He joined the United States Marines as a 2nd Lieutenant on March 1, 1807. He commanded the Marine Detachment on board Commodore Perry's flagship, The Lawrence, during the Battle of Lake Erie. A native of Massachusetts he studied medicine with his father, John Brooks after graduating from Harvard University in 1805. His father later became Governor of Massachusetts. He was an excellent drill officer with great promise and was considered the most handsome man in the fleet. During the course of the battle while conversing with Perry he was hit in the hip with a cannon ball which pushed him across the deck into the bulwark. Some accounts have him imploring Commodore Perry to shoot him while others say he asked for a pistol with which to shoot himself. He died within an hour, but not before reciting a verbal will to the wounded purser, Mr. Hambleton who lay by him. Congress voted a silver medal to be given to his nearest male relative. The USS Brooks, DD-232, was named after him. Brooks, DD-232, was launched April 24, 1919 by New York Shipbuilding Co. in Camden, New Jersey and was commissioned June 18, 1920, Lieutenant D.M. Dalton in command.
He joined the United States Marines as a 2nd Lieutenant on March 1, 1807. He commanded the Marine Detachment on board Commodore Perry's flagship, The Lawrence, during the Battle of Lake Erie. A native of Massachusetts he studied medicine with his father, John Brooks after graduating from Harvard University in 1805. His father later became Governor of Massachusetts. He was an excellent drill officer with great promise and was considered the most handsome man in the fleet. During the course of the battle while conversing with Perry he was hit in the hip with a cannon ball which pushed him across the deck into the bulwark. Some accounts have him imploring Commodore Perry to shoot him while others say he asked for a pistol with which to shoot himself. He died within an hour, but not before reciting a verbal will to the wounded purser, Mr. Hambleton who lay by him. Congress voted a silver medal to be given to his nearest male relative. The USS Brooks, DD-232, was named after him. Brooks, DD-232, was launched April 24, 1919 by New York Shipbuilding Co. in Camden, New Jersey and was commissioned June 18, 1920, Lieutenant D.M. Dalton in command.
Inscription
BENEATH THIS STONE
LIE THE REMAINS OF THREE AMERICAN
AND THREE BRITISH OFFICERS KILLED IN
THE BATTLE OF LAKE ERIE SEPTEMBER 10, 1813
Family Members
Advertisement
Records on Ancestry
Advertisement
