FROM ALL QUARTERS.
_May 11._ A state of siege proclaimed throughout Spain. In a dozen cities
or more continued rioting and sacking of warehouses. The seacoast between
Cadiz and Malaga no longer lighted. The second division of the Spanish
navy, consisting of the battle-ship _Pelayo_, the armoured cruiser _Carlos
V._, the protected cruiser _Alphonso XIII._, the converted cruisers
_Rapido_ and _Patria_, and several torpedo-boats, remain in Cadiz Harbour.
_May 12._ The story of an attempt to land American troops in Cuba is thus
told by one of the officers of the steamer _Gussie_, which vessel left
Tampa on the tenth.
“In an effort to land Companies E and G of the first U. S. Infantry on the
shore of Pinar del Rio this afternoon, with five hundred rifles, sixty
thousand rounds of ammunition, and some food supplies for the insurgents,
the first land fight of the war took place. Each side may claim a victory,
for if the Spaniards frustrated the effort to connect with the insurgents,
the Americans got decidedly the better of the battle, killing twelve or
more of the enemy, and on their own part suffering not a wound.
[Illustration: U. S. S. MIANTONOMAH.]
“After dark last evening the old-fashioned sidewheel steamer _Gussie_ of
the Morgan line, with troops and cargo mentioned, was near the Cuban
coast. At sunrise she fell in with the gunboat _Vicksburg_ on the blockade
off Havana. Other blockading vessels came up also. The converted revenue
cutter _Manning_, Captain Munger, was detailed to convoy the _Gussie_,
and, three abreast, the steamers moved along the coast.
“The Cuban guides on the _Gussie_ took their machetes to a grindstone on
the hurricane-deck. Our soldiers gathered around to see them sharpen their
long knives, but only one could be induced to test the edge of these
barbarous instruments with his thumb.
“By the ruined walls of an old stone house Spanish troops were gathered.
Several shots were fired by the gunboat _Manning_, and presently no troops
were visible. It had been decided to land near here, but the depth of
water was not favourable.
“Just west of Port Cabanas Harbour the _Gussie_ anchored, the _Manning_
covering the landing-place with her guns, and the torpedo-boat _Wasp_ came
up eager to assist. The first American soldier to step on the Cuban shore
from this expedition was Lieutenant Crofton, Captain O’Connor with the
first boatload having gone a longer route. A reef near the beach threw the
men out, and they stumbled through the water up to their breasts. When
they reached dry land they immediately went into the bush to form a
picket-line. Two horses had been forced to swim ashore, when suddenly a
rifle-shot, followed by continuous sharp firing, warned the men that the
enemy had been in waiting.
“The captain of the transport signalled the war-ships, and the _Manning_
fired into the woods beyond our picket-line. Shrapnel hissed through the
air like hot iron plunged in water. The _Wasp_ opened with her small guns.
The cannonade began at 3.15 and lasted a quarter of an hour; then our
pickets appeared, the ships circled around, and, being told by Captain
O’Connor, who had come from shore with the clothing torn from one leg,
where the Spaniards were, a hundred shots more were fired in that
direction.
“‘Anybody hurt, captain?’ some one asked.
“‘None of our men, but we shot twelve Spaniards,’ he shouted back.
“The soldiers on board the _Gussie_ heard the news without a word, but
learning where the enemy were situated, gathered aft on the upper deck,
and sent volleys toward the spot.
“The pickets returned to the bush. Several crept along the beach, but the
Spaniards had drawn back. It was decided that the soldiers should reëmbark
on the _Gussie_, and that the guides take the horses, seek the insurgents,
and make a new appointment. They rode off to the westward, and disappeared
around a point.
“‘Say,’ shouted a man from Company G after them, ‘you forgot your
grindstone.’”
_May 12._ On Thursday morning, May 12th, the gunboat _Wilmington_ stood in
close to the coast, off the town of Cardenas, with her crew at quarters.
She had come for a specific purpose, which was to avenge the _Winslow_,
and not until she was within range of the gunboats that had decoyed the
_Winslow_ did she slacken speed. Then the masked battery, which had opened
on the American boat with such deadly effect, was covered by the
_Wilmington’s_ guns.
There were no preliminaries. The war-vessel was there to teach the
Spaniards of Cardenas a lesson, and set about the task without delay.
The town is three miles distant from the gulf entrance to the harbour,
therefore no time need be wasted in warning non-combatants, for they were
in little or no danger.
During two weeks troops had been gathering near about Cardenas to protect
it against American invasion; masked batteries were being planted,
earthworks thrown up, and blockhouses erected. There was no lack of
targets.
Carefully, precisely, as if at practice, the _Wilmington_ opened fire from
her 4-inch guns, throwing shells here, there, everywhere; but more
particularly in the direction of that masked battery which had trained its
guns on the _Winslow_, and as the Spaniards, panic-stricken, hearing a
death-knell in the sighing, whistling missiles, fled in mad terror, the
gunboats’ machine guns were called into play.
It is safe to assert that the one especial object of the American sailors’
vengeance was completely destroyed. Not a gun remained mounted, not a man
was alive, save those whose wounds were mortal. The punishment was
terrible, but complete.
Until this moment the Spaniards at Cardenas had believed they might with
impunity open fire on any craft flying the American flag; but now they
began to understand that such sport was in the highest degree dangerous.
During a full hour—and in that time nearly three hundred shells had been
sent on errands of destruction—the _Wilmington_ continued her bombardment
of the defences.
When the work was completed two gunboats had been sunk so quickly that
their crews had no more than sufficient time to escape. Two schooners were
converted into wrecks at their moorings. One blockhouse was consumed by
flames, and signal-stations, masked batteries, and forts were in ruins.
While this lesson was in progress the Spaniards did their best to bring it
to a close; but despite all efforts the _Wilmington_ was unharmed. There
was absolutely no evidence of conflict about her when she finally steamed
away, save such as might have been read on the smoke-begrimed faces of the
hard-worked but triumphant and satisfied crew.
[Illustration: ADMIRAL SCHLEY.]
_May 13._ An English correspondent, cabling from Hongkong regarding the
Spaniards in the Philippine Islands, made the following statement:
“They are in a position to give the Americans a deal of trouble. There are
twenty-five thousand Spanish soldiers in the garrison at Manila, and one
hundred thousand volunteers enrolled. Scores of coasting steamers are
imprisoned on the river Pasig, which is blocked at the mouth by some
sunken schooners.
“Mr. Wildman, the American consul here, tells me that, according to his
despatches, a flag of truce is flying over Manila, and the people are
allowed to proceed freely to and from the ships in the harbour.
“The Americans are on duty night and day on the lookout for boats which
endeavour to run the blockade with food supplies. The hospital is
supported by the Americans. The Spaniards are boasting that their big
battle-ship _Pelayo_ is coming, and will demolish the Americans in ten
minutes.”
On the afternoon of May 13th the flying squadron, Commodore W. S. Schley
commanding, set sail from Old Point Comfort, heading southeast. The
following vessels comprised the fleet. The cruiser _Brooklyn_, the
flag-ship, the battle-ships _Massachusetts_ and _Texas_, and the
torpedo-boat destroyer _Scorpion_. The _Sterling_, with 4,000 tons of
coal, was the collier of the squadron. At eight o’clock in the evening the
_Minneapolis_ followed, and Captain Sigsbee of the _St. Paul_ received
orders to get under way at midnight.
_May 14._ Eleven steamers, chartered by the government as troop-ships,
sailed from New York for Key West. At San Francisco, the cruiser
_Charleston_, with supplies and reinforcements for Admiral Dewey’s fleet
at Manila, had been made ready for sea.
At Havana General Blanco had shown great energy in preparing for the
expected siege by American forces. The city and forts were reported as
being provisioned sufficiently for three or four months, and Havana was
surrounded by entrenchments for a distance of thirty miles. The troops in
the garrison numbered seventy thousand, and a like number were in the
interior fighting the insurgents.
The condition of the reconcentrados in Havana had grown steadily worse.
The mortality increased among this wretched class, who had taken to
begging morsels of food.
Nobody in Havana except a few higher officers knew that the Spanish fleet
was annihilated at Manila, and the story was believed that the Americans
were beaten there.
At Madrid in the Chamber of Deputies Señor Bores asked the government to
inform the house of the condition of the Philippines. After the
pacification of the islands, he said, outbreaks had occurred at Pansy and
Cebu and even in Manila. Was this a new rebellion, he asked, or a
continuation of the old one? If it was a continuation of the old
rebellion, then General Prima de Rivera’s pacification of the islands had
been a perfect fraud. General Correa, Minister of War, replied that the
old insurrection was absolutely over. The present one, he said, arose from
the incitements of the Americans.
Señor Bores retorted that he had received a private letter from the
Philippines, dated April 10th, prior to the arising of any fear of war
with the United States, giving pessimistic accounts of the risings there,
and passengers arriving by the steamer _Leon III._ had told similar
stories. Now, he declared, the Spanish troops in the Philippines were in a
terrible condition, being between two fires, the natives and the
Americans. Señor Bores’s remarks created a profound sensation.
The cruiser _Charleston_ was reported as being ready to sail from San
Francisco for Manila. Three hundred sailors and marines to reinforce
Admiral Dewey’s fleet were to be sent on the cruiser.
The U. S. S. _Oregon_, _Marietta_, and _Nictheroy_ arrived at Bahia,
Brazil.
The Spanish torpedo-boat _Terror_, of the Cape Verde fleet, reported as
yet remaining at Port de France, Martinique.
A press correspondent gives the following spirited account, under the date
of May 14th, of a second attempt to entice the American blockading
squadron within range of the Santa Clara battery guns:
“Captain-General Blanco, two hours before sunset to-night, attempted to
execute a ruse, which, if successful, would have cleared the front of
Havana of six ships on that blockading station.
“Unable to come out to do battle, he adopted the tactics of the spider,
and cunningly planned to draw the prey into his net, but, though a clever
and pretty scheme as an original proposition, it was practically a
repetition of the trick by which the gunboat _Vicksburg_ and the little
converted revenue cutter _Morrill_ were last week decoyed by a
fishing-smack under the big Krupp guns of Santa Clara batteries.
“Thanks to bad gunnery, both ships on that occasion managed to get out of
range without being sunk, though some of the shells burst close aboard,
and the _Vicksburg’s_ Jacob’s-ladder was cut adrift.
“Late this afternoon the ships on the Havana station were dumfounded to
see two vessels steam out of Havana Harbour and head east. Dense smoke was
streaming like black ribbons from their stacks, and a glance showed that
they were under full head of steam.
“By aid of glasses Commander Lilly of the _Mayflower_, which was flying
the pennant, made out the larger vessel of the two, which was two hundred
feet long and about forty-five hundred tons displacement, to be the
cruiser _Alphonso XII._, and the small one to be the gunboat _Legaspi_,
both of which were known to be bottled up in Havana Harbour.
“At first he supposed that they were taking advantage of the absence of
the heavy fighting-ships, and were making a bona-fide run for the open
sea.
“As superior officer, he immediately signalled the other war-ships on the
station, the _Vicksburg_, _Annapolis_, _Wasp_, _Tecumseh_, and _Osceola_.
The little squadron gave chase to the flying Spaniards, keeping up a
running fire as they advanced. The _Alphonso_ and her consort circled
inshore about five miles below Havana, and headed back for Morro Castle.
“Our gunboats and the vessels of the mosquito fleet did not follow them
in. Commander Lilly saw that the wily Spanish ruse was to draw them in
under the guns of the heavy batteries, where Spanish artillery officers
could plot out the exact range with their telemeters. So the return was
made in line ahead, parallel with the shore.
“Commander Lilly had not been mistaken. As his ships came abreast of Santa
Clara battery the big guns opened, and fired thirteen shells at a distance
of about five miles. The range was badly judged, as more than half the
missiles overshot the mark, and others fell short, some as much as a mile.
“The big _Alphonso_ and her convoy steamed swiftly from the dark shadow of
the harbour’s mouth, and, turning sharply east, ran along the coast as
though to slip through the cordon of blockade.
“It was a bold trick and not at first transparent, although the folly of
it created a suspicion.
“The Spanish boats crowded on steam and stood along the coast as long as
they dared, to give zest to the chase. The _Mayflower_ signalled her
consorts, ‘Close in and charge.’
“Seeing that the bait had apparently taken, the Spaniards veered about,
and, bringing their stern-chasers to bear on the Americans, doubled back
for Morro.
“Two of the shells from the _Vicksburg_ burst in the rigging of the
_Alphonso_, and some of it came down, but it was, of course, impossible to
know whether any fatalities occurred. The American fire was much more
accurate than the Spanish, as every shell of the latter fell short of
their pursuers.
“The Spaniards were a mile off Morro, and our ships fully four miles out,
when flame leaped from the batteries of the Santa Clara forts, and clouds
of white smoke drifted up the coast. Half a minute later a dull, heavy
roar of a great gun came like a deep diapason of an organ on high treble
of smaller guns. It was from one of the 12-inch Krupp guns mounted there,
and an 85-pound projectile plunged into the water half a mile inside of
the American line, throwing up a tower of white spray. It ricochetted and
struck again half a mile outside.
“The mask was now off. Maddened by the failure of their plot, the
Spaniards continued to fire at intervals of about ten minutes. In all,
thirteen shots were fired, but not one struck within two hundred yards of
our ships.
“As soon as the battery opened, Commander Lilly signalled, and his fleet
stood offshore. Captain McKensie, on the bridge of the _Vicksburg_,
watched the fall of the shells, but he considered it useless to waste
ammunition at that distance. He appeased the desire of the men at the
guns, however, by letting go a final broadside at the Spanish ships, in
the chance hope of making them pay for their daring before they gained the
harbour, but they steamed under Morro’s guns untouched, and, as they
disappeared, discharged several guns.
“Half a dozen shots were sent after them at that moment by the
_Annapolis_, which dropped inside the harbour, probably creating
consternation among scores of boats on the water-front.”
_May 15._ The Spanish cruisers _Maria Teresa_, _Vizcaya_, _Almirante
Oquendo_, and _Cristobal Colon_, and torpedo-boat destroyers, which
arrived off the port of Curacoa, sailed at sunset on the 15th, after
having purchased coal and provisions.
The flying squadron under command of Commodore Schley arrived off
Charleston, S. C.
Admiral Sampson’s squadron passed Cape Haytien.
All the members of the Spanish Cabinet have resigned.
A report from Ponce, Porto Rico, under date of May 15th, describes the
inhabitants of the island as living in constant fear of a renewal of the
bombardment of San Juan by Admiral’s Sampson’s fleet. There are no
submarine mines in the harbour of Ponce, and the generally unprotected
condition of the place is a cause of much anxiety.
_May 16._ Freeman Halstead, an American newspaper correspondent, arrested
at San Juan de Porto Rico, while in the act of making photographs of the
fortifications. He was sentenced by a military tribunal to nine years’
imprisonment.
In a general order issued at the War Department, the assignments to the
different corps and other important commands were announced. The order is
as follows:
“The following assignments of general officers to command is hereby made
by the President:
“Maj.-Gen. Wesley Merritt, U. S. A., the Department of the Pacific.
“Maj.-Gen. John R. Brooke, U. S. A., the first corps and the Department of
the Gulf.
“Maj.-Gen. W. M. Graham, U. S. Volunteers, the second corps, with
headquarters at Falls Church, Va.
“Maj.-Gen. James M. Wade, U. S. Volunteers, the third corps, reporting to
Major-General Brooke, Chickamauga.
“Maj.-Gen. John J. Coppinger, U. S. Volunteers, the fourth corps, Mobile,
Ala.
“Maj.-Gen. William R. Shafter, U. S. Volunteers, the fifth corps, Tampa,
Fla.
“Maj.-Gen. Elwell S. Otis, U. S. Volunteers, to report to Major-General
Merritt, U. S. A., for duty with troops in the Department of the Pacific.
“Maj.-Gen. James H. Wilson, U. S. Volunteers, the sixth corps,
Chickamauga, reporting to Major-General Brooke.
“Maj.-Gen. Fitzhugh Lee, U. S. Volunteers, the seventh corps, Tampa, Fla.
“Maj.-Gen. Joseph H. Wheeler, U. S. Volunteers, the cavalry division,
Tampa, Fla.”
Orders were given by Admiral Sampson to Captain Goodrich of the _St.
Louis_, on May 15th, to take the fleet tender in tow and proceed to
Santiago de Cuba to cut the cables at that point. The grappling implements
were secured from the tug _Wampatuck_ on May 16th, and at eleven P. M. the
expedition, in the small boats, left the cruiser for the entrance of
Santiago. It was then perfectly dark and hazy, but the Santiago light was
burning brightly. Moonrise was not until 3.45 A. M. At three A. M. on May
17th the expedition returned with part of one cable, but it had failed to
find a second cable, which is close under the fort, and was protected by
two patrol-boats. Then a start was made to cut the cable on the other side
of the island. At seven A. M. the _St. Louis_ fired her first gun at the
forts protecting the entrance to Santiago Harbour, and after a little time
the fire was returned by what must have been a 2-pounder.
At eight A. M. the _St. Louis_ was about two miles distant from the fort,
which seemed to be unprovided with modern guns. After three hours
grappling in over five hundred fathoms, the cable had not been found. At
12.15 P. M. the guns of Morro Castle opened fire, followed by the shore
battery on the southerly point, and also the west battery. The _St.
__Louis_ kept up a constant fire from her bow guns, and soon succeeded in
silencing the guns of Morro Castle, the Spaniards running in all
directions.
Most of the shots from the fort fell short of the ship. Shells from the
mortar battery went over the cruiser and exploded in the water quite close
to the _St. Louis_. The mortar battery ceased at 12.56 P. M., after a
fusilade of forty-one minutes. After firing the cable was grappled, hauled
on board, and cut.
_May 17._ The Spanish squadron reported as yet remaining at Cadiz.
The U. S. S. _Wilmington_ had a slight action with a Spanish gunboat off
the Cuban coast, during which the latter was disabled.
_May 18._ The U. S. cruiser _Charleston_ left San Francisco for the
Philippines with supplies for Commodore Dewey’s fleet.
_May 19._ By cable from Madrid it was learned that the Spanish fleet had
arrived at Santiago de Cuba.
The cruiser _Charleston_, which sailed for Manila, returned to Mare Island
navy yard with her condensers out of order.
_May 21._ An order was despatched to San Francisco to prepare the
_Monterey_ for a voyage to Manila, where she would join Commodore Dewey’s
fleet. The _Monterey_ is probably the most formidable monitor in the
world; technically described she is a barbed turret, low freeboard monitor
of four thousand tons displacement, 256 feet long, fifty-nine feet beam,
and fourteen feet six inches draught. She carries in two turrets,
surrounded by barbettes, two 12-inch and two 10-inch guns, while on her
superstructure, between the turrets, are mounted six 6-pounders, four
1-pounders, and two Gatlings. The turrets are seven and one-half and eight
inches thick, and the surrounding barbettes are fourteen inches and eleven
and one-half inches of steel.
[Illustration: U. S. S. MONTEREY.]
One of the most important prizes captured during the war was taken by the
U. S. S. _Minneapolis_ off the eastern coast of Cuba. The craft was the
Spanish brig _Santa Maria de Lourdes_, loaded with coal, ammunition, arms,
and supplies for Admiral Cervera.
Nearly four hundred men, with a pack-train and a large quantity of arms
and ammunition, sailed for a point about twenty-five miles east of Havana,
on the steamer _Florida_. These men and their equipment constituted an
expedition able to operate independently, and to defend itself against any
body of Spanish troops which might oppose it.
The _Florida_ returned to Key West on the thirty-first, after having
successfully landed the ammunition and men.
_May 22._ The U. S. S. _Charleston_ again left San Francisco, bound for
Manila.
_May 25._ The U. S. S. _St. Paul_ captured the British steamer
_Restormel_, loaded with coal, off Santiago de Cuba. The prize is a long,
low tramp collier belonging to the Troy company of Cardiff, Wales. She
left there on April 22d, the day before war was declared, with
twenty-eight hundred tons of the finest grade of Cardiff coal consigned to
a Spanish firm in San Juan de Porto Rico, where the Spanish fleet was
supposed to make its first stop.
“When we reached San Juan,” said the captain of the _Restormel_, “the
consignees told me very curtly that the persons for whom the coal was
destined were in Curacoa. At Porto Rico I learned that war had been
declared. I began to suspect that the coal was going to Cervera’s fleet,
but my Spanish consignees said it would be all right. They told me not to
ask any questions, but to go to Curacoa as soon as possible. I did so,
placing my cargo under orders.
“The consignee at Curacoa was a Spanish officer. He said there had been
another change of base, and that the coal was wanted at Santiago de Cuba.
I tried to cable my owners for instructions, but found that the cables had
been cut. Under the circumstances there was nothing for me to do but to go
to Santiago. By this time I was pretty well convinced that the cargo was
for Cervera. I suspected that coal had been made a contraband of war, so I
wasn’t a bit surprised when the _St. Paul_ brought us to, with a shot,
three and a half miles from shore.”
In the prize court it was decided to confiscate the coal, and release the
steamer.
The President issued a proclamation calling for seventy-five thousand men.
Three troop-ships, laden with soldiers, sailed from San Francisco for
Manila.
_May 26._ The battle-ship _Oregon_, which left San Francisco March 19th,
arrived at Key West.
_May 27._ The Spanish torpedo-boat destroyer arrived at San Juan de Porto
Rico.
_May 28._ From Commodore Dewey the following cablegram was received:
“CAVITE, May 25th, via Hongkong, May 27th.
“_Secretary Navy, Washington_:—No change in the situation of the blockade.
Is effective. It is impossible for the people of Manila to buy provisions,
except rice.
“The captain of the _Olympia_, Gridley, condemned by medical survey. Is
ordered home. Leaves by Occidental and Oriental steamship from Hongkong
the twenty-eighth. Commander Lamberton appointed commander of the
_Olympia_.”
_May 29._ Maj.-Gen. Wesley Merritt issued an order formally announcing
that he had taken command of the Philippine forces and expeditions.
_May 31._ United States troops board transports for Cuba.
The beginning of June saw the opening of the first regular campaign of the
war, and it is eminently proper the operations around and about Santiago
de Cuba be told in a continuous narrative, rather than with any further
attempt at giving the news from the various parts of the world in
chronological order.
Therefore such events, aside from the Santiago campaign, as are worthy a
place in history, will be set down in regular sequence after certain deeds
of the boys of ’98 have been related in such detail as is warranted by the
heroism displayed.