Джордж Максвелл Робесон: Политик и Министр ВМС США

American politician

George Maxwell Robeson (March 16, 1829 – September 27, 1897) was an American politician and lawyer from New Jersey. A brigadier general in the New Jersey Militia during the American Civil War, he served as Secretary of the Navy, appointed by President Ulysses S. Grant, from 1869 to 1877. A member of the Republican Party, he also served two terms as a U. S. Representative for New Jersey from 1879 to 1883. Robeson, a native of New Jersey, graduated from Princeton University at the young age of 18. Robeson studied law and passed the bar in 1850. Practicing law, Robeson diligently worked his way through the legal profession and in 1858 he was appointed a public prosecutor for Camden County. During the American Civil War Robeson associated with the Republican Party and was a member of the New Jersey Sanitary Commission. Appointed Brigadier General by Governor Charles S. Olden, Robeson worked to recruit enlistments to fight for the Union. After the war in 1867, Robeson was appointed New Jersey Attorney General by Gov. Marcus L. Ward. Robeson, as Attorney General, gained national attention after successfully prosecuting Bridget Durgan for the brutal murder of Mrs. Coriell. Supported by New Jersey Senator A. G. Cattell, Robeson was appointed Secretary of Navy by President Ulysses S. Grant in 1869 after Sec. Adolph E. Borie had resigned office. His tenure lasted about seven and a half years, second in length only, to that of Gideon Welles during the 19th century. He was known to be a hot tempered, industrious administrator and through his departmental leadership was able to contain the established Naval officer hierarchy. Having limited Congressional funding, he supported and developed the early stages of submarine and torpedo technology for the purpose of keeping U. S. harbors safe from foreign attack, and secured $50,000 in Congressional funding for the 1871 Polaris expedition led by Charles Francis Hall. The U. S. Navy, however, was not able to keep pace with the modernization of industrial European navies. Robeson headed the investigation about the controversial death of Hall after the return of the shipwrecked Polaris crew in 1873. Robeson supported President Grant and the Radical Republican Reconstruction laws that supported the citizenship and voting rights of African American freedmen. Under Robeson, the U. S. Navy constructed the United States' first two propelled torpedo warships. In 1874, Robeson responded to the naval threat imposed by Spain during the Virginius Affair; having implemented U. S. Naval resurgence, however, Congress refused to pay for the completion of the five new ships. Robeson served briefly as both Secretary of Navy and as ad interim Secretary of War after Secretary of War William W. Belknap abruptly resigned in 1876. Robeson was the subject of two Congressional investigations in 1876 and 1878 on profiting and bribery charges from shipbuilding contracts but was exonerated for lack of material evidence. Elected in 1878, Representative for New Jersey, Robeson served as minority leader of the Republican Party. Robeson's grandfather was George C. Maxwell and he was the nephew of John Patterson Bryan Maxwell, both having represented New Jersey in the House of Representatives. Defeated from office by Democrat Thomas M. Ferrell in a bitter highly contested 1882 election campaign, Robeson was left $60,000 in debt and forced to sell his Washington D. C. property. As a result of his financial troubles, his wife and family abandoned him while traveling abroad. Robeson moved to Trenton, resumed his law practice, and lived a modest lifestyle until his death in 1897. Although Robeson showed decisive action during the Virginius Affair while Secretary of the Navy, his reputation was marred by allegations of corruption during his tenure.

George M. Robeson was born on March 16, 1829, in Oxford Furnace, New Jersey, near Belvidere in Warren County. Robeson's family was of Scottish origin and he was a descendant of Andrew Robeson, the surveyor general of New Jersey in 1668. His father was Philadelphia Judge William Penn Robeson and his mother was the daughter of U. S. Congressman George C. Maxwell, who served in the 12th U. S. Congress from 1811 to 1813 representing Hunterdon, New Jersey. Robeson was the nephew of U. S. Congressman John Patterson Bryan Maxwell. Robeson gained a scholarly reputation by having graduated from Princeton University at the young age of 18 in 1847. He graduated and was admitted to the bar in 1850.

Robeson served as the Attorney General of New Jersey from 1867 to 1869. Robeson was able to gain a conviction of Durgan on circumstantial evidence. Durgan, who had an earlier criminal record, had murdered Mrs. Coriell by stabbing her several times with a kitchen knife, believing that she would take over as wife of Coriell and would raise Mrs. Coriell's child. Borie had found the duties of running the Navy Department demanding and he decided to resign. Upon Robeson's appointment to office, nobody outside of New Jersey knew who he was. Robeson formally took office on June 26, 1869. This would become one of the longest held cabinet Naval secretary positions, with the exception of Sec. Gideon Welles. He would serve until March 12, 1877, at the end of President Grant's second term in office and at the beginning of President Hayes's administration. Congress and reformers were critical of Robeson overstepping the law in terms of making new ships by "repairing" older ships. Borie apparently did not have any interest in running the Navy Department and let Porter have unprecedented authority. Sec. Robeson was not willing to be Porter's subordinate, as Borie had been. Robeson's first annual report to Congress in 1869 was heavily influenced by Rear Admiral Porter. His purpose was to speak for and support Republican Rep. James H. Platt's reelection to the U. S. Congress. Sec. of Navy Robeson and Hall, who was on his third arctic expedition, had lobbied Congress successfully to fund the expedition. Robeson had written specific instructions on the goals of the mission and implemented a hierarchy of command for when Hall was injured or killed. Robeson directed the course of the expedition, outfitted for two and one half years. Robeson ordered anything that was found on the expedition would be the property of the U. S. Government, that monuments would be erected on the journey, records and general conditions of the expedition would be kept, and food caches would be established. Polaris was supplied with every scientific instrument needed for such a dangerous and ambitious expedition. While traveling west of Greenland under good weather, Polaris broke a sailing record to the highest point northward at 82°29'N. In October 1871, the expedition established a winter camp on Thank God Bay, to prepare to reach the North Pole by dogsled. On October 24, upon his return from an exploratory dogsled party, Captain Hall fell sick after drinking a cup of coffee. Historians now believe Hall was probably murdered by crew member Emil Bessels, who poisoned him with arsenic. Two weeks later, Captain Hall died, and Sidney O. Buddington was put in charge of the expedition, according to Robeson's instructions. Under Buddington's authority, discipline on the expedition declined, as the crew was allowed to carry weapons and stay up all night. Buddington himself raided the ship's medical supply of alcohol and was known to have been drunk. On June 2, 1872, after an unsuccessful attempt to reach the North Pole, the expedition turned south to head back to the New York Navy Yard. Having been caught in an ice pack, 19 crew members were separated from the ship on an ice floe and floated 1,800 miles before being rescued. The remaining crew on board the ship was forced to winter off Greenland in October 1872, with Polaris being broken down into two ships. Setting out on the ocean, the remaining expedition crew was rescued by a whaling ship on June 3, 1873. Upon the crew's return, Robeson immediately opened a naval investigation on June 5, 1873, inquiring into Hall's death and Buddington's lack of leadership and crew discipline. Captain Hall's journals and letters had been tampered with and destroyed; they may have contained information that was harmful to both Buddington and Bessels. The investigation under Robeson did not charge Bessels with Hall's murder, although there was circumstantial evidence Bessels did murder Hall. However, the entire Polaris expedition crew was exonerated. In 1968, Captain Hall's body was exhumed and modern scientific testing revealed he had been poisoned by arsenic before his sudden sickness and death. Bessels, who was in charge of Hall's medical care, is now believed to have most likely murdered Hall since Bessels had patriotic ties with his mother country Germany. Although Robeson's final report said Hall had died a "natural" death, certain information may have been suppressed, to prevent scandal. Captain Hall, before his death, named Robeson Channel in honor of Secretary Robeson.

During Sec. Robeson's tenure, submarine, and torpedo technologies were tested by the U. S. Navy. Intelligent Whale, an experimental hand cranked submarine owned by Oliver Halstead, had been semi officially successfully tested in 1866 by Thomas W. Sweeny. However, the U. S. Navy did nothing with the ship until October 1869, when the ship was examined and recommended to Robeson by Cmdrs. C. Melancthon Smith, Augustus L. Case, and Edmund O. Matthews. Robeson appointed another committee to report on the boat's merit. After the second committee gave a favorable review, Robeson and Halstead signed a contract on October 29, 1869, to purchase the submarine for $50,000. Halstead, who contracted to test the submarine, was murdered, and the testing of Intelligent Whale was stalled for over a year. Because of lax security, in 1872, British officer Rear Admiral Edward Augustus Inglefield sneaked into the New York Navy Yard and inspected the secluded vessel moored on a wharf. The testing of torpedoes proved to be more successful. Robeson instructed that the torpedo must be able to go underwater for a considerable distance, at a fair speed, maintaining a straight course, while remaining submerged.

On July 4, 1873, Robeson dedicated of West Fairmount Park land set aside by the Fairmount Park Commission for the 1876 Centennial Exposition. President Grant could not attend the event due to the death of his father. Grant chose Robeson to go in his place. Grant's Secretary of War William W. Belknap and Grant's Attorney General George H. Williams were scheduled to attend the dedication ceremony. Robeson later met Grant at Long Branch. The Centennial Exposition opened on May 10, 1876.

On October 31, 1873, a Spanish warship, Toronado, ran down and captured Virginius, a U. S. merchant ship that was smuggling in weapons and soldiers to aid Cuba's revolt from the mother country Spain. The American public demanded war with Spain, as shocking news poured into the country that 53 British and American citizens who had joined up to aid the Cuban Insurrection were captured on Virginius and shot to death by Spanish Naval authority. In addition to this incident, a state of the art Spanish warship was in port in New York Harbor, which excelled in lethal military technology compared to American warships. On November 14, 1873, Grant ordered the Navy to be put on war footing. Robeson sent a flotilla of U. S. warships, part of the North Atlantic Squadron, to Key West, Florida, 90 miles from Cuba. However, the response time was slow, as the U. S. fleet finally assembled off Key West in late January 1874. The U. S. Navy, was no match for the modern Spanish warships and navy. One U. S. officer stated that two Spanish warships could have decimated the American flotilla, the best ships the U. S. Navy could offer at the time. During the Virginius crisis, Sec. Robeson decided that the primary goal for the Navy was a naval resurgence program to make monitor warships that could compete with foreign navies. Congress, however, refused to make new ships, believing that the technologically revolutionary ironclads made ten years ago somehow remained modern and were good enough for the U. S. Navy. Secretary of State Hamilton Fish in December 1874 coolly negotiated a peaceful settlement with Spain, and the State Department successfully arbitrated Spanish reparations to the families of the Americans who had been executed. The Virginius incident brought home the realities of having a weak navy and the need for a naval resurgence.

At the time of the Virginius incident in 1873, Spain had the world's most modern navy, and its army was composed of battle hardened veterans of the war in Cuba and the civil war in Spain. In contrast, the post Civil War demobilization of the U. S. army and navy had rendered both obsolete and insignificant. In response, Sec. Robeson ordered five double turreted (rotating deck guns) warships on June 23, 1874, to implement U. S. naval resurgence; all participated in the Spanish–American War, which started in 1898. The "rebuilding" of USS Puritan and four Miantonomohs were under the direction of Sec. Robeson. Each ship was redesigned, scrapped, and rebuilt from almost all new ironworks material. The five ships included the Puritan, the Amphitrite, the Monadnock, the Terror. and the Miantonomoh. At the beginning of the Spanish–American War, from April 22 through 24, 1898, USS Terror captured three Spanish warships: Almansas, Ambrosia Bolivar and Guido. USS Puritan shelled Matanzas on April 27, 1898. From May 5, 1898, to August 4, 1898, USS Miantonomoh served in a squadron of ships that blockaded the northern coast of Cuba. On May 12, 1898, USS Amphitrite hurled 17 shells shoreward, as well as 30 shells, 30 3 pounders and 22 6 pounders on San Juan, Puerto Rico. On February 10, 1899, USS Monadnock participated in the Battle of Caloocan, a few miles north of Manila.

When the nation fell into a depression after the Panic of 1873, Congress responded by passing Bill S.617, dubbed the "inflation bill," that would add $400 million greenbacks (paper currency) into circulation. The bill also advanced an equivalent amount of specie backed money. Both houses overwhelming approved the bill, believing it would bring relief, to a cash depleted nation, expecting Grant, to quickly sign it. Grant, however, contemplated that matter and discussed it with his cabinet, having received the bill on April 14, 1874. He told his cabinet he would not sign the bill, believing it would be "a departure from true principles of finance." Grant's cabinet was both divided and speechless. Robeson spoke up and said he wished "the President had reached a different conclusion." Secretary of War William Belknap said a veto "would array the entire West in opposition." Secretary of State Hamilton Fish approved of Grant's veto. Grant vetoed the bill, while an attempt to override Grant's veto failed in the Senate.

When Benjamin Bristow was appointed Secretary of Treasury by Grant in June 1874, a feud developed between Bristow and Robeson within a few months. The controversy centered around Robeson wanting to have Senator A. G. Cattell appointed financial agent in London to negotiate a bond issue. Cattell had performed a similar service in 1873 under previous Secretary Richardson. Bristow refused to make the appointment and believed a Treasury appointee could do the job. Bristow lobbied Grant to appoint John Bigelow, head of the Treasury Department's Loan Division. Grant accepted Bristow's choice of Bigelow, but he warned Bristow that Bigelow had a previous episode of drunkness. Bristow went further to undercut Robeson's influence in the Grant cabinet. Bristow told Grant that Robeson's Navy Department was financially mismanaged, and was under the control of former treasury secretary Hugh McCulloch's banking house. Bristow's advisers warned Bristow to cool things off and take a less confrontational approach.

On December 6, 1875, Secretary Robeson released his report on the condition of the U. S. Navy. The New York Times stated that the U. S. Navy was "stronger than at any time" since the Civil War. Robeson stated in his report that by 1875 the U. S. Navy was the strongest it had been during Grant's presidential term starting in 1869. The U. S. Navy consisted of 147 ships of every class and description, and twenty six ships were sailing vessels without any steam power. No articles of impeachment, however, were drawn up for Robeson. Grant did not ask Robeson to resign and supported the Naval Committee's minority Republican report that exonerated Robeson. Additionally, Robeson was accused by Admiral Porter of squandering $15,000,000 of missing naval construction funds, and of committing 30 misdemeanors. Porter called Robeson the "cuttlefish" (a cephalopod known for camouflage) of the Navy because he believed Robeson was good at hiding his financial tracks and was supported by Grant's boyhood friend Daniel Ammen. Historians believe Robeson was exceedingly careless and partisan in his role as Secretary of Navy.

In 1876, Robeson was nominated by the Republican Party to run for the New Jersey U. S. Senate seat. However, corruption charges against Robeson caused him to lose the election. Additionally, Grant requested that Congress give more funding for the completion of the five modernized warships that Robeson had ordered in 1874. Grant stated that the high cost of building new ships was caused by the use of steam power machinery.

Robeson left the U. S. Navy Secretary office in March 1877. Having failed in the U. S. Senate bid, Robeson returned to his law practice in Camden County. Robeson's political enemy, New Jersey U. S. Senator William J. Sewell, a Republican, was behind the Democrat Ferrell's successful campaign. As a result of the election loss, Robeson moved from Camden to Trenton and established a law practice, having been induced to represent the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad. During Robeson's tenure in the 47th Congress (1881–1883), he served as chairman of the Committee on Expenditures in the Department of the Navy. Cambell had organized horses, the Sixth Regiment Band, and security for Robeson in support of the Republican ticket. Robeson at the time was Treasurer of the Camden County Republican Executive Committee, and Cambell claimed that Robeson did not pay him for his services. Robeson and Mary had a daughter named Ethel Maxwell Robeson, who married William Sterling, the son of British Maj. John Barton Sterling, on November 22, 1910, in Christ Church, Mayfair, England. Mary's son, Richmond, graduated from Princeton University in 1889. The embittered 1882 Congressional election loss caused contention in Robeson's family. His wife went abroad and the campaign left Robeson destitute. In New Jersey, Robeson was called derisively "Poor Roby". James L. Hayes selected a small house near the State House in Trenton where Robeson lived and practiced law.