Ahhh - the homestretch - at least as far as this one solitary newspaper article from the November 8, 1853 edition of the Richmond Whig, an article containing a letter from one of the chief negotiators of Commodore Perry and The Japan Expedition, whose official duty was to set up a treaty with Japan to ensure safe passage for shipwrecked sailors in the area, and to possibly purchase fuel supplies for any U.S. whaling vessels seeking such, in the area.
Part 1 - Alexandria Gazette, September 13, 1852
Part 2 - Plattsburgh Republican, November 20, 1852
Part 3 - Charleston Courier, November 22, 1852
Part 4 - Weekly Herald, January 1, 1853
Part 5 - Alta California, May 16, 1853
Part 6 - Daily National Intelligencer, November 3, 1853
Part 7 - President Fillmore's Letter To Japan, November 13, 1852
Part 8 - List Of Presents From The US To Japan, July 14, 1853
Part 9 - National Aegis, November 9, 1853
Part 10 - Daily Democratic State Journal, December 7, 1853
Part 11 - Sandusky Register, April 6, 1854
Part 12 - Sandusky Register, April 15, 1854
Part 13 - London Times, June 17, 1854
Part 14 - Richmond Whig, November 8, 1853
Part 15 - Richmond Whig, November 8, 1853
At that time, Japan was well into being 200 years removed from the rest of the world, owing to its isolationist policy that, while allowing Japan to thrive as being a Japanese country, has stagnated it as far as technology goes.
In case you are keeping track, the fact that nowadays Japan is considered one of the top technologically advanced countries in the world, is a new global thing, born only 150 years past.
That's not to say the Japanese didn't have skill - but it certainly was ignorant of such inventions as steam locomotion, electricity and more - perhaps ignorance is not the correct word… but if the Japanese had heard of and had seen these things, it decided pre-1860s that it did not require such technologies.
Japan did have guns and canons, however, as it had and continued to deal with the Portuguese and Dutch traders in a limited fashion.
Regardless… here's the rest of the letter from the unknown negotiator to his wife back home in the U.S., that she must have gladly sold to the newspapers. I hope she sold it:
THURSDAY, July 14.—Early in the morning, we dropped our steamers down and near in as possible.
The bay is nearly circular, with two small forts on each point of the entrance.
We went off in our boats, (in all,) officers, landsmen and marines, 428 strong, armed to the teeth, each man carrying with him the lives of five Japanese.
It was a beautiful sight as we pulled in.—We were in sight of a hundred armed Japanese boats, with banners flying, averaging twenty-five men each; then on the shores ahead were stretched lines of painted cloths, with various mottoes, for a full mile in length—armed men, and cavalry and artillery in front, and human figures thick in the rear.
On advanced our boats, and our little band landed; drew up in line and formed, in all, on shore, 350 men, leaving 80 in the boats.
The commodore and staff then landing, we formed a close line; and to the tune of Hail Columbia, with the American flag proudly waving over us, we marched up to the council house.
There we halted—our little band drew up, and thus, with twenty feet between us, face to face, stood the sons of America and the troops of Japan. We went into the council house, where sat the commissioner, with his coadjutor, Prince of Iwani.
Proudly we walked in and bowed in our way, which was returned by the commissioner rising and bowing.
We were then seated. Thus we delivered the credentials, and after a few words, we withdrew, formed our line, and to the tune of Hail Columbia and Yankee Doodle, retired to our boats.
We were accompanied off by Tezemon [sic - probably Yezimon] and other mandarins, and got under way, and stood up in the bay.
We went within eight miles of Jeddo, carrying plenty of water, but could see nothing of the city.
And there the article ends. I believe that the letter writer then went on to chat directly with his missus, and about how much he missed her, and how he was looking forward to providing sharp smack to bottom to create a rosy hue upon her fair cheeks.
Of course, that's just me postulating. He may indeed have actually ended the letter there - strange, though. I would guess a certain amount of redacting to be involved… I mean, the first two parts I presented were so full of detail - I mean, you could smell what was going on!
But this one - this was sparse in comparison.
Of note for me, was the writer's comment about the armament of the Americans as they sailed in to their meeting with the Japanese - "each man carrying with him the lives of five Japanese."
That's pretty heavy! By that I suppose each man was carrying a gun with five shots.
But given the era of American small arms, and the general shooting ability of the men, I'm going to say that there was a three in five chance of hitting a target. And always a one in five chance the gun would mis-fire and explode in their own face.
As well, depending on the distance of the shot, it is possible that Japanese armor could halt or deflect ammunition from hitting the body. Let's say one in five.
And, I am assuming that small arms weaponry consisted Hall's Rifles and Maynard's Muskets, and utilized bullets rather than black powder (I could be waaaaaay off here!), they could have had sufficient time to lock and load and pick off more than a few Japanese warriors, but I am still not convinced as to its penetration power versus Japanese armor (and I suppose not everyone had superior armor - or even any armor). These rifle-muskets are still slow-loading weapons, so I suppose a samurai warrior and his katana sword could hop over the dead warriors at the front of the line, and attempt to separate head and neck of a U.S. marine.
So what I like is the bravado of this American negotiator. False or not. It is a telling tale of American trust in their own abilities. - Rah-rah, salute the flag. Obviously, Japan does that, but it's more - bow to the Emperor.
Anyhow - more newspaper article to come. Thanks again to Vinny for suggesting I find ample materials from the Early American Newspapers via www.readex.com.
Cheers
Andrew Joseph
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