James Lawrence (naval officer)

James Lawrence

James Lawrence (born October 1, 1781 in Burlington , New Jersey , † June 4, 1813 ) was an American naval officer.

Life

James Lawrence grew up in Woodbury . In 1798 he became a midshipman in the United States Navy . He served on ships in the Caribbean and became a lieutenant in 1802. In 1803 he took part in a successful attack on an enemy ship on the Enterprise . Then he worked on various ships and in 1810 became "Master Commandant". In 1813 he became a captain. He commanded the Chesapeake in the British-American War . The ship was launched in Boston Harbor in 1813prevented from sailing by a British ship. There was a fight. Lawrence was badly wounded. As he died, he called to the officers: “Don't give up the ship!” Although the ship was boarded and Lawrence died, he became a hero because the event was reported to his friend Oliver Hazard Perry . He wrote the sentence on a flag that he carried in a victorious naval battle on Lake Erie in 1813 and which is now on display in a memorial hall in the United States Naval Academy . Lawrence left his wife and daughter and was initially buried in Halifax , but reburied in New York City .

As an award, he received the Congress Gold Medal of Honor . Several places have been named after him, including Lawrenceville , Georgia , Lawrenceville , New Jersey, as well as counties and some warships. The USS Lake Erie also used his last words as a motto.

literature

• William S. Dudley (Ed.): The Naval War of 1812. A Documentary History. Volume 2: 1813. Naval Historical Center, Washington DC 1992, ISBN 0-945274-06-8 , p. 559.

Web links

• James Lawrence in the database of Find a Grave (English)