J.[ames] A.[lfred] Pearce. Autograph Letter Signed as US Senator from Maryland. “Senate” (Washington, D.C.) Jan. 11, 1847. 1pg. To Capt. [Charles] Wilkes.
“Col. Benton has just presented a memorial from 12 Lieuts. Of the Exn. complaining of the narrative and asking that certain passages of which they complain be left out of succeeding editions if such be authorized by Govt. In relation to the log [org.?], the Commtee & Secy. have agreed that Lieut. Reynolds may examine at the comm..rooms for the purpose of verifying certain dates, the log of the ‘Happy Fish’ for 1841. Will you therefore lend me tomorrow by 11 o’clock the log book in question... The Secy. says that Mr. Reynolds assures him that he does not want the book to make extracts for publication.”
The five-year United States Exploring Expedition of the Pacific Ocean, a squadron of six US Naval vessels, commanded by Captain Charles Wilkes, collected some 60,000 plant and bird specimens from 280 islands, and "showed the flag" from Mexican California and Oregon to Fiji, Borneo, and Singapore. Upon return of the squadron in 1842, Wilkes spent years preparing 19-volumes of Expedition Reports, personally writing a 5-volume Narrative, with accompanying Atlas, first published as a government imprint in 1844 and widely disseminated thereafter for eager public consumption.
The Expedition had been marked throughout by ill will between Wilkes and his subordinate officers, which contributed to long controversy about the Expedition's accomplishments and failures, including Wilkes' alleged mistreatment of his men. This letter, written five years after the squadron's return, with rumors in the wind about another reprinting of the Narrative hints at the depth of animosity between Wilkes and many of the younger officers, including those aboard the smallest squadron vessel, the USS Flying Fish, who felt he had slandered them in his account,
Midshipman William Reynolds, who was only 22 when the squadron had set sail, was apparently acting as spokesman for the dissenters, perhaps because, throughout the voyage, he had kept a “secret: private journal of the expedition, which, according to historian William Stanton, was "filled with visions of Glory and Duty and rhapsodies on sea and sky..."