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Home Town Worcester, Mass.
Last Address Longwood, Mass.
Date of Passing Jun 24, 1871
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GEORGE SMITH BLAKE
Commodore Geoge Smith Blake, U.S.N., was born at Worchester, Massachusetts, on the 5th of March, 1802. Shortly after turning sixteen he received a warrant as Midshipman in the United States Navy, January 1, 1818. On January 28, 1818, he reported to the USS Independence at the port of Boston and served there for one year.
He was selected to accompany Commodore Bainbridge on his European cruise in November 1819 on the flag-ship USS Columbus returning in August 1821.
In August, 1821, after two years on the Columbus he reported to the schooner Alligator, fitted for the coast of Africa. In November 1821 the ship captured the Portuguese ship Mariana Falora. Midshipman Blake was chosen to return the prize to the Navy Yard at Boston.
In September 1822 he obtained a furlough to join the merchant service for professional improvement. In 1824 he was ordered to the Navy Yard at Boston and again, in 1825, received a furlough for merchant service.
1826, Gulf Squadron, Key West, in the revenue cutter Florida. He was placed in command as a Second Lieutenant and in December 1826 he passed the examination for promotion to Lieutenant effective February 21, 1827.
In April, 1828, he was attached to the schooner Grampus, and served in the West India Squadron until May 1829 when he was detached, on account of illness.
In March 1830, he was ordered to the Mediterranean, and served on that station in the ship Warren and the frigate Java until May 1831.
In 1832 he served on a special survey of Narragansett Bay with a view to establishing a naval depot.
June 1, 1835, he was placed in command of the schooner Experiment, and attached to the United States Coast Survey, in which service he continued for the next eleven years.
March 8, 1847, promoted to Commander, detached from Perry, and ordered to Navy-Yard at Philadelphia.
January 4, 1848, detached from Navy-Yard Philadelphia, and ordered to Bureau of Construction.
May 19, 1849, detached from Bureau of Construction, and ordered to report to Commodore C.W. Morgan, at Norfolk, as Captain of Fleet, Mediterranean Squadron.
September 16, 1849, oredered by Commodore Morgan to command of flag-ship Independence, in addition to duty as Captain of Fleet.
June 30, 1852, detached from Independence.
October 19, 1852, oredered to Bureau of Construction and Equipments.
October 19, 1853, ordered to Key West to establish a coal depot.
March 11, 1854, appointed member of Board to revise Tables of Allowances of the Navy.
May 11, 1854, appointed member of Board of Examination, Naval Academy, Annapolis.
September 14, 1855, promoted to Captain.
September 27, 1855, ordered to New York for duty in connection with iron war-steamer, building by R.L. Stevens.
August 18, 1857, ordered to superintendence of Naval Academy until 1865.
Commodore Blake was appointed to the office of Lighthouse Inspector for the Second district of the Atlantic coast until his retirement on October 1, 1870.
He served in the Mexican War, and became in 1857, Superintendent of the United States Naval Academy at Annapolis. He was made Commodore in 1862.
Mexican-American War
From Month/Year
January / 1846
To Month/Year
March / 1848
Description The Mexican–American War, also known as the Mexican War, the U.S.–Mexican War or the Invasion of Mexico (Spanish: Intervención estadounidense en México, Guerra de Estados Unidos-México), was an armed conflict between the United States of America and the United Mexican States from 1846 to 1848. It followed in the wake of the 1845 U.S. annexation of Texas, which Mexico considered part of its territory in spite of its de facto secession in the 1836 Texas Revolution.
After its independence in 1821 and brief experiment with monarchy, Mexico became a republic in 1824. It was characterized by considerable instability, leaving it ill-prepared for conflict when war broke out in 1846. Native American raids in Mexico's sparsely settled north in the decades preceding the war prompted the Mexican government to sponsor migration from the U.S. to the Mexican province of Texas to create a buffer. However, Texans from both countries revolted against the Mexican government in the 1836 Texas Revolution, creating a republic not recognized by Mexico, which still claimed it as part of its national territory. In 1845, Texas agreed to an offer of annexation by the U.S. Congress, and became the 28th state on December 29 that year.
In 1845, James K. Polk, the newly-elected U.S. president, made a proposition to the Mexican government to purchase the disputed lands between the Nueces River and the Rio Grande. When that offer was rejected, American forces commanded by Major General Zachary Taylor were moved into the disputed territory of Coahuila. They were then attacked by Mexican forces, who killed 12 U.S. soldiers and took 52 as prisoners. These same Mexican troops later laid siege to an American fort along the Rio Grande. This led to the war and the eventual loss of much of Mexico's northern territory.
U.S. forces quickly occupied Santa Fe de Nuevo México and Alta California Territory, and then invaded parts of Central Mexico (modern-day Northeastern Mexico and Northwest Mexico); meanwhile, the Pacific Squadron conducted a blockade, and took control of several garrisons on the Pacific coast farther south in Baja California Territory. The U.S. army, under the command of Major General Winfield Scott, captured the capital, Mexico City, marching from the port of Veracruz.
The 1848 Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo ended the war and specified its major consequence: the Mexican Cession of the territories of Alta California and Santa Fe de Nuevo México to the United States. The U.S. agreed to pay $15 million compensation for the physical damage of the war. In addition, the United States assumed $3.25 million of debt owed by the Mexican government to U.S. citizens. Mexico acknowledged the loss of Texas and thereafter cited the Rio Grande as its national border with the United States.
The territorial expansion of the United States toward the Pacific coast had been the goal of US President James K. Polk, the leader of the Democratic Party. At first, the war was highly controversial in the United States, with the Whig Party, anti-imperialists, and anti-slavery elements strongly opposed. Critics in the United States pointed to the heavy casualties suffered by U.S. forces and the conflict's high monetary cost. The war intensified the debate over slavery in the United States, contributing to bitter debates that culminated in the American Civil War.
In Mexico, the war came in the middle of political turmoil, which increased into chaos during the conflict. The military defeat and loss of territory was a disastrous blow, causing Mexico to enter "a period of self-examination ... as its leaders sought to identify and address the reasons that had led to such a debacle." In the immediate aftermath of the war, some prominent Mexicans wrote that the war had resulted in "the state of degradation and ruin" in Mexico, further claiming, for "the true origin of the war, it is sufficient to say that the insatiable ambition of the United States, favored by our weakness, caused it." The shift in the Mexico-U.S. border left many Mexican citizens separated from their national government. For the indigenous peoples who had never accepted Mexican rule, the change in border meant conflicts with a new outside power.
