When James Douglas heard of Harney’s action, he issued orders to Captain Geoffrey Phipps Hornby of the British man-of-war Tribune, which had been dispatched from Hong Kong to the Pacific coast of North America, to land a force of Royal Marines on the island. Although the governor was fully within his rights to issue these orders, he was approached on July 29 by British naval officers who advised him against this course of action because it was contrary to Royal Navy policy in the Pacific. Douglas then dispatched a second set of orders to Hornby, countermanding his original instructions. Nonetheless, Hornby decided to invite Pickett to parlay with him aboard the Tribune on August 3. The American officer suggested that they meet in the American camp instead.

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Hornby acquiesced and came ashore accompanied by Captains James Prevost and G. H. Richards, the two British boundary commissioners. The meeting, held in Pickett’s tent, was polite, but not cordial. Hornby opened by producing an extract of Secretary of State Marcy’s communication of four years earlier, and Pickett countered by citing the age of the letter.

When Hornby asked on what terms Pickett had occupied the island, the American captain declared that he had done so on orders from the general commanding the territory in order to protect the lives of American citizens. Pickett added that he believed General Harney was acting under orders of the government in Washington. But such was not the case; news of General Harney’s orders to Pickett would not even reach the capital for more than a month.

Captain Hornby then handed Pickett a letter dated the previous day. It was a copy of a formal protest that Governor Douglas of British Columbia had filed with General Harney. Pickett responded that, as an officer in the United States Army, he would follow his general’s orders, not those of a British governor.

His patience nearly exhausted, Hornby stated that, as the United States had occupied a disputed island with a military force, it was incumbent on Britain to take similar action. ‘I am under orders from my government,’ Pickett answered. ‘I cannot allow any joint occupation of the island before I communicate with, and hear from, General Harney.’

With that, the meeting concluded, and Pickett requested that Hornby compose a letter covering the main points of their conversation, which the British naval officer agreed to do. When the letter arrived that afternoon, Pickett wrote a careful acknowledgment, reiterating that he was on the island at the orders of his government and urging that no further action be taken until he had the opportunity to communicate with General Harney. In response to a statement in Hornby’s letter that put the blame for any future confrontation on the Americans, Pickett artfully replied: ‘Should you see fit to act otherwise, you will then be the person who will bring on a most unfortunate and disastrous difficulty, and not the United States’ officials.’

Remaining with his ship in the harbor for several more weeks, Captain Hornby made no attempt to land a party of marines. On his return to Vancouver’s Island, he endured the wrath of Governor Douglas, whose temper worsened when Rear Admiral Robert L. Baynes, commander of British naval forces in the Pacific, arrived and informed the impatient and bellicose civilian functionary that he had no intention of precipitating a war with the United States in the absence of express instructions from the British Admiralty and the government in London. Baynes suggested that both he and the governor write to their superiors and await their responses before proceeding further. He did agree, however, to keep at least one ship of war stationed in the bay at San Juan Island below the American camp until further orders had been received.

Pickett’s report of his encounter with the commander of the Tribune pleased General Harney, who was, however, concerned by the captain’s assessment that his forces were too weak to repel any full-scale attack by the British. Harney, therefore, dispatched reinforcements to San Juan Island, over the continued protests of Governor Douglas, until the American garrison there numbered 461. By the end of August, the British contingent assigned to the San Juan Islands included five warships, mounting 167 guns and carrying complements of more than two thousand, including Royal Marines and engineers.

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