Descripción
"2 volumes. 8vo., (6 x 4 ¼ inches). Fine engraved frontispiece in volume one (a bit spotted throughout). Original publisher's brown cloth, the smooth spine lettered in gilt (extremities worn with loss). Fifth edition, first published in 1840. With the intriguing Advertisement at the front of volume two: "Attempts having been made by Mr. J. Fenimore Cooper, in a pamphlet and in various other publications, to invalidate the historical accuracy of that part of the Life of Perry which relates to the Battle of Lake Erie, the reader is referred to the concluding article of the appendix, in the second volume, for a full reply to all Mr. Cooper's allegations. This reply has been for some months in the hands of the publishers, but a pressure of occupations has hitherto prevented them from putting it forth" (p. 7). Slidell's 83-page rejoinder addresses the two authors' quarrel, which primarily dealt with the controversial events of the Battle of Lake Erie in September 1813 and Commodore Perry's involvement. "The circumstances of the battle are now the stuff of legend. With his own flagship Lawrence battered and crippled, Perry transferred his pennant by boat to the Niagara. He took over command of that vessel from Jesse D. Elliott, revived the American effort, divided the British squadron, and in fairly short order overwhelmed the two main British vessels, the Detroit and the Queen Charlotte. Shortly after the battle, Perry wrote his famous message to Major-General William Henry Harrison, 'We have met the enemy - they are ours.' "The victory at Lake Erie straddles any number of paradoxes - such as the fact that Perry, after inspiring his crew never to give up the ship, did exactly that - but a whole series of ironies swirl around Perry's second in command, Jesse Elliott, for whom victory constituted a kind of professional defeat. In the course of the three-hour battle, Elliott, commanding a vessel identical with Perry's stayed largely out of the action for two and a half hours, while the Lawrence was enduring heavy attack. He engaged in some distant fire with the British squadron, but never came to the direct aid of the Lawrence. Elliott claimed that the lightness of the wind kept him away and that, in addition, he did not want to break the line of battle established by Perry. After the conflict however, both British and American seamen questioned Elliott's courage for avoiding the heavy fighting for as long as he did. The American resentment was spurred by the fact that the Lawrence had twenty-two men and officers killed, while the Niagara had only two… "The affair lay dormant for nearly twenty more years, although in the meantime Elliott managed to offend the Whig press on a number of political matters (he was a notorious Jacksonian) and each time would stir up the accusations of his cowardice during the Battle of Lake Erie. James Fenimore Cooper then published his 'History of the Navy' in two volumes in 1839. His account of the Lake Erie affair attempts painstakingly to avoid controversy, and follows the official line of praise for all concerned…Cooper included in his history Perry's praise for Elliott, but does not mention that Perry withdrew that praise and filed court-martial charges five years later… "Of all the reviewed published, none struck home more deeply with Cooper, and none framed the issues of history and authorship more acutely, than those of Alexander Slidell Mackenzie. Mackenzie was related by marriage to the Perry clan and was, like Cooper himself, something of a sailor-author…Fanatically loyal to Perry, Mackenzie first commented on 'Naval History' in the 'North American Review' of October 1839. He himself engages in some equivocal praise at the beginning…Soon however, Mackenzie is into the battle of Lake Erie, accusing Cooper of tarnishing Perry's reputation by refusing to criticize Elliott, and by presenting 'gross misrepresentations' of the battle itself. Twelve pages of the 35-page review are devoted to corr". N° de ref. del artículo 72MMS330
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