William B. Cushing in the Far East: A Civil War Naval Hero Abroad, 1865-1869

229 Pages·2013·6.33 MB·English

by  Julian R. Mcquiston

William B. Cushing
in the Far East
Portrait of W. B. Cushing by A. Bradish.
William B. Cushing
in the Far East
A Civil War Naval Hero
Abroad, 1865–1869
JULIAN R. MCQUISTON
McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers
Jefferson, North Carolina, and London
Photographs by kind permission of Chautauqua County
Historical Society, Westfield, New York, unless otherwise noted.
LIBRARYOFCONGRESSCATALOGUING-IN-PUBLICATIONDATA
McQuiston, Julian R., ¡926–
William B. Cushing in the Far East : a Civil War naval hero
abroad, 1865–1869 / Julian R. McQuiston.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-7864-7055-6
softcover : acid free paper
1. Cushing, William Barker, 1842–1874—Travel—East Asia.
2. Ship captains—United States—Biography. 3. United States.
Navy—Officers—Biography. 4. United States—Relations—East Asia.
5. East Asia—Relations—United States.
6. Fredonia (N.Y.)—Biography. I. Title.
E467.1.C98M35 20¡3 973.7'58092—dc23 [B] 2012045766
BRITISHLIBRARYCATALOGUINGDATAAREAVAILABLE
© 2013 Julian R. McQuiston. All rights reserved
No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form
or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying
or recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system,
without permission in writing from the publisher.
On the cover: The Maumee, Cushing’s ship to the Orient, photograph
by A. Thomas, Yokohama, July, 1868, and William Cushing on his
wedding day (both photographs courtesy Chautauqua County Historical
Society, Westfield, New York); Kate Cushing just after her wedding day
(courtesy Darwin R. Barker Historical Museum, Fredonia, New York)
Manufactured in the United States of America
McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers
Box 611, Jefferson, North Carolina 28640
www.mcfarlandpub.com
Table of Contents
Acknowledgments vi
Preface 1
Introduction 3
1. The Challenge of a Pacific Empire 13
2. Cushing Embraces a Fredonia Sweetheart 20
3. Route to the Far East by Sail and Steam to Match
the Power of Ocean Water 34
4. Cruising on the Troubled Waters of the Far East 49
5. From Tropical Heat to Northern Turbulence 85
6. Wandering Among the Crumbling Remnants
of the Celestial Empire 109
7. Imperial Japan 131
8. Surveying the Landscape and the
Inhabitants of Japan 156
9. A Lingering Farewell to the Far East 174
Notes 207
Bibliography 217
Index 220
v
Acknowledgments
I wish to acknowledge several colleagues who provided useful
material. Mary B. Sievens explained the erudite religious convic-
tions that flourished within the sturdy communities on the frontier.
Markus Vink translated an account of Cushing’s arrival in Indone-
sia. The staff of the Reed Library at SUNY Fredonia was consis-
tently supportive. Jack Ericson, archivist of the library’s Special
Collections, gave me his office and secretary for a little more than
a month to examine Cushing manuscripts deposited in the local
archive of the Chautauqua County Historical Society at Westfield,
which was then supervised by the Nixon family. John Paul Wolfe,
present curator of the society, with the aid of Niles Dening, helped
with photographs and illustrations. Douglas Shepard provided the
editorial revision of footnotes, and Sylvia Peterson, Nancy Wojcik,
and Theresa Dispenza assisted with typing. James Boltz was an
indispensable aid, providing considerable editorial assistance and
support in many ways. Finally, I wish to dedicate this book to my
wife, Patricia, who gave me constant encouragement not to drop
my paddle.
vi
Preface
Several years ago, when I was still chairman of the History
Department at SUNY Fredonia, the Chautauqua Historical Society
asked me to sort and index a collection of papers it had purchased
from the estate of the widow of Commander William Barker Cush-
ing, a celebrated Civil War hero. Cushing had put together a
remarkable record as a daring young naval officer and accepted the
challenge to destroy a Confederate ironclad ram, the Albemarle.
Cushing sought the aid of technicians at the New York Navy Yard,
where he submitted a scheme to construct a light, steam-driven
craft that could swiftly approach the Albemarle and strike it with
a torpedo, which would be suspended from the bow of the light
steamer.
Executing his daring plan with determination, Cushing
received accolades nationwide. In a navy composed predominately
of graying officers, Cushing was the youthful exception, a heroic
young conqueror. He was resolved to pursue a naval career, which
gave him an exceptional opportunity to escape from the limitations
of an isolated farming community. The paradox, however, was that
although Cushing heaped scorn on his rural antecedents, he kept
returning to them, although he did not linger long among the famil-
iar surroundings of his youth. In one of these hasty ventures he
encountered Katherine Forbes, the daughter of a prosperous grocer.
The ensuing courtship provides this narrative with a romance that
balances the overview of the rigors pertaining to the daily chores
and challenges of sailing a naval ship in strange seas.
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Introduction
As this narrative unfolds, the initial setting (and, indeed, the most con-
sistent one) is the village of Fredonia, a small community situated in the last
county, Chautauqua, in western New York before reaching Pennsylvania. It is
separated from Lake Erie by a larger neighbor, the City of Dunkirk. At the
end of the Civil War, Dunkirk had a population of some 6,000 inhabitants;
Fredonia contained approximately 2,000. Dunkirk was a bustling mercantile
center, which prospered from the commerce associated with Lake Erie. Fredonia
was essentially a farm-market town. The fruit and grape industry was still in
an embryonic stage; wine presses had not yet become prevalent. The village
of Fredonia sprawled on a fertile lake plain. It was difficult to fix any definite
boundary, for it merged gradually into the meandering lanes that led to clusters
of houses, sheds, and barns that dotted the countryside.
There is, however, one indisputable boundary: the escarpment that rises
precipitously from the lake plain to a series of rolling hills that eventually join
the Allegheny mountain range, through which flows a river also named
Allegheny. These hills have an outstanding attribute: they form a generously
sized basin for Lake Chautauqua, which empties into a small channel that flows
into the Allegheny River. This geographic configuration made possible a portage
Rendering of downtown Fredonia showing Johnson House, the Baptist church, Fre-
donia Academy and the Presbyterian church.
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