Cushing, for this daring piece of service, was himself advanced to the
rank of Lieutenant-Commander.
Such men are never mere imitators, and his unvarying success in
whatever he undertook was due to his clever planning and admirable
execution. Attempts by those of inferior qualities in such respects
would end in their capture or death.
Admiral Ammen goes on to say, in summing up the character of Cushing,
“that, notwithstanding his extraordinary qualities, he perhaps lacked
that attention to the practical and laborious details of his profession
without which no officer can attain eminence or usefulness, even, in
the higher grades. His ability to comprehend was undoubtedly of a high
order, but possibly a deficient training when a mere youth left him
apparently averse to acquiring the practical details of his profession.
“The fact is, that Cushing had such pre-eminent qualities, that those
who appreciated him felt a certain chagrin or disappointment that he
did not seem to possess those ordinary qualities through which he could
acquire the knowledge necessary to extraordinary success as the leader
of large forces.
“Cushing’s life in war was active and heroic in the extreme; in peace
he seemed to suffer, as it were, from inanity, or more properly
speaking, from the apparent lack or absence of a strong purpose.
“After the close of the war he was for some two years Executive Officer
of the ‘Lancaster,’ a position which required close attention and
study, to fulfill its duties in the best manner.
“Afterwards he served three years in command of the ‘Maumee,’ on the
Asiatic station. He was promoted, in the regular order of vacancies, to
Commander, January 31, 1872, and soon after was ordered to the command
of the ‘Wyoming,’ on the home station, and was relieved at the end of a
year, the vessel being put out of commission.
“In the spring of 1874 he was ordered to the Washington Navy Yard, and
the following August was detached, at his request. He then seemed in
impaired health, and expressed a desire to go South; after the lapse
of a few days he showed signs of insanity, and was removed to the
Government Hospital, where he died, December 17, 1874, at the age of
thirty-two years and thirteen days.
“His becoming insane was a great regret and surprise to his many
friends and admirers, in and out of the naval service; it was, however,
a consolation for them to know that it was not the result of bad habits
or of causes within his control. His misfortune, and that of the naval
service to which he belonged, was seemingly a lack of rigid, early
training, necessary to healthful thought in ordinary times, and to a
continued development of those points in naval education which are so
useful in peace, and so essential to success in the higher grades,
whatever nature may have done to fit the man for action.
“There are few Cushings in the histories of navies; they can have no
successful imitators; they pass away, as it were, before they reach
their destined goal, regretted and admired.”