This biographical essay recounts the career of Oliver Hazard Perry, from his appointment as a midshipman on the General Greene at the age of 14 to his death from illness on his 34th birthday aboard the Nonsuch in Venezuelan waters. Perry served during the Quasi War with France, the Tripolitan War, in a confrontation with the British while commanding Revenge, and during the War of 1812 where he earned his fame as the victor of the Battle of Lake Erie. Perry also participated on land in the battles resulting from the British campaign in the Chesapeake (during which the British burned Washington). He survived an incident in the Mediterranean that led to a court marshal and duel with a fellow officer and the grounding and loss of a ship he commanded. The essay includes a very brief overview of Matthew Calbraith Perry's naval accomplishments (he commanded the expedition to open Japan, a mission that Oliver Perry could have participated in earlier but which was abandoned) and includes a time line of events to help place the essay in context with the events of the day.