Perry had hoped to occupy the town in force and capture all of the livestock and supplies). Perry then led his squadron on to capture Tuspan and from there planned what became known as the Tabasco Expedition. On June 16, 1847, Parker was transferred to USS Raritan in order to participate in the expedition and volunteered to serve in a formation of naval pioneers being sent ashore to capture Tabasco. Again arriving to find the town already surrendered to a pair of steam gunboats, Parker returned to Raritan, which then set sail for Norfolk, Virginia. Raritan arrived at Norfolk in late July 1847 and, for Parker at least, the Mexican War was over. The conflict on the Gulf Coast came to an effective end when Mexico City fell in September 1847, and a peace treaty was signed the next year in February 1848. Naval Academy and Africa service In August 1847, Parker was detached from USS Raritan and placed on leave; he spent the time visiting his father in Boston before reporting to the United States Naval Academy in September. The school then being just a few years old, and most of the students coming from at-sea assignments, Parker was placed in an advanced curriculum with graduation scheduled for the next summer. The Superintendent of the Naval Academy was in those days Commander George P. Upshur, and Parker's primary instructor in naval warfare was Lieutenant John A. Dahlgren (who would later become a rear admiral). During Parker's few months at the Academy, he also witnessed two duels, one of which was fought on the traditional dueling ground of Bladensburg and the other which was fought on the Academy grounds itself. Dueling was by then illegal, and those involved were dismissed from the Academy by direct order of President James Polk; Zachary Taylor overturned two of the dismissals three years later. On July 1, 1848, Parker was declared a graduate of the Naval Academy after passing a board of examination and declared a Passed Midshipman. In August 1848, Parker received orders to but requested a change of orders to the sloop of war , which was then slated to perform anti-slave trade duties in African waters. Parker reported to Yorktown in September, and the ship set sail for Africa on November 22, 1848. Parker recalls in his biography that the voyage was over some very rough seas and, for one of