EDITORIAL

Stamp act

9/25/2013

A hero of a critical U.S. naval battle on Lake Erie during the War of 1812 was Comm. Oliver Hazard Perry. He defeated a British squadron: “We have met the enemy and they are ours,” he famously reported.

The battle was fought 200 years ago this month. The U.S. Postal Service has just issued a commemorative stamp of Commodore Perry leaving his damaged flagship to transfer his command to the brig USS Niagara.

The battle scene on the stamp was painted by Ohio artist William Henry Powell in 1865. We have met the mail carrier, and history is ours.