Navy Profiles
Full Speed Ahead!
On May 10, 1861, Lieutenant George Dewey was assigned executive officer of the side-wheel steamer Mississippi, Commander Melancton Smith, in the West Gulf Squadron. On April 24 and 25, 1862, in engagements with Forts Jackson and St. Philip, Confederate gunboats and the ram CSS Manassas, Dewey "kept the vessel in her station during the engagement, a task exceedingly difficult from the darkness and thick smoke that enveloped us from the fire of our vessel and the burning gunboats." 1
On March 14, 1863, she grounded under fire from enemy batteries and was fired and blown up by her commander to prevent her capture. Commander Smith commented on "the coolness of my executive officer, Mr. Dewey," which Dewey felt was the most precious word of commendation he ever received. After a short assignment as prize commissioner at New Orleans, Dewey found himself that summer back on the river as executive officer of the Monongahela, briefly under his old commander, Melancton Smith, and later under Captain Abner Read. While on the Monongahela, Dewey "had the closest call in my career." The sloop, heading up river, was attacked by shore batteries, and took one round on the quarterdeck; Dewey "felt the stunning effect of the concussion of an exploding shell--which always raised the question of whether you will be alive or dead the next second." The captain and the admiral's chief of staff were hit, and Dewey realized he was not injured, and assumed command, ordering "Full speed ahead!"2
In July, Vicksburg fell, and Port Hudson in consequence, negating the need for a large naval force on the Mississippi River, so Dewey was transferred to the screw sloop-of-war Brooklyn, commanded by Captain George Emmons, which was ordered to report to Charleston, South Carolina. It turned out that Rear-Admiral Dahlgren wanted Emmons to serve on his staff, so Brooklyn continued on to New York for a period of overhaul. After a short shore leave in Vermont, Dewey was assigned to the side-wheel steamer Agawam in November, 1863. The vessel saw some "pretty active and trying service on the James River" in early to mid 1864. Dewey opined that "the fighting was the easiest part of the work. The hard part was the life aboard the stuffy double-ender in the midst of heat and mosquitoes, striving all the while to develop a kind of efficiency" on the vessel. On one occasion, Captain Melancton Smith, now senior officer in the James River onboard Onondaga, reported Dewey had "made a thorough search for the torpedoes at Harrison's Bar, landing the marines and dragging the channel, but nothing was discovered."3
In September, 1864, Dewey was assigned as executive officer of the steam-frigate Minnesota, but returned to the Agawam after less than one day; the captain thought Dewey was too young for the position. He later transferred to become executive officer of the steam-frigate Colorado, after the personal intervention of Rear-Admiral David Porter. These orders moved Dewey from monotonous blockade duty to seeing action against Fort Fisher in late 1864, early 1865.4
After the war, Dewey served on several ships and at various shore facilities until his promotion to commodore in May, 1896. On October 21, 1897, due partly to the influence of Assistant Secretary of the Navy Theodore Roosevelt, Dewey was ordered to command the Asiatic Squadron, his flagship the Olympia. When the United States declared war on Spain on April 25, 1898, Roosevelt ordered Dewey to the Philippines, where in the space of a few hours, he destroyed the Spanish fleet, garnered accolades from around the country and was promoted to the unique rank of Admiral of the Navy. He had not forgotten his baptism under fire on the Mississippi River, with Admiral Farragut, and had taken with him through his career the adage "What would Farragut do?"5
(to be continued ...)
Notes:
1. Smith to Farragut, ORN, 18:205-6.
2. Hiram Carleton, "Genealogical and Family History of the State of Vermont," (Lewis Publishing Company, New York, 1903), 59; ORN, 19:681; Dewey, 95-101.
3. ORN, 20:426; Dewey, 101, 107-8; Smith to Rear-Admiral Lee, July 20, 1864, ORN, 10:290.
See Researching and writing about Vermont Blue-Jackets in the Civil War for explanations of references.
