 He became a captain in April 1877, after being appointed to command the Department of Alaska, and was promoted to rear admiral in September 1893.In June and July 1891 he was in Chilean waters involved in the Itata Incident which was a diplomatic affair and military incident involving the United States and Chile during the 1891 Chilean Civil War.The incident concerned an attempted arms shipment by the rebel ship "Itata" from the U.S. to Chile.