Richie's Picks: SEA OF GLORY: AMERICA'S VOYAGE OF DISCOVERY, THE U.S. EXPLORING EXPEDITION, 1838-1842 by Nathaniel Philbrick, Viking, November 2003, ISBN: 0-670-03231-X

"There ain't no surer way to find out whether you like people or hate them than to travel with them." --Mark Twain

"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.

"As the rest of the men ran for the boats, only Clark and one other sailor remained to fight beside the two officers. Out of the corner of his eye, Clark saw a native, about fifteen feet away, with a spear in his hand. '[M]y ignorance of the force of these missiles very nearly cost me my life,' he later wrote. 'It came like a flash of lightning, struck me full in the face, tearing my upper lip into three pieces, loosening my upper fore teeth, and glancing out of my mouth, passed through the left arm of Mr. Underwood.' Incredibly, Clark was able to raise his musket and shoot the native through the head before another native came up from behind and knocked him senseless into the water."

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.

Richie Partington
http://richiespicks.com
BudNotBuddy@aol.com ( )

Excellent telling of the 4 year US exploration of the antarctica, the South Pacific and the Pacific Northwest. L. Wilkes was an egocentric leader who managed to accomplish a great deal despite leadership or navigational skills. ( )

Nominally about the US Exploring Expedition, a 4-year venture to discover Antarctica, chart islands in the Pacific, and explore the Oregon coast and Columbia River, [i]Sea of Glory [/i]instead is more of a biography of the Expedition commander Charles Wilkes. The expedition was many years in the making, and Wilkes, a young, up-and-coming cartographer with an interest in science, maneuvered his way through the political landscape to get selected to lead this voyage, despite his rank of Lieutenant. The nominal rank of captain had been promised, but was not forthcoming, and Wilkes had to take care to select his subordinates from a pool of those who could not claim seniority or otherwise challenge his authority. Therefore, not only did the expedition not include some of the best and most experienced talent available, but the stress of managing six ships without the authority drove him to become a tyrant of epic proportions. Officers were stripped of command, replaced by those more compliant. Floggings in excess of the legal limit were executed in the name of discipline. Wilkes had the audacity to not only assume the rank of Captain without proper elevation, but also flew a Commodore's flag, indicating he was captain of a naval squadron.

In the course of the journey, ships were lost, crewmen killed or deserted, but the objective was met. Wilkes' maps of some of the Pacific atolls remained in service all the way through WW2, more than 100 years later. The sheer volume of artifacts acquired made it the most scientifically productive expedition in history to that point, enough, in fact, to form the basis of a collection that was to become the Smithsonian Institution. All of that, though was overshadowed by Wilkes' asshattery, and the expedition never did get the acclaim and notoriety that it more properly deserved.

When it was over, Wilkes had to meet challenges by former officers in a court martial, and had to defend some of his discoveries (all discoveries were "his". to hell with the crewmen who actually made them) from international inquiry. Amazingly, Wilkes came out largely unscathed, and was granted copyrights to all published reports stemming from the expedition. It wasn't until years later, finally promoted first to captain then rear-admiral, that this "loose cannon" finally became too much of a liability when, during the ACW, instead of taking out the commerce raiders that he was ordered to eliminate, he instead found it more personally lucrative to prey upon vessels of other sovereign nations. Wilkes was recalled, suspended, and never went to sea again.

Philbrick's style was snappy with a nice flow. The book probably would have been better characterized as a biography; I would have liked to hear more about some of the discoveries and what the scientists made of them. The story told was a good one, however, and I'm interested to know more. In many ways, it's the kind of story I wish Darwin's [i]Voyage of the Beagle[/i] had been. ( )

This is the story of the U.S. ExEx, which should be as important in history as the Lewis and Clark expedition, but has been largely forgotten. Among other things the expedition confirmed the existence of Antarctica and its status as a continent, claimed the Columbia River and Puget Sound for the U.S. (despite British presence there), mapped the coastline of Washington and Oregon, surveyed many Pacific islands, and collected thousands of species of plants and animals that formed the basis of the Smithsonian expedition.

Narrative Context: Middle Range Narrative Context

Subject(s): Adventure, exploration, discovery, high-risk situations, extreme weather conditions, survival,19th century, ocean navigation, circumnavigation, ethnology, biology, geographical surveys, mapping, Oceania, Pacific Ocean, Cape Horn, Cape of Good Hope, Antarctica, Pacific Northwest

Type: History in retrospect, adventure

Pacing: Slower pacing due to historical background and details
from commander and crew logs

Tone: Serious tone, historical detail, detailed setting (shipboard life and weather/climate extremes), literary

Similar Titles or Authors: In the Heart of the Sea: the Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex by Nathaniel Philbrick; Mayflower: a Story of Courage, Community and War by Nathaniel Philbrick; The Bounty: the True Story of the Mutiny on the Bounty by Catherine Alexander; The Endurance: Shackleton’s Legendary Antarctic Exploration by Catherine Alexander; Barrow’s Boys: a Stirring Story of Daring, Fortitude and Outright Lunacy by Fergus Fleming; The Mapmaker’s Wife: a True Tale of Love, Murder, and Survival in The Amazon by Robert Whitaker; Undaunted Courage: Meriwether Lewis, Thomas Jefferson, and the Opening of the American West by Stephen Ambrose

Whole Collection Context: Voyage of the Narwhal by Andrea Barrett; Servants of the Map: Stories by Andrea Barrett

Special Features: Extensive research, illustrations, maps, footnotes, bibliography

Learning/Experiencing: Very important in this story—who knew?!

Characterizations: Major characters are well-drawn, particularly Charles Wilkes and Passed Lieutenant William Reynolds. Focus on both characters and the events of the expedition.

Story Line: Philbrick’s intention was to explain why this expedition, whose mission and achievements were as great and adventurous as that of Lewis and Clark, is largely unknown today…… Largely this is because of Wilkes and the criticism of his behavior by the crew when the expedition was over. Wilkes was unprepared to lead the expedition and was not given the rank or the authority to do his job. Furthermore, he was arrogant and not a capable leader.

Language: Beautiful and evocative descriptions along with clear explanations of events and motivations.

Setting: Integral to the story, since it is about world explorations.

Wow this is a great book. Philbrick takes you on one of the most exciting and unknown adventures in American History. I recommend this book to anybody how enjoys American history, sea history or just a great adventure. I read this book in huge chuncks because I just couldn't put it down. ( )