Kearny, Lawrence
Kearny, Lawrence
(kär`nē), 1789–1868, American naval officer, b. Perth Amboy, N.J.; cousin of Stephen Watts KearnyKearny, Stephen Watts, 1794–1848, American general in the Mexican War, b. Newark, N.J. At the beginning of the Mexican War he was made commander of the Army of the West with the rank (June, 1846) of brigadier general.
..... Click the link for more information. . He became a midshipman in 1807, served in the War of 1812, and later saw action in the Caribbean and Mediterranean against pirates. As commander (1840–43) of the East India squadron, he opened negotiations that resulted in the signing of a commercial treaty between China and the United States in 1844. On his way home he stopped at the Hawaiian Islands and protested the proposed cession of the islands to Great Britain.