Keynote of American Expansion.
The Awakening of America. Dewey the Idol of a great Nation. His
immense responsibilities at a critical period of the war. In
1999 Manila is still on every tongue. Spain's bargain with
Germany. Discomfiture of the German Admiral.
It was the first gun of the Raleigh, fired in Manila bay at dawn on the
first day of May, 1898, that sounded the keynote of America's future
greatness. The echo of that gun had not died out even in 1999. It
still rang amidst the nations of the earth, reverberating across its
seas and continents. It was the signal that sounded the dawn of
The United States of the Americas, a mighty Republic, which, in
the year 1999, embraced every square foot of land in the Western
Hemisphere, from the snow-clad huts of the Esquimos to the rock-ribbed
straits of Magellan, with its teeming, hustling population of
531,000,000 souls. Uncle Samuel was boss of the ranch, from its
Patagonian cellar clear to its roof in the Arctic region. With its
mighty talons [The Great Bird of Freedom.] clutching the narrow
isthmus of Panama; with its beak pointing into the Atlantic, far
beyond Porto Rico; with its tail-feathers covering the expanse of
the Pacific, clear into the Philippines, the American Eagle was a
proud bird to behold, as its mighty wings spread from the North to
the South Pole. And Dewey's guns did it.
At critical periods the fate of nations, as well as of individuals,
seems to suspend by a single, slender thread. At such moments,
so keenly poised are the balances of fate, that a mere breath may
disturb them. Admiral Dewey, the idol of America, unknowingly, held
the fate of a vast Republic in the hollow of his hand. He knew it not;
America knew it not. But in the light of events in 1999 such proved to
be the case. Had he failed; had his brave squadron been annihilated by
treacherous mines in Manila bay; had our American fleet been destroyed
at Cavité, instead of Montojo's squadron, the Dream of the United
States of the Americas would not have been realized in 1999.
But America is unconquerable; and Dewey won. When, on the 24th day of
April, 1898, the momentous message flashed across sea and continent
to Dewey, ordering him to "sink or capture" the Spanish squadron, the
American Eagle gave its first shrill cry of defiance. Every man on the
American fleet off Hong Kong swelled with pride from Commodore Dewey
to the humblest powder-monkey. Theirs was a mission to feel proud of,
and when Dewey's six warships sailed south to Manila, April 27, 1898,
to interview the Castillians, every man on board the American squadron
was ready to lay down his life in the cause of our noble country.
These were the men with cool heads and unflinching bravery who first
encountered the Spanish hosts. These were the men who electrified
a whole world by the splendor of their matchless victory. The word
gratitude is a feeble one indeed to adequately express the feelings of
the American people when the truth became known. At first it seemed
incredible that such a brilliant stroke could have been accomplished
in less than ten days after the declaration of war. In 1999 men
occasionally referred to Trafalgar and the battle of the Nile,
Farragut's heroism at Mobile bay, the encounter of those two little
scorpions, the Monitor and Merrimac, and other naval engagements, as
matters of history, but the peerless American victory at Manila bay,
the praises of the one and only Dewey and his brave men, were still,
in that year, the theme on every tongue.
In 1999 it was reckoned a high distinction for any American to be
able to say that his father, brother or relative took part in the
great victory at Manila. Indeed, there still lived in 1999, in the
State of Brazil, an extremely old man, aged 115 years, who took part
in the gallant fight off Cavité in 1898.
When Dewey's squadron left Mirs bay to proceed upon its eventful voyage
to Manila, Earl Stanley, at that time a stripling of fourteen years,
hid in an empty hogshead [A Plucky Little American Lad.] in the
hold of the warship Boston, just as the American fleet was weighing
anchor. When the mountains about Mirs bay and the Chinese mainland
had disappeared from the sight of the squadron, Stanley, the young
stowaway, emerged from his retreat and soon after landed in the arms
of a marine, who brought the lad before the Captain. That official was
at first inclined to deal severely with the young culprit. The latter,
however, was straightforward and fearless in his bearing. He plainly
told the Captain that he stole his way on board the Boston to share
in the fight and he was ready to do anything to fight under the Stars
and Stripes. The Captain, though outwardly severe, secretly admired
the lad's pluck and turned him over to the charge of a gun-crew. In
1999 Earl Stanley resided in Rio Janeiro, and for over sixty years
had been drawing a monthly pension of $35 from the government. He was
in that year the sole survivor of the battle of Manila, an exclusive
distinction he had already enjoyed for many long years.
Aside from the sweeping results of the action off Cavité, Admiral
Dewey's firm and resolute attitude towards Aguinaldo and his
mercenaries, as well as his open defiance to the German squadron,
gave the keenest satisfaction throughout the United States.
As early as the year 1902, the fact, long suspected, was at last
officially confirmed, that before the declaration of war in 1898
[Spain failed to deliver the Goods.] between Spain and America,
there existed a firmly established secret alliance between Spain and
Germany. Spain had bartered with Germany for her active support in her
war against the Yankees. In compensation for her aid and countenance,
Spain had agreed to cede over to Germany, in fee simple, the entire
group of Philippine islands. After Dewey's matchless victory of the
1st of May, Germany slipped on her "thinking cap" and experienced an
exceedingly sudden change of mind. Her "aid" in the Spanish cause was
not worth a baby's rattle. As to the German "countenance," it looked
so crest-fallen and hopelessly sour that Spain as she gazed upon it
refused to be comforted.
But, notwithstanding this, with an impudence that was positively
refreshing to contemplate, after the battle of Manila, Germany put up a
fine game of bluff and acted as though she held a proprietary interest
in the Philippines. The German government dispatched a fleet of seven
war vessels to Manila bay, under command of Admiral von Diederichs,
under a flimsy pretext of "protecting German interests." In reality
it was intended by the presence of this German squadron in Manila
bay to annoy, bulldoze, and if possible to intimidate Commodore Dewey.
For six weeks after the battle of Manila, Dewey's fleet as a result
of the fight, was [Little Powder but lots of Pluck.] low in its
ammunition and coal supplies. There was one very important fighting
factor however, that never ran short on the American fleet, as that was
the indomitable pluck and fighting mettle of Dewey and his men. Dewey
diplomatically tolerated some of the petty annoyances offered at
that time by the Germans, but they were given by the brave American
commander to distinctly understand that there existed a danger-line
which once crossed, would bring death and hospitals in its wake. None
knew better than the German Admiral that the practice of lighting
matches around powder magazines is a very unhealthy one.
Admiral Von Diederichs bluffed around with his squadron, but with
a wisdom that Solomon himself might have envied, he gave Dewey's
danger-line a wide berth. It was only when Admiral Dewey sent his
famous request to the Department for the Oregon, "for political
reasons," that the German fleet in Manila bay suddenly discovered
that they had some urgent business elsewhere, and made a very hasty
exit from the unhealthy neighborhood of an American Admiral who had
a mind of his own and a fine lot of lads to back up his opinion.