Matthew Calbraith Perry : antebellum sailor and diplomat PDF
Preview Matthew Calbraith Perry : antebellum sailor and diplomat
-^M atth ew C a lb r a it h “P e r r y A ntebellum Sailor and D iplomat John H. Schroeder Naval Institute Press Annapolis, Maryland Naval Institute Press 291 Wood Road Annapolis, MD 21402 © 2001 by John H. Schroeder All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Schroeder, John H., 1943- Matthew Calbraith Perry : antebellum sailor and diplomat / John H. Schroeder. p. cm. — (Library of naval biography) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 1-55750-812-7 (acid-free paper) 1. Perry, Matthew Calbraith, 1794-1858. 2. Sailors—United States—Biography. 3. Diplomats—United States—Biography. 4. United States—History, Naval—19th century. 5. United States. Navy—Biography. I. Title. II. Series. E182 .P469 2001 973.525'o92—dc2i [B] 00-048203 Printed in the United States of America on acid-free paper @ 08 07 06 05 04 03 02 01 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 First printing Frontispiece courtesy of Library of Congresi For my sons, John and Andrew ^ Contents Foreword xi Preface xiii Acknowledgments xvii Chronology xix i A Rhode Island Naval Heritage i 2 Lieutenant in West African and Caribbean Waters 22 First Lieutenant and Commander in the Mediterranean 4 Captain and Naval Reformer 68 5 Commodore of the African Squadron 95 6 Commodore of the Gulf Squadron 123 7 Planning the Naval Expedition to Japan 154 8 East Asia and Japan 184 9 A Treaty with Japan, Signed and Tested 217 10 Home at Last 249 Notes 265 Ribliography 293 Further Reading 309 Index 317 foreword Matthew Calbraith Perry was one of the preeminent officers of the antebellum navy. Every high-school student learns about “Perry and the Opening of Japan,” and naval historians know that Perry was a leading reformer who advanced both the adoption of steam propul sion and professional education. Beyond these few facts, Perry’s long career has slipped from public memory. He deserves better—not only for his achievements, but also for what his career can tell us about the U.S. Navy and the nation it served during the first half of the nine teenth century. To a great extent Perry personified both the service and the nation. He came from one of America’s greatest naval families and through ser vice and the marriage of a daughter was linked to the Rodgers family, another naval dynasty. Calbraith, as his family called him, was the son of the Revolutionary War naval officer Christopher Raymond Perry. He was also a senior captain in the new U.S. Navy, the younger brother of War of 1812 hero Oliver Hazard Perry, and the father of Matthew C. Perry Jr., a navy captain during the Civil War, and Oliver H. Perry II, who served in the navy and later as U.S. consul to Hong Kong. Another of Calbraith’s sons, William Frederick Perry, served in the Marine Corps during the Mexican War. Matthew Calbraith Perry had the most varied career of them all. Like his brother Oliver Hazard, he fought the British during the War of 1812 and later fought pirates in the Caribbean. Like one of his sons, he led expeditions ashore against Mexican forces; and like another, he negoti ated with leaders in the Far East. Beyond this, M. C. Perry backed ord nance reforms, promoted the idea of establishing a naval academy to train young officers, suppressed the trade in slaves, supported the repub- xi xn Foreword lie of Liberia, and compiled the three-volume Narrative of the Expedition of an American Squadron to the China Seas and fapan. As important as what Perry did was the way he did it. Perry entered the navy as a midshipman in 1809. While serving under John Rodgers during the War of 1812, the young midshipman learned the value of a taut ship and displayed courage in battle. As a junior lieutenant Perry visited Africa, Turkey, and Russia. Later, while touring England and France, he submitted reports on leaders such as King Louis Philippe of France that reflected the keen insight into character that would mark his negotiations with Japanese officials a decade and a half later. As an officer Perry often found himself stationed ashore. Never idle, he established an experimental battery for testing ordnance, took the lead in organizing the Naval Lyceum, and published numerous essays advocating various naval reforms. When America went to war with Mex ico, Perry led bluejackets and marines ashore to capture Frontera, Tabasco, Laguna, and Tuxpan. All these activities receive their due in this biography, as does the capstone of his career, command of the squadron that opened Japan to the West. Perry’s career of nearly fifty years provides an excellent vantage point from which to view the young U.S. Navy as it fought wars with Great Britain and Mexico, responded to technological innovations, and extended the reach of American power around the globe. It is not easy to capture the spirit of a man with such a multifaceted career, but John Schroeder has succeeded admirably in this interpretative biography. James C. Bradford Series Editor Preface & Matthew Calbraith Perry is remembered primarily as the officer who led a naval and diplomatic mission to Japan in 1853—54. The successful Perry expedition established diplomatic contact with Japan, prepared the way for commercial relations with Japan, and hastened the subsequent polit ical and economic transformation of Japan. The expedition to Japan was indeed the outstanding achievement of Perry’s career, and it placed him in the first rank of nineteenth-century American naval heroes. Often forgotten in the emphasis on Japan, however, is Perry’s long and distinguished naval career preceding his departure for Japan in late 1852. Born in 1794, he entered the navy in 1809 and by 1850 stood as the preeminent officer of the naval generation that served between the War of 1812 and the Civil War. Part of a naval family that included Oliver Hazard Perry, the hero of the Battle of Lake Erie, and that was con nected by marriage to naval legend Commo. John Rodgers, Matthew advanced steadily in the navy through his capable handling of challenging assignments and ever-increasing responsibilities. Unlike Oliver Hazard and other flamboyant officers of his time, Matthew was a serious and reserved person who earned the respect, but never the affection, of his fellow offi cers. Unlike many pre—Civil War naval heroes, he never won a major naval battle or engagement at sea. He commanded the Gulf Squadron during the Mexican War and demonstrated that he was an aggressive, resourceful, and courageous leader. Since Mexico had essentially no navy, however, Perry’s victories all came in amphibious operations such as the capture of Tabasco and had little impact on the military outcome of the war. The Mexican War was primarily a land war that was fought and won by armies under the com mand of such generals as Zachary Taylor and Winfield Scott, and it was they who received the public’s acclaim.
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