The attack on Manila entered a colony already destabilized by renewed rebellion rather than opening a conflict on otherwise quiet ground. An earlier uprising had been settled, but Spanish court politics replaced the governor with an official more supportive of Madrid's new government, helping trigger another revolt. Dewey brought extensive Civil War service at New Orleans, Port Hudson, and Fort Fisher and approached command as a demanding gunnery trainer. Work on the Lighthouse Board and the Board of Inspection and Survey had also given him experience beyond battle command. By 1898 his squadron lacked its own regional infrastructure but was unusually well worked up, making leadership and preparation as important as the cruisers' paper specifications.
Chapter · 27:10-30:38
A renewed Philippine rebellion meets Dewey's hard-trained squadron
Spanish court politics had helped restart rebellion in the Philippines just as Civil War veteran George Dewey prepared an unusually practiced American cruiser squadron to intervene.