Expeditionary· Japan Expedition
Perry's Lew Chew operations and Maj Zeilin's procession at Naha
The staging of Perry's expedition, conducted in the Ryukyu Islands before the move on Japan itself.
In the early summer of 1853 the East India Squadron based itself at Lew Chew, the island of Okinawa, while Perry prepared for his approach to Yedo. There Major Jacob Zeilin led an armed Marine procession through the town of Naha to the royal palace at Shuri, one of the earliest American military demonstrations in the Ryukyus, deliberately mounted to impress the local authorities with American discipline, arms, and resolve. Perry's ships also explored the Bonin Islands during this period. No fighting attended any of it. The Lew Chew operations gave Perry a forward base and a rehearsal ground for the ceremonial show of force that would mark his Japan landings, and they confirmed Zeilin in his role as the expedition's senior Marine officer, a part he would carry through the historic mission to come.
Record no. 360