mourned for all his fellow commanders in that battle, as,
one by one, they departed from the world, left it, at last,
himself, calmly and confidingly, like an infant placing its
weary head upon its mother’s breast.
He left five children: His oldest, Oliver H. P. Cham-
plin; Jane E., the wife of Brigadier General Simpson of
the United States engineer corps; Ellen E., wife of John
B. Cook of St. Paul, Minnesota; Thomas A. P. Champlin
of Cincinnati, Ohio, and William B. Champlin of Attica,
N. Y. Alas! one of these children followed him too soon.
At the funeral of the good old commodore, when the last
solemn rite had been performed, and the mourners had just
issued from the cemetery, Mrs. Simpson said:	"When
mother was buried, father would not leave her until the
grave was filled.” These were the last words that sainted
woman spoke. Death struck her speechless on the instant,
and she was borne home to die. No one could be better pre-
pared to die. She was ever active in well-doing, and her life
was an humble attempt to imitate that of her Redeemer.
I cannot conclude this paper, which seems to me so un-
worthy of its subject, without declaring my opinion, formed
from such knowledge of his life and actions as I have, thatLIFE OF STEPHEN CHAMPL1N.
399
Stephen Champlin deserves a biographer; that his history,
fully and simply written, would be replete with interest and
instruction. Excuse me, too, for expressing my conviction
that the man deserved a monument, and that it would be just
and creditable to Buffalo to erect it.
Note. Mr. Oliver H. P. Champlin died February 14, 1899. Several other
persons, mentioned in the foregoing paper as living, have now passed away.