Silas Bent (naval officer)

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Silas Bent III
Nagasaki, Japan, rescue mission
AwardsCommendation for published hydrographic surveys of Japanese waters
Spouse(s)Ann Elizabeth Tyler
ChildrenMary Lawrence Bent
Lucy (Bent) McKinley
Silas Bent IV
RelationsOwl Woman (sister-in-law)
George Bent (nephew)
Lilburn Boggs (brother-in-law)
Henry C. Boggs (nephew)
Charles Marion Russell (nephew)

Silas Bent III (October 10, 1820 – August 26, 1887) was a naval officer in the United States Navy before the American Civil War. Silas Bent sailed both the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans and was recognized by the Navy for his contributions to oceanography published by the Navy. Silas Bent resigned his commission at the outset of the American Civil War, as his sympathy was for the Southern cause.

Early life and family

Silas Bent III was born on 10 October 1820 in

Mexican-American War (until he was assassinated in the Taos Revolt of 1847).[1][2] He married Ann Elizabeth Tyler of Louisville, Kentucky on 5 November 1857. They had three children: Mary Lawrence Bent, Lucy (Bent) McKinley, and Silas Bent IV, who was a journalist.[3]

U.S. Naval service

Bent was appointed

U.S. Navy for the next 25 years, during which he became well versed in the science of oceanography. He reached the rank of master in 1849 and lieutenant on August 1, 1849.[5] He crossed the Atlantic Ocean five times, the Pacific Ocean twice, rounded Cape Horn four times and the Cape of Good Hope
once.

Rescuing Americans at Nagasaki

He was serving under Commander

Japanese. He was flag lieutenant in Mississippi, Commodore Matthew C. Perry's flagship
during the expedition to Japan between 1852 and 1854.

The poet and diplomat Bayard Taylor, who accompanied Commodore Perry, wrote of Silas: "Too much credit, however, cannot be awarded to the different officers, and especially to Liet. Bent, for the coolness and courage with which they prosecuted their work. When we consider that this, one of the greatest bays in the world, had hitherto never been surveyed, the interest and value of their labors will be better understood."[6]

Hydrographic surveys

He made hydrographic surveys of Japanese waters. The results of his survey were published by the government in 1857 in Sailing Directions and Nautical Remarks: by Officers of the Late U.S. Naval Expedition to Japan.

American Civil War

Resigned due to Southern sympathies

In 1860, Lt. Bent was detailed to the Hydrographic Division of the

United States Coast Survey, but resigned from the Navy on 25 April 1861 at the outbreak of the American Civil War
, apparently because of Southern sympathies.

Southern Relief Commission

Bent served as Chairman of the St. Louis chapter of the Missouri Southern Relief Association, which raised funds to support widows of Confederate soldiers after the American Civil War. The Association organized a fundraiser fair in October 1866.[7]

Sterling Price Monument

Bent served on the Board of Directors of an association which raised funds to erect a monument

Mexican-American War, the 11th Governor of Missouri, and a Major General in the Confederate States Army
during the American Civil War.

Final years

He returned to St. Louis upon resigning from the Navy and took up the management of his wife's estate. Lt. Bent died on 26 August 1887 at

Long Island, New York, and was buried in Louisville, Kentucky
.

Honored in ship naming

The Silas Bent-class of US Navy ships, including the

survey ship
, was named in his honor in March 1964.

See also

References

  1. hdl:2027/njp.32101079825426
    .
  2. ^ Bent, Allen (1900). The Bent family in America. Boston: David Clapp & Son. pp. 58–59.
  3. ^ Edmund Rice (1638) Association, 2010. Descendants of Edmund Rice: The First Nine Generations. (CD-ROM)Edmund Rice (1638) Association
  4. ^ "The Bent Family In America". D. Clapp & Son (1900). Retrieved 24 May 2023.
  5. ^ "The Bent Family In America". D. Clapp & Son (1900). Retrieved 24 May 2023.
  6. ^ "The Bent Family In America". D. Clapp & Son (1900). Retrieved 24 May 2023.
  7. ^ "History of St. Louis City and County". Louis H. Everts & Co. (1883). 1883. Retrieved 5 July 2023.
  8. ^ "History of St. Louis City and County". Louis H. Everts & Co. (1883). 1883. Retrieved 5 July 2023.

External links

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