William Henry Harrison Seeley

William Henry Harrison Seeley, VC (May 1, 1840 – October 1, 1914) was an American sailor who served in the British Royal Navy during the Taiping Rebellion, the Bombardment of Kagoshima and the Shimonoseki campaign and was a recipient of the Victoria Cross for his actions during the Shimonoseki campaign, the highest award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces. He was the first American recipient of the Victoria Cross, the 28th member of the Royal Navy to earn the award and was, at the time, the only foreigner to have received it.

Early life Seeley was born on May 1, 1840, in Topsham, Maine, to Dayton A. Seeley and Lucy J. Seeley (née Johnston). When Seeley was asked how he came to join the Royal Navy during an interview with The Brunswick Record in 1904, he said;

During the interview with The Brunswick Record, Seeley said of serving under Gordon "I served in China under Chinese Gordon, and was with him at Ming Poo, when he drove Li Huang Chang out of camp at the point of a pistol. He was bound to be boss, was the general, and he wouldn't stand for the pig-tailed heathen coming round to tell him how to run things."

Due to these incidents, the Emperor Kōmei issued the order to expel barbarians, an imperial edict which aimed to isolate Japan again. The Shōgun at the time, Tokugawa Iemochi, went to Kyoto to request an audience with the Emperor. The result of this audience was that the order to expel would be put into practice two months later on June 25 that year. Following the deadline, several western ships were attacked, including a US merchant steamer, a French aviso and a 16-gun Dutch warship, resulting in the deaths of four Dutch sailors and the wounding of five Dutch and four French sailors.

The US and French navies retaliated, with the frigate USS Wyoming sailing into the straits on July 16 under the sanction of Minister Robert H. Pruyn, sinking two ships and inflicted some 40 casualties, suffering severe damage in the process. On July 20, Admiral Benjamin Jaurès sailed into the straits with his flagship, the screw frigate Sémiramis, and the aviso Tancrède. 250 marines came ashore and occupied the shore batteries with little resistance, tossing most of the guns and supplies left by the rebels into the sea; they occupied the emplacements until July 24, destroying nearby military camps and burning a local village.

Diplomatic channels between all involved countries opened in attempts to reopen the straits, with the British Minister to Japan, Sir Rutherford Alcock, Dutch Minister Dirk de Graeff van Polsbroek and Pruyn discussing the feasibility of a joint strike against Takachika and his forces. Takachika requested additional time to respond to the treaty partners' demands, which was deemed to be unacceptable. (including the Medusa, the 16-gun warship that was attacked)

The only US warship in the area at the time was the sail-powered sloop-of-war USS Jamestown, which could not overcome the strong currents of the straits and thus could not join the expedition. As such, Minister Pruyn and then Captain Cicero Price chartered the steamer Ta-Kiang from Walsh, Hall and Company. Under the terms of the agreement, she was "to carry a landing party, and in every way to assist in the common object, but not to be under fire of the forts." The Ta-Kiang would later assist the squadron by towing boats and receiving the wounded. The full squadron of 17 ships had 388 guns and 7,542 men between them.

The battle took place between September 5–6, 1864, with the bombardment taking place on September 5. Aimed at taking out the shore batteries, the fleet utilised their guns' range advantage, battering the shore batteries and fortifications. thumb Capture of a Chōshū battery at Shimonoseki. Albumen silver print by Felice Beato, 1864 Seeley volunteered to reconnoitre the enemy's positions, locating a stockade manned by the enemy. He was discovered by them, and, in the ensuing pursuit, he received an injury to his right arm by grape shot. Despite this injury, he would deliver a coherent report to his company commander, Second Lieutenant Frederick Edwards, and join his fellow soldiers in the assault on the stockade.

Seeing the British advance the rebels fell back to the stockade, which was manned by 300 men, seven light guns and protected by an palisade. At the head of the assault was the colour party. One of the colour sergeants was mortally wounded, while the second, petty officer Thomas Pride, was hit in the left side of his chest by a musket ball.

Aftermath and Victoria Crosses The London Gazette would later report on dispatches received from Kuper, stating "Since the conclusion of these operations I have satisfied myself, by personal examination, of the entire Straits, that no batteries remain in existence on the territory of the Prince of Choshiu, and thus the passage of the Straits may be considered cleared of all obstructions." Seeley lost his Victoria Cross twice between then and 1889.

As the story had Seeley's name in it, he sent a message to Seeley at once to tell him how he found his Victoria Cross. During the correspondence between them, Seeley described the cross in great detail. Satisfied he had found the rightful owner, Grady sent it back to Seeley. As Seeley's name was not placed on his grave following his burial, the grave site went unrecognised until 2009 when funds were raised for the instalment of a memorial plaque.

His granddaughter was the last keeper of his Victoria Cross, with it going missing in 1943.