Pike & Cutlass Part 16

Captain Cook, Admiral Schley's chief-of-staff on the "Brooklyn," Captain Clark, of the "Oregon," and Commander Davis were room-mates in the famous cla.s.s of Crowninshield, Taylor, and Evans. The "Brooklyn" and the "Oregon," commanded by cla.s.smates and room-mates, fought almost side by side down the desperate flight to the westward, the "Oregon" farther inland, but both thundering their iron missiles on the "Colon" as she struggled to her doom.

It is an interesting fact that Captain Clark, then holding the t.i.tle of acting ensign, but really a midshipman, was the first one to communicate with the captain of the ram "Tennessee" when she was captured at Mobile Bay, while it was Captain Cook who received the surrender of the "Cristobal Colon." The third member of this trio was retired several years ago or he would have had a command in the same action. The affection which these youngsters bore one for the other was very much like that which existed between Captains Evans and Taylor.

CLARK'S HEROISM AT THE BATTLE OF MOBILE BAY

In the battle of Mobile Bay young Clark was on the forecastle of the "Ossipee," then holding an important position in the line of ships that swung past the torpedoes after the gallant Farragut in the "Hartford."

The forecastle was bare of any defence, and the position was exposed to all a.s.saults of the fire, first from Fort Morgan and then from Fort Gaines, farther up. When the forts were pa.s.sed, there followed a fierce fight with the gunboats and the invincible ram "Tennessee." Again and again the "Hartford," "Ossipee," and other vessels of the fleet rammed her in succession, and young Clark saw her terrible ports fly open and send out just by him their awful discharge.

At last, however, she became unmanageable, her shutters were jammed, and the "Ossipee," under full head of steam, was making for her. But while Clark was straining his eyes through the smoke, a white flag was hoisted in token of surrender. Clark shouted to Johnson, the commander of the ram, to starboard his helm. But the reply came that his wheel-ropes were shot away. It was too late to keep from striking her, but the force of the blow was broken by the manuvre. This early experience was followed by the bombardment of Fort Morgan,--two important actions before Clark had got into his early twenties. His fearlessness then, as now, needs no mention.

POPULARITY OF CAPTAIN PHILIP AS A CADET

It has been said that Captain Philip's public acknowledgment of G.o.d on the decks of the battle-ship "Texas," after the fight before Santiago, was the natural expression of a deeply religious nature. But his cla.s.smates at the Naval Academy and the men who have sailed with him say that he is not more religious than other men in the navy,--not so religious as many, who always have their Bible on the table in their cabins and read it regularly when at sea or in port.

They believe that he spoke on the impulse of the moment, his heart devoutly thankful that the victory had been achieved at so slight a loss, and willing that all men should witness his profession of faith.

[Ill.u.s.tration: HER LAST DUTY]

As a boy at the Academy, while he never surrept.i.tiously drank, as others did, he made no pretence of being religious. He smoked whenever he got a chance, in his quarters or in the darknesses back of old Fort Severn, between the watchmen's rounds. He never, as other cadets did, gave his word not to smoke, and so he felt a perfect freedom to do it if he could keep from being caught. Like Sigsbee, he was a practical joker, and if you should go to any of the members of his cla.s.s and ask them who was the most popular man in it, they would say, "Jack Philip."

THE VERSATILITY OF ADMIRAL SAMPSON

In Admiral Sampson, the boy was father to the man. From boyhood his was a life of unneglected opportunities. Born of very humble parents, by the hardest of work and the most sincere endeavors he succeeded in obtaining his appointment to the Naval School. His mind, naturally studious, turned to the beginnings of the new profession with avidity, and so fine was his mind even then that, without trying himself unduly, he easily distanced his entire cla.s.s and took first honors for the course.

His cla.s.smates say that he was studious, but they do not say that he applied himself so closely to the work that he shut himself off from the diversions or recreations of the rest-hours. On the contrary, he was foremost in most of the sports of the day, and was, in his own way, one of the best athletes in his cla.s.s.

He was then, as he is now, an "Admirable Crichton," but his versatility did not diminish for him the serious aspect of any of the things he attempted. Some of his cla.s.smates called him cold, as his contemporaries out in the service do now, but when they wanted advice on any subject which seemed to require a reasoning power entirely beyond their own, they said, "Ask Sampson." He was not only high in his cla.s.s councils, but dearly beloved, as he is to-day, by every man in it and every man who knew him. If people thought him cold then it was because they did not understand him. If they think him cold to-day it is because he does not care to be understood by the men with whom he has no interest or sympathy.

If arrogance begins to be a virtue, then repression born of modesty is a crime.

To those men he cares for--now as in his youth--he has always a warm handshake and an open heart. His eye is calm, sympathetic, penetrating, stern, as the humor dictates, anything you please,--sometimes cold, but always hypnotic. If he wants the friendship of man or woman he is irresistible. To-day he is the authority on naval ordnance, an expert on explosives, a capital seaman, a famous tennis-player,--the best-equipped man in the service for any work--or play--that can be put before him.

BLUE, WHO DISCOVERED CERVERA'S FLEET

Victor Blue, who in his uniform made the fearless expedition ash.o.r.e at Santiago, and actually saw for the first time the Spanish fleet within the harbor, is the kind of a man who does not have very much to say for himself, which is often a sign that a person is to be found ready when wanted. He was a member of the cla.s.s of '87, in which his work was fair, but not remarkable in any way. He lived quietly, receiving his quota of good and bad marks, but having no special distinction, even in his offences against the oracles of Stribling Row.

He did not care much for "fems" (girls, in the vernacular), but towards his first cla.s.s-year began to "take notice." He played a guard on the "Hustlers," the scrub football team which struggles with the "Academy"

eleven on practice-days, but never made the "Team." He had plenty of grit, but was too light for the centre and not active enough for the ends. Blue is a fair specimen of the type of men who without ostentation have made our new navy what it is. Many men envy him, but no man begrudges him his numbers recently awarded for "extraordinary heroism."

YOUNG DEWEY AS A FIGHTER

George Dewey entered the cla.s.s of '58 at the Naval Academy at the age of seventeen. He was not a large boy, but fairly up to middle height, and strong and active in all athletic sports. It was not long after his entrance that he found an opportunity to show the fighting spirit that was in him. It was not altogether of his own seeking, but when he was weighed in the balance, even then he was not found wanting.

The line between the Northern boys and the Southerners was clearly marked, and one day one of the Southerners called the young Vermonter a "dough-face."

Young Dewey awaited a favorable opportunity, and struck his opponent so fair a blow that he knocked him down. There was a rough-and-tumble fight then and there, and Dewey's adversary came out second best.

Later on another one of the Southerners insulted the young admiral, and there was another battle. But full satisfaction could not be obtained in this prosaic fashion, so the Southerner finally challenged young Dewey.

The offer was promptly accepted, seconds were chosen, and the time and place were definitely settled upon. But some of Dewey's cla.s.smates, seriously alarmed at the aspect of affairs, and knowing that neither one of the princ.i.p.als was of a temper to falter, hastily informed the academic authorities, and the whole affair was nipped in the bud but a few hours before the hour set.

Dewey was graduated in 1858, and stood fifth in his cla.s.s. Of the sixty-five who had started in as candidates, but fourteen received their diplomas at the end of the four years' course.

THE UNRECOGNIZED HEROES OF THE WAR

Much has been said and written of the heroes of action and movement. The country from one end to the other has rung with their praises. But what of the unknown heroes, unhonored and unsung? What of the men who, because of their superior abilities in other lines, were doomed to physical inaction?

who performed their secret missions and labors skilfully, faithfully, uncomplainingly, while their cla.s.smates were being given numbers over their heads, and the chance of a lifetime for great deeds was being quietly pa.s.sed by?

THE REAL BRAINS OF THE WAR

Captain A. S. Crowninshield, the Chief of the Bureau of Navigation, bore the brunt of the brain-work for the men and ships at the front.

His bureau has to do with the ordering of all ships and all men, and Crowninshield, when he accepted the office, knew that the odds were against him. He knew that by his own orders he would put forward above him men who were many years his juniors in the service. He never winced, but went on perfecting the target-scores of the men behind the guns.

When war was declared, he felt that, gun for gun, our navy could whip anything afloat. But he did not get out of the office. He could have had any command in Sampson's fleet. But he preferred to stay and carry out the work he had begun, in spite of the fact that each week, as younger men went over him, he saw the chances of hoisting the pennant of a fleet-commander grow fainter and fainter.

If you were to ask Secretary Long who did the real brain-work of the war, he would unhesitatingly answer, "Captain Crowninshield." Ask the younger officers in command of gun-divisions who is responsible for the straight shooting of the gun-captains, and they will say, "Captain Crowninshield."

Ask any captain of the fleet of victorious battle-ships and cruisers of Santiago or Cavite who contributed most to the victory of Santiago and Manila, and they will say, "Captain Crowninshield."

These are the facts, and no one in the service disputes them for a moment.

If the people are in ignorance, it is because Captain Crowninshield will never talk of himself or his own affairs under any circ.u.mstances.

Captain Crowninshield comes of a distinguished New England family. He is a grandson of Jacob Crowninshield, an early secretary of the navy, and a great-nephew of Benjamin Crowninshield, also a secretary of the navy.

Like all the Crowninshields of Salem, he was full of love of the sea. His father was a graduate of Harvard and a founder of the Porcelain Club.

FILLING THE DUKE'S SHOES WITH MUCILAGE

Captain Crowninshield as a lad read and studied all the books he could find about the sea, upon which his ancestors, near and remote, had sailed.

From the first he was determined to be a naval officer. To this end he went to a village where lived a member of Congress, who, he thought, might make him his appointee. The young man found the old member of Congress out in his field, ploughing. He liked the looks of the boy and gave him a half-promise of the appointment. Young Crowninshield was forced to wait a month, but at last the letter came, and with trembling fingers he broke the seal of the letter which made him a midshipman (a t.i.tle which it is to be hoped will be restored ere long to the service).

Some of his cla.s.smates were the present Captain Clark, of "Oregon" fame, Captain Harry Taylor, Drayton Ca.s.sell, Captain Wadleigh, and Captain Cook, of the "Brooklyn." His room-mate was Pierre d'Orleans, and many a time did Captain Crowninshield rescue the young foreigner when the jokes became too fast and furious. A favorite amus.e.m.e.nt with the midshipmen was to fill "Pete" d'Orleans's shoes with mucilage. This practice, so far from making him feel like sticking to this country, persuaded the young duke to return to his native land, where there were no wild American boys to tamper with his dignity.

When the Academy was removed from Annapolis to Newport, young Crowninshield, of course, went with the school, with Evans and the others.

He was told that those who could pa.s.s the required examination at the end of three years could go out to the war as officers.

Half of the cla.s.s pa.s.sed the examination. When one considers that no studying at night was allowed, that an officer made the rounds after lights were supposed to be out, and that at the sound of his footsteps the delinquent who was burning the midnight oil would be obliged to tumble into bed with his clothes on, throwing the wet towel which bound his head into the corner of the room, feigning sleep while a candle was pa.s.sed across his face, one can understand why more young men of that cla.s.s did not graduate at the end of the three-years' limit.

SCOUTING IN THE ENEMY'S COUNTRY

There are many other gallant navy men of whom the public has not heard, but two more will suffice. Within a week after the declaration of war two young ensigns, Ward and Buck, the former in the Bureau of Navigation and the latter at the Naval Academy, disappeared from the face of the earth.