arrival of other higher-ranking nava l officers, calls came to replace John Dahlgren as the commandant of the Washington Navy Yard with a more senior officer. President Lincoln would hear of no such thing, telling Navy Secretary Gideon Welles, ''1he Yard shall not be taken from [Dahlgren]." Lincoln's reasoning was simple: D ahlgren had earned it, having taken charge there when no one else could or would, and now, with the danger passed , he could stay as long as he liked. Lincoln was deeply appreciative of Dahlgren for his efforts in safeguarding Washington. He also valued his advice, and what was described by John Hay as his "wise and witty sai lor-talk ...." The president came to visit the Washington Navy Yard as often as possible to discuss naval matters and witness Dahlgren's many experiments. Lincoln's visits became so frequent that many weekends were set aside for what was mockingly known by D ahlgren's military rivals as Dahlgren's "Champagne Experiments. " These weekend visits featured the president and other cabinet members or prominent Union leaders, enjoying a champag ne lunch and participating in some sort of sophisticated ballistics exp eriments, with Lincoln often firing off the ordnance himself. Because of his special access to the W hite House, Dahlgren was widely disliked within naval circles. H e was also disliked because he was among a new breed of naval officers largely confined to a shore posting because of a Navy specialty. By focusing on naval ordnance and ballistics, Dahlgren enjoyed near permanent shore duty, which was seen as a pampered posting. Bur, this was precisely why Lincoln valued D ahlgren, because he was readily available as a sounding board and because his experiments were a pleasant diversion from the wartime burdens of the presidency. As an example, at Lincoln's urging, Dahlgren provided the president and Secretary of State Willi am H. Seward and Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton with a two-hour demonstration of the Rafael rapid-firing machine gun on 7 August 1862, followed by a relaxing boat ride on the Potomac. Unfortunately, not all such demonstrations went as well. One particular exp eriment in November 1862, involving firing off an experimental H yde rocket,
SEA HISTORY 156, AUTUMN 20 16
As part of his new quality control procedures, D ahlgren had cannons test-fired at an experimental test battery he designed at the Washington Navy Yard. This contemporary engraving shows the interior of his "experimental battery. " This "proofing" battery served as the model for Later Navy proving grounds.
ended in disaster. The rocket exploded on the launch pad, showering the president, Treasury Secretary Simon P. C hase, and Secretary Seward with debris. No one was seriously injured , but D ahlgren immediately cancelled the H yde rocker program and suffered the wrath of Navy Secretary G ideon Welles for nearly killing the president and two of his cabinet colleagues. Despite the close call, Lincoln demanded that such demonstrations continue. President Lincoln's love of gadgets and his fascination with D ahlgren's work infuriated Welles, who wrote in his diary that he had repeatedly cautioned Dahlgren not to indulge the pres ident, noting: "[Dahlgren] ass ures me he does restrain the President as far as respect will permit, but his 'restrai nts' are impotent, valueless. H e is no check on the President, who h as a propensity to engage in matters of the kind, and is liable to be constantly imposed upon by sh arpers [swindlers] and adventurers." Welles viewed D ahlgren as a shameless flatterer and self-promoter. Despite this, and without referring specifically to D ahlgren by name, Welles did recognize the officer's important contributions to the early war effort when he reported to Lincoln in April 1861 that, "For several months the Navy, without aid, succeeded, more effectively than could have been expected, in keeping (the Potomac River) open for
commercial purposes, and restricting, to a great extent, communications between (secessionists on the) opposite shores .... " This success was largely due to Dahlgren, and Lincoln knew it. Lincoln and Dahlgren were both frequent visitors to the Navy Department's headquarters building, where they routinely conferred with Navy Secretary Welles and Assistant Secretary Gustavus V. Fox, as well as other naval officers. Lincoln often arrived wearing carpet slippers and a shawl. Writing of one such visit in April 1863, John D ahlgren observed that the president talked a little about general matters and then jokingly announced, "Well, I will go home now. I had no business here; but as the lawye r said, I had none anywh ere else." Although Welles was wary of Dahlgren's growing influence with the president, he begrudgingly encouraged it because Dahl gren always tended to keep Welles apprised of what Lincoln was thinking. Lincoln liked the relationship too, because he used Dahlgren as his unofficial naval aide and constantly bounced ideas rega rding n aval strategy off him. This ultimately created an arrangement that satisfied all three men. In addition to Welles's distain, other colleagues disapproved of Dahlgren for his politicking. Un ited States Senator James W. Grimes from Iowa, one of the most 23