Sea of Glory: America’s Voyage of Discovery, The U.S. Exploring Expedition, 1838–1842 by Nathaniel Philbrick

Captains Outrageous

Following the overland expedition of Lewis and Clark to the Pacific coast of North America, the U.S. government decided to pay some overdue attention to the world’s oceans. Many European nations had already completed globe-circling voyages of discovery, most notably Portugal’s Ferdinand Magellan and Britain’s Captain Cook. After much bureaucratic delay, the United States Exploring Expedition was launched in 1838. In his 2003 book Sea of Glory, Nathaniel Philbrick chronicles the adventures, hardships, successes, and failures of the Ex. Ex. (as it shall hereafter be abbreviated). This U.S. Navy endeavor was led by Lieutenant Charles Wilkes, a skilled surveyor but an inexperienced ship’s captain. The expedition’s main goals were to chart the islands of the Pacific to prevent the shipwrecks of American whalers, survey the Pacific coast of North America at the mouth of the Columbia River, and, in a best-case scenario, confirm the speculated existence of an Antarctic continent.

I like to read books about scientific exploration, such as Charles Darwin’s Voyage of the Beagle, or the Narrative of Captain Cook’s voyages. That’s what I expected when I picked up this book, and its title and subtitle do little to dispel that expectation. Exploration and discovery, however, is not so much what this book is about. It’s really about what a terrible captain Wilkes was, and how he abused his officers and crew. Philbrick is a naval historian, and this book delves heavily into naval regulations, naval discipline, and naval bureaucracy. Although some distinguished scientists sailed with the expedition, there is really only one short chapter devoted to them and their discoveries. Nevertheless, there are a few exciting episodes of danger from icebergs in the Antarctic Ocean and some harrowing tales of conflict with the Natives of the Pacific islands. Although this wasn’t quite the book I expected, and naval history isn’t really my bag, I found Philbrick’s narrative quite riveting, and he kept me thoroughly engaged throughout.

The ending of the book is a bit of a disappointment. That’s mostly the fault of history, but a little of the blame falls on Philbrick as well. He spends most of the book asserting what a horrible commander and unlikable human being Wilkes was. By the end of the book, the reader is ready to hang Wilkes from the nearest yardarm for his egregious behavior. In the final few chapters, however, Philbrick relents and delivers a surprisingly flattering assessment of Wilkes. The fact that Wilkes doesn’t get much comeuppance from the U.S. Navy, who predictably favor an officer over his underlings, is not much of a surprise, but the fact that Wilkes doesn’t even get any comeuppance from Philbrick is dissatisfying and strange. Philbrick spurs you on to hate Wilkes for most of the book, then all of a sudden you’re supposed to do a 180 and admire the expedition leader for his bull-headed tenacity. Philbrick criticizes Wilkes for stealing credit from his crew members for the accomplishments of the Ex. Ex., but in the end, Philbrick gives him most of the credit anyway.

Notwithstanding my few quibbles, this book taught me a great deal about the Ex. Ex., and it makes me want to read more about this lesser-known but important escapade in American history. Philbrick provides extensive bibliographic notes for those who want to learn more. For the more scientifically inclined like me, he recommends William Stanton’s The Great United States Exploring Expedition (1975). In addition, the Ex. Ex.’s official publications, including Wilkes’s Narrative and the subsequent scientific volumes, are available for free reading online at HathiTrust, Biodiversity Heritage Library, and other digital repositories.
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