ABSTRACT
In 1813 the United States tried to seize control of the Great Lakes, a step that it should have taken before declaring war. Control of the lakes would mean the ability to sever communications to British armies in the West, and would make advancing on land much safer. The lake on which a navy would be of immediate use was Erie. The Americans had been defeated on the Detroit frontier, but in that region the British army and its Indian allies depended on traffic on Lake Erie for their supplies. A naval force on Lake Erie would change the balance of power in the region.
