The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1898-04-21
SCHLEY'S EARLY CAREER.
Anecdotes of the Commander of the
Flying Squadron.

Embassy-Bow He Was Saved to the
Union-How He TOOK Command OF bis
First Ship.
The retirement from the naval service
of Rear Admiral Sicard ana the coming
retirement in July of Rear Admiral
Kirkland, in December of Rear Admiral
Marion and a few months later of Rear
Admiral Pythian will bring to lag rank
three or four of the brightest officers in
the navy. and they come to that rank at
p most opportune time for the good of
their country. Previous retirements have
brought the boys of 1861 to the front, so
that now the navy has as Commedores,
all eligible to feet command, half a dozen
men of the highest professional qualities
and attachments and burning with zeal
to bear aloft for the first time the double
starred insignia of fleet rank and author
ity. 1t is a pleasure to know that in the
coming contest with Spain the ships and
suuadrons of the United States will not
be commanded, as in 1861, by officers su-
perannuated and of doubtful zeal and
more than halt suspected loyalty.
The boys of 1861, the Admirals and
Commodores of today, may be regarded
as the most alert, the most dash1ng, and
the most accomplished naval men IN the
world. Most of them received their bap-
tism of fire in their youth, and they
have studied and mastered in their early
manhood the varied evolutions in naval
science which have SO increased the power
and efficiency of ships. There is not
man among the boys of 1860 and 1861 who
Is not up to date in naval requirements.
Two or three may be disqualid lied for sea
activity by reason of impaired health, but
there is not one among them who is
superannuated or behind tine require
ments of his rank. There are no "has
beens'' among the boys of 1861, who as
midshipmen were called upon to face the
foe while yet their first frock coats were
new.
The writer of this sailed with, messed
with, and had many warm friends among
those midshipmen of 1850, and during
the war stood eide by side with several
OF the young Lieutenants of 1861. Bunoe,
Watson, Farquhar of 1855; Sohley, Robe
son, Casey of 1855; Sampson of 1857,
Fighting Bob Evans of 1864, Goodrich,
are now officers of the flag or captains of
battleships In any war with Spain
theirs will be the honor and victory; to
them and others of equal rank the navy
of the United States must intrust its
fortunes. All these men are fully ten
years younger than their predecessors in
high rank at the breaking out of the civil
war. Admiral Stringham was IS when
he took command of the North Atlantic
Squadron in 1861. Dupont was over 60;
SO was Dahlgren. Mexican and Mervine,
who commanded in the Gulf, were near
the seventies. The great Farragut was
81 when he captured New Orleans. and
as for the men who, as commandments of
navy yards and advisers of the Navy
Department, helped in the organization
of the feet, all except D. d. Porter, were
65 or more, and one or two like Commo-
dores Paulding and Breese were near the
octogenarian line.
OF the flag officers and captains of to-
day assigned to duty afloat not one is over
60, while one or two are not even 3d.
Watson is So. Schley is 81, Sampson is IS,
Evans is "a, Chadwick, Goodrich and
Jewell are not yet so. Few of the battle
ship commanders are more than 90. Tay-
lor of the Indiana, Evans of the Iowa and
Chadwick Of the New York are the
youngest. Taylor and Chadwick were
graduated from the Academy in 1866.
There were all classes of boys among
these youngsters of 1860 The writer
made cruise in China waters in 1860-61
in the then crack ship of the navy, the
steam frigate Niagara. The purpose was
to carry to their homes the members of
the first Japanese mbassy that ever
visited this country. The cruise occupied
year and WAS much in the nature of a
pleasure trip; There were seven midship-
men sent to tie Niagara and they were
Sc lively set of boys as the Academy had
ever turned out. 1t seems as if the
department had picked ont all the prom
Using young men for unpleasant details,
and had sent on this fancy cruise, accord
ing to the standard of the day, the least
promising of the c-ass. The present Ad-
IEiral Bunce, for instance, and Critten-
den Watson, Farragut's Flag Lieutenant
Of Africa to hunt for and catch slave
ships. Capt Mahan, Of literary fame,
was sent to the Water Witch, a wretched
little gunboat, in the Gulf of Mexico.
The young men sent to the Niagara were
Il. g. Read, who afterward commanded
the rebel ship Tallahassee; Joseph D.
Marvin and James OKane, both now
dead; Winfield Scott Schley, H. B. Robe
son, Thomas L. Swami and Silas Casey.
These youngsters were all well born
and bred. Read was Virginian and a
member OF one OF the old tidewater fami-
lies. O'Kane was Missourian, of Irish
descent, tall as Flagstaff, dark and with
the courage of lion He was the only
one OF that Storage mess who had no
pranks to play. Marvin was from Ohio.
short, round and always with one arm
akimbo; whence the boys dubbed him
jug" Marvin, and jug he remained
until his death as a Commander. NOT
many years ago.
Scott Schley, the present Commodore
of the flying squadron, was the prankiest
of his class. He was dubbed t'Peggy''
because of the pegtopness of his trousers.
of enormous bulge at the knees. Schley
had very small foot, and to make this
fact, of which he was vain, the more con-
eDio,o,1c he eJnDhaSiZed the breadth Of h; /.