Contributions in Military History, Number 4 AMERICAN GUNBOAT DIPLOMACY AND THE OLD NAVY, 1877-1889 Kenneth J. Hagan In the study of American naval history there is a gap between the eras of Farragut and Mahan, just as in diplomatic history there has been too little attention paid to the years between the settlement of the Alabama claims and the Samoan crisis. Lately, how¬ ever, the period of the 1870s and 1880s has been found highly rewarding by historians including LaFeber, Plesur, Schonberger, Karsten, and Bartlett. The crisis with Spain over the Virginius in 1873 focused international attention on the weakness of the American navy, which during the Civil War had been formidable. Resultant political pressure on the navy contributed to a new cohesiveness among naval lead¬ ers, which in turn had measurable effect on naval diplomacy during the 1880s. It was a time of diplo¬ macy by gunboat—of policing the world with old wooden warships. And for what purposes: expansion¬ ism, ideology, commerce—or all of those? To demonstrate the comprehensiveness and con¬ sistency of American naval diplomacy in the period under consideration. Professor Hagan divides his study into discrete geographic regions, ranging from the Indian Ocean and Africa to western South America and China. Then he traces, in sequence, the events and attitudes encountered or generated in each of those areas. He concludes that American isolationism, in military or naval terms, was a myth. Americans were politically isolated from Europe, and glad of it, but Americans by and large neither sought nor desired commercial isolation from any point on the globe. Congressmen and naval officers found common cause in the premise that commercial involvement in remote areas necessarily entailed naval involvement. They were eager to assume responsibilities so promising of rich economic rewards. This study is thorough, well-rounded, eminently readable. It makes apt use of quotations from hitherto continued on back flap AMERICAN GUNBOAT DIPLOMACY AND THE OLD NAVY CONTRIBUTIONS IN MILITARY HISTORY 1. The River and the Rock: The History of Fortress West Point, 1775-1783 Dave Richard Palmer 2. Dear Miss Em: General Eichelberger’s War in the Pacific, 1942-1945 Jay Luvaas, Editor 3. Schoolbooks and Krags: The United States Army in the Philippines, 1898-1902 John Morgan Gates 4. American Gunboat Diplomacy and the Old Navy, 1877-1889 Kenneth J. Hagan 5. The Image of the Army Officer in America: Back¬ ground for Current Views C. Robert Kemble Kenneth J. Hagan American Gunboat Diplomacy and the Old Navy 1877-1889 . Contributions in Military History Number 4 Greenwood Press Westport, Connecticut London, England o Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data Hagan, Kenneth J American gunboat diplomacy and the old Navy, 1877- 1889. (Contributions in military history, no. 4) Bibliography: p. 1. United States—History, Naval. I. Title. II. Series. E182.H15 359'.00973 75-176288 ISBN 0-8371-6274-2 Copyright © 1973 by Kenneth J. Hagan All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced, by any process or technique, without the express written consent of the author and publisher. Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 75-176288 ISBN: 0-8371-6274-2 First published in 1973 Greenwood Press, a division of Williamhouse-Regency Inc. 51 Riverside Avenue, Westport, Connecticut 06880 Manufactured in the United States of America yS COLLEGE L BUFfftLu For My Parents James and Mary Hagan Contents Acknowledgments ix Introduction 3 Part One Naval Theory 1 Three Admirals Debate Naval Strategy 13 2 Junior Officers Join the Debate 42 Part Two Operations 3 The Navy in Liberia and the Congo 59 4 Cruising in East African Waters 78 5 Expanding Commerce into the Indian Ocean 94 6 Protecting Western Interests in China 110 7 Naval Diplomacy in the Eastern Pacific 127 8 Defining American Interest in the Isthmus 143 9 Intervention in Panama 160 10 The Implications of Commercialism 188 Notes 193 Selected Bibliography 243 Index 255 VII