Born at "Richfields" (his father's farm),[1] near Frederick, Maryland, Schley graduated from the United States Naval Academy in 1860, and went as midshipman on board the frigate Niagara to China and Japan.

He then served on the sidewheel gunboat Winona of that squadron, and later on the sloops Monongahela and Richmond, and participated in all the engagements that led to the capture of Port Hudson, Louisiana, on the Mississippi River in 1863, (part of the campaign to split the Confederacy at Vicksburg), having been promoted to lieutenant on 16 July 1862.

He suppressed an insurrection of Chinese workers on the Chincha Islands in 1865, and later in the same year landed at La Unión, El Salvador, to protect American interests during a revolution.

After serving in Europe and on the west coast of Africa, he commanded the sloop of war Essex from 1876 to 1879, most of the time in the South Atlantic on the Brazil Station.

On 22 June, near Cape Sabine in Grinnell Land, Schley rescued Greely and six (of his twenty-four) companions, after passing through 1,400 miles (2,300 km) of ice during the voyage.

He commanded one of the earliest protected cruisers, Baltimore, in Rear Admiral George Brown's squadron off the coast of Chile in 1891, going to the port of Valparaiso, when a number of American sailors there were stoned by a mob.

In August 1891, Baltimore, still under his command, was detailed to convey the remains of John Ericsson, designer of the famed first Civil War ironclad ship Monitor to Sweden.

When the crew of three American cruisers he encountered denied knowledge of Cervera's whereabouts, Schley decided to return to Key West, Florida, to get coal for his ship.

On 3 July, while Sampson in New York was en route to meet General William Shafter onshore in Cuba and Massachusetts was off coaling at Guantanamo, Admiral Cervera attempted to force his squadron through the blockade by coming out of the channel to Santiago harbor with guns blazing and then turning west.

Ironically, because Texas had already to some extent engaged Infanta Maria Teresa, Vizcaya, and Cristóbal Colón, and now Almirante Oquendo more closely and even the trailing Spanish torpedo boats, Plutón and Furor and had been involved with the excitement of the maneuvers by Brooklyn and Oregon, it received excellent press, far more than it actually deserved, and this to some extent may have exacerbated the negative impression arising from it having to first stop to avoid potential collision and then having its fire masked.

Texas had also already earned laurels during the taking of the Spaniards' Guantanamo, and would gain more in its engagement with Reina Mercedes after the battle, and this may have increased its perceived importance.

It was fortunate for Schley that Vizcaya, ordinarily a fast ship, was very slow due to having an extremely fouled hull and could not match the speed of Cristóbal Colón, which was now clear of the fight.

Now Schley steamed after Cristóbal Colón with Oregon trailing and Texas following further behind, while Iowa and Indiana and auxiliary vessels saw to the aftermath of the rest of the disabled Spanish fleet.

However, the long-range 13-inch (330 mm) guns of Oregon dissuaded it and, with Brooklyn immediately behind the captain of Cristóbal Colón, decided to beach and scuttle his ship.

Of that discussion neither officer personally took public notice until after the appearance of a work by Edgar Stanton Maclay entitled History of the United States Navy.

On December 13, 1901, the court reported its proceedings and the testimony taken, with a full and detailed statement of all the pertinent facts which it deemed to be established, together with its opinion and recommendations.

[3] The majority report of the court found that Commodore Schley failed to proceed to Santiago with due despatch, that the squadron should not have been delayed by the yacht USS Eagle, that he should not have turned westward, that he should have obeyed the Navy Department's order of May 25, 1898, that he did not do his utmost to capture Cristóbal Colón, that the turn of Brooklyn caused Texas to stop, for carelessness in endangering Texas, for blanketing the fire of other American vessels, that he did injustice to Lieutenant Commander Hodgson (Navigation officer of Brooklyn at the time of the incident), that his conduct in the Santiago campaign was characterized by vacillation, dilatoriness, and "lack of enterprise," and that his coal reports were inaccurate and misleading.

Admiral George Dewey, however, presented a minority report, in which he praised Schley for promptness and efficient service, and gave him the credit for the destruction of Cervera's fleet.

Rear Admiral Schley filed a protest against the court's findings, which, however, were approved by the Secretary of the Navy Long, who supported Sampson on grounds of rank and seniority.

After his collapse and death along 5th Avenue near the hotel, Schley's body lay unrecognized and unclaimed in the back yard of the local police precinct for several hours.