ORIGIN OF THE AMERICAN EXPEDITION TO JAPAN.
THOUGH as a student and a man of culture, Perry was familiar with the
drift of events in China, and was interested in Japan, yet it was not
until the year 1850, that his thoughts were turned seriously to the
unopened country in the eastern seas. The receipt of news about the
_Preble_ affair crystallized his thoughts into a definitely formed
purpose. He began to look at the problem, of winning Japan into the
comity of nations, with a practical eye, from a naval and personal
view-point.
Highly approving of Commander Glynn’s course, he believed that kindness
and firmness, backed by a force in the Bay of Yedo sufficient to impress
the authorities would, by tact, patience and care, result in a bloodless
victory. He now gathered together literary material bearing on the
subject and pondered upon the question how to translate Ali Baba’s
watch-word into Japanese. There seemed, however, little likelihood that
the government would be willing to send thither an imposing squadron. He
did not therefore seek the command of the East India squadron, and the
initial proposition to do the work with which his name is connected,
came to him and not from him.
Commander James Glynn, on his return, early in 1851, went to Washington
earnestly wishing to be sent on a diplomatic mission to Japan with a
fresh naval force. To this gallant and able young officer, belongs a
considerable share of the credit of working the President and Secretary
of State up to the point of action. The expedition, as it came to be
organized, however, grew to the proportions of a fleet, and Glynn found
himself excluded by his rank, the command of the expedition being very
properly claimed by an officer of higher rank in the army. The applicant
for the honor of commander of the Japan expedition, then in embryo, was
Commodore J. H. Aulick, who had been in the navy since 1809, and was
master’s mate of the _Enterprise_ in her combat with the _Boxer_, in the
war of 1812.
Dismissing from his mind, or at least postponing until a more propitious
time his eastward possibilities, Perry, March 21, 1851, applied for the
command of the Mediterranean squadron to succeed Commodore Morgan if the
way was clear. During the summer and autumn, he was several times in
Washington, and frequently in consultation with the Naval Committee. He
was led to believe his desire would be granted and made personal and
domestic arrangements accordingly. Yet the appointment hung fire for
reasons that Perry did not then understand.
General Taylor, having been hustled into the Presidency, promptly
succumbed to the unaccustomed turmoil of politics. He yielded to an
enemy more dire and persistent than Santa Anna,—the office seeker, and
found his grave. The urbane Millard Fillmore took his place, with Daniel
Webster as Secretary of State. The suggestions of Commander Glynn for
the opening of Japan had pleased both the President and Secretary, and
pretty soon, one of those multiplying pretexts and opportunities for
going near the “Capital of the Tycoon” occurred. It was the picking up
at sea of another lot of waifs by Captain Jennings, of the barque
_Auckland_ who took them to San Francisco. On the 9th of May, 1857,
Commodore Aulick proposed to the Secretary of State a plan for the
opening of Japan, and on the same day, Mr. Webster addressed an official
note to Hon. William Graham, Secretary of the Navy, in which these words
occur:
“Commodore Aulick has suggested to me, and I cheerfully concur in the
opinion, that this incident may afford a favorable opportunity for
opening commercial relations with the empire of Japan; or, at least, of
placing our intercourse with that Island upon a more easy footing.”
The nail already inserted in the wood by Glynn was thus driven further
in by Aulick’s proposition and Mr. Webster’s hearty indorsement. The
next day a letter to the “Emperor” was prepared and, on the 30th of May,
Commodore Aulick received his commission to negotiate and sign a treaty
with Japan. He was to be accompanied by “an imposing naval force.” At
least, so Mr. Webster’s letter suggested. Unfortunately, for Commodore
Aulick, he left before the nail was driven in a sure place. He departed
for the East with slight preparation, foresight, or mastery of details,
and long before the “imposing” naval force was gathered, or even begun.
Even had Aulick remained in command, he would probably never have
received any large accession to his force. Had he attempted the work of
negotiation with but two or three vessels, he would most probably have
failed. The preparation and sailing of the fleet to follow him was
delayed. Promises were never kept, and he was recalled. Why was this?
Commodore Aulick, on his return, demanded a court martial in order that
he himself might know the reasons, but his wishes were not heeded.
History has heretofore been silent on the point.
There are some who think that Perry is at fault here; that he grasped at
honors prepared for others, reaping where he had not sowed.
The reason for the recall of Commodore Aulick and the appointment of
Perry in his place were neither made public at the time, nor have they
thus far been understood by the public, or even by acquaintances of
Perry who ignorantly misjudge him. A number of persons, some of them
naval officers, have even supposed that Perry was responsible for the
bad treatment of Commodore Aulick, and that he sacrificed a
fellow-officer to gratify his own ambition. The writer was long under
the impression that Perry’s own urgency in seeking the position secured
for himself the appointment, and that the government favored Perry at
the expense of his comrade. With the view of sounding the truth at the
bottom of the well, the writer made search in both Aulick’s and
Secretary Graham’s official and confidential letters.
The unexpected result was the thorough vindication of Perry from the
shadow of suspicion. The facts reveal that harsh treatment may sometimes
hastily and needlessly be accorded to a gallant officer, and illustrate
the dangers besetting our commanders, when non-naval people with a
weakness for tittle-tattle live on board a man-of-war. The arrows of
gossip and slander, whether on sea or land, are sufficiently poisonous.
They nearly took the life, and ruined the reputation of Commodore
Aulick; but of their shooting, Perry was as innocent as an unborn child.
The simple facts in the case are that Commodore Aulick was recalled from
China long before Perry had any idea of assuming the Japan mission, and
that his relations with his old comrade in Mexico were always of the
pleasantest nature. We must look from the captains to their superior.
On the 1st of May 1851, Commodore Aulick received orders to proceed in
the new steamer frigate _Susquehanna_ to Rio [de] Janeiro, taking out
the Brazilian minister Macedo as the guest of the United States. He
sailed from Norfolk June 8th, and by way of Madeira, arrived at his
destination July 22. The _Susquehanna_ was a steam frigate of noble
spaciousness built at the Philadelphia Navy Yard in 1847. Her launch
amid a glory of sunshine, bunting, happy faces, and the symbolic
breaking of a bottle of water from the river of her own name, the writer
remembers as one of the bright events of his childhood. She carried
sixteen guns, and was of two thousand four hundred and fifty tons
burthen, but though of excellent model her machinery was constantly
getting out of order. From Rio [de] Janeiro Aulick proceeded around the
Cape of Good Hope on diplomatic business with the Sultan of Zanzibar.
This having been finished, Aulick sailed to China and on arriving at
Hong Kong, began to organize a squadron and make his personal
preparations for a visit to Japan. He secured as his interpreter, D.
Bethune McCartee, Esq., M. D. an accomplished American missionary at
Ningpo. He also investigated, as per orders, with the aid of the
missionaries of the Reformed [Dutch] Church in America at Amoy, Rev.
Messrs. Doty and Talmage, (brother of T. De Witt Talmage of Brooklyn)
the coolie traffic. The _Saratoga_ was sent after the mutineers of the
_Robert Bowne_, and visited the Riu Kiu islands. While engaged in
cruising between Macao and Manilla, though smitten down with disease,
the old hero was astounded at receiving a curt order from the Secretary
of the Navy dated November 18th, 1851. It directed him to hand over his
command to Captain Franklin Buchanan, but not to leave the China seas
until his successor should arrive. At the same time, he was informed
that grave imputations had been cast upon his conduct. Prompt and full
explanation of these was called for. The charges were, that he had
violated express orders in taking a person (his son) on board a national
vessel as passenger without authority, and that he had given out at Rio
[de] Janeiro that the Chevalier de Macedo was being carried at his
(Aulick’s) private expense.
Meanwhile, the Anglo-Chinese newspapers got hold of the patent fact, and
the ready inference was drawn that Commodore Aulick had been recalled
for mis-conduct. This annoyed the old veteran to exasperation. Worn out
by forty-four years in his country’s service, with both disgrace and an
early but lingering death staring him in the face, with the prospect of
being obliged to go home in a merchant vessel and without medical
attendance, he dictated (being unable to hold a pen) a letter dated
February 7, 1853 protesting against this harsh treatment caused by
“ex-parte statements of certain diplomats in Rio [de] Janeiro, whose
names, up to this time, have never been officially made known to me.”
For months in precarious health, Aulick waited for his unnamed relief,
and at last, heard that it was his as yet old friend Perry. By the
advice of his physician, Dr. Peter Parker and surgeon S. S. Du Barry, he
started homeward at the first favorable opportunity, by the English mail
steamer, passing the _Mississippi_ on her way out.
In London, Commodore Aulick called upon and was the guest of Chevalier
de Macedo, who learned with surprise of the trouble into which he had
fallen with his government. A long letter now in the navy archives, from
the Brazilian, thoroughly exonerated Aulick. Arriving in New York June
1st, 1863, and reporting to Secretary Dobbin, Commodore Aulick requested
that, if his letter of explanation of February 17, 1853, were not deemed
satisfactory, a court of inquiry, or court martial, be ordered for his
trial. After careful examination, the secretary wrote, August 2, 1853,
clearing Aulick of all blame, accompanying his letter with waiting
orders. In the letter of the gratified officer in response dated August
4, 1853, we have the last word in this painful episode in naval history,
in which the brave veteran was nearly sacrificed by the stray gossip of
a civilian apparently more eager to curry Brazilian favor than to do
eternal or even American justice.
One can easily see why, in addition to the rooted instinct of a
lifetime, Perry, in the light of Aulick’s misfortune, declined to allow
miscellaneous correspondence with the newspapers, and sternly refused to
admit on the Japan expedition a single person not under naval
discipline.
The chronological order of facts as revealed by the study of the
documents is this: On the 17th of November 1851, Secretary Graham
dictated the order of recall to Commodore Aulick. On the next day, he
wrote the following:—
NAVY DEPARTMENT, November 18, 1851.
COMMODORE M. C. PERRY, U. S. NAVY, NEW YORK.
Sir,—Proceed to Washington immediately, for the purpose of
conferring with the Secretary of the Navy.
Respectfully
WILL. A. GRAHAM.
Unusual press of business and the writing of his report for the
impending session of Congress caused the receipt by Perry on his arrival
in Washington, of a note, dated November 26, the substance of which was
that the Secretary was so busy that he could not consider the business
for which Perry was called from home, until after Congress had met. He
need not, therefore, wait in Washington but was at liberty to go home
and wait instructions. This was the first thorn of the rose on the way
to the Thornrose castle, in the Pacific.
Somewhat vexed, as Perry must have been, at being forced on a seeming
fool’s errand, he possessed his soul in patience, and, at home expressed
his mind on paper as follows:—
NORTH TARRYTOWN, N. Y., December 3, 1851.
Sir,—Seeing that you were so much occupied during my stay at
Washington, I was careful not to intrude upon your time and
consequently had little opportunity of conversing with you upon
the business which caused me to be ordered to that city—it has,
therefore, occurred to me, whether it would not be desirable
that I should write down the accompanying notes, in further
explanation of the views entertained by me, with reference to
the subject under consideration.
So far as respects my own wishes, I confess that it will, to me,
be a serious disappointment, and cause of personal inconvenience
not to go to the Mediterranean, as I was led to believe from
various reliable sources that it had been the intention of the
Department to assign me to the command, and had made
arrangements accordingly; but I hold that an officer is bound to
go where his services are most required, yet I trust I may be
pardoned for expressing a strong disinclination to go out as the
mere relief or successor to Commodore Aulick without being
charged with some more important service, and with a force
competent to _a possible_ successful issue the expectations of
the government.
Advance in rank and command is the greatest incentive to a
officer, and, having already been intrusted with two squadrons,
one of them the largest one put afloat since the creation of the
navy, I could only look to the Mediterranean for advance in that
respect, as that station, in time of peace, has always been
looked upon as the most desirable. Hence it may not be
surprising that I consider the relief of Commodore Aulick who is
much my junior and served under me in my second squadron, a
retrograde movement in that great and deeply fostered aim of an
officer of proper ambition, to push forward; unless indeed, as I
have before remarked, the sphere of action of the East India
squadron and its force be so much enlarged as to hold out a
well-grounded hope of its conferring distinction upon its
commander.
Doubtless there are others my juniors as competent, if not more
so, who would gladly accept the command as it now is and, if it
is not intended to augment it in view of carrying out the
important object with respect to Japan, I may confidently hope
that in accordance with your kind promise on the occasion of my
interview with you at your house, on the evening of the day of
my arrival in Washington, I shall still be assigned to the
command of the Mediterranean squadron.
In thus expressing myself freely to you I feel assured from a
knowledge of your high tone of character, that you will fully
appreciate the motives which have influenced me in desiring to
embark only in that service in the prosecution of which I could
anticipate a chance of success, or even escape from
mortification, disappointment, and failure.
With great respect I have the honor to be,
Your most obedient servant,
M. C. PERRY.
THE HON. WM. GRAHAM,
Secretary of the Navy, Washington, D. C.
The secretary’s clerk wrote January 14, 1852, “Commodore Perry will
proceed to Washington and report to the Secretary of the Navy without
delay.” The head of the Department added in autograph, “Report in person
at the Department.” This time the trip to the Capital was made with
something definite in view.
On the 6th of March, he received orders from the Department detaching
him from the superintendence of United States Mail Steamers and
transferring the command to Commodore Reany. He had, since January 9,
1849, been in active connection with steamship owners, manufacturers and
inventors, and been engaged in testing the newest inventions and
improvements in steam navigation. The transfer was duly made on the 8th,
and on the 23d, we find Perry again in Washington holding long
conversation with the Secretary of the Navy, Hon. W. A. Graham, on the
outfit and personnel of the proposed Japan expedition. On the 24th, he
received formal orders to command the East India squadron.
One of the first officers detailed to assist the Commodore was Lieut.
Silas Bent who had been with Glynn on the _Preble_ at Nagasaki. He was
ordered to report on board the _Mississippi_. Perry’s “Fidus Achates,”
Captain Henry A. Adams, and his special friends, Captains Franklin
Buchanan, Sidney Smith Lee, were invited and gladly accepted. His
exceeding care in the selection of the personnel[24] of the expedition
is shown in a letter from the “Moorings” dated February 2, 1852, to
Captain Franklin Buchanan. He expected them to embark by the first of
April, and sent his ships ahead laden with coal for the war steamers to
the Cape of Good Hope, and Mauritius. He congratulates his old friend on
a new arrival in his household, “You certainly bid fair to have a great
many grandchildren in the course of time. I already have eight.”
“In selecting your officers, pray be careful in choosing them of a
subordinate and gentlemanlike character. We shall be obliged to govern
in some measure, as McKeever says, by _moral_ suasion. McIntosh, I see
by the papers, has changed with Commander Pearson and leaves the
_Congress_, and is now on his way home in the _Falmouth_. We shall now
learn how the philanthropic principle of moral suasion answers.”
The reference is to the state of things consequent upon the abolition of
flogging. Perry was to gather and lead to peaceful victory, the first
American fleet governed without the lash.
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[24] See complete list, vol. II. of his official Report.