In 1847, Lt. Henry Walke painted this picture which hangs in the Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland. Here is his characterization of the scene he painted :

"At this place we expected a most formidable opposition. Here is a long reach of a mile and a quarter in length; the river narrows, and an obstruction thrown across the bar, with a strong breakwork commanding it. As the shades of evening stole upon us we were fired upon again from the bushes, the discharge breaking a man's leg on board of the Vesuvius. We opened the big guns on them again, cleared the woods of mosquitoes, and went to bed."

On June 15, 1847, Commodore Matthew Perry, commander of the Home Squadron, decided to move against the city of San Juan Bautista (present day Villahermosa), the capital of the state of Tabasco. He acted upon hearing that the Mexican commander was strengthening the cities fortifications. This is where Perry assembled the famous Mosquito Fleet and moved up the Tabasco River to capture key Mexican forts and control the river for the remainder of the war.

Commodore Perry's most distinctive achievement, however, was his negotiation in 1854 of the treaty between the United States and Japan, which opened Japan to the influences of western civilization.

Medium : 1 print, lithograph, color

Created/Published : Sarony & Major, New York, 1848

Creator : Lt. Henry Walke, U. S. Navy

Housed in the Prints and Photographs Division of the Library of Congress

Availability: Usually ships in one week

Product #: cph3g06215