When Commodore Perry returns to the United States in 1855, Congress votes to grant him a reward of twenty thousand dollars (five hundred and thirty-eight thousand dollars in 2019) in appreciation of his work in Japan.

He uses part of this money to prepare and publish a report on the expedition in three volumes, titled Narrative of the Expedition of an American Squadron to the China Seas and Japan.

He is also promoted to the grade of rear-admiral on the retired list (when his health begins to fail) as a reward for his service in the Far East.