The Yangtze River Patrol

leftyhunter

Brev. Brig. Gen'l
Joined
May 27, 2011
Location
los angeles ca
From 1854 to 1949 the US Navy had a Squadron that patrolled the Yangtze River in China before and during the ACW.
There is a Wiki Article " Yangtze River Patrol".
The article doesn't say how large the US Naval commitment was. The USN did maintain it's patrol during the ACW.
Leftyhunter
 
One can google " the real Sand Pebble's" from a 2000 US Naval Magazine.
The first US Naval ship on the Yangtze River was in 1853. The USN was considered a running joke in China until the mid 1920s. The commander of the USN in China without congressional or presidential approval fought alongside the British during the Opium War stating " blood is thicker than water".
Leftyhunter
 
One can google " the real Sand Pebble's" from a 2000 US Naval Magazine.
The first US Naval ship on the Yangtze River was in 1853. The USN was considered a running joke in China until the mid 1920s. The commander of the USN in China without congressional or presidential approval fought alongside the British during the Opium War stating " blood is thicker than water".
Leftyhunter
Josiah Tattnall, later Commodore CSA Navy.
 
***Posted as Moderator***
Please remember this is an American Civil War Forum. Just because an activity existed until the middle of the 20th-century does not open discussion to 20th-century events. Please restrict posts to the 19th century.
 
One can google " the real Sand Pebble's" from a 2000 US Naval Magazine.
The first US Naval ship on the Yangtze River was in 1853. The USN was considered a running joke in China until the mid 1920s. The commander of the USN in China without congressional or presidential approval fought alongside the British during the Opium War stating " blood is thicker than water".
Leftyhunter
I ordered a copy of the Yangtze Patrol: The US Navy in China (Bluejacket Books) - Amazon.com Which starts in antebellum times.
 
When Tattnall rescued British sailors out of the mouth of the Pei Ho River, it thawed a lot of the frosty relationship that had existed between the US and Britain since the war of 1812. He received a hero's welcome from British residents in Honolulu Hawai and elsewhere on his return to the States.
 
http://facweb.northseattle.edu/cadler/Global_Dialogues/Readings/Monkey_Hunting_Readings/Slave Trade Coolie Trade.pdf

I’m sure the Merchant Ships in China weren’t Confederate. I may be wrong. It might not of been Opium, it could of been Slaves, Yankees were always good Slave Traders.
At the times the Confederates were still pretending to be US citizens. Jeff Davis was a Sect of War under the leadership Southern President. So I question the veracity of blaming everything on Yankees aka the US.
 
http://facweb.northseattle.edu/cadler/Global_Dialogues/Readings/Monkey_Hunting_Readings/Slave Trade Coolie Trade.pdf

I’m sure the Merchant Ships in China weren’t Confederate. I may be wrong. It might not of been Opium, it could of been Slaves, Yankees were always good Slave Traders.
Irrelevant points. A USN officer used illegal force to promote the Opium trade and then became a Confederate Naval Officer. No evidence has been provided by you that said officer was authorized by the US government to fight alongside the British Navy.
Yes there were Yankee slave traders that sold to willing Southern slave owners well after slave importations were illegal. Also water is wet.
Leftyhunter
 
This is how we contextualize, folks.

From the wiki on the USS RICHMOND (1860)
Recommissioned on 19 November 1878, Richmond's next duty was as flagship of the Asiatic Fleet. Departing Norfolk 11 January 1879, Richmond passed into the Mediterranean and through the Suez Canal, hoisting the flag of Rear Admiral Thomas H. Patterson at Yokohama on 4 July 1879. For four years Richmondcruised among the principal ports of China, Japan, and the Philippines, serving as flagship until 19 December 1883 when Trenton relieved her. While at Shanghai on 17 November 1879, Landsman Thomas Mitchell rescued a shipmate from drowning, for which he was later awarded the Medal of Honor.[4]Receiving a new crew at Panama in September 1880, Richmond remained on station until departing Hong Kong for the United States on 9 April 1884. Again transiting the Suez Canal, Richmond reached New York on 22 August and was decommissioned for repairs.
 
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*Why* was there an interest?

There were several reasons why the United States became interested in revitalizing contact between Japan and the West in the mid-19th century. First, the combination of the opening of Chinese ports to regular trade and the annexation of California, creating an American port on the Pacific, ensured that there would be a steady stream of maritime traffic between North America and Asia. Then, as American traders in the Pacific replaced sailing ships with steam ships, they needed to secure coaling stations, where they could stop to take on provisions and fuel while making the long trip from the United States to China. The combination of its advantageous geographic position and rumors that Japan held vast deposits of coal increased the appeal of establishing commercial and diplomatic contacts with the Japanese. Additionally, the American whaling industry had pushed into the North Pacific by the mid-18th century, and sought safe harbors, assistance in case of shipwrecks, and reliable supply stations. In the years leading up to the Perry mission, a number of American sailors found themselves shipwrecked and stranded on Japanese shores, and tales of their mistreatment at the hands of the unwelcoming Japanese spread through the merchant community and across the United States.

*
Commodore Perry’s mission was not the first American overture to the Japanese. In the 1830s, the Far Eastern squadron of the U.S. Navy sent several missions from its regional base in Guangzhou (Canton), China, but in each case, the Japanese did not permit them to land, and they lacked the authority from the U.S. Government to force the issue. In 1851, President Millard Fillmore authorized a formal naval expedition to Japan to return shipwrecked Japanese sailors and request that Americans stranded in Japan be returned to the United States.
https://history.state.gov/milestones/1830-1860/opening-to-japan
 
From the wiki on the USS SUSQUEHANNA (1850)

East India Squadron, 1850–1855[edit]
After completing her trials, which she began in January 1851, the side-wheel frigate sailed on 8 June for the Far East to become flagship of the East India Squadron under the command of Commodore John H. Aulick. Aulick's orders included instructions to visit Japan and negotiate a treaty opening diplomatic relations with that country. However, before he could carry out his mission, he was forced to give up his command as result of quarrels during the first leg of his journey with Captain Franklin Buchanan, the captain of the flagship and due to an incident with a Brazilian diplomat on board.[1] Susquehanna joined Commodore Matthew Perry's expedition as his flagship at Canton and entered Edo Bay with his squadron on 8 July 1853. After Perry had presented his demands and official letter from President Millard Fillmore to the Japanese government on 14 July, the American warships departed on 17 July. On 12 February 1854, Susquehanna returned with the squadron to Japan as part of Perry's show of force, resulting in the signing of the Convention of Kanagawa on 31 March 1854. The frigate departed Japanese waters on 24 March; and, after operating on the China coast, headed home via the Indian Ocean and the Cape of Good Hope. She arrived at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on 10 March 1855 and was decommissioned on 15 March.
 
Steamboats on the Yangtze River


The US, at the same time, wanted to protect its interests and expand trade, ventured the USS Wachusett six-hundred miles up the river to Hankow about 1860.​
1550422785508.png
 
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