Dickson Tavern

09/29/2026

The Bruce County Museum in Southhampton, Ontario has a replica of the HMS General Hunter. The original HMS General Hunter was part of the British fleet that was captured by Oliver Hazard Perry in the Battle of Lake Erie. July 8, 1815, John Dickson bought the ship, renamed it the Hunter, and he leased to back to the US Military for several voyages carrying troops and materials between Michilimackinac, Detroit, and Buffalo. August 19, 1816, the Hunter was shipwrecked in a storm on Lake Huron while returning from Michilimackinac toward Detroit. April of 2001, the Hunter / HMS General Hunter is rediscovered, buried in the sand on a Southhampton beach by Duncan McCallum. Marine Archaeologist Ken Cassavoy and hundreds of volunteers spend more than a decade excavating, recording, and preserving the artifacts and the story of the Hunter / HMS General Hunter. In 2012, the Bruce County Museum in Southhampton Ontario opens a permanent exhibit of a replica of the HMS General Hunter.

09/22/2026

Thirteen year old John Dickson was part of the Leander's crew on August 18th, 1798 when it was captured by the French ship Le Genereux, shortly after the Battle of the Nile.

On this day;- 18th August 1798 HMS Leander(50) was captured by Le Genereux(74)
Action between H.M.S. Leander of 50 Guns & 282 Men and the French National Ship Le Genereux 74 Guns, 936 Men August 18th 1798. The Leander raking Le Genereux- Artist by Charles Henry Seaforth.
HMS Leander was a Portland-class 50-gun fourth rate of the Royal Navy, launched at Chatham on 1st July 1780.
Carrying Nelson's dispatches from the Nile and accompanied by Sir Edward Berry, Leander encountered the 74-gun French third rate Généreux off Crete on 18th August 1798. In the subsequent action, Leander lost 35 men killed and 57 wounded, including her Captain, Thomas Thompson. The French suffered 100 killed and 180 wounded, but captured Leander. The French took her into service under her existing name.
The French treated the prisoners badly and plundered almost everything but the clothes the British had on their backs. When Thompson remonstrated with Captain Lejoille of Généreux, Lejoille answered nonchalantly, "J'en suis fâché, mais le fait est, que les Français sont bons au pillage." ("It makes me angry, but the fact is, the French are good at pillaging.") They refused treatment for Thompson, who had been badly wounded. Leander's surgeon, Mr. Mulberry, was able to remove a musket ball from Thompson's arm only after the vessels reached Corfu on 1st September and he was smuggled aboard the vessel where the French were holding Thompson. Most of the officers returned to Britain on parole but the French detained a number of seamen, and in particular Thomas Jarrat, the carpenter, after he refused to reveal to them the dimensions of Leander's masts and spars. Captain Lejoille tried, albeit unsuccessfully, to get some of the British crew that he had detained to assist him when a Turko-Russian fleet appeared off Corfu. The British refused.
The subsequent court-martial aboard HMS America at Sheerness most honourably acquitted Thompson, his officers, and his crew. The court also thanked Berry for the assistance he gave during the battle. As Thompson was rowed back to shore, the crews of all the ships at Sheerness saluted him with three cheers. He was subsequently knighted and awarded a pension of £200 per annum.
Leander was at Corfu when a joint Russian and Ottoman force besieged the island. On 28th February 1799, the Russians and Ottomans attacked Vido, a small island (less than a kilometer across) at the mouth of the port of Corfu. A four-hour bombardment by several ships suppressed all five shore batteries on the island. Leander and the corvette Brune tried to intervene but were damaged and forced to retreat to the protection of the batteries of Corfu.
The Russians and Turks recaptured Leander and Brune when Corfu capitulated to them on 3rd March 1799. The Russians restored Leander to the Royal Navy. They also gave Brune to the Ottomans.
HMS Leander having returned to RN service was finally out of commission at Portsmouth in 1807. In 1808 she was in Plymouth. In October 1810, Leander was fitted as a medical depot ship at Portsmouth. In 1813 the Admiralty commissioned a new Leander (1813) so the old Leander was given the name Hygeia. Hygeia was sold on 14th April 1817 to a Mr. Thomas for £2,100.
Above is taken near verbatim from Wikipedia

09/10/2026

213 years ago today, the Battle of Lake Erie began the morning of September 10th. At 7am the squadron of nine U.S. Navy ships under the command of Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry, formed and prepared to engage the enemy British squadron of 6 ships led by Royal Navy Commander Robert Barclay.

This would be the culmination of a month of scouting by Perry, searching for the British and a year of shipyard preparation, construction, outfitting, and crewing. Perry is supposed to have said "this is the most important day of my life" to his friend and Purser Samuel Hambelton, before the battle began.

The Battle:
The shooting began at 11:45am, though the maneuvering and positioning had begun hours earlier as both sides sought the greatest advantage relative to the wind. A shot from a British 24lb gun hit "Lawrence", Perry's flagship. The battle seesawed for over three hours. The light breeze meant the ships were moving so slowly that it took Perry the next 45 minutes to close the range from about a mile down to the 200 yards or so at which range carronades were most lethal. During all this time Lawrence continued to receive fire she could not answer except with the 2 long 12-pounders. By 12: 30 Perry was able to open fire in earnest. Because Elliott failed to close, Perry found himself under fire from both the large British ships and a smaller brig as well. The concentration of force at this point was completely with the British. The result of this situation was that for the next two hours, Lawrence fought an artillery duel on very uneven terms. While her own 32 lb. carronades were inflicting great damage on the British, the combined weight of fire of Detroit, Hunter, and Queen Charlotte eventually put all of Lawrence’s guns on the engaged side out of action. Eighty percent of the men fit for duty on Lawrence were casualties, 22 killed and 66 wounded, a proportional toll seldom exceeded in the age of sail.

Perry had the great good luck to remain uninjured while his ship became a shattered slaughterhouse around him. With both guns and crew gone, there was nothing more that could be accomplished from the Lawrence. Perry further had the luck that one of the ship’s boats was still intact towing astern. Perry saw that Niagara was still undamaged and determined to continue the fight from her, using the boat to transfer. Perry turned over Lawrence to Lt. Yarnall, who later struck the U.S. flag to surrender to avoid further useless slaughter.

Perry’s transfer to the decks of Niagara is perhaps one of the most recognized moments in the Battle of Lake Erie. For many artists, this is the moment they choose to replicate. That said, it was sheer luck that Perry was not only able to survive but, then continue the fight and eventually win the day. Once aboard, Oliver took command from his next in command, Jesse Duncan Elliott, and raised his banner high above the decks of Niagara. In a moment of confusion, the British believed the Americans to be retreating however, they were actually pressing on, taking advantage of the weather gauge (favorable winds). It is here where the two largest vessels in the British squadron, Queen Charlotte and Detroit run into one another, becoming entangled in a mess of rigging. Perry saw the opportunity - a moment to unleash sheer devastation on the unsuspecting British ships. Niagara was ordered to close in and swing into the British line.

“At 45 minutes past two, the signal was made for “closer action”. The Niagara being very little injured, I determined to pass through the Enemy’s line; bore up, and passed ahead of their two Ship and a Brig, giving a raking fire to them from the Starboard guns, and to a large Schooner and Sloop from the Larboard side, at half Pistol shot distance. ”

- O.H. Perry in his after action report

Within 15 minutes of Perry’s transfer, the British squadron surrendered - the Battle of Lake Erie was over.

This is just an excerpt from our website. Want the full timeline of the battle? Click below!

https://www.eriemaritimemuseum.org/research-topics/battle-of-lake-erie

Image (Prelude to Battle) courtesy of Peter Rindlisbacher

08/03/2026

John Dickson was a 13 year old powder monkey aboard the HMS Leander in the Battle of the Nile.

1st August 1798 – The Battle of the Nile begins when a British fleet engages the French Revolutionary Navy fleet in an unusual night action.

07/30/2026

07/29/2026

John Dickson was a part of crew of the HMS Leander on August 18th 1789 when it was captured by the French ship Le Genereux. the following is a description of the event: Following Nelson’s victory at the Nile, he dispatched his flag captain Sir
Edward Berry to bring the news of the victory back to Britain. Berry travelled
in the 50-gun frigate Leander, which encountered Le Généreux once more on
18 August 1798. The smaller Leander was beaten despite stout resistance,
and Berry was captured along with the Leander’s crew. Berry and his
compatriots were treated poorly by their captors, with personal possessions
being seized and the Leander’s surgeon was left without tools to treat the
injured crew.

The giant flag of the french ship Le Genereux, which was captured by one of Admiral Nelson's captains Sir Edward Berry at the Battle of Malta Convoy in 1800. (With humans for scale)

More: https://bio.link/museumofartifacts