George Dewey

Dewey entered the Naval Academy in 1854 at the age of 16. The conventional four-year course had just been introduced in 1851 and the cadet corps was quite small, averaging about one hundred Acting Midshipmen.[1] Out of all that entered in his year, only fourteen stayed through the course. He stood fifth on the class roll at graduation.[4] He graduated from the Academy on 18 June 1858.[1]

As a midshipman, Dewey first went to sea on a practice cruise aboard USS Saratoga; on this cruise he earned recognition as a cadet officer. As a result, he was assigned to one of the best ships of the old Navy—the steam frigate USS Wabash.[4] Wabash under Captain Samuel Barron was the new flagship of the Mediterranean Squadron. On 22 July 1858, the ship left Hampton Roads for Europe.[1]

Wabash reached her first port of call, Gibraltar, on 17 August 1858. She cruised in the Mediterranean, and the cadet officers visited the cities of the Old World accessible to them, often taking trips inland. Dewey was assigned to keep the ship's log.[4] Wabash returned to the New York Navy Yard on 16 December 1859, and decommissioned there on 20 December 1859. Dewey served on two short-term cruises in 1860.

At the beginning of the American Civil War, Dewey was executive lieutenant on USS Mississippi, a steam paddle frigate assigned to the Union West Gulf Blockading Squadron.

At the beginning of 1862, Mississippi was attached to David Farragut's fleet for the capture of New Orleans. On the night of 24–25 April 1862, Farragut led his ships up the Mississippi River past the Confederate defenses at Fort St. Philip and Fort Jackson. Mississippi was the third in Farragut's first division, with Dewey at the helm.

The first division (all big ships) kept near the west bank where the current was weaker and the water deeper; but this brought them right under the muzzles of the guns of Fort St. Philip. Dewey steered Mississippi through shallow water where he expected to run aground any moment.[4]

There was a squadron of Confederate gunboats waiting above the forts. This included CSS Manassas, a small ironclad. Manassas tried to ram Mississippi, but Dewey safely maneuvered Mississippi to evade. Manassas then attacked Brooklyn and Hartford in the next division, and then turned back upriver.

Farragut signaled Mississippi to run Manassas down. Dewey steered Mississippi into a ramming attack. Manassas dodged, but ran aground and was abandoned. She was set on fire by a boat from Mississippi, and then shelled.[4] Farragut's fleet then continued upriver and forced the surrender of the city.

This was the first battle in which Dewey distinguished himself. For the remainder of 1862, Farragut's ships (including Mississippi) patrolled the lower river. This was dangerous, as the ships were fired on by Confederate sharpshooters on the banks, and even occasionally by light artillery.[4]

George Dewey

In spring 1863, Union forces moved to take the Confederate fortress at Port Hudson, Louisiana, where at that time the Red River joined the Mississippi. Farragut attempted to pass the fortress with his fleet and cut it off upriver, thereby completing the Siege of Port Hudson.

The attempt was made on 14 March 1863. In this action, Dewey saw fiercer fighting than he was ever to see again. Mississippi ran aground and was the target of concentrated enemy fire for half an hour, until she had to be abandoned. Dewey was among the last to leave the wreck.[4]

Dewey was highly complimented by his immediate superiors and by Farragut himself, who appointed him executive officer of USS Agawam, a small gunboat the admiral used frequently for dispatches and his personal reconnoitering. This little vessel was frequently under fire by concealed sharpshooters and temporary batteries. In July of that year a small engagement at Donaldsonville, Louisiana, resulted in the death of Captain Abner Read, of USS New London, and the severe wounding of his executive officer. Dewey was present, and was so conspicuous for gallantry that he was recommended for promotion on the strength of it. Meanwhile, he was given temporary command of the frigate.[4]

In the latter part of 1864, after some service in the James River under Commander McComb, Lieutenant Dewey was made executive officer of the first-rate wooden man-of-war USS Colorado, in the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron under command of Commodore Henry Knox Thatcher.

By late 1864, Wilmington, North Carolina, was the only port left to the Confederacy. Its access to the sea was protected by Fort Fisher, at the mouth of the Cape Fear River.

A joint Army-Navy attack in December failed (the First Battle of Fort Fisher, 7–27 December 1864).[4]

A second attack came in January (the Second Battle of Fort Fisher, 13–15 January 1865). Colorado was engaged, and Dewey played a key role in her success.

Colorado, being a wooden ship, was placed in the line outside the monitors and other armored vessels but got a full share of conflict. Toward the end of the second engagement, when matters were moving the right way, Admiral Porter signaled Thatcher to close in and silence a certain part of the works. As Colorado had already received considerable damage, her officers remonstrated. But Dewey, who had now acquired marked tactical ability, was quick to see the advantage to be gained by the move and the work was taken in fifteen minutes. The New York Times, commenting upon this part of the action, spoke of it as "the most beautiful duel of the war". When Admiral Porter came to congratulate Commodore Thatcher, the latter said generously: "You must thank Lieutenant Dewey, sir. It was his move." Nevertheless, Thatcher was promoted to rear admiral. He tried to take Dewey with him as his fleet captain when he went to supersede Farragut at Mobile Bay. This was not permitted, but Dewey was promoted to lieutenant commander.[4]

Dewey's next tour of duty was in 1867 and 1868 as executive officer of USS Colorado—the same vessel in which he had won his honors at Fort Fisher, and now the flagship of the European Squadron. The admiral in command of the ship and squadron was Louis M. Goldsborough, and one of Dewey's companions was John Crittenden Watson—the same man, who, as rear admiral, relieved Admiral Dewey of his duties at Manila, when he wished to return to the United States in the summer of 1899.[4] Lieutenant Commander Dewey was in charge of the vessels at the Naval Academy in Annapolis from 6 November 1867 through 1 August 1870. This duty included commanding the famous frigate USS Constitution, which was berthed at Annapolis as a training ship.

Some tranquil years followed the end of Dewey's cruise on Colorado. For two years, from 1868 to 1870, he was an instructor at the Naval Academy. The next year he did special surveying work on the steam sloop USS Narragansett. He was then briefly assigned to the Naval Torpedo Station at Newport, Rhode Island. It was during this assignment that his wife died just after the birth of his son. In 1873 Dewey was given command of Narragansett and spent nearly four years on her, engaged in the Pacific Coast Survey.[4]

This entitled him to a period of rest ashore; and he was ordered to Washington, and made lighthouse inspector in 1880, and then secretary of the lighthouse board, a service in which he took great interest. Meanwhile, he had been promoted to the grade of commander. This residence in Washington as a bureau officer of high rank gave him an extensive acquaintance, and he became one of the most popular men in the capital. He was a member of the Metropolitan Club, the leading social club of Washington.[4]

In 1882, this leave of absence in Washington came to an end when he was sent to the Asiatic station in command of USS Juniata, where he studied the situation with care and acquired information of immense importance ten years later.[4]

He was promoted to the rank of captain in 1884, and he was ordered home and given command of USS Dolphin—one of the first four ships of the original "white squadron", steam-powered ships with steel hulls which formed the basis of the modern United States Navy. Dolphin was officially classed as a dispatch boat, and was often used as the Presidential yacht.[4]

In 1885, Captain Dewey undertook another tour of sea service, and for three years was in command of USS Pensacola, familiar to him in the New Orleans battles, now flagship of the European squadron.[4]

Returning to Washington in 1893, he resumed the life of a bureau officer, being attached to the lighthouse board. In 1896, he was promoted to commodore and transferred to the Board of Inspection and Survey.[4]

In 1896, Dewey applied for a sea posting as Commander of the Asiatic Squadron. Although Dewey was a long shot for the position, his friend Theodore Roosevelt arranged for President William McKinley to select Dewey over a more senior officer.[5]^:40–41 The Commodore hoisted his pennant on board USS Olympia at Nagasaki in January 1898, and departed for Hong Kong in February to inspect the U.S. warships lying in Hong Kong harbour.[6] Upon arrival, he learned that the Maine had blown up in Havana Harbor.[7] Dewey was skeptical that the country would go to war, writing, "I don't see what we have to gain in a war with Spain."[8] However, he was confident of victory, writing, "I expect to capture the Spanish ships and reduce the defenses of Manila in one day."[9]

As the war clouds loomed, Dewey assembled his squadron at Hong Kong and made preparations. The cruiser USS Baltimore was dispatched to Hong Kong via the Republic of Hawaii. Dewey purchased the merchant colliers Nanshan and Zafiro, retaining their crews. The warships were repainted from white to gray. Upon the outbreak of war between the United States and Spain, the United Kingdom declared its neutrality and Dewey was ordered by Wilsone Black to leave British waters. The Asiatic Squadron moved to the Chinese waters of Mirs Bay.

Detail of a painting in the Vermont State House depicting Dewey on the USS Olympia during the Battle of Manila Bay

On April 27, 1898, he sailed from China aboard USS Olympia with orders to attack the Spanish at Manila Bay. He stopped at the mouth of the bay late the night of April 30, and the following morning he gave the order to attack at first light, saying the now famous words "You may fire when you are ready, Gridley." True to his word, Dewey defeated the Spanish in a battle lasting just six hours. The Asiatic Squadron sank or captured the entire Spanish Pacific Squadron under Admiral Patricio Montojo y Pasarón and silenced the shore batteries at Manila, with the loss of only one life on the American side.

Didn't Admiral Dewey do wonderfully well? I got him the position out there in Asia last year, and I had to beg hard to do it; and the reason I gave was that we might have to send him to Manila. And we sent him — and he went!

— Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to William Wingate Sewall, May 4, 1898[10]

In the early stages of the Spanish-American War in the Philippines, Dewey and the Americans were aided by the Filipino nationalists led by Emilio Aguinaldo who had fought previously the Philippine Revolution and were attacking the Spanish by land after Dewey had defeated the Spanish at sea. There were no U.S. Army ground troops in the Philippines at the time. Dewey and Aguinaldo at first enjoyed a cordial relationship, and Dewey wrote that the Filipinos were "intelligent" and well "capable of self-government." In August after ground troops arrived, Dewey aided U.S. Army General Wesley Merritt in taking possession of Manila on August 13, 1898, during the 1898 Battle of Manila, the "mock Battle of Manila", while Aguinaldo's troops, surrounding Manila, were kept out. In February 1899, the Philippine–American War started.

(Dates indicate the year the medal was awarded.)

• Civil War Campaign Medal (1908)
• Battle of Manila Bay Medal (aka. "Dewey Medal") (1899)
• Spanish Campaign Medal (1908)
• Philippine Campaign Medal (1908)

Note – Although Dewey was entitled to all of the above medals, he is pictured at right wearing only the Battle of Manila Bay Medal. He wore the medal with the reverse side showing because his profile was on the obverse side. (He was one of only four officers in American military history entitled to wear a medal with his own image on it.) He is wearing the special additional gold braid on his sleeves denoting his unique rank as Admiral of the Navy.

• Dewey International Elementary School, Saint Louis, Missouri.
• Dewey Point, Yosemite National Park, California, appeared on the first edition of the Yosemite Valley map in 1907
• Dewey Hall, an academic building at Norwich University, was constructed in 1899, in honor of his victory at Manila Bay.
• In 1898, the Borough of Hellertown, Pennsylvania, formed its fire department naming it Dewey Fire Company No. 1 in honor of George Dewey.
• Also in 1898, the city of Boston, Massachusetts, named the square besides the nearly complete South Central Station as Dewey Square in his honor.[33]
• Four vessels of the United States Navy have borne the name Dewey, including the Arleigh Burke-class destroyer Dewey, laid down on 4 October 2006, launched on 26 January 2008, and commissioned on 6 March 2010.
• Dewey Hall and Dewey Field at the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland.
• Dewey Field at Naval Station Newport in Newport, Rhode Island.
• Thomasville, Georgia, contains the Dewey City "subdivision," an area settled in the late 1880s by former slaves.
• The column in the center of San Francisco's Union Square is dedicated to Dewey's victory at Manila Bay.
• Dewey Beach, Delaware, is named in honor of Admiral Dewey.
• Dewey Street, in St. Paul, Minnesota, was renamed in his honor.
• Dewey Avenue in Norman, Oklahoma, was named in his honor.
• City of Dewey, Oklahoma, was named in his honor. Founded in 1889 by Jacob A. Bartles.
• Dewey County, Oklahoma, was named in his honor.[34]
• In 1899, Mills Novelty released a slot machine named The Dewey, in honor of Admiral Dewey.
• The main town of Culebra, Puerto Rico, was named in his honor, however it is known by many locals simply as Pueblo.
• The Dewey School in the Castle Rock Business Corridor in Castle Rock, Colorado, was named after Admiral Dewey. The Admiral wrote a warm letter of thanks to the school children that was framed and on the wall of the school for many years until the school closed.
• Dewey Avenue in Wharton, New Jersey, is named in honor of Admiral Dewey.
• Dewey Blvd, now known as Roxas Blvd, a major seaside thoroughfare in Manila, Philippines, was named after him.
• George Dewey High School at the former U.S. Naval Base Subic Bay in the Philippines was named after him.
• A settlement in Newton County, Texas, was established as a sawmill site by the Sabine Tram Company in 1898. It was named Deweyville after George Dewey.
• Dewey Lake, a lake in St. Louis County, Minnesota, is named after Admiral Dewey.
• The tugboat Admiral Dewey was named for him.
• Dewey Road at the former San Diego Naval Training Center in the heart of the new Civic, Arts and Cultural District is named for him.
• Dewey-Humboldt, Arizona, is named in honor of Admiral Dewey.
• In San Diego, CA, George Dewey Elementary School, which is located near the former Naval Training Center and over the years served a student body which was largely made up of children of Navy and Marine personnel, was named after him.
• The World War II Liberty Ship SS George Dewey was named in his honor.
• George Dewey Medical and Wellness Center, Morong, Bataan Philippines.

• Admiral Dewey March, a patriotic March named after him.
• Admiral Dewey's service sword (not to be confused with the special presentation sword he received in 1899) is on display in the wardroom of the guided missile destroyer USS Dewey (DDG-105).

• Dewey, George. Autobiography of George Dewey, Admiral of the Navy (1913) full text online written in collaboration with journalist Frederick Palmer as ghostwriter using the reports of Dewey's aide, Nathan Sargent,