Background
Charles William LeGendre was the son of Jean François and Aricie Louise Marie Gertrude (Wable) LeGendre. He was born at Ouillins, France.
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(Excerpt from Progressive Japan: A Study of the Political ...)
Excerpt from Progressive Japan: A Study of the Political and Social Needs of the Empire The situation in which the present generation of Japan finds itself commands our sympathetic attention. Standing between a past just gone by and a coming but still uncertain future, exposed to all the storms of the present, it is often unable to discriminate, in the material that has been accumulated before it by the demolishers of the. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.
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Charles William LeGendre was the son of Jean François and Aricie Louise Marie Gertrude (Wable) LeGendre. He was born at Ouillins, France.
He was educated at the University of Paris.
After graduation, LeGendre emigrated to the United States and became a naturalized citizen. He helped recruit the 51st New York Volunteer Infantry, and on October 29, 1861, was commissioned a major of that regiment; on September 20, 1862, he was promoted to lieutenant-colonel, and on March 14, 1863, to colonel.
At the capture of New Bern, North Carolina, March 14, 1862, he was cited for displaying "most conspicuous courage until he fell wounded, " a ball carrying away part of his jaw. In the second battle of the Wilderness, May 6, 1864, he was again severely wounded, a ball carrying away the bridge of his nose and his left eye. By reason of such disability he was honorably discharged, October 4, 1864, and the brevet title of brigadier-general, for meritorious service, was given him to date from March 13, 1865.
On July 13, 1866, he was appointed American consul at Amoy, China. His district included the island of Formosa, and in March 1867, the wreck of the American bark Rover on the southern coast of that island gave him an opportunity to render distinguished service. Fourteen members of the crew landed on the island but were massacred by the aborigines. LeGendre requested of the Chinese authorities that a search for possible survivors be made and that a more effective occupation and control of the shores of Formosa be established, but without success. Rear Admiral Bell, of the United States Navy, then conducted a punitive expedition against the aborigines, but it ended disastrously, since the landing party fell into an ambush and was forced to retire. This misadventure, however, did not deter General LeGendre from personally leading a small party across the island. He was successful in establishing relations with the most important tribes and concluded a convention for the future protection of shipwrecked mariners.
In November 1872, he arrived in Japan en route to the United States. The American minister introduced him to the Japanese authorities, who immediately recognized in him a possibly valuable assistant in their proposed negotiations with China and their expedition against Formosa, ostensibly to protest against the massacre of some of their shipwrecked seamen. LeGendre was offered the position of counselor to the proposed mission to China, with the prospect of further advancement in the Japanese service; and this offer he accepted, resigning as American consul on December 19, 1872.
The mission to Peking was not an entire success, but it encouraged the Japanese to undertake the expedition against Formosa. When, however, LeGendre arrived in China on his way to the island, he was arrested by the American consul at Amoy, but was later released on order of the Department of State at Washington. He continued in the Japanese service as foreign adviser until July 1875. He resided in Japan until March 1890, when he was appointed vice-president of the Korean Home Office. Upon the resignation of Judge O. N. Denny, later in that year, LeGendre became adviser to the household department of the King of Korea, holding that position until his death by apoplexy at Seoul in 1899.
His influence, in those days when intrigue was so prevalent between the two opposing groups of foreign powers, was always directed to peace; and his varied experience, together with the fact that his French birth and American citizenship inspired confidence, admirably fitted him for the position of adviser. LeGendre was the first foreigner employed in a Japanese government post. For his service as an advisor in Japan he received the decoration of the second class of merit (Rising Sun). He was the first among either foreigners or Japanese to be admitted into the Order after its institution by the Emperor of Japan.
(Excerpt from Progressive Japan: A Study of the Political ...)
(Unlike some other reproductions of classic texts (1) We h...)
LeGendre married, October 31, 1854, at Brussels, Clara Victoria Mulock, daughter of William and Marie Guilbert Mulock, residents of New York.
