Henry Walke, the artist and famous Naval officer, was born in Princess Anne County, Virginia, on December 24, 1808. His family moved to Chillicothe, Ohio, when he was two and that is where he was educated. On February 1, 1827, he entered the United States Navy as a midshipman. He was promoted to lieutenant in 1839. During the Mexican War, he served as the executive officer of the Bomb Brig Vesuvius which was assigned to the Gulf Squadron under Commodore Matthew C. Perry and participated in the capture of Vera Cruz, Tobasco, Tuxpan, and Alvarado. He reached the rank of Captain in August 1862 and the rank of Rear Admiral in July 1870. Walke was a Union Naval hero in the Civil War and served with great distinction at Pensacola, Forts Henry & Donelson, Fort Pillow, Vicksburg and elsewhere. Later, Walke was dispatched to pursue Confederate cruisers in European waters. He retired from the Navy in April 1871. However, Walke continued an active life as a writer and artist until his death at Brooklyn, New York, in March of 1896.

In 1877 Walke wrote Naval Scenes and Reminiscences of the Civil War. For information on this book, click here. He had also produced Naval Scenes in the Mexican War. Both of these works were particularly distinguished by the fact that he was an accomplished artist and his art work illustrated them. Both of his books are now rare.

Rear Admiral Walke authored a pamphlet titled Private Record of The Walke Family in the United States. While it is undated, it was probably published in 1895 shortly before his death. There is a section in the pamphlet (pages 12-3) where he discusses his life but it has no indication a role in the Perry Expedition to Japan. The pamphlet is discussed here.

 
Walke is not on the list of officers that were on the Expedition to Japan. Apparently he did not accompany the expedition but did contribute to at least two of the lithographs in the Narrative of the Expedition.

 
Walke's Classic Naval Lithograph Portfolio. Perhaps the rarest American Naval print series was created by then Lieutenant Walke. It is a series of 8 plates depicting Naval actions in the Mexican War in the Spring and Summer of 1847. Walke served in the War as the second in command of the U.S.S. Vesuvius, a bomb brig of the Gulf Squadron. The lithographic prints were printed by the firm of Sarony and Major, New York in 1848 and distributed through Nathaniel Currier. All of the lithographs were after original art by Walke and he personally drew 5 on the lithograph stones.

At the top of each plate is "Naval Portfolio No. 1~8". This is followed a line of text in smaller print, sometimes on the same line and sometimes below the number. The image is surrounded by a frame box. Directly below the image, text is seen at the left, middle and right. At the bottom under the frame box is the title of the image in large double line letters. This is followed by lines of smaller descriptive text. The individual prints in the Naval Portfolio are as follows:

No. 1. The U.S. Steam Frigate Mississippi, Comre. M.C. Perry. (By and after Walke. Image size: 14 3/4 x 21 3/4 inches; Sheet size: 20 1/16 x 26 3/8 inches. The print shows the flagship of the American Gulf Squadron under full steam in stormy weather, going to the aid of a French vessel wrecked on a reef near Vera Cruz on March 21, 1847.

No. 2. The U.S. Naval Expedition under Comore. M.C. Perry, ascending the Tuspan River. (Drawn on stone by J. Vollmering, after Walke. Image size: 14 1/2 x 21 3/4 inches; Sheet size: 20 1/8 x 26 3/8 inches. After the fall of Vera Cruz, Perry moved to control the last important important Mexican port on the Gulf Coast not under his control. This was achieved on April 18-22, 1847. Walke's print shows the vessels of Perry's squadron proceeding upriver towards the town of Tuxpan.

No. 3. The U.S Steamers, Scorpion, Spitfire, Vixen, and Scourge; with 40 barges in tow, crossing the bar at the mouth of the Tabasco River. (By and after Walke. Image size: 14 3/4 x 21 3/8 inches; Sheet size: 20 1/8 x 26 3/8 inches. This is the first print of five devoted to Perry's Tabasco River expedition.

No. 4. The Attack of the Mexicans from the Chapperal, on the first division of the Naval Expedition to Tabasco. (By and after Walke. Image size: 14 1/2 x 21 3/16 inches; Sheet size: 20 1/8 x 26 3/8 inches. The Tabasco expedition met with stiff resistance, and this print shows the ships under heavy fire from the forests on both sides of the Tabasco River, while the Americans pour broadsides into the banks.

No. 5. The Naval Expedition under Comre. Perry, Ascending the Tabasco River at the Devils Bend. (By and after Walke. Image size: 14 3/4 x 21 1/4 inches; Sheet size: 20 3/16 x 26 3/8 inches. This print provides a panoramic view of most of the ships of the expedition, under steam and tow.

No. 6. The Landing of the Naval Expedition, against Tabasco. (Drawn on stone by Volmering & Davignon, after Walke. Image size: 14 5/8 x 21 3/4 inches; Sheet size: 20 1/16 x 26 3/8 inches. This plate shows one of the earliest amphibious assaults launched by American forces, as the Marines with the expedition were unloaded near the city of Villahermosa.

No. 7. The Capture of the City of Tabasco, by the U.S. Naval Expedition, afloat and on shore, under Comre M.C. Perry. (By and after Walke. Image size: 14 7/8 x 21 5/16 inches; sheet size: 20 1/16 x 26 3/8 inches. This plate shows the final assault on the city of Tabasco from the water side, with the American vessels under fire from shore steaming ahead toward the Mexican city.

No. 8. The U.S. Naval Battery during the Bombardment of Vera Cruz on the 24 and 25 of March 1847. (Drawn on stone by P. Fau [sic.], after Walke. Image size: 14 5/8 x 22 inches; sheet size: 20 1/8 x 26 5/8 inches.