tions to Wilkes' behavior during the voyage, scientific dis- 

 putes arising from the Expedition, and the fact that the Van 

 Buren Administration, which had sponsored the venture, 

 had been turned out of office by the Whigs the previous 

 November. 



Charles Wilkes was vilified upon his return. In 1842 he 

 was court-martialed for conduct unbecoming an officer as 

 a result of his mistreatment of the Expedition's crew. 

 Although Wilkes was subsequently acquitted, his reputa- 

 tion and that of the Expedition had been severely tainted. 

 He was criticized as well by various explorers of the day, 

 including Englishman James Clark Ross, who claimed that 

 Wilkes' determinations regarding the Antarctic land mass 

 were incorrect. At the time, Ross' opinion was widely 

 accepted. Today, however, it is widely agreed that Wilkes 

 did in fact establish the existence of a solid Antarctic land 

 mass, part of which was later named for him. 19 Ac- 

 knowledged as well is the significant contribution of the 

 Wilkes Expedition to the birth of a permanent U.S. Botanic 

 Garden. 



DISPOSITION OF THE PLANT MATERIAL COLLECTED 



By the time Wilkes returned to the United States and entered 

 New York harbor on June 9, 1842, he had covered 87,000 

 miles. The returning ships carried over 10,000 plant speci- 

 mens and seeds, and over 250 live plants. 20 



Initially, the Expedition's collection of plants was placed 

 in a lot located behind the Old Patent Office in Washing- 

 ton. By the fall of 1842, Congress had approved funds for 

 a greenhouse to protect the plants, and William D. Brack- 

 enridge had assumed responsibility for their care. 



That November, Brackenridge, in a report to Curator 

 Charles Pickering of the National Institute, announced the 



19 Henderson, The Hidden Coast, pp. 119-124; Hill, Charles Wilkes, 

 pp. 869-870; Morgan, Autobiography of Charles Wilkes, p. 520-525; and 

 Morsberger, The Wilkes Expedition: 1838-1842, p. 48. 



20 Goode, The Genesis of the National Museum, pp. 353-354. 



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