George Dewey entered the class 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 classmates,
seriously alarmed at the aspect of affairs, and knowing that neither one
of the principals 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 class. Of the
sixty-five who had started in as candidates, but fourteen received their
diplomas at the end of the four years’ course.