Sea Of Glory (Paperback)

In addition to US Ex Ex's accomplishments, Philbrick tells of many, sometimes deadly, adventures -- ships wrecked and battered by storms, encounters with island natives, even a very short "war."

Finally, there is the all important human element: One reason the US Ex Ex vanished was the way the journey ended -- in courts martial and wrangling. The commander of the expedition, Wilkes, managed to turn his many young officers from ardent admirers into bitter enemies, through his fierce ambitions, paranoia, and other deep personal flaws -- which in turn may have colored Melville's portrait of Captain Ahab in Moby Dick.

I'm very glad to have found this book. Be sure to look through the excellent bibliography as well, which is a goldmine of sources for more information on US expeditions and early science.

"By this time the sound of the dragging anchors had become 'almost an incessant peal,' Dana wrote, 'announcing that the dreaded crisis was fast approaching.' "They had drifted to within a ship's length of the reef. One of the anchors finally caught and, for a few brief moments, the Relief hovered in the wild surge of the breakers. '[T]he ship rose and fell a few times with the swell,' Dana wrote, 'and then rose and careened as if half mad: her decks were deluged with the sweeping waves, which poured in torrents down the hatches.' The strain on the cables proved too much, and at 11:30 P.M. the anchor chain parted. '[W]e found ourselves,' Long wrote, 'at God's mercy.' "

I am a major fan of Joy Hakim's American History series, THE HISTORY OF US. But looking back through it today, I am surprised. While Ms. Hakim devotes five pages to an excellent biographical introduction of Nathaniel Bowditch (1773-1838), the author of THE NEW AMERICAN PRACTICAL NAVIGATOR, there is not a single word in her entire series about Lieutenant Charles Wilkes, the man who was undoubtedly Bowditch's most important student.

Hakim is not alone in having ignored Wilkes. I telephoned an eighth-grade student to check on our middle school's American History text. Again, no mention of Lieutenant Wilkes.

Despite my own love for American History, if I've ever heard mention of Wilkes, it has certainly slipped my mind. And yet, as the commander of the U.S. Exploring Expedition (referred to as the Ex. Ex.), Wilkes led an incredibly ambitious and successful four-year journey that ranks right up there with that of Lewis and Clark.

"By any measure, the achievements of the Expedition would be extraordinary. After four years at sea, after losing two ships and twenty-eight officers and men, the Expedition logged 87,000 miles, surveyed 280 Pacific Islands, and created 180 charts--some of which were still being used as late as World War II. The Expedition also mapped 800 miles of coastline in the Pacific Northwest and 1,500 miles of the icebound Antarctic coast. Just as important would be its contribution to the rise of science in America. The thousands of specimens and artifacts amassed by the Expedition's scientists would become the foundation of the collections of the Smithsonian Institution. Indeed, without the Ex. Ex., there might never have been a national museum in Washington, D.C. The U.S. Botanical Garden, the U.S. Hydrographic Office, and the Naval Observatory all owe their existence, in varying degrees, to the Expedition."

So why is the groundbreaking work of the Expedition so widely ignored? That is the question that Nathaniel Philbrick both asks and provides answers for in his latest, thrilling volume of nonfiction, SEA OF GLORY.

The reason for the Ex. Ex. having become a complex and controversial subject that is ignored by American history textbooks has to do with Wilkes. On one hand, Wilkes was one heck of a history-making marine surveyor, and one bold, daring, and determined hombre when it came to exploring uncharted seas and supervising collection of information and specimens. But he was an equally crazy, abusive, and evil SOB when it came to leading men and dealing with natives, Brits, superiors, subordinates, Friends, Romans, Countryman...(You get the idea.) And since what comes around goes around, his return to America after four years of such phenomenal successes was cause for a court-martial rather than a rolling out of the red carpet.

The trouble began not long after the Expedition set sail.

"All his life, Wilkes had cast himself as the righteous outsider who must battle against the forces of ignorance and ineptitude to achieve what others thought could never be done. He was the antithesis of the 'team player,' and as he had proven...more than a decade before, he was capable of turning on the people closest to him if he thought it served his best interests...
"A year into the Expedition, Wilkes had essentially re-created the environment in which he had always operated: it was he, and he alone, against the rest of the world. It was a turbulent, hurtful, and ultimately wasteful way to conduct one's life, but it was the only way he knew how to do it."

Nathaniel Philbrick once again showcases his ability to meld primary source materials with commentary and background in a manner that grabs and holds readers. It is incredibly exciting to travel with these nineteenth century Americans as they dodge icebergs, challenge dangerous straits, and climb Mauna Kea. It is truly fascinating to read about the disparities between what had at that time previously been reported--even in the well-traveled Atlantic--and that which Wilkes surveyed. As the author points out, "As the Ex. Ex. was proving, exploration was as much about discovering what did not exist as it was about finding something new." The book is immersed in the rich mathematical and scientific background information that is necessary to really understand the Expedition's procedures and accomplishments.

But what is also thought-provoking--particularly in the context of today's communications revolution where we can be in touch with anyone, anywhere (including Mars) at a moment's notice--is that a vital and pivotal U.S. government operation and its commander could operate for four long years without word one passing between Wilkes and either his military superiors or civilian government officials in Washington, D.C. (Then again I suppose, considering testimony in the current highly publicized hearings going on, some might say that, "Things never change.")

SEA OF GLORY reveals a significant chunk of American History that--as with the many aficionados of the Lewis and Clark Trail--will have readers wanting to visit Pacific Islands, Antarctic peninsulas, and Pacific Northwest landmarks. Thanks to Nathaniel Philbrick, the U.S. Exploring Expedition and its remarkable-yet-flawed leader will be given its due in our nation's history.