George Dewey (26 December 1837-16 January 1917) was a US Navy admiral who served in the American Civil War, the Spanish-American War, and the Venezuelan crisis of 1902-1903. His famous victory at the Battle of Manila Bay in 1898 led to the rank of "Admiral of the Navy" being created for him in 1903.
Biography[]
George Dewey was born in Montpelier, Vermont on 26 December 1837 and raised in Johnson. Dewey was among the earliest graduates of the US Naval Academy, and his baptism of fire came with the American Civil War. As a lieutenant on the steam sloop Mississippi, he participated in the capture of New Orleans as part of David Farragut's squadron in April 1862. Ending the war as a lieutenant-commander, he settled into a comfortable peacetime career, rising eventually to the rank of commodore.
In 1897, Dewey was appointed to command the US Asiatic Squadron based at Hong Kong. The following year, America went to war with Spain, and Dewey was ordered to destroy the enemy fleet in the Philippines, which at that time was a Spanish colony. On board the cruiser Olympia, he took his squadron into Manila Bay under cover of darkness and, early on 1 May 1898, pummeled the anchored Spanish warships into surrender with a storm of shellfire. Dewey's laconic style in this one-sided battle enchanted the American public and he returned home to a hero's welcome. A special rank, "Admiral of the US Navy", was created for him.
Dewey explored a run for the presidency in 1900 as a Democrat, but he was controversial for his lack of political involvement (he had never voted for President, and believed that the presidency would be as simple as following the orders of the US Congress), his blunt and prophetic statement that America's next war would be with the German Empire, and his marriage to a Catholic. Ultimately, Dewey dropped out of the race and endorsed the Republican William McKinley. He died in Washington DC in 1917 at the age of 79.