Charles Wilkes

American explorer

• Born: April 3, 1798
• Birthplace: New York, New York
• Died: February 8, 1877
• Place of death: Washington, D.C.

Wilkes’s determination and leadership as commander of the United States Exploring Expedition of 1838-1842 ensured the success of this major step in the emergence of the United States as a naval and scientific power.

Early Life

Charles Wilkes was the youngest child of John Deponthieu Wilkes, who had immigrated to the United States from Great Britain during the Revolutionary War, and Mary Seton, whose father was her husband’s business partner. Because of John D. Wilkes’s success in business, the family was relatively affluent. Wilkes’s life was disrupted before his third birthday by the death of his mother. Thereafter, he was reared by various female relatives and friends, including his aunt, Elizabeth Seton (the first American saint, canonized in 1974). Subsequently educated at boarding and preparatory schools, Wilkes rejected Columbia College or a career in business for a life in the army. After three cruises on merchant ships during the years 1815-1817, Wilkes obtained his commission as a midshipman in the United States Navy in 1818.

Wilkes’s decision to pursue a naval career despite the objections of his father may have been an early indication of two of his most enduring characteristics; his determination to do things his way and his self-assuredness. After he decided that a particular course of action was correct, he never wavered, no matter who criticized or objected. Add to this a bluntness in word and manner and a self-righteous attitude, and the result was a man in constant conflict with superiors, peers, and subordinates.

Life’s Work

Wilkes served on a number of ships during the early years of his career. There were also extensive stretches of land duty and periods of leave while awaiting orders. The time during which he was not at sea was spent studying mathematics and the naval sciences: hydrography, geodesy, and astronomy. He studied with Ferdinand Hassler, the first superintendent of the United States Coast Survey, and gained experience in surveying. (During one of these periods on land, in April, 1826, just prior to his promotion to lieutenant, Wilkes married Jane Renwick, whom he had known since childhood.) In February, 1833, he became superintendent of the Depot of Charts and Instruments (the forerunner of the Navy Hydrographic Office and the Naval Observatory). By the mid-1830’s, it was clear that he was one of the leading scientific minds in the United States Navy.

It was his scientific reputation, relatively minor among civilian scientists but outstanding compared to his fellow naval officers, which led to Wilkes’s orders in March, 1838, to command the United States Exploring Expedition, despite his junior rank (he was thirty-ninth of forty lieutenants). It was not Wilkes’s first contact with the expedition, which would occupy more than two decades of his life. When the expedition was first authorized in 1828, Wilkes had volunteered for duty with it; the idea of such an expedition was shelved a year later. In 1836, it was again authorized, and Wilkes was selected to travel to Europe to purchase the necessary scientific apparatus. When he returned in January, 1837, he found the expedition in disarray and still far from ready for sailing. After rejecting subordinate positions with the expedition, he accepted the responsibility as commander.

On August 18, 1838, the United States Exploring Expedition, usually known as the Wilkes Expedition , set sail from Norfolk, Virginia. Among its objectives were the surveying and charting of portions of the Pacific Ocean for the benefit of the American shipping industry, the establishment of good relations with the native populations of the region, and scientific observations and collecting in a number of disciplines. There were six ships, five hundred sailors, and nine civilian scientists under the command of the clean-shaven lieutenant whose hair always appeared disobedient. In a typical act of audacity, Wilkes assumed the rank of acting captain upon leaving port, despite the fact that the secretary of the navy had denied him that appointment.

The expedition returned to New York in the summer of 1842, having circumnavigated the earth and cruised more than eighty-seven thousand miles. Only two of the original ships survived the entire cruise; two had sunk, one was sent back early, and one was sold, while another ship had been added in 1841 to replace one of the lost ships. The expedition had explored, surveyed, charted, and mapped the Pacific Ocean basin from Oregon to Australia. Its exploration of the coast of Antarctica confirmed that the great ice mass was in fact a continent. More than four thousand zoological, fifty thousand botanical, and thousands of ethnographical specimens were brought back by the explorers. Most of these scientific specimens were eventually deposited in the Smithsonian Institution in 1858.

The first order of business, however, was courts-martial. Wilkes brought charges against a number of his junior officers, and in turn, a number were brought against him. He was found guilty on only one charge, excessive punishment of sailors, and sentenced to a public reprimand. Characteristically, in his autobiography Wilkes dismisses his court-martial as a vendetta on the part of the secretary of the navy.

With the courts-martial out of the way, Wilkes focused his energy on ensuring that the fruits of the expedition would not be lost. In the summer of 1843, he was promoted to commander and given the responsibility for the expedition’s collections and reports. Except for survey duty in 1858, the expedition remained his only official concern until the outbreak of the Civil War (he was promoted to captain in 1855). He published the five-volume Narrative of the United States Exploring Expedition in 1844, taking credit for authorship, although in fact he functioned more as an editor. He lobbied Congress for the funding for, and oversaw the publication of, nineteen scientific reports, authoring those on meteorology and hydrography himself.

Wilkes’s personal life changed during these years. In 1848, his wife, Jane, who had borne him four children, died. Six years later, he married Mary Lynch Bolton, who bore him two additional children, although one, born when Wilkes was sixty-seven, did not survive infancy.

During the Civil War, Wilkes held a number of successful commands and was promoted to commodore. There was, however, controversy during this time as well. While captain of the San Jacinto in November, 1861, he removed two Confederate agents from the British mail packet Trent. Although he was hailed as a hero by the American public and government, members of the latter changed their attitude when it was realized that Wilkes’s action could precipitate a war with Great Britain. The agents were freed. A subsequent clash with Secretary of the Navy Gideon Welles led to a second court-martial of Wilkes in 1864 for disobedience of orders, a finding of guilty, and suspension from the navy.

In 1866, Wilkes was promoted to rear admiral on the retired list. He continued working for the publication of the final volumes of the expedition reports, although Congress ceased their funding in 1873 with a number of reports unpublished. Wilkes died in his home in Washington on February 8, 1877. In 1909, his remains were placed in Arlington National Cemetery.

Significance

During the 1830’s, American science was just beginning to step upon the international stage. Although scientific exploration, a common enough activity among the great European powers, had been attempted with some success by the United States Army, the United States Exploring Expedition represented an effort on a scale far larger than the republic had ever attempted. The possibility of failure was high.

Despite the odds, the expedition succeeded. Not only did the expedition meet its military objectives, but also its scientific achievements placed the United States in a position of intellectual respectability. A model was provided for subsequent naval exploratory expeditions. To a very large extent, credit for that success must go to Wilkes. He was a difficult man to get along with, could not tolerate opposition or criticism, and knew far less about the world, especially science, than he thought he did. However, when energy, drive, and determination were needed, whether aboard ship or in the halls of Congress, Wilkes met the challenge. James Dwight Dana, the young geologist on the expedition, thought that no other naval officer could have done better. Combining a dedication to duty with a sympathy for science, Wilkes left the world a legacy of scientific and geographical knowledge.

Bibliography

Philbrick, Nathaniel. Sea of Glory: America’s Voyage of Discovery, the U.S. Exploring Expedition, 1838-1842. New York: Viking Press, 2003. A well-researched chronicle of the expedition and a portrait of its commander. Portrays Wilkes as passionate, brash, enthusiastic, but also petty, mean-spirited and egotistical.

Ponko, Vincent, Jr. Ships, Seas, and Scientists: U.S. Naval Exploration and Discovery in the Nineteenth Century. Annapolis, Md.: Naval Institute Press, 1974. Surveys the naval exploring expeditions of the antebellum period. Places the Wilkes Expedition in its larger context.

Reynolds, William. The Private Journal of William Reynolds: United States Exploring Expedition, 1838-1842. Edited with an introduction and notes by Nathaniel Philbrick and Thomas Philbrick. New York: Penguin Books, 2004. A first-person narrative of the four-year expedition by Reynolds, a junior officer who served under Wilkes. Describes how Wilkes lost the support of his crew.

Stanton, William. The Great United States Exploring Expedition of 1838-1842. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1975. Provides an analysis of the scientific contributions of the Wilkes Expedition. Stanton argues that the expedition gained international respect for the American scientific community.

Tyler, David B. The Wilkes Expedition: The First United States Exploring Expedition, 1838-1842. Philadelphia: American Philosophical Society, 1968. Concentrates on the exploring and surveying aspects of the expedition rather than the scientific. This history focuses on the performance of Wilkes as a commander and his relationship with his officer corps and civilian scientists.

Viola, Herman J., and Carolyn Margolis, eds. Magnificent Voyagers: The U.S. Exploring Expedition, 1838-1842. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1985. A collection of articles by scientists and historians. This represents a later and more balanced account of Wilkes and his expedition.

Wilkes, Charles. Autobiography of Rear Admiral Charles Wilkes, U.S. Navy: 1798-1877. Edited by William James Morgan, David B. Tyler, Joye L. Leonhart, and Mary F. Loughlin. Washington, D.C.: Naval History Division, 1979. A massive defense of his career, this autobiography provides unique insight into the mind of the man. Both the positive and the negative aspects of his character shine through.