The American-Spanish war; . ing hisrecognized talents in working a battery in action. Lieutenant Rees came from the old Moiiocacy, whichwas laid up at Shanghai, and was assigned to duty as Execu-tive of the Olyiiipia. He was followed by several officersand most of the crew of that antique side-whecler, and everyship had her full complement. Altogether our force wasabout 1,750 men. A few Chinamen were missing at the lastmoment ; a painter with twenty years of naval service, somestewards, and several mess-attendants deserted in Hong Chinese who remained showed no fear in action andcould
The American-Spanish war; . ing hisrecognized talents in working a battery in action. Lieutenant Rees came from the old Moiiocacy, whichwas laid up at Shanghai, and was assigned to duty as Execu-tive of the Olyiiipia. He was followed by several officersand most of the crew of that antique side-whecler, and everyship had her full complement. Altogether our force wasabout 1,750 men. A few Chinamen were missing at the lastmoment ; a painter with twenty years of naval service, somestewards, and several mess-attendants deserted in Hong Chinese who remained showed no fear in action andcould bear comparison with any other race for cool indus-try and cheerful curiosity. The Baltimore having made good use of the days ofgrace following the proclamation of neutrality, the flagshipled the last group of ships out of the hospitable harbor of HongKong on April 25. As we passed the vessels of the Britishfleet, their bulwarks were thronged with eager soldiers andsailors. The men-of-war might not cheer, but the convales-. THE NAVAL BATTLE OF ^MANILA BAY. 107 cent soldiers of the hospital-hulk were able to express Brit-ish feeling by a hearty round of applause. We were going towar, and they felt both sympathy and envy. Our own menwere cheerful and confident ; ready to trust their guns, theirships, their Commander-in-Chief and themselves. There could be little doubt as to our objective. Proceedto the Philippine Islands. Commence operations particularlyagainst the Spanish fleet. You must capture or destroy ves-sels. Use utmost endeavor. This was the Presidents mes-sage, a model of wholesome elasticity and inspiring it been written a month later all exhortation might havebeen omitted. It soon came to be an axiom that AdmiralDewey would be strenuous and thorough in all his undertak-ings. Some New York papers had ventured to interpret thegathering of ships at Hong Kong to mean that they were tocome to the Atlantic. The odd notion of a local war betweentwo nations with
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