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“Dewey, Asiatic Squadron:—Commence operations at once, particularly against Spanish fleet. You must capture or destroy them. April 27. On the twenty-seventh came information from Hongkong that the squadron had put to sea, and from that day until the seventh of May no word regarding the commodore’s movements had been received, save through Spanish sources.
We were on board our own ships before they fired the fourth shot. “Well,” said the captain, on my reaching the quarter-deck, “you were not able to get the vessel off.” “No,” I replied; “she was scuttled, and sank before we boarded her.” “Were her guns brass or iron?” “Iron,” said I, “and not worth bringing on board; there were four brass one-pound swivels, but those were taken by the lieutenant of the commodore’s boat, and he ungenerously claimed the red flag I had hauled down, but I refused to give it up.” Whilst this conversation was going on, a boat from the Alarm came alongside with a midshipman and a written order from the commodore for me to give up, no longer the flag of defiance but that of dispute. “I think,” said the captain, “you had better comply with the order.” On seeing my disinclination to do so, he said, “It is not worth contending about.” “I believe, sir,” I replied, “you are right.
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