CHAPTER XXVIII.

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.

[24] See complete list, vol. II. of his official Report.