DEWEY, GEORGE. 



223 



Dewey was by this time first lieutenant of the 

 'Mississippi," and she with her heavy-draught 

 sisters of the squadron was with difficulty light- 

 ened and hauled over the bar at the mouth of 

 the river, and by the end of February all were 

 re-equipped for service in the deep and swiftly 

 flowing current of the turbid river. 



It is not necessary here to recount at large the 

 various incidents of that daring fight when Farra- 

 gut led his fleet past the heavy batteries of Forts 

 Jackson and St. Philip in the face of channel ob- 

 structions and fire-rafts and a formidable Confeder- 

 ate fleet. The " Mississippi," according to the 

 column formation, was third in line, and it de- 

 vi >]ved upon young Dewey, by the order of Capt. 

 Smith, to con the ship on the way past the bat- 

 teries. The conning bridge of the " Mississippi " 

 extended across from top to top of her lofty pad- 

 dle boxes, and there Dewey took his stand. " Do 

 you know the channel, sir? "asked Capt. Smith, 

 somewhat anxiously, as the bell rang " Go ahead ! " 

 "Yes, sir," replied Dewey; and every time the 

 question was repeated he gave a similar answer, 

 although he admitted afterward that his knowledge 

 of the channel was derived entirely from a study of 

 a chart and from a sublime confidence in being able 

 to tell from the look of the water where it was best 

 to steer. 



No lights were allowed on the decks of Farragut's 

 battle ships save in the binnacle. The decks were 

 whitewashed, but only a dim reflected light from 

 the sky made it possible to see dark shapes of men 

 and guns on the white surface below, until the Con- 

 federates lighted the great bonfires on shore. When 

 the ball opened there was no lack of light of a lurid 

 and intermittent character ; and then his brother 

 officers who were on the main deck could look up 

 and see Dewey on the bridge, coolly directing the 

 course of the ship as close as he dared under the 

 guns of the Confederate batteries ; for the nearer 

 he could go to the shore the less likelihood was 

 there of the vessel's being destroyed by their heavy 

 projectiles. Chief-Engineer Baird of the navy, who 

 was on board the " Mississippi," describes young 

 Dewey's figure as it started out from time to time 

 against the blackness of night in the glare of the 

 almost continuous discharges of guns on shore and 

 afloat. "Every time the dark came back," he says, 

 ' I felt snre that we should never see Dewey again. 

 His hat was blown off, and his eyes were aflame, but 

 he gave his orders with the air of a man in thorough 

 command of himself." At a critical point of the 

 battle the Confederate ram ''Manassas" came sud- 

 denly in sight, bearing down directly upon the 

 " Mississippi." But Dewey was on the alert, and 

 by ordering a quick shift of the helm received 

 a slanting blow from her prow instead of a direct 

 one, and the old frigate was enabled to pour the 

 fire of her battery down into her adversary with 

 such good effect that the ram had immediately to 

 be run ashore and abandoned, while the stately 

 procession of dark Federal ships moved on up the 

 river and on the following day held the Crescent 

 City at the mercy of their guns. 



Dewey remained with this ship until it became 

 necessary for the fleet to ascend the river and take 

 part in the investment of Port Hudson. That was 

 a rather disastrous venture, for only Farragut's flag- 

 ship, the " Hartford," succeeded in passing the for- 

 midable batteries. The " Mississippi " grounded 

 directly under the bluffs, where she offered a fair 

 target for the Confederate gunners, and it was soon 

 evident that she must be abandoned. All hands 

 were ordered to the boats and made their escape to 

 the " Richmond " and to the shore, Dewey making 

 several trips back and forth under the terrific fire 

 from the Confederate works, until he alone with 



Capt. Smith remained on the quarter-deck. The 

 ship had been fired to prevent her falling into the 

 enemy's hands. " Are you sure she will burn to 

 the water I " asked Smith ; and Dewey, at the risk 

 of his life, went down into the ward-room to see if 

 the inner fittings were fairly ablaze. Then, and 

 not till then, the two officers left the ship in the 

 last boat, and an hour later the " Mississippi " went 

 skyward in a great column of fire and smoke, when 

 her magazine exploded. 



After this Dewey was placed in command of one 

 of Farragut's smaller gunboats, and he saw much 

 river service during the time that intervened be- 

 tween the fall of Port Hudson and Vicksburg. and 

 a complete rescue of the Mississippi river from 

 Confederate control. He was afterward transferred 

 to be first lieutenant on the " Colorado," under 

 Commodore Henry Knox Thatcher, and took part 

 in the severe engagements at Fort Fisher in De- 

 cember and January, 1864 and 1865. Commodore 

 Thatcher paid the highest possible compliment to 

 Lieutenant Dewey in his report of the engagement, 

 and in March, 1865, Dewey received his commission 

 as lieutenant commander. 



After the civil war Dewey served for two years 

 on the " Kearsarge " and the " Colorado," on the 

 European station. In 1867 he married Miss Good- 

 win, the daughter of Ichabod Goodwin, who was 

 Governor of New Hampshire when the civil war 

 began in 1861. She died in 1872, leaving one son, 

 George Goodwin Dewey, who, after graduation at 

 Princeton, entered upon a business career in New 

 York. 



In 1875 Dewey was promoted commander, and 

 not long afterward he was placed in command of 

 the " Juniata " on the Asiatic squadron, where, as 

 recent events indicate, he may have made observa- 

 tions that have since proved of distinguished serv- 

 ice. After a period spent in the command of the 

 " Dolphin," one of the first ships of the modern 

 navy, Dewey went to the " Pensacola,'' of the 

 European squadron; and he has since been en- 

 gaged as a member of the Lighthouse Board and 

 chief of the Bureau of Equipment. 



He was promoted to the rank of commodore, 

 Feb. 28, 1896, and on Nov. 30, 1897, he was as- 

 signed, at his own request, to sea service, partly 

 because of impaired health, owing to the confine- 

 ment of office work, and partly, as it is inti- 

 mated by some of his friends, because he foresaw 

 naval operations in which the Asiatic squadrons 

 of the world were, in his estimation, destined to 

 play a conspicuous part. For whatever reason, he 

 was assigned to this command, and when he was 

 notified by telegraph, April 21, that war had been 

 declared with Spain, we may believe that he was 

 convinced that his old fighting luck had stood by 

 him. His fleet, consisting of six ships, was in the 

 British harbor of Hong-Kong, and, as in duty 

 bound, the British Government, through its local 

 representative, immediately notified him that he 

 must put to sea within forty-eight hours. Prior to 

 this, every effort had been made to secure supplies 

 of all kinds, and little remained to be done except 

 to fill the coal bunkers to their utmost capacity and 

 steam across by the shortest route to engage the 

 Spanish squadron, which it was believed lay in the 

 harbor of Manila. Before the declaration of war 

 Dewey had purchased two ships, one of which was 

 loaded with 3,000 tons of the best Welsh coal, and 

 the other carried a six months' supply of provisions 

 for the fleet. The coal supply was of course the 

 crucial question, and with modern rapid-fire guns 

 it is impossible for a man-of-war to carry ammuni- 

 tion enough to last her through more than a few 

 hours of active work. No port where he could ob- 

 tain supplies, or where he could refit in case one or 



