At the top of all pilot charts issued by the Hydrographic Office of the Navy Department appears the legend “Founded upon the researches made and the data collected by Lieutenant M. F. Maury, U. S. Navy.” Who was Lieutenant Maury, and what did he do? Even among members of his own profession, the Navy, it appears that considerable uncertainty exists as to who the man was, when he lived and how he came to make the exhaustive studies and investigations necessary to assemble the vast detail of hydrographical and meteorological data contained in the pilot charts of the seven seas.
The comment about a prophet being not without honor save in his own country seems to apply to Maury with particular force, as his work was recognized and rewarded by foreign governments in greater measure than by his own. It is not unlikely that circumstances connected with the Civil War were responsible for this fact, but, in all events, his accomplishments showed such a high degree of professional ability and were of such lasting importance to all mariners that his name and deeds should be known and respected by all naval officers.
Matthew Fontaine Maury was born near Fredericksburg, Virginia, in 1806, and joined the Navy at the age of nineteen. His first duty afloat was on board the frigate Brandywine which conveyed General Lafayette to France and remained for some time in European and Mediterranean waters. His next assignment was to the sloop-of-war Vincennes, Captain C. Wilkes, U. S. Navy, commanding. On this vessel he spent four years in circumnavigating the globe on a then-famous expedition for the determination of meridian distances and the study of oceanography (1826-30). This cruise was followed by several years on the Pacific station during which time, as a result of his studies and practical experience, he produced a treatise on navigation that was long the official textbook of the U. S. Navy.
In 1839 Maury suffered a severe accident which caused permanent lameness and disqualified him for further active service afloat. He was, accordingly, retired as a lieutenant but continued his studies and writings of naval topics. His Scraps from the Lucky Bag, a series of articles dealing with much needed naval reforms, attracted wide attention at the time and led to considerable improvement in existing conditions.
In 1842 he was placed in charge of the Depot of Charts and Instruments, (now the Hydrographic Office and Naval Observatory), at Washington, D. C. This assignment gave him the opportunity to pursue the investigations which later brought him world-wide fame as a scientific student of the sea.
From the first his active mind had been attracted to the study of the laws governing meteorological and hydrographical phenomena and he was among the few fully to realize that, in consequence of definite laws, the winds, currents, tidal waves, temperatures, etc., moved in an orderly procession and could, therefore, be predicted and charted.
He instituted a system that is still in effect today, for obtaining reports of winds, currents and other important navigational data from the masters of ships of all nations. From thousands of these reports, which he personally studied and classified, he constructed his Wind and Current Charts and Sailing Directions which showed the mariner the most favorable sea routes to follow at different seasons in all parts of the globe.
Maury realized that these subjects were of such vast importance to the seafaring world and of such varied and multitudinous detail that international cooperation was necessary for favorable progress. Through his efforts an international conference was held in Brussels in 1853 for the purpose of "devising a uniform system of meteorological observations at sea and of concurring in a general plan of observation on the winds and currents of the ocean with a view to the improvement of navigation, and to the acquirement of a more correct knowledge of the laws which govern those elements.” Sixteen maritime nations were represented at this conference and their deliberations brought about a marked improvement in navigational knowledge and practice.
It was at this time that Maury published his best known works. His Letters on the Amazon and Atlantic Slopes of South America appeared in 1853. The following year he produced Lanes for Steamers Crossing the Atlantic, and the first bathymetrical map of the North Atlantic ocean giving contours up to 4,000 fathoms. In 1855 he published Physical Geography of the Sea. These works, especially the last named, won him an international reputation and were translated into the principal European languages, He was honored and decorated by emperors, kings and presidents and received degrees and memberships from the universities and scientific societies of many nations.
The United States Government promoted him to the rank of commander, a not over-generous recognition of his signal achievements, but he is still almost invariably referred to by his earlier title of lieutenant.
Maury’s interests and ambitions were not, however, confined to scientific study and research. One of his most cherished schemes was the uniting of the Atlantic and Pacific oceans by the construction of a canal at Panama, but in this he was too far ahead of his time. He also invented improved methods of deep-sea soundings that made possible the laying of the first Atlantic cable.
When the Civil War broke out Maury cast in his lot with his native state and resigned from the federal service. He was commissioned a commodore in the Confederate Navy but his physical disability precluded any active participation in the conflict. His one contribution to actual hostilities was the invention of an electrical torpedo. But again his mind was too far advanced for the practical uses of his day.
The Confederate government sent him to England as a special agent to look out for their foreign interests. Here he was approached by both the French and Russian governments who made him flattering offers to continue his former scientific work in their respective countries, the French offering him the directorship of the Imperial Observatory at Paris. But Maury could not be tempted away from his allegiance to the “Lost Cause.”
Upon the termination of the war he found himself an exile in a foreign land. He was tendered, and accepted, an appointment by the Emperor Maximilian of Mexico to the post of Imperial Commissioner of Immigration in that country. This was in the expectation of a large exodus from the Southern States to Mexico but, as it failed to materialize, the plans for colonization were abandoned and Maury returned to England. Here he resided for a time, during which he was the recipient of numerous honors, including a testimonial raised by popular subscription and the degree of LL.D. from Cambridge University.
In 1868 Maury took advantage of a general amnesty to return to his native state where he was appointed to the chair of physics at the Virginia Military Institute. He held this position until his death in February, 1873, at Lexington, Virginia.
Maury was possessed of a romantic temperament and his years of exile had intensified his love for the land of his birth. During his enforced residence on foreign soil he had often expressed the desire to be buried with those who fell in the southern ranks at Richmond, the capital of the Confederacy, and that his body be conveyed there through the beautiful Goshen Pass at the time when “the laurel burst its buds.”
His wishes were complied with and, after a temporary interment at Lexington, his remains were finally laid to rest the following June among his own dead in Hollywood Cemetery at Richmond.
In Goshen Pass, among the laurels, there was erected in June, 1923, a simple granite column with an anchor at its base and bearing a bronze tablet on which are inscribed the words:
“MATTHEW FONTAINE MAURY,
The Pathfinder of the Sea.”