DAIILGREN, JOHN A. 



DALE, THOMAS. 



215 



in:iii Icr in 1855, commanded tho ordnancc- 

 .shi| I'lyinouth in 1858-'59, n<l was <ni <>nl- 

 t lie Washington Navy-Yard iu 

 1860-'61. While most of tho officers of tho 

 lington Navy-Yard at tho beginning of 

 s .ir manifested their sympathy with the 

 .derates, and wont South, Commander 

 I>u!iL'ivn remained faithful to tho flag, and was 

 iti"l hy President Lincoln commandant 

 <>t' tho Washington Navy- Yard, and commis- 

 .1 as captain in July, 1862, and shortly 

 .\-ard appointed chief of the Bureau of 

 < >nl nance. On tho 7th of February, 1863, Cap- 

 tain Dahlgron was promoted to bo rear-admiral, 

 :'.!nl in the summer following was first actively 

 i-niragod in the great straggle between North 

 :iml South. Admiral Dupont had unsuccess- 

 fully endeavored to reduce the fortifications in 

 Charleston harbor with his fleet of monitors, 

 and was indisposed to make further efforts in 

 that direction. It was determined to relieve 

 him, and Rear-Admiral Foote was appointed 

 to his place in command of the South Atlantic 

 squadron. Foote died in Now York just after 

 he had been assigned to this command, and 

 Admiral Dahlgren received the appointment. 

 Previously the operations against Charleston 

 had been exclusively naval, but in July, 1863, 

 (ioneral Gillmore with land and Admiral Dahl- 

 gron with naval forces began a combined at- 

 upon the defences of that city. On the 

 10th of July a joint attack was made upon the 

 works on Morris Island, but without important 

 results. A few days later the New Ironsides 

 was brought over the bar, and with other 

 iron-clads was laid abreast of Fort Wagner, to 

 cooperate in an intended assault by the troops. 

 The fort was silenced during the day, but 

 darkness came on before the land assault was 

 made, and the admiral discontinued his fire, 

 not knowing whether it would take effect 

 upon friend or foe. Tho enemy, therefore, re- 

 turned to their guns, and General Gillmore's 

 attack was repulsed with great slaughter. For 

 some time after this failure there was no im- 

 portant action, although every day two or 

 three of the iron-clads indulged in target prac- 

 tice at Fort Wagner and the Cummings's Point 

 Battery. On August 17th General Gillmore 

 opened all his batteries upon Fort Sumter, 

 firing over Fort Wagner and the intervening 

 space, and about the same time Admiral Dahl- 

 gren brought a few of his monitors abreast 

 of Fort Wagner, and silenced it during the 

 day, while the Passaic and Patapsco, with rifled 

 guns, took position about 2,000 yards from 

 Fort Sumter and coSperated with Gillmore's 

 attack. The iron-clads received no material 

 injury, but the service suffered a severe loss in 

 Captain Goo. W. Rodgers of the Catskill, killed 

 by a flying piece of fractured plating. On the 

 23d, five iron-clads took position about 800 

 yards from Sumter, and opened on tho fort, 

 but retired after a bombardment of some three 

 hours, in which the fort was considerably 

 damaged. September 6th, the enemy evacuated 



FortWagnor and Battery Gregg, on Cnmni 



Point, nnil, after a refusal on tho part of 

 oral IJoaurcgard to surrender Sumter, Admiral 

 halilL'ivn planned to capture tho fort. His 

 operations, however, terminated in the demo- 

 lition of Sumter, and no further attempt was 

 made in the inner harbor, but a complete 

 blockade of tho fort was kept up. In February, 

 1864, a successful expedition, commanded by 

 Admiral Dahlgren in person, ascended tho 

 St. John's River to aid in throwing a military 

 force into Florida. In December, 1864, Gen- 

 eral Sherman, after marching from Atlanta to 

 the sea, established communications with Ad- 

 miral Dahlgren in the vicinity of Savannah, 

 and the latter made the best possible disposi- 

 tion of the naval forces for the capture of that 

 city, which fell into Sherman's hands Decem- 

 ber 23d. In February, 1865, Charleston was 

 evacuated by the enemy. Admiral Dahlgren 

 was engaged in the movement against that 

 city, and entered it with General Schimmel, 

 pressing close upon the rear of the retreating 

 foe. Tho evacuation of Charleston was fol- 

 lowed by that of Georgetown, which placo 

 was immediately occupied by Dahlgren. In 

 1866 Admiral Dahlgren was ordered to the 

 command of the South Pacific squadron. He 

 returned from that service in 1868. In tho 

 fall of 1869 he was ordered to the command of 

 the Washington Navy- Yard, which post he 

 held to the time of his death. In addition to 

 the heavy gun for naval service known by his 

 name, the admiral had invented a rifled can- 

 non for naval purposes which was successfully 

 used, and projected the light boat-howitzers 

 with iron carriages, which are now much prized 

 by the navy. He also contributed several 

 valuable reports on matters connected with 

 ordnance. Without possessing those high exec- 

 utive and administrative talents which quali- 

 fied him to take rank among the great naval 

 commanders of our time, Admiral Dahlgren, 

 by his personal bravery, and his dignified and 

 courteous manners, had endeared himself to 

 those under his command, and his death was 

 felt as a great loss to the service. 



DALE, Very Rev. THOMAS, M. A., an Eng- 

 lish clergyman, professor, poet, and theological 

 and classical writer, born in Pentonville, Lon- 

 don, August 22, 1797; died in London, May 15, 

 1870. He was educated at Christ's Hospital 

 School and Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, 

 where in 1818, while yet an undergraduate, ho 

 published an epic poem, "The Widow of 

 Nam," and followed it not long after by two 

 other volumes of poems. " The Outlaw of 

 Taurus," and " Irad and Adah, a Tale of tho 

 Flood." Havipg graduated, he was ordained 

 in 1822, and, while filling various curacies and 

 lectureships from 1822 to 1828, he took private 

 pupils at Greenwich and Beckenham to sup- 

 plement his small income. In 1828 he was ap- 

 pointed Professor of the English Language and 

 Literature at the London University, but re- 

 signed his professorship in 1830. In 1836 ho 



