From 1871 to 1875, he was stationed on the only U.S. Navy vessel on the Great Lakes, the USS Michigan which was home based at Erie, Pennsylvania. While stationed there, he married Harriet, the daughter of Judge John Vincent and they had three children. Harriet was also the cousin of Civil War hero Brigadier General Strong Vincent, who was killed at the Battle of Gettysburg.
Gridley was promoted to commander in 1882 and served as an instructor at the Naval Academy and the Cruiser Training Squadron.
March 14, 1897, he was promoted to captain and ordered to the Asiatic Squadron where on July 28, 1897, he received command of the USS Olympia, Commodore George Dewey's famous flagship in Yokohoma, Japan.
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SPANISH-AMERICAN WAR
During the Battle of Manila Nay in the Philippines on 1 May 1898, Gridley commanded the Olympia from inside the vessel's armored conning tower, an uncomfortably hot station in the relentless Philippine sun.
Dewey gave his famous command, "You may fire when you are ready, Gridley." What resulted was a very one-side American victory over the outmatched Spanish fleet.
At the conclusion of the battle, Gridley was not in condition to celebrate as he was suffering from dysentery and what appears to have been liver cancer. The heat and stress of the conning tower had further weakened him. Dewey would have relieved him of his command had not Gridley protested.
George Dewey had been at the Battles of Fort Fisher.
--Old B-Runner
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