“The President, in the name of the American people, thanks you and your officers and men for your splendid achievement and overwhelming victory. In recognition he has appointed you an Acting Admiral, and will recommend a vote of thanks to you by Congress.”
Long.
The thanks of Congress were promptly voted, with a sword for Commodore Dewey, and a medal for each officer and man who took part in the engagement. Congress also increased the number of Rear Admirals from six to seven, so that the president might appoint Dewey a Rear Admiral, which was done at once, and the appointment confirmed by the Senate.
In considering this action it must be remembered that, although Dewey’s vessels were more powerful than those of the Spanish Navy, he had the disadvantage of advancing into strange waters, where shoals existed, and where, for all he knew, torpedoes and mines were laid. In fact two of the latter were exploded in front of the squadron, but so hurriedly as to do no harm. He had also the shore batteries to contend against, which made the opposing weight of metal more than equal to his. “The Spanish admiral” says a contemporary journal, “though he must have been aware that the American squadron was somewhere in the vicinity, could not bring himself to believe that the American commodore would have the audacity to steam into a mined harbor in the night time, with forts on both sides, and the Spanish squadron ready to receive him. But Dewey took the chances, and his being beforehand was half the victory. Many men, equally as brave in action, would have delayed to reconnoitre, and thereby have given time for the enemy to make additional preparations to receive him.
In consequence of Dewey’s disregard of possible danger, he found the Spanish ships in a cramped position where they could best be attacked.
There is also another thing to be noticed about the engagement at Manila Bay, and that is in regard to torpedo boats. It certainly seems that they are not the danger they are supposed to be, if used in daylight. Two of the Spanish torpedo boats from Cavite were directed against the Olympia, and were seen as soon as they started. They escaped several large projectiles directed at them by the great guns of the flag-ship, but they were easily destroyed when the six-pounder rapid firers got trained upon them. In daylight the torpedo boat is no longer to be feared. What a night attack will do, under the glare of the search lights, is more uncertain. For harbor defense torpedo boats may be very useful, but they are too wearing, on both officers and men, for any prolonged sea service.
Dewey’s action has taught us several things, for, except the Japan-China war, there had been no fighting with the new ships, and Dewey’s victory was a glorious one in its conduct and its results. It has also been useful in teaching the nations what they did not know before, and in impressing more strongly what they had some apprehension of. It showed that originality and dash, after careful planning and adequate preparation, will generally succeed. With several fortified positions on shore the advantage should have certainly been with the Spanish forces, but in spite of the great risk that every officer and every man must have known was being taken, “there was not a faint heart in all that squadron, but an enthusiasm and esprit du corps that could not but win with such a leader.”
As far as a naval action went, that at Manila was a “clean cut” thing. Nothing can take away from the small, well-drilled, well-manned and well-officered East Indian Squadron the credit they have so thoroughly well earned.
Rear Admiral Dewey was born in Montpelier, Vt., in 1838. Dr. Julius Y. Dewey, the father of the admiral, was a cultured gentleman of the old school, honored for his stalwart integrity and stern force of character. Admiral Dewey’s mother was celebrated throughout Vermont, her native state, for remarkable beauty of person and grace of manner.
The handsome colonial mansion in Montpelier was long a center of New England hospitality, and the Deweys were paramount among the first families of Vermont.