Volume XXV, Number 2

Thursday, 14 July, 1898

Political and General

THE WAR WITH SPAIN Progress of the War

Contrary to expectations it was announced on Tuesday, July 5. that General Shafter's forces will not at present attempt to force the surrender of Santiago. The president has requested Admiral Sampson and General Shafter to confer as to what action the present situation demands. The foreign consuls at Santiago have urged General Linares to surrender. The British warships Pallas and Alert and the Austrian warship Maria Teresa have been allowed to enter the harbor of Santiago to remove foreign subjects. Great indignation has been aroused among our troops by the action of Spanish troops and guerrillas in firing upon wounded men and on those carrying the wounded to the rear. The war department has been informed of the arrival of General Pando at Santiago with reinforcements. Later in the week it was denied that Pando accompanied the reinforcements.

Wednesday the Spanish cruiser Reina Mercedes, which has been lying in Santiago harbor, emerged with the intention, it is said, of blocking the entrance of the harbor. The cruiser was sunk out of the channel by our ships. The Indiana was struck by a shell from the Morro battery but no serious damage was done. The Spanish cruiser Alphonso XII attempted to run the blockade at Havana but was sunk and completely destroyed eight miles from the capital as she was attempting to enter Mariel. After the destruction of the Spanish fleet July 3 about four hundred and fifty prisoners on the auxiliary cruiser Harvard mutinied. They were fired upon, six being killed and twelve wounded. Order was then restored. Admira! Cervera and the commissioned officers of his fleet will be sent to Fort Warren, Boston. The enlisted men will be sent to Portsmouth. Dispatches received at Gibraltar from Madrid say that Admiral Camara has been ordered to return to Spain. President McKinley issued a proclamation requesting the American people to offer thanksgiving to God for having guided the American arms to victory. Prayers for peace were also requested.

Thursday news was received that Lieutenant Hobson and the seven sailors who sunk the Merrimac at the entrance of Santiago bay had been exchanged on Wednesday and are now

safely within the American lines. A Spanish lieutenant and twelve privates were given in exchange. Lieutenant Hobson and his men were received with great enthusiasm by the troops. General Miles and his staff left Washington for Charleston, where they will go on board a transport bound for Santiago. A dispatch from Juaragua says that General Young has refused to issue further rations to the Cubans who declined to assist in the hospital and commissary work, claiming that they are soldiers and not laborers. Secretary Long has directed Admiral Sampson to detach Commodore Watson's squadron immediately, and Commodore Watson has been ordered to proceed at once upon his mission. The vessels will be the Iowa, Oregon, Newark, three auxiliary cruisers, five coal ships, and a supply ship. The supply ships have been increased since the original orders were issued. Prizes captured recently are the Spanish ship Gallito, loaded with lumber and provisions, near the Isle of Pines, and a Spanish lighter loaded with provisions and valued at $50,000.

General Shafter has informed the Spanish commander at Santiago that he will renew his attack on the city if it is not surrendered by noon. He will have the coöperation of Admiral Sampson, who will fire on the city from the outer harbor. It is rumored that the Spanish cabinet is divided on the question of peace, the peace party advocating direct negotiations with the United States. Admiral Camara's squadron reëntered the Suez Canal and is returning to Spain. Assistant Naval Constructor Hobson and the men who aided him in sinking the Merrimac in the channel of Santiago harbor were welcomed aboard the cruiser New York after having spent several weeks in prison in Santiago.

Anticipating the expiration of the truce at Santiago, Saturday, General Toral, commanding the Spanish troops, sent General Shafter a formal offer to evacuate the city, provided his forces were permitted to retire with their arms to Holguin, sixty miles northwest of Santiago. General Shafter refused to consider the suggestion, and demanded an unconditional surrender. The delay has enabled the American commanders to improve their position. General Randolph's brigade arrived at Santiago Saturday.

July 10 General Shafter advised the war department that the bombardment of Santiago by army and navy would commence at four o'clock on that day. The St. Louis entered Portsmouth, N. H., with seven hundred and forty-six Spanish prisoners. Admiral Cervera was among them. The St. Paul and the Catania arrived at Siboney with General Henry's command and the First District of Columbia volunteers to reinforce General Shafter.

Sunday's artillery duel at Santiago was resumed Monday, but up to Tuesday morning no decisive result had been reported. General Shafter expresses confidence in his ability to take the town without further important losses. Adjutant-General Corbin received from General Shafter a revised report of the casualties before Santiago, on July 1, 2, and 3. It is as follows: Killed, 23 officers, 208 men; wounded. 80 officers, 1,203 men; missing, 81: total, 1,595. General Miles and his staff arrived at Santiago and held a consultation with General Shafter and Admiral Sampson..

The Destruction of Cervera's Squadron
New York Sun

Cervera knew that Santiago was doomed, and that his attempt to run must be made. But why did he choose open day? We can only surmise that he did not dare to try the narrow, tortuous channel at night, blocked partly as it was by the Merrimac. If so, Hobson performed a practical service by his renowned feat of daring, while Sampson's judgIment in authorizing it, based on the belief that Cervera would certainly try to escape, is also indicated by the events. The extent of the flight of the Cristobal Colon, before she came to grief like the rest, may perhaps serve to justify Cervera professionally in the attempt; and it may be added that his failure, though absolute, will always be held, in view of the overwhelming odds, as more creditable than a surrender without the attempt, which would have been inevitable in a few days more. As to the extraordinary inability of Cervera's fleet to inflict some damage on our ships beyond killing one man and wounding two more, it would create more surprise had not the whole war shown Spain's utter naval inefficiency. A fleet of splendid modern cruisers and torpedo boats, with armor, II-inch guns, and torpedo tubes to aid it, ought apparently to have made some of our vessels pay dearly for being in their path. But the fight was not only entirely subordinated to the running, but wretchedly futile. Cervera's fate showed once more that the Spaniards are not in our class on the seas, even with the finest warships to help them, just as it further shows that they never had the slightest chance in a war with us on this side of the Atlantic.

Springfield (Mass.) Republican

How great was the uplift which came late Sunday night with the news of the destruction of the Spanish fleet under Cervera the average citizen can scarcely realize. It had been a gloomy Sunday. The burden felt in Washington, in the newspaper offices, and in cities where bulletins were put out was great and depressing. The word from General Shafter had been anything but reassuring. Into such an atmosphere of gloomy foreboding came the midnight message from Washington that the Spanish fleet in Santiago harbor had been destroyed by Admiral Sampson. It illuminated the depressing situation with the dazzling brilliance of splendid victory. Here was an achievement akin to Dewey's and as thorough! The Fourth of July was to be made glorious indeed. Of course. the Spanish fleet was outclassed, for we had all our battleships in line, the pick of the navy,-the Iowa, Indiana, Massachusetts, Texas, and Oregon, besides the Brooklyn and New York; we outmatched them two to one. They fought bravely, yet most ineffectively, as at Manila. They simply couldn't hit anything, and the results eloquently demonstrate once more the fatal lack of gunnery practice which has made Spain's navy the plaything of the fleets of the United States. It is the old lesson and the old moral of Poor Richard's almanac-that homely routine duty faithfully performed makes easy the pathway to success.

Washington (D. C.) Post

Quite apart from any spirit of cavil, and speaking in the purest spirit of investigation, we should like to know-" for certain," as our southern friend says-whether Commodore W. S. Schley was in this Santiago affair at all. There is a general impression that he commanded the flying squadron which chased Cervera into Santiago harbor. As he had followed Cervera to the gates of Santiago, so was it he who met Cervera as he made his dash for liberty. At every important point in the drama Schley has been the central figure. He began it and he closed it He raised and then dropped the curtain. Still, Schley is not in evidence anywhere. We mean officially. Two reports have been sent in to the departmentone from Sampson, who was cruising seven or eight miles away when the trouble began, and another from Watson, who was not in the affair at all-but Schley does not appear. So far as the record goes, he did nothing. He is not known in the bulletins. To all intents and purposes-so far as concerns the official proclamations, the felicitations and the various interchanges of mutual approval-Commodore Schley did not figure in the episode. How does all this happen, we should like to know?

New Orleans (La.) Picayune

It is difficult to understand why Cervera decided to make a sortie from the harbor in the face of almost certain destruction, when, by remaining, he could have materially aided in the defense of Santiago. Whatever the motive, however, the

act reflected high credit on his courage, and, although he was unfortunate and lost his ships, he won undying fame as a gallant sailor, who preferred to fight his ship while there remained a plank to stand on, rather than be forced eventually to surrender in a land-locked harbor. Never was a forlorn hope more valiantly entered upon nor carried out to the bitter end with grander courage. Cervera has fully met the expectations aroused by his chivalrous conduct when Hobson and his little band of heroes fell into his hands. With Montejo and Cervera out of the way, the navy must seek its next laurels in the pursuit of Camara, or on the coast of Spain, and advices from Washington indicate that there is not to be a moment's delay in undertaking these remaining tasks.

Hartford (Conn.) Courant

As fleet commander it became Sampson's duty to announce the victory to the department. He did not say: I offer the nation as a Fourth of July present," etc. He said: "The fleet under my command offers the nation as a Fourth of July present," etc. He might well have included in his dispatch a few words of praise for Schley and the others who actually won the victory, but these will doubtless be found in the extended report still to be submitted. In addressing his message of thanks and congratulation to the acting admiral, President McKinley only conformed to official etiquette. The thanks were meant for the fleet. We can not believe that there has been or is any thought in official quarters of overlooking Commodore Schley or belittling his part in that memorable achievement. If any injustice of the kind were attempted, public opinion would have an emphatic word or two to say on the subject.

Brooklyn Times

It is the glory of the navy that not once in the brilliant naval history of this war has an officer, holding responsibility according to his rank, failed to meet the full measure of his opportunity, from Sigsbee keeping his calm judgment in the face of the Maine disaster. or later engaging the Spanish torpedo-boat destroyer with an unprotected cruiser, to Wainwright sailing in to destroy two of these terrifying destroyers with his armed pleasure yacht. Dewey at Manila and Schley at Santiago are the two commodores who have had great opportunities and have met them greatly. Each occasion has displayed the fine organization of the navy, as well as the individual courage and skill of the commanders of our ships, but these two great naval battles, in their absolute completeness. stand out conspicuous in history, and the names of Dewey and Schley will be linked together, not merely by the formal thanks of congress, but by the grateful recognition of the American people.

destroyed by Sampson was superior to that destroyed by Dewey, but the destroying fleet was also superior. Dewey accomplished his success without losing a man. Sampson reports the loss of one man, the capture of the Spanish admiral and 1,300 of his men, the destruction of the remainder, amounting to several hundred. The victory puts Commodore Schley in the Dewey class, and it shows that our navy is not superior by chance. It has merit throughout. The American warship, the American gunner, and the American commander take a stand at the head. The successes of our navy in past wars have been sources of pride to the nation. There is no falling off in that respect now. Braver and more competent men, or better-fought ships were never known in the world. Who is not proud that he is an American citizen?

Brooklyn Citizen

It was a splendid victory-a glorious piece of news to flash over the wires to Washington on the day when the whole country was given up to the festivities of the Fourth of July. It added a thousandfold to the traditional glories of the day. Like Dewey's great fight, and for which the whole country rejoiced, the destruction of the "phantom" squadron was encompassed without damage to a single American ship and but one fatal casualty to the 'crews. Surely the "Maine has been remembered” and its destruction most amply revenged. Schley and his brave. plucky men have covered themselves with undying glory, and their great victory will go down in history, together with that of Dewey, as being unexampled in the list of great naval conflicts.

Philadelphia Inquirer

By general consent the credit of having sunk the two Spanish torpedo-boat destroyers off Santiago is given to Lieutenant Wainwright and the gallant crew that manned the converted Morgan yacht Corsair, which since its purchase by the government is known as the Gloucester. The result of that combat is now a matter of history, and it will figure to the eternal glory of the man who, remembering his narrow escape from death during the sinking of the Maine, took the first opportunity that presented itself to pay his respects to the foe in whose harbor the Maine was sunk. All honor to her

and her gallant crew. The nation that can conquer men like them does not exist to-day.

Albany (N. Y.) Express

Many newspapers, in fact most of them, have been giving Admiral Sampson the credit for the brilliant naval victory at Santiago. They have been calling it " Sampson's victory and otherwise they have alluded to it as an event planned and directed by him. It was Commodore Schley who directed the maneuvers of the American ships when Cervera attempted his escape. Admiral Sampson was on this occasion like the proverbial American policeman in that he arrived when the fight was over. That was not his fault, inasmuch as he had gone away on official business; but it is a fact which proves decisively where the credit belongs. If Admiral Sampson had been near when Cervera came out of the bottle, he would have directed the operations and he would have completed the suddenly imposed task as well as Schley. He could not have done the work better.

Cleveland (O.) Plain Dealer

Never in the history of the country, since the old bell on Independence hall rang out the glad tidings of the birth of a nation, has there been a more glorious Fourth of July than that of this year. Once before there was a great victory on the Fourth of July, the surrender of Vicksburg thirty-five years ago, but that was a victory of Americans over Americans and brought sorrow to one part of the country while the other part rejoiced. This was a Glorious Fourth for all AmeriFrom the Golden Gate to Sandy Hook, from Keweenaw point to Key West, there was rejoicing over the splendid Fourth of July present which Admiral Sampson's fleet tendered the nation in the total destruction of Cervera's fleet.

cans.

Cleveland (O.) Leader

Brilliant as was the achievement of the American sea fighters. sight must not be lost of the wonderful bravery of the Spanish commander and the gallant men who served under him. Cervera is certain to be a hero at home, and he deserves to be. He took a desperate chance-the only one that was left to save his squadron, and the failure of the attempt to get away should detract nothing from the courage which prompted him to take the risk. He has retrieved in a measure what his reputation lost when he permitted himself to be bottled in the harbor of Santiago.

Cincinnati (O.) Commercial-Tribune

When the fight was over, the Gloucester was nearest Admiral Cervera's flagship Infanta Maria Teresa, and a small boat put off from the yacht, with Lieutenant Morton in charge. Into the lowly lieutenant's hands the proud commander of Spain's best fleet placed his surrendered sword and begged to be taken aboard the little yacht, which had come through her experiences unscathed. That she escaped is nothing more nor less than a miracle. That she entered into the fight with such huge determination to do more than her part is due to LieutenantCommander Richard Wainwright. All honor to this man, then, who so effectually and so gallantly remembered the Maine."

Detroit (Mich.) Free Press

The glorious achievement of the swift little Gloucester, whose wonderfully served 3-pound and 6-pound batteries made short work of the Spanish torpedo-boat destroyers, gives to Captain Wainwright most creditable distinction in the thrilling naval battle. To the glory of his wonderful work with the yacht is added the credit of receiving the Spanish admiral as a prisoner with all the chivalry and kindness of a true American gentleman. It was one of the most brilliant naval triumphs ever recorded in the annals of sea fighting, and honors can not be heaped too high upon those who contributed such a glorious day to American history. They were valiant and dauntless conquerors, all!

Nashville (Tenn.) American

There appears to be a remarkable lack of either skill or ability in the Spanish navy. From admirals to gunners there is lamentable deficiency. If the men who propelled Columbus's caravals were resurrected and put in charge of a modern warship their knowledge of how to manage them could be hardly inferior to that displayed by the Spaniards of to-day. Spanish maneuvers have been a travesty on naval warfare; they have not been able to so much as afford the spectacle of a firstclass battle at sea. All their ships appear to have done has been to suffer destruction from the Americans without the power to make effective resistance.

Bangor (Me.) Commercial

This second great victory lifts the importance of the American navy to a high place among the great navies of the world, and makes it likely that an end to the present war will very soon be reached. Then will come an era of great business revival which is as sure to follow the declaration of peace, as sun is sure to follow the storm. Thus the new meaning of this Independence day of 1898, is one far-reaching in its consequences for the greater development of the American nation and the higher and larger good of humanity wherever our nation sends the benign influences of its magnificent civilization.

Kansas City (Mo.) Journal

The respect and fear inspired by Dewey's achievement have been immeasurably heightened by the victory of Sampson's fleet. The demonstration of splendid maneuvering and accurate gunuery in these two engagements is without parallel. The achievement of last Sunday morning is calculated to eliminate entirely the element of luck and give full credit to the superiority of science. It is an eloquent suggestion of what the future navy of the United States is to be. The Spaniards fought with desperation and heroism. They were overpowered by superior force, both material and scientific. The lesson is obvious.

Augusta (Me.) Journal

It is to be hoped that such a crushing blow will increase Spain's desire for peace and help to show her the hopelessness and foolishness of her course. There are unpleasant times in store for the Spanish government when the people learn that the armada of Admiral Cervera, supposed to be invincible, has been annihilated as completely as was Montejo's fleet at Manila.

Vicksburg (Miss.) Herald

The courage of the vanquished, both on land and sea, has been worthy of all praise. Fighting in a bad, a desperate, and a hopeless cause, there has been no inspiration such as is necessary to brace men up to sustained valor. But the declining day of Spanish empire is being lit up with a courage that gives dignity to the ultimo suspiro-even if it is the courage of despair. What will follow this overwhelming defeat-for the fate of the Spanish army at Santiago is surely settled-ought not to be uncertain. The uneven contest should in all sense and