Note 16 — Chapter IX · (continued 2)

Charles Wilkes was born in New York City, in 1798. He entered the U. S. navy as midshipman in 1818, and sailed in the Mediterranean and Pacific. He became lieutenant in 1826, and was placed in charge of the department of charts and instruments in 1830. In 1838, he was placed in charge of the expedition authorized by Congress in 1836 for the purpose of exploring and surveying the southern ocean. This was the first scientific expedition fitted out by the United States government, and much valuable information resulted from it. Of the record of the expedition (which lasted during the years 1838–1842) consisting of nineteen volumes, Wilkes wrote the six containing the narrative and the volumes on meteorology and hydrography. In 1843 he was made a commander, and a captain in 1855. He served through most of the Civil war on the northern side and was the one who removed the Confederate commissioners Slidell and Mason from the English mail boat “Trent,” November 8, 1861. He was made a commodore in July 1862, retired in June 1864, and created a rear admiral on the retired list, in 1866. His death occurred in 1877. The names of the vessels in his fleet were the sloops of war “Vincennes” and “Peacock,” the brig “Porpoise,” the store-ship “Relief,” and the two tenders, “Sea-Gull,” and “Flying-Fish.” See Introduction to Vol. i. of Wilkes’s narrative, and New International Encyclopædia.