Editing Thomas ap Catesby Jones

{{short description|United States Navy officer}}
{{Infobox military person
|name          = Thomas ap Catesby Jones 
|image         = Thomas ap Catesby Jones.jpg
|caption       = Portrait of Jones
|birth_date    = {{Birth date|1790|4|24}}<ref name=Smith3>Smith, p 3</ref>
|death_date    = {{Death date and age|1858|5|30|1790|4|24}}<ref name=Smith161>Smith, p 161</ref>
|birth_place   = [[Westmoreland County, Virginia]]
|death_place   = [[Sharon, Virginia]],
|placeofburial = [[Fairfax, Virginia]]
|allegiance    = [[United States]]
|branch        = [[United States Navy]]
|serviceyears  = 1805–1858
|rank          = [[Commodore (United States)|Commodore]]
|commands      = {{USS|Peacock|1813|6}}<br>[[Pacific Squadron]] 
|battles       = {{tree list}}
* [[War of 1812]]
** [[Battle of Lake Borgne]]
* [[Mexican–American War]]
** [[Capture of Monterey]]
{{tree list/end}}
}}

[[Commodore (United States)|Commodore]] '''Thomas ap Catesby Jones''' (24 April 1790 – 30 May 1858) was a [[United States Navy]] officer who served in the [[War of 1812]] and [[Mexican–American War]].

==Early life==

Thomas ap Catesby Jones was born on 24 April 1790 in [[Westmoreland County, Virginia]], to Catesby and Lettice (Turberville) Jones. The Jones family had originated in [[Wales]] and the middle name "ap&nbsp;Catesby" was a gesture to the [[patronymic]] [[Welsh surnames|surnames traditionally used in Wales]]; ''Thomas ap Catesby'' in [[Welsh language|Welsh]] means "Thomas, son of Catesby".<ref name=Smith3 />

Jones' father died on 23 September 1801 leaving the family destitute. Jones and his older brother, [[Roger Jones (Adjutant General)|Roger]] were taken in by an uncle, Meriwether Jones of [[Richmond, Virginia]]. His mother died in December 1804 after a long illness leaving Jones an orphan at age 14. His uncle provided for his and his brother's education at Richmond Academy until the expense of private school became a burden. They studied with a private tutor after leaving the school.<ref name=Smith6-8>Smith, pp 6–8</ref> Roger Jones later became [[List of Adjutant Generals of the U.S. Army|Adjutant General of the U.S. Army]].<ref name=Smith45>Smith, p 45</ref>

==War of 1812==
[[File:BattleLakeBorgneHornbrook.jpg|thumb|Battle of Lake Borgne, Louisiana]]

Jones was appointed a [[midshipman]] in the [[United States Navy]] on 22 November 1805 at the age of fifteen. Owing to a lack of openings for midshipmen he was not ordered to active duty. He was furloughed home and advised to study geography, navigation, and surveying so that his chances of getting an active assignment would improve. After the [[Chesapeake–Leopard affair|''Chesapeake–Leopard'' affair]], the Navy mobilized its gunboats and Jones was ordered to report to [[Norfolk, Virginia]], where he was assigned to gunboat ''No. 10'', reporting the first week of August 1807.<ref name=Smith11>Smith, p 11</ref> Jones received honors for bravery at the 1814 [[Battle of Lake Borgne]] in [[Louisiana]], where despite being defeated, he succeeded in delaying the British advance prior to the [[Battle of New Orleans]].<ref name=Smith29-32>Smith, pp 29–32</ref>

==Between wars==

In 1826, [[Commodore (rank)|Commodore]] Jones while in command of the veteran [[sloop-of-war]] ''[[USS Peacock (1813)|Peacock]]'', signed treaties with the [[Kingdom of Tahiti]] and [[Hawaiian Kingdom]]. On September 6, 1826, Jones signed a treaty with Queen regent [[Teriitaria II|Pōmare Vahine]] on the behalf of the infant [[Pōmare III]] and other chiefs of Tahiti. On December 23, 1826, Jones signed a treaty with [[Kuhina nui|Queen regent]] [[Kaʻahumanu]] and other chiefs of Hawaii on behalf of the young [[Kamehameha III]].<ref name=Stauffer41-42>Stauffer, pp 41&ndash;42</ref><ref>Kuykendall 1965, pp. 435–436</ref><ref>Newbury 1980, p. 70</ref><ref>Pritchard 1983, p. 53</ref> In 1827, ''Peacock'' was severely damaged in an attack by a [[Sperm whale|whale]].<ref name=Smith68 /> Upon return to New York in October 1827, she was decommissioned and broken up in 1828. She was rebuilt as ''Peacock'' (1828), to serve as an exploration ship of the [[United States Exploring Expedition]]. Jones was to have commanded the expedition, but lack of funding delayed the expedition until 1838, by which time he had resigned the appointment.<ref name=Stanton>Stanton, pp 35-66</ref>

In May 1836, an act of Congress authorized the President to establish the five year [[United States Exploring Expedition]] "to the Pacific Ocean and South Seas", the first extra-continental American scientific exploration.  Jones was appointed Commander of the Expedition. Delays in Expedition departure dates, and various other disagreements, led to Jones (and certain scientists, including botanist [[Asa Gray]]) declining the position in December 1837.  The position was subsequently offered to [[Charles Wilkes]]. From 1841 to 1844, Jones commanded the United States [[Pacific Squadron]], and again from 1848 to 1850. In 1842, four years before the start of the [[Mexican–American War]], Jones [[Capture of Monterey|mistakenly thought that war had begun. He seized the California port of Monterey]] and held it for one day before returning control to Mexico.<ref name=Staffer42>Stauffer, p 42</ref>

Hearing that [[Royal Navy]] officer [[Lord George Paulet]] had [[Paulet affair|occupied the Hawaiian Kingdom]], he sailed there and arrived July 22, 1843. The king was restored July 31, and Jones tried to hasten peace by hosting all parties to dinner aboard his ship.<ref name=Gapp101-121>Gapp, pp 101–121</ref> In 1843, Jones returned a young deserter, [[Herman Melville]], to the U.S. from the Sandwich Islands, as the [[Hawaiian Islands]] were then known. Later, Melville modeled "Commodore J—" in ''[[Moby-Dick]]'', and the Commodore in ''[[White-Jacket]]'' after Jones.<ref name=Stauffer42-43>Stauffer, pp 42&ndash;43</ref> In 1827 ''Peacock'' under Jones's command had been severely damaged in an attack by a whale, which Melville took to have been a sperm whale.<ref name=Smith68>Smith, p 68</ref> ''Moby-Dick'' Chapter 45 ("The Affidavit") is most probably especially shaped by part of the career of Jones.<ref name=Smith151>Smith, p 151</ref> By early 1844 [[Alexander J. Dallas (U.S. Navy officer)|Alexander Dallas]] had replaced Jones as Pacific commander.<ref name=Gapp101-121 />

==Later career==
[[File:Grave of Thomas ap Catesby Jones with surroundings.jpg|thumb|Grave of Thomas ap Catesby Jones in the cemetery of the Lewinsville Presbyterian Church, [[Lewinsville, Virginia]]]]

In 1848, Jones arrived in [[Mazatlán]] just at the end of the [[Mexican–American War]], maintaining order until he could transport those who had aided the United States in that war to Monterey.<ref name=Bauer232>Bauer, p 232</ref> For the next two years, during the chaotic [[California Gold Rush|Gold Rush]] days, Jones provided a U.S. Navy presence in the [[San Francisco]] area while the United States debated what to do with the newly acquired [[History of California#Conquest of California (1846-1847)|California Territory]].<ref name=Smith132-147>Smith, pp 132–147</ref>

In 1850, in a politically charged [[court-martial]] shortly after ''[[White-Jacket]]'' was published, Jones was found guilty on three counts mostly related to "oppression" of junior officers and relieved of command for two-and-a-half years. In 1853, President [[Millard Fillmore]] reinstated him and in 1858, the [[United States Congress]] restored his pay.<ref name=Smith159-160>Smith, pp 159–160</ref>

==See also==
{{Portal|Biography}}
* [[USS Edith (1849)|USS ''Edith'']]
* [[USS Ohio (1820)|USS ''Ohio'']]

==Notes==
===Citations===
{{Reflist|30em}}

===Bibliography===
{{refbegin}}
* {{cite book|last1=Bauer|first1=K. Jack|title=Surfboats and Horse Marines: U.S. Naval Operations in the Mexican War, 1846&ndash;48|date=1969|publisher=United States Naval Institute|location=Annapolis, Maryland}}
* {{cite journal|last1=Gapp|first1=Frank W.|title=The Kind-Eyed Chief: Forgotten Champion of Hawaii's Freedom|journal=Hawaiian Journal of History|date=1985|volume=19|pages=101–121|publisher=Hawaii Historical Society|hdl= 10524/235}}
*{{cite book|last=Kuykendall|first=Ralph Simpson|author-link=Ralph Simpson Kuykendall|title=The Hawaiian Kingdom 1778–1854, Foundation and Transformation|url=http://www.ulukau.org/elib/cgi-bin/library?c=kingdom1&l=en|volume=1|year=1965|orig-year=1938|publisher=University of Hawaii Press|location=Honolulu|isbn=0-87022-431-X|oclc=47008868}}
*{{cite book|last=Maxwell|first=Richard T.|title=Visit to Monterey in 1842|url=https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Gazetteer/Places/America/United_States/Navy/_Texts/A_Visit_to_Monterey_in_1842*.html|year=1955|access-date=18 January 2020|publisher=Glen Dawson|location=Los Angeles}}
*{{cite book|last=Newbury|first=Colin W.|title=Tahiti Nui: Change and Survival in French Polynesia, 1767–1945|url=https://scholarspace.manoa.hawaii.edu/bitstream/10125/62908/9780824880323.pdf|hdl=10125/62908|year=1980|publisher=University Press of Hawaii|location=Honolulu|isbn=978-0-8248-8032-3|oclc=1053883377|access-date=2019-11-28|archive-date=2019-11-10|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191110190838/https://scholarspace.manoa.hawaii.edu/bitstream/10125/62908/9780824880323.pdf|url-status=dead}}
*{{cite book|last=Pritchard|first=George|author-link=George Pritchard (missionary)|title=The Aggressions of the French at Tahiti: And Other Islands in the Pacific|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LKUAAAAAMAAJ|year=1983|publisher=Oxford University Press|location=Oxford|isbn=978-0-19-647994-1|oclc=10470657}}
* {{cite book|last1=Smith|first1=Gene A.|author-link=Gene A. Smith|title=Thomas ap Catesby Jones|date=2000|publisher=Naval Institute Press|location=Annapolis, Maryland|isbn=978-1-55750-848-5|url=https://archive.org/details/thomasapcatesbyj00smit}}
* {{cite book|last1=Stanton|first1=William|title=The Great United States Exploring Expedition|date=1975|publisher=University of California Press|location=Berkeley, California|isbn=0520025571|url=https://archive.org/details/greatunitedstate00will}}
* {{cite web|last1=Stauffer|first1=Robert H.|title=The Hawai'i-United States Treaty of 1826|url=http://evols.library.manoa.hawaii.edu/bitstream/handle/10524/345/JL17048.pdf|website=eVols|publisher=University of Hawaii at Manoa|access-date=5 December 2015|date=2009}}
{{refend}}

== External links ==
* {{commons category-inline}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jones, Thomas ap Catesby}}
[[Category:1790 births]]
[[Category:1858 deaths]]
[[Category:United States Navy personnel of the War of 1812]]
[[Category:United States Navy officers]]
[[Category:United States Navy personnel of the Mexican–American War]]
[[Category:American people of Welsh descent]]
[[Category:People from Westmoreland County, Virginia]]
[[Category:Military personnel from Virginia]]