Charles Egbert DeLong (August 13, 1832 – October 26, 1876) was an American diplomat who served as the Envoy to Japan during the mid-19th century.
[6] His wife Elida DeLong chaperoned five Japanese girls who were sent to attend American schools as part of the mission.
[5] They brought with them three servants, three horses, a carriage, and a sewing machine, but struggled to find acceptable accommodations, ultimately maintaining a house in Yokohama a half-day's travel from DeLong's office in Tokyo.
[5] After his return to Japan, DeLong recommended the employment of fellow American Charles LeGendre as a foreign advisor to the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, partly to influence the Japanese government to take a more aggressive stance against China, thus preventing the 1871 treaty between Japan and China from turning into a Sino-Japanese alliance against the western powers [8] His position was elevated to that of Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary on June 9, 1872.
He continued to serve in that capacity to October 7, 1873, although his career was marked by considerable friction with his superiors in Washington, who often accused him of overstepping his authority.