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![\"Perry](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.archivingwheeling.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/Perry-Leaves-the-Lawrence-by-artist-Dean-Mosher-John-Yarnall-is-shown-with-wound-to-his-head.jpg\")
<\/a>For a small city, Wheeling can boast a veritable pantheon of legendary figures, from frontier folk like Betty Zane<\/a> and Samuel McColloch<\/a>, to modern notables like Eleanor Steber<\/a> and Walter Reuther<\/a>. But there was a man from Wheeling whose name and deeds, while deserving of similar legendary status, remain relatively obscure and unknown.<\/p>\n That man\u2019s name was\u00a0John Joliffe Yarnall (1786-1815), and his heroic deeds helped win the Battle of Lake Erie<\/a> during the War of 1812. \u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Yarnall was born in Wheeling, Virginia in 1786. Appointed Navy midshipman on January 11, 1809, he sailed the Atlantic coast of the United States on the ships Chesapeake<\/em> and Revenge<\/em> from 1809 to 1812, helping to enforce President Madison\u2019s embargo on trade with European adversaries during the Napoleonic Wars. He then served during the War of 1812 (1812-15).<\/p>\n Shortly after being promoted to Lieutenant on July 24, 1813, Yarnall was transferred to Commodore\u00a0Oliver Hazard Perry\u2019s<\/a> command on the Great Lakes. Perry assigned Yarnall as first lieutenant aboard the flagship Lawrence<\/em><\/a>. One of the navy\u2019s few officers from the trans-Appalachian West and having no\u00a0naval battle experience, Yarnall was most grateful to Perry for such a choice assignment.\u00a0While on board the Lawrence<\/em>, Yarnall participated in the critical Battle of Lake Erie on September 10, 1813.<\/p>\n A series of unusual injuries incurred during this battle rather starkly altered Yarnall\u2019s appearance. According to Captain W.W.Dobbins, whose father, Daniel Dobbins, supervised the construction of the Lawrence<\/em>\u2026 \u201cLieut. Yarnall had his scalp badly torn, and came below [deck] with blood streaming over his face; some lint was hastily applied and confined with a bandanna, with instructions to report for further dressings after battle. He at once returned upon deck. In addition, the cattail contents of hammocks damaged by cannon balls floated in the air like feathers. These gathered upon Yarnall\u2019s blood-covered head, and made it look like a huge owl.\u201d Soon after this, a splinter of wood ripped from the ship\u2019s hull by a British cannon ball pierced Yarnall\u2019s nose. In order to reduce the bleeding, the nose was stuffed with cotton. Understandably, the combined effect of his unusual injuries caused Yarnall\u2019s shipmates to proclaim his appearance \u201cridiculous!\u201d<\/p>\n Despite these nasty wounds, Yarnall refused to leave his post during the engagement.<\/p>\n Even as the American sailors listened to the strains of \u201cRule Britannia\u201d emanating from the deck of the large British ship Detroit, <\/em>the battle was joined.\u00a0Immediately targeted by three British ships, the Lawrence<\/em> was heavily damaged. Out of its crew of 103 men, 22 were killed and 61 wounded. Usher Parsons, the ship\u2019s Harvard educated surgeon,\u00a0was kept busy below deck. With the Lawrence<\/em>\u00a0disabled, British victory seemed imminent.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, another American ship, the Niagara<\/em><\/a>, commanded by Jesse Elliott, had \u201cheld back\u201d and for some reason did not engage in the battle. The Niagara<\/em> was a \u201dfresh ship\u201d with no significant damage, and Perry reasoned that if he could board her, the battle could continue. After consulting with Yarnall, Perry departed the Lawrence<\/em> in a small boat, leaving Yarnall in command of the ship. Once Perry boarded the Niagara<\/em>, he renewed the attack on the British. In an almost miraculous 15 minutes of fighting, America\u2019s fortunes changed and Perry\u2019s forces prevailed. After the battle, Yarnall took the squadron\u2019s wounded aboard and carried them to Erie, Pennsylvania for medical treatment.<\/p>\n With Yarnall\u2019s help, Perry had defeated the most powerful navy in the world. In fact, it was the first time in history that an entire British fleet was captured. The victory was critical to the United States. Securing vital water transportation routes on Lake Erie helped American forces win the land battle in the Great Lakes region. Had the battle been lost, it\u2019s likely that the states of Michigan, Wisconsin, and Minnesota, as well as the city of Chicago, Illinois would not now be part of the United States.<\/p>\n After the battle, Yarnall was a strong supporter of Oliver Hazard Perry in a verbal dispute between Perry and Jesse Elliott (the original captain of the\u00a0Niagara<\/em>\u00a0who was jealous of Perry\u2019s success). Elliott made a desperate attempt to enhance his own reputation despite the fact that he did not bring his ship into the fight against the British. Professor Emeritus David Curtis Skaggs of Bowling Green State University states\u2026 \u201cPerhaps the most condemnatory published statement came in a letter from Lieutenant Yarnall\u2026to a friend in Wheeling, who had it printed in the Ohio Federalist<\/em> <\/a>of nearby St. Clairsville, Ohio. In this letter Yarnall questioned how Elliott \u2018would account for his conduct for not bringing his vessel to close action when ordered\u2019\u2026\u2019If Captain Elliott had obeyed orders the conflict would not have been so long or as sanguinary.'\u201d<\/p>\n Yarnall had not anticipated that his private letter would be published. When confronted, he refused to retract his words, and in retaliation, Captain Elliott had Yarnall arrested.\u00a0Fortunately, a delegation of naval officers came to Yarnall\u2019s defense so that he was not brought to trial. Secretary of the Navy William Jones followed Perry\u2019s suggestion and reassigned Lieutenant Yarnall to service aboard the ship John Adams<\/em>. This allowed Yarnall to escape \u201cthe clutches\u201d of Elliott.<\/p>\n In the spring of 1815, Yarnall sailed with the famous Stephen Decatur, Jr. aboard the frigate Guerriere<\/em> to the Mediterranean Sea. Stephen Decatur, Jr. had experienced \u201chand to hand combat\u201d with pirates during the first Barbary War (1801-1805). Now Decatur and Yarnall would fight the pirates in the second Barbary War (March 3, 1815-July 3, 1815). Near Algeria, Decatur, as commander of the Guerriere<\/em> (with Lieutenant Yarnall), captured the Meshuda<\/em>, the flag ship of the Algerian \u201cnavy.\u201d Yarnall was again wounded. Decatur gave Lt. Yarnall the duty to bear documents to our government after the treaty was signed. Yarnall\u2019s ship, the sloop of war Epervier<\/em>, was last seen passing the Strait of Gibraltar into the Atlantic Ocean on July 14, 1815. His ship never arrived in the United States and was presumed to have gone down at sea.<\/p>\n For his valor during the Battle of Lake Erie, Yarnall earned Perry\u2019s commendation as well as a gold medal from Congress. Unfortunately, the medal was not given to Yarnall right away. Instead, it was awarded posthumously to his family and accepted by his mother, Phebe Yarnall who was living in Pittsburgh in 1819 (four years after his death).<\/p>\n But the United States Navy did not forget him, naming two destroyers after its\u00a0heroic\u00a0Lieutenant\u00a0John Joliffe Yarnall. The first, destroyer #143, served the United States from 1918-1940. One of the ship\u2019s earliest commanders was William F. Halsey, Jr. who during World War II became U.S. Navy Fleet Admiral \u201cBull Halsey.\u201d Ironically, in 1940 the Yarnall<\/em> destroyer was given to the British Navy to serve in WWII and renamed H.M.S. Lincoln<\/em>. Later this destroyer was transferred to the Soviet Navy and renamed Druzhny<\/em> (which means \u201cFriendly\u201d in Russian). The second Yarnall<\/em> U.S. Navy Destroyer #DD-541 was launched on July 25, 1943 and was used to fight the Japanese in the Pacific during WWII. She also saw action during the Korean War.<\/p>\n A painting by Dean Mosher<\/a> of a wounded Yarnall aboard the Lawrence<\/em> with Oliver Hazard Perry is on permanent display at Perry\u2019s Victory and International Peace Memorial<\/a> at Put-in-Bay, Ohio on Lake Erie. This national monument is the third tallest monument in the United States. Only the St. Louis Arch and the Washington monument are taller. A portrait of Yarnall<\/a> painted by Dutch artist Charles Delin (1756-1818) sold during an auction of August 18-19, 2012 for $21,240. During the Bicentennial Reenactment of the Battle of Lake Erie on September 10, 2013, someone paid $975.00 for the privilege of portraying John J. Yarnall.<\/p>\n John J. Yarnall signed his last will and Testament<\/a> on November 6, 1813 (less than one month after the Battle of Lake Erie), writing that he made this will \u201cconsidering the uncertainty of this mortal life.\u201d He wrote affectionately about his mother, brothers Amos and Peter, and his sisters Elizabeth Bolton and Mary Caldwell. Interestingly, he gave only $100.00 to his brother Peter in order to buy a watch, because of \u201cbeing considered by me so well established in the world as to need no other Bequest.\u201d Indeed that must have been the case, because it was his brother Peter Yarnall that likely helped finance the first bridge in Wheeling, West Virginia, a covered bridge over Wheeling Creek<\/a>.<\/p>\n John Joliffe Yarnall was truly a hero who served our country bravely and honorably. Since he lost his life at sea and has no tombstone, his remembrance may have faded somewhat with the passing of time. Still, the people of Wheeling, West Virginia should be very proud to call John Joliffe Yarnall \u201cone of their own.\u201d<\/p>\n [Note: We would like for this post to be the launch of a campaign both to increase awareness of John Joliffe Yarnall\u2019s heroism, and to fund a monument to Mr. Yarnall in his hometown at Heritage Port.]<\/p>\n Books: <\/strong><\/p>\n Richard Dillon, We Have Met the Enemy: Oliver Hazard Perry: Wilderness<\/em> Captain W.W. Dobbins, History of the Battle of Lake Erie (September 10,<\/em> David Curtis Skaggs, Oliver Hazard Perry: Honor, Courage, and Patriotism<\/em> Websites:<\/strong><\/p>\n Annual Marine, China Trade & Historical Americana Auction.\u00a0August 18-19, 2012.<\/a> Accessed July 26, 2015.<\/p>\n Lake Erie Heritage Foundation<\/a>. Accessed August 1, 2013.<\/p>\n Naval History and Heritage Command<\/a>. U.S. Navy website.\u00a0Accessed August 4, 2015.<\/p>\n NavSource Naval History<\/a>. by Paul R. Yarnall.\u00a0Accessed July 26, 2015.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/a><\/a><\/a>Epilogue<\/h3>\n
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\nSources consulted:<\/h3>\n
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\n Commodore<\/em> (New York: McGraw Hill, 1978)<\/p>\n
\n 1813) and reminiscences of the Flagship \u201cLawrence<\/em>\u201d (Erie, PA: Asby &
\nVincent Printers, 1876)<\/p>\n
\n In the Early U.S. Navy<\/em> (Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 2006)<\/p>\n
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