author
Charles Wilkes
1798–1877
Best remembered for leading the United States Exploring Expedition, he helped map the Pacific and gave the young nation a larger scientific view of the world. His career also included one of the Civil War’s most delicate naval incidents, making him a figure of both discovery and controversy.
1 Audiobook
The Former Philippines Thru Foreign Eyes
by Tomás de Comyn, Fedor Jagor, Rudolf Virchow, Charles Wilkes
About the author
An American naval officer and explorer, Charles Wilkes was born in New York City in 1798 and entered the U.S. Navy in 1818. He became known for his skill in surveying, chartmaking, and the careful handling of scientific instruments, work that linked him to the early development of the Navy’s charting and observatory efforts.
Wilkes is most famous for commanding the United States Exploring Expedition from 1838 to 1842. The voyage surveyed large stretches of the Pacific, gathered scientific specimens, and helped confirm the extent of the Antarctic coastline later associated with his name. The expedition also produced maps and reports that shaped American knowledge of places including the Pacific Northwest.
His later career was more contentious. During the Civil War, he commanded the USS San Jacinto in the Trent Affair, when two Confederate envoys were seized from a British mail ship, touching off an international crisis. He died in Washington, D.C., in 1877, remembered as an energetic and ambitious officer whose achievements in exploration were matched by a reputation for severity and controversy.