"The battle of Manila killed me, but I would do it again if necessary," were Charles Gridley's last words on public record. He died on June 5, 1898, while the Coptic was anchored in Kobe, Japan. This was just over a month from the Battle of Manila Bay.
He was cremated in Yokohama and his ashes sent to his widow in Erie, Pennsylvania. Once there, the ashes were interned in the city's Lakeside Cemetery with great fanfare. The Navy later placed four guns captured from the Spanish arsenal at Cavite by his graveside.
Fifteen years later, the people of Erie once again celebrated Charles Gridley by naming a municipal park after him. In the center of Gridley Park is a simple Ionic column standing tall.
At its base are two plaques recounting the details of Gridley's service and death, made from metal recovered from the wreckage of the USS Maine.
--Cooter
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