Commodore William J. McCluney (12 April 1796 — 11 February 1864) was a
United States Navy
The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...
officer whose service included the
War of 1812
The War of 1812 (18 June 1812 – 17 February 1815) was fought by the United States of America and its indigenous allies against the United Kingdom and its allies in British North America, with limited participation by Spain in Florida. It bega ...
, the
Mexican-American War
Mexican Americans ( es, mexicano-estadounidenses, , or ) are Americans of full or partial Mexicans, Mexican heritage. In 2019, Mexican Americans comprised 11.3% of the US population and 61.5% of all Hispanic and Latino Americans. In 2019, 71% ...
, and the
Battle of Ty-ho Bay
The Battle of Ty-ho Bay was a significant naval engagement in 1855 involving the United Kingdom and United States against Chinese pirates. The action off Tai O, Hong Kong was to rescue captured merchant vessels, held by a fleet of armed war-ju ...
, China. McCluney commanded two of the flagships—the
USS ''Mississippi'' and the
USS ''Powhatan''—in support of the
Perry Expedition
The Perry Expedition ( ja, 黒船来航, , "Arrival of the Black Ships") was a diplomatic and military expedition during 1853–1854 to the Tokugawa Shogunate involving two separate voyages by warships of the United States Navy. The goals of thi ...
to Japan in 1853-1854. As a flag officer, McCluney transported the first
Japanese Embassy to the United States
The was dispatched in 1860 by the Tokugawa shogunate (bakufu). Its objective was to ratify the new Treaty of Friendship, Commerce, and Navigation between the United States and Japan, in addition to being Japan's first diplomatic mission to the ...
aboard his flagship, the
USS ''Roanoke'', in 1860 on the last leg of their journey.
Early life
Born near
Washington, Pennsylvania
Washington is a city in and the county seat of Washington County, Pennsylvania. A part of the Greater Pittsburgh area in the southwestern part of the state, the city is home to Washington & Jefferson College and Pony League baseball. The populat ...
on 12 April 1796, William was the first child and only son of merchant James McCluney and Martha Levy. William's father died in 1799 leaving him, his mother, and two infant sisters on the Pennsylvania frontier. Four-year-old William's mother moved the family to Philadelphia in 1800. To support her family, William's mother became a shopkeeper in the heart of Philadelphia's commercial center. William's childhood was spent along the waterfront of America's busiest port. At age 15, McCluney applied for a commission in the U.S. Navy and on 1 January 1812, he became a
midshipman
A midshipman is an officer of the lowest rank, in the Royal Navy, United States Navy, and many Commonwealth navies. Commonwealth countries which use the rank include Canada (Naval Cadet), Australia, Bangladesh, Namibia, New Zealand, South Afr ...
. His first assignment was aboard the sloop-of-war
USS ''Wasp'' (1807) under Master Commandant
Jacob Jones and first Lieutenant
James Biddle
James Biddle (February 18, 1783 – October 1, 1848), of the Biddle family, brother of financier Nicholas Biddle and nephew of Capt. Nicholas Biddle, was an American commodore. His flagship was .
Education and early career
Biddle was born in Ph ...
, a fellow Philadelphian.
Early naval service
War of 1812
McCluney's naval career began on the eve of the second war between the United States and Great Britain—now called the
War of 1812
The War of 1812 (18 June 1812 – 17 February 1815) was fought by the United States of America and its indigenous allies against the United Kingdom and its allies in British North America, with limited participation by Spain in Florida. It bega ...
. McCluney may have been aboard the ''Wasp'' returning from a diplomatic mission to France when the
war hawk
In politics, a war hawk, or simply hawk, is someone who favors war or continuing to escalate an existing conflict as opposed to other solutions. War hawks are the opposite of doves. The terms are derived by analogy with the birds of the same name ...
s in Congress and President
James Madison
James Madison Jr. (March 16, 1751June 28, 1836) was an American statesman, diplomat, and Founding Father. He served as the fourth president of the United States from 1809 to 1817. Madison is hailed as the "Father of the Constitution" for hi ...
declared war on 18 June. For certain, he was aboard when the ''Wasp'' sailed from Philadelphia on 13 October with orders to harass British commercial shipping. After a storm damaged the ship and swept two crewmen overboard, the ''Wasp'' sighted a convoy of merchantmen accompanied by warships.
On Sunday morning 18 October, the ''Wasp'' closed with the convoy and engaged the 22-gun brig-sloop
HMB ''Frolic''. The ships exchanged broadside after broadside at close range, at times hull-to-hull in heavy seas. Finally, the ''Wasp'' pulled ahead and unleashed raking fire the length of ''Frolic's'' deck.
''Wasp'' First Officer James Biddle led the boarding party to discover the destruction of the ''Frolic'', both ship and crew. All of ''Frolic's'' officers and more than half her men were dead or wounded. Wounded British Commander Thomas Whinyates surrendered, but was unable to strike the ''Frolic's'' colors. Lieutenant Biddle struck for him. Moments later, both of ''Frolic's'' masts fell "by-the-board". The ''Wasp'' was badly damaged as well. Five men were dead and five wounded.
Contemporary historians described the ''Wasp-Frolic'' battle as possibly the most intense single-ship action of the war. Commandant Jones put a prize-crew aboard the ''Frolic'' to jury-rig repairs and assist the ''Frolic's'' surgeon with the wounded.
Neither victor nor vanquished could sail. Sunday afternoon, the 74-gun British battleship
HMS ''Poitiers'' arrived, forcing both the ''Wasp'' and her prize to surrender.
At dawn, Sunday, 18 October, five days from his home in Philadelphia, McCluney, 16, the least experienced officer aboard the ''Wasp'', could only imagine the coming duel of warships. By noon, McCluney had witnessed the death and dismemberment of more than a hundred comrades and enemy. By evening, he was a prisoner of war. Thus began a 50-year naval career.
See main article: ''
Capture of HMS Frolic
The capture of HMS ''Frolic'' was a naval action fought in the Atlantic on 18 October 1812, between the sloop-of-war , commanded by Master Commandant Jacob Jones, and the HM Brig ''Frolic'', under Commander Thomas Whinyates. The Americans ca ...
''
Reception at home
The British paroled the men of the ''Wasp'' in Bermuda and they returned to the United States.
Officers and crew were greeted as national heroes. Along with the crew of the
USS ''United States'' which had captured the seven days after the ''Wasp-Frolic'' battle, the sailors were celebrated in Baltimore, Philadelphia, and New York. Congress voted $25,000 to officers and crew of the ''Wasp'', compensation for the loss of their prize. A gold Congressional medal—precursor to the
Medal of Honor
The Medal of Honor (MOH) is the United States Armed Forces' highest military decoration and is awarded to recognize American soldiers, sailors, marines, airmen, guardians and coast guardsmen who have distinguished themselves by acts of valor. ...
—was awarded to Jones. Silver medals were awarded to the officers.
Jones was promoted to captain and command of the now USS ''Macedonian''. Biddle was promoted to master commandant and command of ''Wasp's'' sister ship,
USS ''Hornet''. McCluney received a share of the Congressional prize money, a silver medal, and assignment to the ''Macedonian''. By spring 1813, the British blockade of North America kept the ''Macedonian'' and sister ships confined to New York and New London harbors. The naval war shifted from the Atlantic to the Great Lakes. McCluney was ordered to Sacketts Harbor, NY by way of New York City, taking charge of such recruits as were available for Lake Ontario.
McCluney was assigned to the frigate
USS ''Superior'' on Lake Ontario. He later served aboard the , both under the command of Lieutenant John H. Elton.
Inter-war service
Promoted to Lieutenant in 1818, McCluney got his first command, an old 1808 Jefferson Gunboat #158 in Charleston, S.C. He was ordered "to prepare for service…and attend to repairs." Repairs were sufficient that, a year later McCluney's gunboat was recommissioned as the schooner
USS ''Revenge''. Two years later, Lieut. McCluney became first officer on a new schooner, the
USS ''Dolphin'' under the command of Lieutenant
David Conner.
The ''Dolphin's'' assignment was companion to the 90-gun ship-of-the-line
USS ''Franklin'', flagship of the United States' first Pacific Squadron under command of Commodore
Charles Stewart. Upon completion of McCluney's tour, he was ordered to Washington as witness in the court martial of Commodore Stewart as a result of Stewart's wife's intrigues involving royalists and rebels in Chile and Peru.
After nearly three years in the Pacific, McCluney became second lieutenant on the frigate
USS ''Constellation'', flagship to the West India Squadron engaged in suppressing piracy.
From the summer of 1828 until fall 1830, McCluney served in the Mediterranean, first aboard the sloop
USS ''Fairfield'', then the
USS ''Lexington''. The last year of his Mediterranean tour, McCluney was first officer of the sloop
USS ''Warren'' under Commander Charles W. Skinner.
![WMcCluney-miniature-enh](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/33/WMcCluney-miniature-enh.jpg)
In 1831, McCluney was assigned command of the and later the , both serving as receiving ships for new recruits at the New York Navy Yard in Brooklyn. Subsequently, McCluney made Brooklyn his home.
Break in service
There is discontinuity in active service from the late 1830s, possibly because of health or an injury, though in 1839 he was promoted to commander. A Washington newspaper cited McCluney as an example of the Navy's "unemployed officers" in 1842. The paper reported a "disease of the knee joint" rendered him unfit for duty but that "an operation was performed…and he was cured, immediately applying for sea service."
Family life
Marriage
During his extended leave from sea duty and with his promotion to commander McCluney became engaged to Elizabeth Shoemaker Wharton, the daughter of William Moore Wharton and Deborah Shoemaker, both of Philadelphia. On 8 November 1841, William and Elizabeth were married. In 1843, their first child, Deborah Wharton McCluney, was born. A second daughter, Arabella was born in 1850.
Later naval career
In 1841 McCluney gained command of the sloop
USS ''Vandalia''. As part of the newly created
Home Squadron
The Home Squadron was part of the United States Navy in the mid-19th century. Organized as early as 1838, ships were assigned to protect coastal commerce, aid ships in distress, suppress piracy and the Atlantic slave trade, make coastal surveys, ...
, the ''Vandalia'' cruised the Atlantic from Newfoundland to Brazil and the West Indies.
Mexican-American War
In the spring of 1845, McCluney was ordered to command the frigate
USS ''John Adams''. At the time, the
Republic of Texas
The Republic of Texas ( es, República de Tejas) was a sovereign state in North America that existed from March 2, 1836, to February 19, 1846, that bordered Mexico, the Republic of the Rio Grande in 1840 (another breakaway republic from Mex ...
was being annexed by the United States and became the 28th state on 29 December. U.S. President
James Polk
James is a common English language surname and given name:
*James (name), the typically masculine first name James
* James (surname), various people with the last name James
James or James City may also refer to:
People
* King James (disambiguat ...
was maneuvering to purchase or forcibly occupy disputed lands along the not-yet-agreed Mexico-Texas border. Polk had designs on California and the Mexican territories between California and Texas as well. The resulting
Mexican–American War
The Mexican–American War, also known in the United States as the Mexican War and in Mexico as the (''United States intervention in Mexico''), was an armed conflict between the United States and Mexico from 1846 to 1848. It followed the 1 ...
, primarily a land war, nevertheless involved the U.S. Navy in both the Pacific and the Caribbean. The Navy's role was blockade of Mexico and support of U.S. troops. The ''John Adams'' first engagement came in May 1846. McCluney anchored off Brazos Santiago along with Commodore David Conner's flagship, the
USS ''Raritan'', and the
USS ''Potomac''. On 18 May, during the
Battle of Palo Alto
The Battle of Palo Alto ( es, Batalla de Palo Alto) was the first major battle of the Mexican–American War and was fought on May 8, 1846, on disputed ground five miles (8 km) from the modern-day city of Brownsville, Texas. A force of som ...
, Commander McCluney joined Captain
Francis H. Gregory of the ''Raritan'' forming a combined force of 500 seamen and marines for a successful amphibious assault on the military depot at Point Isabel (now Texas).
In March 1847, Vice Commodore
Mathew C. Perry assumed command of the squadron, and initiated more aggressive actions against Mexico. Perry commenced a landing on
Tuxpan
Tuxpan (or Túxpam, fully Túxpam de Rodríguez Cano) is both a municipality and city located in the Mexican state of Veracruz. The population of the city was 78,523 and of the municipality was 134,394 inhabitants, according to the INEGI census o ...
with officers and men from the squadron. McCluney led 10 officers and 111 men from the ''John Adams''. In June, Perry launched a similar amphibious assault 80-miles up the Tobasco River to take the provincial capital
Villahermosa
Villahermosa ( , ; "Beautiful Village") is the capital and largest city of the Mexican state of Tabasco, and serves as the Municipalities of Mexico, municipal seat (governing county) of the state. Located in Southeast Mexico, Villahermosa is an ...
. McCluney and 1,400 sailors captured the mostly abandoned town before returning to their ships off the coastal town of Frontera.
Post War
Following the war, McCluney returned to his Brooklyn home and family, accepting command of rendezvous at the New York Navy Yard from March 1848 to March 1850. In August of 1848, the McCluney's daughter, Deborah, died at age five during an epidemic of dysentery called "cholera infantum." A second daughter, Arabella, was born November 1850 "At Sea," according to 1850 Census Records, probably aboard McCluney's "receiving ship" at the Navy Yard in Brooklyn.
On 13 October 1851, McCluney was promoted to captain.
Expedition to Japan
In January 1852, McCluney was ordered to Philadelphia Navy Yard to prepare the
USS ''Mississippi'' as flagship for Commodore Perry's planned expedition to Japan. The newly refitted steam frigate ''Mississippi'' was recommissioned under McCluney's command 11 May 1852. Perry raised his flag aboard the ''Mississippi'' upon McCluney's arrival in New York. The vessel was diverted, however, from preparation for Japan to resolution of a diplomatic dispute off Nova Scotia. At the request of Secretary of State
Daniel Webster
Daniel Webster (January 18, 1782 – October 24, 1852) was an American lawyer and statesman who represented New Hampshire and Massachusetts in the U.S. Congress and served as the U.S. Secretary of State under Presidents William Henry Harrison, ...
, President
Millard Fillmore
Millard Fillmore (January 7, 1800March 8, 1874) was the 13th president of the United States, serving from 1850 to 1853; he was the last to be a member of the Whig Party while in the White House. A former member of the U.S. House of Represen ...
ordered the ''Mississippi'' to intervene between British-Canadian and American commercial fisherman. The diversion served as a training opportunity for commodore, captain, and crew.
After the fishing dispute, Perry and McCluney proceeded to the Chesapeake Bay to resume preparation for Japan. America's newest steam clipper,
USS ''Princeton'', was scheduled to rendezvous with the ''Mississippi'' off Annapolis. Under Commander
Sydney Smith Lee
Sydney Smith Lee (September 2, 1802 – July 22, 1869), called Smith Lee in his lifetime, was an American naval officer who served as a captain in the Confederate States Navy during the American Civil War. He was the third child of Henry Lee III, ...
, the older brother of the U.S. Army engineer
Robert E. Lee
Robert Edward Lee (January 19, 1807 – October 12, 1870) was a Confederate general during the American Civil War, towards the end of which he was appointed the overall commander of the Confederate States Army. He led the Army of Nort ...
, the ''Princeton'' was scheduled to accompany the ''Mississippi'' to Japan. Within sight of Perry's flagship, the ''Princeton'' ran aground on a mud bank. The ''Mississippi'' went to her assistance. Between Annapolis and Norfolk, the Princeton's new steam boilers failed twice, the new engines possibly damaged on the mud bank. Examiners at the Norfolk Navy Yard declared the boilers unfit. Commodore Perry immediately left for Washington seeking a replacement ship.
The
USS ''Powhatan'' was recalled from the Home Squadron and assigned to Perry's East India Squadron. Perry would not wait; the ''Mississippi'' would depart immediately and the ''Powhatan'' would follow when available.
On the morning of 24 November 1852, Captain McCluney had ''Mississippi'' steam up, ready to depart for the China Sea when Perry ordered him to remain in Norfolk. McCluney was ordered to command of the ''Powhatan'' immediately upon arrival. Commander S. S. Lee of the abandoned ''Princeton'' took command of the ''Mississippi''.
Six hours later, underway from Hampton Roads, the ''Mississippi'' stopped for all hands to cheer the departure of their popular captain who had led the ''Mississippi'' since commissioning.
A last-minute transfer of command would seem unprecedented except: Commodore Perry, aside from the Japan expedition, was called the "Father of the Steam Navy." He led the transition from sail-to-steam widely resisted by Navy traditionalists. Perry considered a fleet of modern steamers essential to the impression he planned to make in Japan. He had contributed to the design of the steamer ''Princeton'' and personally selected Lee to command her. But after the Princeton's poor performance in Chesapeake Bay, Perry may have had reservations about Commander Lee's enthusiasm for steam, or his experience to command the ''Powhatan'' when she arrived. Though it would seem exceptional to replace a senior captain with a junior commander, the ''Mississippi'' had multiple experienced commanders. In addition to Perry, Henry A. Adams, designated Captain of the Fleet was aboard and the competent ''Mississippi'' crew had trained under McCluney for almost a year.
Perry apparently had confidence in McCluney to get the steamer ''Powhatan'' to the East Indies without supervision.
Perry's confidence seems justified. Upon ''Powhatan'' return to Norfolk, McCluney had her refitted, re-provisioned, and underway by 13 February 1853. In the two-week passage to Madeira, the ''Powhatan'' caught fire twice. Early steam frigates were sailing ships with auxiliary steam engines, not engineered for continuous steam power. Exhaust stacks overheated the surrounding structures, setting them ablaze. The fires were controlled without serious threat to crew or ship. Rather than delay or return to a navy yard, McCluney's engineers redesigned the exhaust system. With copper purchased in Funchal, capital of Portugal's Madeira archipelago, and re-rigging for sail, the ''Powhatan'' engineers modified the boilers while underway in the South Atlantic. The ''Powhatan'' rounded the Cape of Good Hope, crossed the Indian Ocean, and arrived in Hong Kong under full steam.
Borneo Enroute
Before sailing, President
Fillmore Fillmore may refer to:
Places Canada
* Fillmore, Saskatchewan
* Rural Municipality of Fillmore No. 96, Saskatchewan
United States
* Fillmore, California
* Fillmore District, San Francisco, California
* Fillmore, Louisiana
* Fillmore, Illino ...
again cast naval officers in the dual role of diplomatic officers, empowering Captain McCluney to finalize ratification of a "'Convention of Peace, Friendship, and good Understanding' between the United States and His Highness the Sultan of
Borneo
Borneo (; id, Kalimantan) is the third-largest island in the world and the largest in Asia. At the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia, in relation to major Indonesian islands, it is located north of Java, west of Sulawesi, and eas ...
."
Following Senate consent, Fillmore signed the treaty 31 January 1853 and empowered McCluney as United States representative to Borneo the next day. The ''Powhatan'' sailed twelve days later and arrived off Borneo in the South China Sea in July. Anchoring offshore, a delegation of officers and crew rowed thirty miles upriver to the capital of Bruni for a ratification ceremony at the Sultan's Palace Monday, 11 July 1853. In 2021, the treaty was still in effect, one of longest lasting agreements in U.S. diplomatic history.
Perry's flagship - again
Upon rendezvous with the East India Squadron that now included ten ships and more than 1,600 men, Commodore Perry transferred his flag to the ''Powhatan'' for final negotiations with the Japanese.
Under Perry's orders, McCluney prepared the ''Powhatan'' for a celebratory dinner for the Japanese commissioners. Monday, 27 March 1854, a giant awning covered the ''Powhatan's'' deck. Flags of both nations flew for the Japanese guests and the American hosts. The commissioners were entertained by Perry and his captains in the commodore's cabin. The rest of the Japanese officials and guests were entertained with an American minstrel performance on deck.
On Friday, 31 March 1854, Perry and the Commissioners signed the Japanese-American agreement, called the
Convention of Kanagawa
The Convention of Kanagawa, also known as the Kanagawa Treaty (, ''Kanagawa Jōyaku'') or the Japan–US Treaty of Peace and Amity (, ''Nichibei Washin Jōyaku''), was a treaty signed between the United States and the Tokugawa Shogunate on March ...
. With no translators fluent in both Japanese and English, the agreement was completed in multiple languages - English, Japanese, Chinese, and Dutch.
Perry and part of the East India Squadron returned to the United States. McCluney and the ''Powhatan'' remained on East Indies station in support of American interests in China and elsewhere.
Battle of Ty-Ho Bay
Off Hong Kong, McCluney assisted the British warships
HMS ''Rattler'' and HMS ''Eaglet'' in recovering merchant vessels taken by Chinese pirates. The captured merchant vessels were located in Ty-Ho (also called Tai-ho or Tai O) Bay with a fleet of junks manned by an estimated 1,500 pirates. The bay was too shallow for either British or American warships. The ''Rattler'' and ''Powhatan'' launched small armed boats for action against the pirates. Powhatan Marine First Lieutenant James H. Jones led 26 American marines along with seven American officers and 66 sailors. ''Rattler'' provided a comparable force. The joint British-American assault rescued the merchant vessels, captured or destroyed most of the pirate fleet, and killed or captured the most of the pirate force. The ''Powhatan'' lost five killed and six wounded. The ''Rattler'' had comparable losses.
See main article: ''
Battle of Ty-ho Bay
The Battle of Ty-ho Bay was a significant naval engagement in 1855 involving the United Kingdom and United States against Chinese pirates. The action off Tai O, Hong Kong was to rescue captured merchant vessels, held by a fleet of armed war-ju ...
''
Return to United States
McCluney and the ''Powhatan'' returned to Norfolk on Valentine's Day, 14 February 1856, three years and one day from departure. Immediately, McCluney was ordered to command of the Norfolk Navy Yard because of the death of Vice Commodore McKeever. Apparently, McCluney declined the command, having been absent from his wife and six-year-old daughter for nearly four years. The order was rescinded eleven days later and McCluney was granted leave.
Stevens' Battery
An early adopter of steam power, McCluney in 1857 was assigned special duty to
Stevens' Battery—the war steamer project. The project intended development of the first iron clad, steam powered, war ship. The war steamer was the brainchild of
Robert L. Stevens
Colonel Robert Livingston Stevens (October 18, 1787 – April 20, 1856) was an American inventor and steamship builder who served as president of the Camden and Amboy Railroad in the 1830s and 1840s.
Early life
Stevens was born in Hoboken, New ...
and
Edwin A. Stevens
Edwin Augustus Stevens (July 28, 1795 – August 7, 1868) was an American engineer, inventor, and entrepreneur who left a bequest that was used to establish the Stevens Institute of Technology.
Life
Stevens was born at Castle Point, Hobo ...
, engineers and inventors of Hoboken, New Jersey.
Perhaps McCluney accepted the assignment to be near home in Brooklyn, but he was an advocate of both steam power and naval innovation. His practical contribution seems to have been the need for effective ventilation of the enclosed, armored gun room. The Navy attempted to scrap the project; traditionalists were never fond of steam and actively opposed iron warships — until the Civil War.
When the Civil War began, inventor
John Ericsson
John Ericsson (born Johan Ericsson; July 31, 1803 – March 8, 1889) was a Swedish-American inventor. He was active in England and the United States.
Ericsson collaborated on the design of the railroad steam locomotive ''Novelty'', which com ...
adapted, some say copied, many of the Stevens' brothers innovations into the design for the . Rushed to completion, the ''Monitor'' became the first working ironclad. The Stevens Project was abandoned. The
Battle of the Monitor and Merrimac (renamed CSA Virginia), in Hampton Roads, ended the era of wooden ships and changed naval warfare.
McCluney was detached from the project well before the war. On 30 December 1858 he was assigned command of the
Home Squadron
The Home Squadron was part of the United States Navy in the mid-19th century. Organized as early as 1838, ships were assigned to protect coastal commerce, aid ships in distress, suppress piracy and the Atlantic slave trade, make coastal surveys, ...
.
See main article: ''
Stevens Battery''
Home Squadron and Japanese Embassy
McCluney sailed from New York in January 1859 for what was then called
Aspinwall (Colon, Panama). He assumed command of the Home and West India Squadron and when the
USS ''Roanoke'' arrived, he hoisted his flag aboard the giant steam frigate. As commander-in-chief of the fleet, McCluney was referred to with the honorific "Commodore" though the navy had no such rank.
![Commodore McCluney greeting Japanese Ambassadors](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/85/Commodore_McCluney_greeting_Japanese_Ambassadors.png)
McCluney may not have known initially that negotiations for a comprehensive treaty with Japan following Perry's and McCluney's expedition four years earlier were concluding. The Japanese intended to send a full embassy to the United States to present the final Treaty of Friendship, Commerce, and Navigation to President Buchanan in person.
U.S. State Department and Navy planners had decided senior officers with Japanese experience should host the delegation. They planned to transport the
Japanese Embassy across the Pacific in the ''Powhatan'', stop in San Francisco, then south to Panama. The delegation would traverse the isthmus by train. McCluney and the ''Roanoke'' would then transport them to New York.
The ''Roanoke'' waited off the unhealthy coast of Panama for more than a year. McCluney's correspondence is filled with notices of death, illness, and reassignment of officers and crew for reasons of health. McCluney's health deteriorated as well.
The Japanese reached Aspinwall and boarded the ''Roanoke'' 25 April 1860. Commodore McCluney greeted the delegation with full honors and entertained the principal ambassadors, Shinmi Masaoki (新見正興), Muragaki Norimasa (村垣範正), and Oguri Tadamasa (小栗忠順) as Perry had in 1854 when McCluney commanded the ''Powhatan''. Ambassadors, embassy staff, and servants numbered more than seventy and were accommodated in special quarters McCluney had erected on deck. The ''Roanoke'' departed 26 April and arrived in 13-days off Sandy Hook for New York.
On 9 May, McCluney sent a complete list of the seventy-two-member Japanese delegation's full names and titles to the secretary in preparation for their arrival. Immediately a pilot returned with orders to divert the ''Roanoke'' from New York to Hampton Roads. President James Buchanan had changed his mind. New York had appropriated $30,000 for the Japanese reception and newspapers were critical of Buchanan's last minute decision to receive the Japanese in Washington instead of New York.
On the evening of 12 May, the ''Roanoke'' arrived in Hampton Roads. The Chesapeake was too shallow for the ''Roanoke'' to navigate to the District of Columbia. McCluney toasted the ambassadors "...on the safe arrival at the gates of Washington." The ambassadors presented McCluney with a long sword in appreciation of his courtesies. McCluney thanked them for the blade and complimented the Japanese for "...the finest steel in the world."
The Japanese embassy transferred to a shallow draft bay steamer for the short trip to Washington. McCluney sent a telegram announcing the ambassadors imminent arrival, and a hand written note to the secretary asking to be relieved of command for reasons of health. He was relieved on 20 May.
See the main article: ''
Japanese Embassy to the United States
The was dispatched in 1860 by the Tokugawa shogunate (bakufu). Its objective was to ratify the new Treaty of Friendship, Commerce, and Navigation between the United States and Japan, in addition to being Japan's first diplomatic mission to the ...
''
Retirement and funeral
The secretary granted a leave of three months; however, McCluney's health did not improve. He never returned to active duty. McCluney retired 21 December 1861. Six months later he was promoted to the newly created rank of commodore. Abraham Lincoln signed his commission.
McCluney died at home in Brooklyn 11 February 1864. His funeral included a procession to
Green-Wood Cemetery
Green-Wood Cemetery is a cemetery in the western portion of Brooklyn, New York City. The cemetery is located between South Slope/ Greenwood Heights, Park Slope, Windsor Terrace, Borough Park, Kensington, and Sunset Park, and lies several bl ...
of admirals, commodores, and captains, an honor guard of 200 Marines, the Navy Band, and the officers and men of the Naval Academy Training Ship ''Savannah''. Pall bearers included his old colleague from the Mexican-American War, now Rear Admiral
Francis Gregory
Francis Hoyt Gregory (October 9, 1789 – October 4, 1866) was an officer in the United States Navy during the War of 1812 through to the Civil War, serving then as a rear admiral.
Early life
Gregory was born in Norwalk, Connecticut, the son of M ...
, along with the commandant of the New York Navy Yard, Rear Admiral
Hiram Paulding
Hiram Paulding (December 11, 1797 – October 20, 1878) was a rear admiral in the United States Navy, who served from the War of 1812 until after the Civil War.
Naval career
The son of John Paulding, Paulding was born in Cortlandt, New York. He w ...
, and Commodore
William Radford
William Radford (September 9, 1809 – January 8, 1890) was a rear admiral of the United States Navy who served during the Mexican–American War and the American Civil War, in which he remained loyal to the Union, despite his Virginia birth. Ra ...
, Captain
Richard Worsam Meade II
Richard Worsam Meade II (May 21, 1807 – April 16, 1870) (also called Richard Worsam Meade, Sr., in relation to his son, Rear Admiral Richard Worsam Meade III) was an officer in the United States Navy.
Life and career
Meade was born in Cá ...
, Captain F. B. Ellison, Captain
Charles S. Boggs
Rear Admiral Charles Stewart Boggs (28 January 1811 – 22 April 1888) served in the United States Navy during the Mexican–American War and the American Civil War.
Early life and career
Boggs was born in New Brunswick, New Jersey. He was appoint ...
, and Captain
Thomas Tingey Craven.
[''The Brooklyn Daily Eagle'' (NY), February 16, 1864, "Funeral of Commodore McCluney."]
After McCluney's death, his widow, Elizabeth, and 13-year-old daughter, Arabella, relocated to Philadelphia. In 1892 the commodore was reinterred to
Laurel Hill Cemetery
Laurel Hill Cemetery is a historic rural cemetery in the East Falls neighborhood of Philadelphia. Founded in 1836, it was the second major rural cemetery in the United States after Mount Auburn Cemetery in Boston, Massachusetts.
The cemetery is ...
, Philadelphia, buried alongside his deceased daughter, Deborah. Elizabeth died 3 July 1896 and was buried with the commodore.
References
19th-century American naval officers
{{DEFAULTSORT:McCluney, William J.
1796 births
1864 deaths
Burials at Green-Wood Cemetery