Oliver Hazard Perry

Oliver Hazard Perry (1785–1819) was a United States Navy officer best known for his command at the Battle of Lake Erie during the War of 1812. Born in South Kingstown, Rhode Island, he went to sea as a midshipman while still a boy and served in the Quasi-War with France and the First Barbary War. In 1813 he supervised the construction of a small American fleet at Presque Isle (Erie, Pennsylvania) and led it to victory over the British squadron on Lake Erie, helping secure U.S. control of the region. He later held commands in the Atlantic and Caribbean and died of yellow fever in Venezuela.