Captain Daniel Dobbins
Erie, Erie County, Pennsylvania
Marker Inscription
Erie merchant mariner, naval officer, born in Mifflin County. Captured by the British during the War of 1812, Dobbins escaped, went to Washington to report the fall of Forts Mackinac and Detroit. Appointed a sailing master in the US Navy, he returned to Erie to supervise the construction of a squadron of warships later commanded by O.H. Perry in the Battle of Lake Erie. Dobbins served in the US Navy and Revenue Cutter Service for thirty years.
Erected by Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission
The Story
A merchant mariner turned naval officer, Daniel Dobbins carried the alarming news of the fall of Forts Mackinac and Detroit to Washington in the opening months of the War of 1812. Commissioned a sailing master, he returned to Erie to oversee the building of the very squadron that Oliver Hazard Perry would command to victory in the Battle of Lake Erie. Dobbins spent three decades in the Navy and Revenue Cutter Service.
Why it matters
The warships built under Dobbins's supervision secured American control of Lake Erie, a turning point that reshaped the Northwest frontier in the War of 1812.
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Related people
- · Daniel Dobbins
- · Oliver Hazard Perry
Related events
- · Battle of Lake Erie
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
Making of the Flag "Don't Give Up the Ship"
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African American Sailors in the Battle of Lake Erie
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When Oliver Hazard Perry's squadron met and captured a British fleet on Lake Erie on September 10, 1813, African American sailors were among the skilled seamen who made the victory possible. Their labor and seamanship were critical to one of the young United States' most decisive naval triumphs in the War of 1812. This marker at Erie, where much of that fleet was built and based, restores their names to the record of that day.
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