DEWEY
DEWEY
Spanisli fleet, and then counter-steaming, again
passed the line of Spanish warships and contin-
ued to give and receive steady fire as the suc-
cessive sliips passed an antagonist. Admiral
Montojo commanding the Spanish fleet, made a
desperate effort to steam the Eeina Christina, his
flagsliip, out of the line so as to engage more
effectively the passing antagonists. Tlie Olympia
met the attempt with the full weight of her bat-
tery that nearly disabled the Spanish battle-ship,
set it on fire, and forced the Spanish admiral be-
hind the shelter of Cavite- Point, where the
vessel continued to burn and finally sank, her
crew escaping to the shore. A threat from
Commodore Dewey to the governor-general of
Manila to shell the city unless the land batteries
ceased firing, silenced the forts, and at 7.35 a.m.,
the United States fleet withdrew out of range of
the guns of the enemy's fleet and the crews were
ordered to breakfast. When the attack was re-
newed at 11. IG A.M., the commodore found the
Spanish ships on flre and rapidly being put out
of fighting condition by the flames. By 12.30
P.M., the Spanish batteries were silenced and all
their ships either sunk or deserted and burning.
The Petrel completed the work of destruction by
firing the smaller gunboats that had sought
refuge behind Cavite Point, and the eight war-
ships with seven men slightly wounded and with
no serious damage to any of the vessels, anchored
off Manila and held the city at their mercy. On
the arrival of General Merritt with sufficient
troops to hold the city, the fleet combined
with the land forces in a simultaneous attack on
the city, on Aug. 13, 1898, aikl after ^six hours'
engagement Flag-Lieutenant Thomas M. Brumby
of the Olympia, raised the Stars and Stripes over
the captured city. After the battle of Manila
Bay, May 1, 1898, Commodore Dewey was raised
to the rank of acting rear-admiral by President
McKinley and received from the joint houses of
congress a vote of thanks for his signal victory
over the Spanish fleet without the lo.ss of a single
American life. Congress also presented to him
an elegant sword, and caused a medal to be cast
to be inesf nte'l to the commodore and to each
officer and man in his fleet. In 1899 congress by
special act ci'eated the rank of admiral and the
President named him for the office and rank.
which bad been held only by Farragut and Por-
ter. He left Manila with the Olympia in April,
1899, making the voyage home by way of India,
Red Sea, Suez canal, and the Mediterranean,
reaching New York the last of September. He
was given a notable series of public ovations at
New York city, Washington, D.C., Montpelier,
Vt., and Boston, Mass. He then returned to
Washington, where he acted with the Philippine
commission of w^iich he was a member. He was
married, Oct. 24, 1867, to Susie, daughter of Gov,
Ichabod Goodwin of New Hampshire. She died,
Dec. 28, 1872, leaving one son, George Goodwin,
born, Dec. 23, 1872. On Nov. 9. 1899, he was
married to Mrs. Mildred McLean Hazen, widow
of Gen. W. B. Hazen, U.S.A., and daughter of
Washington McLean of Cincinnati, Ohio. Ad-
miral Dewey received the honorary degree of
LL.D. from the University of Pennsylvania and
from Princeton university in 1898, and the degree
of Master of military science from Norwich uni-
versity the same year. Several biographies of
Admiral Dewey were published in 1899 and a
carefully compiled genealogical record of the
Dewey family in America.
DEWEY, Henry Sweetser, lawyer, was born in Hanover, N.H., Nov. 9, 1856; son of Maj. Israel Otis and Susan Augusta (Sweetser) Dewey; and grandson of Israel and Nancy (Hovey) Dew^ey and of Gen. Henry and Susan (West) Sweetser of Concord, N.H. His father was a merchant in early life and afterward a paymaster in the U.S. army. His first American ancestor, Thomas Dewey (1600-48), emigrated from Sandwich, Kent, England, became a freeman of Dorchester, Mass. , in 1634 ; removed to Windsor, Conn. , about 1638, and married wadow Frances Clark, March 22, 1639. Henry Sweetser spent the years of his boyhood in the south and w^est where his father was stationed as paymaster. He was graduated at Dartmouth in 1878 and afterward served as paymaster's clerk in the U.S. army, being sta- tioned at Boston, 1878-80. He resigned in 1880, studied law with the Hon. Ambrose A. Ranney, was graduated from the Boston university law- school in 1882, and was admitted to the Suffolk bar in June, 1882, taking up practice in Boston. He served as a member of the 1st corps of cadets, M.V.M., 1880-89, was appointed judge-advocate on the staff of the 1st brigade, with rank of cap- tain, 1889 ; was a member of the city council in 1885, 1886 and 1887, and of the state house of representatives, 1889, 1890 and 1891; was ap- pointed a bar examiner for Suffolk county in 1891 and a master in chancery in 1893 ; w-as appointed a special justice of the municipal court of the city of Boston in April, 1896, and in 1897 he was made chairman of the first state board of bar ex- aminers.
