James Lawrence

James Lawrence took USS Hornet into the South Atlantic and, in February 1813, sank HMS Peacock in a fight that lasted minutes. The country needed that kind of news. In June he took Chesapeake out of Boston against HMS Shannon. The ships were well matched. The British crew was better drilled that day. Lawrence was mortally wounded early. The order he left — not to give up the ship — was carried into a losing fight and then onto Perry's flag.

He died on June 4, 1813, aboard the Shannon, a prisoner. He was buried at Halifax and later brought to Trinity Churchyard in New York. The phrase outlived the defeat because Perry painted it on a battle flag and then won a lake.

This page will not turn a lost action into a victory. It will say a New Jersey captain spent his last strength on a sentence the navy still uses when a deck is going the wrong way.