FUNDAMENTAL
DOCUMENTS

ARCHIVES/
LIBRARY

ONLINE
RESEARCH
TOOLS

ONLINE
DOCUMENTS

ONLINE
SERVICES

53

Dr. Usher Parsons was one of the American physicians in Perry's fleet. His account of the battle and its aftermath was published in the New England Journal of Medicine, October, 1818. Besides being an exciting and interesting account it is one of the few written by physicians con- cerning any of the United States' early wars:

Our force employed in this action consisted of nine vessels with about six hundred officers and men, and had been out of port four weeks, either cruising or lying at anchor in Put-in-Bay, a safe harbour among a cluster of islands near the head of the lake. The crews left port in good health, but shortly after were visited with an epidemic, which spread through the fleet, attacking about twenty or thirty in a day. It answered the description of a bilious remittent fever, was of short duration, except in a few instances, in which it degenerated into a typhus, and in only one instance proved fatal. So rapid were the recoveries, that, of above two hundred cases, only seventy-eight were reported unfit for duty on the day previous to the action. Thirty-one of these were on board the Lawrence and about the same number on board the Niagara, their whole crews being about one hundred and forty men each.

About 12 oclock, on a clear pleasant day, we met the enemy. The action soon became general and was severely felt; especially on board the Lawrence, the flag ship; two of the enemy's largest vessels engaging her, at a short distance, for nearly two hours; part of which time the men fell on board of her faster than they could be taken below. The vessel being shallow built afforded no cock-pit or place of shelter for the wounded; they were therefore received on the ward room floor, which was about on a level with the surface of the water. Being only nine or ten feet square, this floor was soon covered, which made it necessary to pass the wounded out into another apartment, as fast as the bleeding could be stanched either by Ligatures or tourniquet. Indeed this was all that was attempted for their benefit during the engagement, except that in some instances division was made of a small portion of flesh, by which a dangling limb that annoyed the patient, was hanging from the body. Several, after receiving this treatment, were again wounded,among whom was midshipman Lamb, who was moving from me with a tourniquet on the arm when he received a cannon ball in the chest; and a seaman brought down with both arms fractured, was afterwards struck by a cannon ball in the chest; and a seaman brought down with both arms fractured, was afterwards struck by a cannon ball in both lower extremities.

An hour's engagement had so far swept the deck, that new appeals for surgical aid were less frequent; a remission at this time, very desireable both to the wounded and myself; for the repeated request of the Commodore, to spare him another man had taken from me the last one I had to assist in moving the wounded. in fact many of the wounded themselves took the deck again at this critical moment. Our prospects nevertheless darkened, every new visitor from the deck bringing tidings still more dismal than the last, till finally it was announced that we had struck. The effect of this on the wounded was distressing in the extreme; medical aid was rejected and little else could be heard from them than "sink the ship" -- "let us all sink together" But this state