FOR SERVICE IN THE SPANISH-AMERICAN WAR
One of the most controversial figures of the Spanish-American War is represented in the Museum’s collection of some of the silver that was presented to Rear Admiral Winfield Scott Schley.[26] Schley became a national hero primarily because of his genial personality, and he was acclaimed and supported by the masses of the American public even while his claims to fame were being challenged by his colleagues.
Admiral Schley had already had a long and illustrious naval career before the outbreak of the war with Spain. After his graduation from the Naval Academy in 1860, he served on board the frigate Niagara when it was detailed to bring to the United States the first representatives from Japan to this country. As a junior naval officer he took part in the Civil War engagements leading up to the capture of Port Hudson. Then followed a period with sea duty and alternate posts ashore at the Naval Academy and elsewhere. During this period he took part in the capture of some Korean forts in 1871, and later he commanded the relief expedition that rescued the Arctic explorer Lieutenant Adolphus W. Greeley and six of his companions near Cape Sabine, when they 99 were near death, and brought them safely home after a perilous voyage through 1,400 miles of ice.
The controversial period of Schley’s career began with his appointment to command the Flying Squadron, stationed at Hampton Roads at the opening of the Spanish-American War, with the arrangement that should his squadron operate with the Atlantic Squadron in the West Indies, he would be under its senior officer, William T. Sampson. Since Sampson was junior to Schley in rank, this led to the famous Sampson-Schley controversy of the war. Despite his orders to blockade Santiago immediately, Schley took his time getting there with his squadron, and then he failed to establish a close blockade. During the month-long blockade in which the two squadrons were joined, matters were strained between the commands. Sampson was in conference about seven miles east of Santiago when the Spanish fleet finally emerged from the harbor. Schley immediately seized full command of the battle despite Sampson’s proximity and his prompt return to action.
The press, probably influenced by his likable personality, made a hero of Schley, but his fellow naval officers felt differently. A court of inquiry held in 1901 found Schley to be at fault, but despite this decision he retained his public popularity, a tribute to his affability and bluff, hearty manner.
The many pieces in the Museum’s collection of presentation silver given to Schley not only attest the recipient’s popularity but seem to express the poor taste, debased design, and stereotyped workmanship that was characteristic at the beginning of the 20th century.
Not just one presentation piece but an entire silver service was made from Spanish coins recovered from the Cristóbal Colón that was sunk at Santiago. The original service consisted of 69 pieces, of which the Museum has the table centerpiece, soup tureen and ladle, fish platter, and a vegetable dish (cat. 39554).
The centerpiece, measuring 14 by 30 by 8 inches, is designed with a circular base holding four classical female figures. On each side of the base is a shallow silver dish shaped like a seashell and supported by dolphins. A shield on one side of the base bears the following inscription:
This service made of Spanish coins recovered from the Cristobal Colon sunk in the battle off Santiago de Cuba July 3, 1898 is presented to Rear Admiral Winfield Scott Schley by his friends in loving appreciation of his heroic services to his country.
An eagle ornaments the opposite side of the base.
The covered oval soup tureen (7 inches by 131⁄4 inches; cat. 39555) bears the same inscription as the centerpiece and is marked “S. Kirk & Son Co.” The cover, monogrammed “W S S,” has a rather effective design of overlapped laurel leaves with clusters of berries. The ladle (14 inches long; cat. 39556) is monogrammed “W S S” on the bowl (4 inches in diameter), and it has the same design as the tureen.
The fish platter (25 inches by 13 inches; cat. 39557) is similar to the tureen in design. The oval vegetable dish (11 inches by 151⁄4 inches; cat. 39558) is also similar and is inscribed the same way, including the mark of “S. Kirk & Son Co.”
An elaborate silver centerpiece given to Admiral Schley in Memphis, Tennessee, in 1902 consists of a bowl, vase, and candelabra made to be fitted into one unit ([fig. 15]). The large bowl (20 inches by 6 inches) is chased in marine designs and bears the following inscriptions:
Presented to Winfield Scott Schley, Admiral U.S.N. in recognition of his services in destroying the Spanish Fleet off Santiago de Cuba, July 3, 1898.
Twenty-thousand American citizens join in honoring valor, fidelity to duty and a lofty generosity that exemplified the sublimest manhood. Memphis, Tennessee, April 28, 1902.
There is glory enough for All.
The silver vase (32 inches high) is made to fit into the bowl, and it has a portrait of Admiral Schley on one side and a picture of his flagship, the Brooklyn, on the other. Each end of the bowl is fitted with a socket to hold a three-branch silver candelabra, and there are two solid blocks of silver for insertion in the sockets when the candelabra are not being used. These pieces are marked “Sterling” but no maker’s mark is visible.
A silver card (cat. 39518), measuring 31⁄4 inches by 51⁄2 inches, that was presented to Schley at a dinner given in his honor is engraved as follows:
Rear Admiral Winfield Scott Schley, U.S.N. The Commercial club of Kansas City, Mo., November 19, 1902.
The turn of the century marks the beginning of the popularity of loving cups as presentation pieces. There are four loving cups in the Admiral Schley collection.
The earliest of these cups bears the following inscription:
Presented to Rear Admiral W. S. Schley by the citizens of Atlanta Georgia, November 4, 1899.
This cup (cat. 39571), 9 inches in diameter and 141⁄2 100 inches in depth, is shaped like a vase and is decorated with a scroll design. Each of its three handles is attached to the cup with two applied silver oak leaves. The piece is marked “Maier & Berkley, Atlanta, Georgia, Sterling, 385,16.”
Figure 15.––Centerpiece given to Adm. Winfield Scott Schley in Memphis, Tennessee, for his services in Cuba during the Spanish-American War. Part of the Schley collection, gift of Mrs. R. S. Wortley. In Division of Naval History. (Acc. 136891, cat. 39548; Smithsonian photo 45992-G.)
Another silver cup with three handles was presented to Schley on February 5, 1902, by the Chamber of Commerce and the citizens of Knoxville, Tennessee, in recognition of his services during the Spanish-American War. This cup (cat. 39573) has the mark of the Gorham Silver Company and the words “Sterling, A 2219, 6 pints.”
The silver loving cup given to Admiral Schley by the City of Dallas reflects the exuberance of the Texas donors as well as the taste of the turn of the century. It bears the following inscription:
Presented to Winfield Scott Schley, Rear Admiral, U.S.N. A token of the Affectionate Regard and Grateful Appreciation of the City of Dallas, Texas, For His Illustrious Achievements in the Service of our Country, October 20, 1902.
This cup (cat. 39572) measures 8 inches in diameter and 21 inches in depth. The three handles terminate in eagles’ heads. The design pictures a battleship in gold identified as the “U.S.S. Oregon,” a head and laurel wreath with the words “U.S.S. Brooklyn,” and an eagle and a star in a wreath for the “U.S.S. Texas.” The base of the cup is decorated with three Texas longhorns with an anchor and shield. It bears the marks of the Gorham Silver Company.
The fourth loving cup (cat. 39538) is made of vanadium steel rather than of silver. This too is a three-handled cup. It measures 7 inches in diameter and 121⁄2 inches in depth and is decorated with the emblem of the Masonic Order of the Mystic Shrine and the following inscriptions:
Presented to Noble Winfield Scott Schley by Syria Temple, A.A.O.N.M.S. November 20, 1909.
Syria
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
|
Syria Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania |
The war with Spain is further commemorated by a silver loving cup[27] presented to Rear Admiral Charles 101 D. Sigsbee, U.S.N. Sigsbee, commissioned captain in 1897, was in command of the battleship Maine when she blew up in Havana harbor in 1898. A naval court of inquiry exonerated Sigsbee, his officers, and crew from all blame for the disaster; and the temperate judicious dispatches from Sigsbee at the time did much to temper the popular demand for immediate reprisal.
The cup bears the following inscription:
The Commercial Club of St. Paul Minn. Sends Greetings to Capt. Charles Dwight Sigsbee who as Commander of the Auxiliary Cruiser St. Paul had a brilliant share in the Naval Exploits of the Spanish War of 1898.
May you live long and prosper.
Marks on the cup are those of the Gorham Silver Company and the words “Sterling,” “Patented,” and “5 pts.”
Admiral Sigsbee achieved greater distinction for his services as a scientist than as a naval hero. An outstanding hydrographer, he made a deep-sea survey of the Gulf of Mexico, and from 1893 to 1897 he was chief of the Navy’s hydrographic office.