Kentucky/Lake Erie Award Medal



State of Kentucky / Battle of Lake Erie Medal
   
   
     Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry arrived at Sandusky's Bay on Lake Erie on August 16, 1813 with a new fleet ready to engage the British for control of Lake Erie. He requested a company of volunteer militia to act as marines and Kentuckians answered the call. Some 100 to 150 men joined Commodore Perry in defeating the British fleet on September 10, 1813.
      After the war several attempts were made to commemorate this victory and during one of these it was discovered that there were still participants of the battle living in Kentucky. The State Legislature passed a joint resolution on December 17, 1859 to honor them each with a gold medal but the Civil War delayed this till 1867.  Fifty-four years after the battle 6 living Kentuckians were awarded these medals.

State of Kentucky / Battle of Lake Erie Medal

Original gold medal awarded to Samuel Hatfield, 42mm
(image courtesy of the American Numismatic Society)
     
     A Chapman's Auction catalog of an I.F. Wood Sale, 1894, states that Wood had silver, bronze, and brass restrikes done with only 5 in silver struck. No mention is made of white metal restrikes so these may have been done by George H. for his own use. (Thanks to Joe Levine for this information.)
Silver, 41.9mm

Brass, 41.9mm

Bronze, 42mm

White metal, 42mm



 To read A.C. Quisenberry's article
"Kentuckians In the Battle of Lake Erie" from the
Register of the Kentucky State Historical Society go to
https://www.jstor.org/stable/23367297?seq=2#metadata_info_tab_contents