Elisha Kane, Arctic Explorer

During the Mexican-American War, Albert Brackett was a lieutenant in an Indiana Volunteer regiment under the command of General Joseph Lane.  In December of 1847, while garrisoned in Puebla, Bracket met Dr. Elisha Kane of the US Navy.  Kane had been escorted by the Spy Battalion (Mexicans who fought for the US and were used to counter the guerrillas that lurked along the national highway) and even found himself in a confrontation with guerrillas.  While Colonel Dominguez, leader of the Spy Battalion, wanted to shoot the captured guerrillas, Kane convinced him to turn them over to the regular army in Puebla.  In addition to saving them from being shot, Dr. Kane saved the life of one of the injured captives.  Interesting, but why does Brackett make a point of mentioning a random courier who passed through Puebla?  By the time Brackett wrote his memoir, Kane was famous.

Elisha Kane graduated from the University of Pennsylvania Medical School in 1842 and joined the US Navy the following year as an assistant surgeon.  He sailed the world aboard the USS Brandywine, having a variety of adventures but nothing to earn him fame.  Not long after his return to the US, he requested that Secretary of State James Buchanan send him as an envoy to Mexico City during the war.  Thus, in the Fall of 1847, he was dispatched with a message to General Winfield Scott.

After the war, he was back to regular naval service.  Of course, the issue of the time was what happened to Sir John Franklin's expedition in the Arctic?  Lady Jane Franklin had appealed to President Zachary Taylor to help find her missing husband.  However, the US Congress was clearly not keen on buying ships for such a task.  In stepped Henry Grinnell, a successful American merchant.  He purchased two brigs - the Rescue and the Advance - and loaned them to the US government.  Elisha Kane was the chief medical officer of the expedition.  On this first expedition, the graves of three of Sir John's crewmen were discovered, but no more.

Upon his return, Kane spoke about his arctic travels to many groups and eventually wrote a book about the Grinnell Expedition.  In 1853, Grinnell funded a second expedition and Kane was given command of the USS Advance.  This time, he pressed further north, providing a path for future explorers to reach the north pole.  He returned in October of 1855, still having failed to find Sir John Franklin.  Even so, he was hailed as a hero.  He traveled to England to report his failure to find Sir John to Lady Jane Franklin.

Kane had never had the best constitution.  He had originally set out to be a civil engineer, but his health argued against it.  Thus, he switched to medical school.  Despite his physical ailments, he again pursued an active career.  He had contracted coast fever (probably malaria) in Africa during his time on the Brandywine, forcing him to return to the US to recover.  After the 2nd Grinnell Expedition, his health was once again failing.  He went to Havana to recover.  He died there in February 1857.  He was only 37.