Atlanta Georgian. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1912-1939, 1912-08-26
THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF ADMIRAL DEWEY
GROIN HEARST'S MAGAZINE FOR AUGUST

HEARST 5 MAGAZINE FOR
AUGUST describe the Battle of
New Orleans:
TN the late seventies, when there
seemed nc hope of ever having a
modern nay and many officers
We're talking of voluntary retirement, Il
always answered:
Not until the law makes me. While
you are on the active list there is
chance for action"
Farragut has always been my ideal
of the naval officer, urbane. decisive
tndomitable. Whenever l have been in
difficult situation or in the midst of
such confusion of details that the
simple and right thing to do seemed
hazy, l have often asked myself What
would Farragut do?" In the course OF
the preparations for Manila bay I often
asked myself this question, and I con-
TESS that | was thinking Of him the
night that we entered the bay and with
the conviction that l was doing pre-
ctsely what he would have done VAL
liable as the training of Annapolis was
IT was poor schooling beside that of
serving under Farragut in time of war
Commander Melancthon Smith sue
ceeded Captain Selfrdge in command
of the Mississippi, before the advance
on New Orleans. BY this time the six
officers who were senior to me had ali
gone to other ships. thanks to the wide
spread demand with the increase of our
navy With their departure, ! ranked
to ~
tive officer.
was very young for the post. but
fortunately looked rather old for my
years Indeed, 1 remember being asked
one day, when there was question
about seniority for a court martial.
whether or not I was older than an
other lieutenant, who was. in fact my.
senior by ten years. When Farragut
explained to Captain Smith that thcre
was complaint on the part Of some Of
fcers on the navy list about my holding
position higher than theirs, the cap
tain said:
Dewey is doing all right. l don't
want a stranger here"
Dewey Allowed to Stay.
Farragut who was fond of the cap
tain, answered:
Then we will let him stay"
For many trying months ! was about
as close to Smith officially as it Is pos
sible for one man to be to another, and
/ learned to know and enjoy all his
Qualities. He was a pronounced char
acter, absolutely fearless with some
thing of Faragut's grim determination
in the midst of battle. He smoked con-
tinually, lighting one cigar. with the
butt of another, whether shells were
bursting around him or he was loung-
ing on deck
In action he became most energetic,
but in the periods between action he
was inclined to leave all detail to his
executive.
Every day gained was vital to Far
ragUt
Farragut's Queer Fleet.
First, he had the big screw sloops
Hartford, Pensacola. Richmond and
Brooklyn; then the side wheeler Mis-
sissippi, the screw corvettes Oneida
Neruna and Iroquois; nine screw gun
boats of 500 tons, which were known
as the "nintey day gunboats," because
prise in a crisis, they had been turned
out by our shipyards in ninety days.
In addition was the mortar flotilla, not
to mention ferryboats and many other
craft that did service of one sort or
another.
There was hardly a night that the
flagship did not signal to send boats to
tow fire RATS. These fire RATS were
one of the pIeasantries of the enemy in
trying our nerves. In connection with
the luminous flight of the mOrtars
they offered us quite all the spectacular
display that we We're able to appre-
ciate.
fire raft floating down with the
current at five knots an hour, flaming
high with its tar and resin, would il
Illuminate the river from bank to bank
and if it could have rested alongside a
ship for even a. few minutes it must
inevitably have set the ship on fire.
Launches used to throw grapnels into
the RATS and other boats forming line
would tow them ashore, where they
would burn themselves out.
ON the night of the goth of April oc-
CURED one of those brilliant exploits of
daring courage so common in the Civil
war that they became merely incidents
Of it's progress. Any one of them in
smaller war, when public attention
is not diverted over a vast scene Of aC-
tivity. would have woOn permanent
fame. Lieutenant Caldwell, command
ing one of the ninety day gunboats the
Itasca. and Lieutenant Crosby, com
manding another the Pinola, under
took the duty OF cutting the obstruc-
ton across the river above the forts.
Nine Shells at Once
During a heavy bombardment from
the mortars they slipped up stream UNI
der cover of the bank. At times, so
rapid We're Porter's gunners I'm their
work that there were nine shells in the
air al once