RESULTS OF THE FIGHT--LIFE IN THE TRENCHES--THE SPANISH FLEET IN
SANTIAGO HARBOR--ANOTHER GREAT NAVAL VICTORY--THE ROUGH RIDERS AND THE
SPANISH GUERILLAS
The fight had been a hard and heavy one. The Rough Riders had gone into
the engagement just 490 strong, and of that number 89 were killed or
wounded. The total loss to the Americans was 1071 killed and wounded.
The loss to the Spanish was also heavy, but the exact figures will
probably never be known.
Utterly tired out with their marching and fighting, the Rough Riders
intrenched as best they could, cared for their wounded and dead, and
then dropped down to get a well-earned rest. The night was misty and
cold, and many who had been bathed in perspiration suffered accordingly.
Theodore Roosevelt had a blanket taken from the Spanish, and in this he
rolled himself, and slept with others of his command.
At three o'clock in the morning came an unexpected alarm. The Spanish
skirmishers were out in force, trying to drive the Americans back. But
there was no heavy attack, and presently all became as quiet as before.
"They'll not give up yet," said one of the officers of the Rough Riders.
"They mean to retake this hill if they can."
Just at daybreak the Spaniards opened the attack on San Juan Hill once
more. Theodore Roosevelt was resting under a little tree when a shrapnel
shell burst close by, killing or wounding five men of the command. He at
once ordered the eight troops under him to a safer position, where the
Spanish battery and the sharpshooters could not locate them so readily.
If the fight had been hard, guarding the trenches was almost equally so.
The sun beat down fiercely, and the newly turned up earth made many of
the Rough Riders sick. Added to this, provisions were, as usual, slow in
arriving. Those in the trenches were kept there six hours, and then
relieved by the others who were farther to the rear.
"Running from the cover of brush to the trenches was no easy matter,"
says one Rough Rider who was there. "We had dug the trenches in a hurry,
and had no passages from the rear leading to them. All we could do was
to wait for a signal, and then rush, and when we did that, the Spaniards
would open a hot fire and keep it up for perhaps fifteen minutes. The
sun was enough to turn a man's brain, and more than one poor fellow
caught a fever there that proved fatal to him."
Through the entire day the firing continued, but no advances were made
upon either side. The Americans were waiting for reinforcements, and the
Spaniards were doing likewise. On our side a dynamite gun and two Colt's
guns were used, but with little success. But the Gatling guns proved
very effective, and caused a great loss to the enemy.
The city of Santiago lies on the northeast coast of a large bay of the
same name. This bay is shaped somewhat like a bottle, with a long neck
joining it to the Caribbean Sea.
In the harbor, at the time of the battles just described, the Spaniards
had a fleet of war-ships under the command of Admiral Cervera, an old
and able naval commander. In the fleet were four large cruisers and two
torpedo-boats. Three of the cruisers were of seven thousand tons burden
each, and all could make from eighteen to nineteen knots an hour. Each
carried a crew of about five hundred men, and all were well supplied
with guns and ammunition.
To keep this fleet "bottled up," our own navy had a fleet of its own
just outside of the harbor, where it had been stationed ever since
Admiral Cervera had been discovered within. The American fleet consisted
of the cruiser _Brooklyn_, which was Commodore Schley's flag-ship, the
battleships _Texas_, _Iowa_, _Indiana_, and _Oregon_ (the latter having
sailed all the way from the Pacific coast around Cape Horn to get into
the fight), and the converted yachts _Gloucester_ and _Vixen_. There
were also close at hand, but not near enough to get into the fight, the
cruiser _New York_, Admiral Sampson's flag-ship, and several other
vessels of lesser importance.
For a long time it had been thought that Cervera would try to escape
from the harbor, in which he could not be reached because of the strong
forts that protected the entrance. To bottle him up more effectively,
the Americans tried to block up the harbor entrance by sinking an old
iron steamboat, the _Merrimac_, in the channel. This heroic work was
undertaken by Lieutenant Hobson with a crew of seven daring men, but the
plan failed, for the _Merrimac_, instead of sinking where intended,
swung to one side of the main channel.
When it was reported to him that the Americans had taken the heights of
El Caney and San Juan and were strongly intrenched in their positions,
Admiral Cervera concluded that Santiago Bay might soon become too hot to
hold him. The capture of the city would be followed by the taking of the
forts at the harbor entrance, and then there would be nothing left for
him to do but to surrender.
San Juan and El Caney had been taken on Friday, and all day Saturday
occurred the shooting at long range, as already described. In the
meantime the war-ships outside of the harbor kept up a close watch on
the harbor entrance, lying well out during the day, but coming in closer
at night, and using their powerful search-lights from sundown to
sunrise.
Sunday dawned bright and clear, and for the time being all was quiet
both ashore and afloat. In the trenches the Rough Riders and other
soldiers were still on guard, doing what they could for their wounded,
and trying to get the rations which were still delayed.
Presently, those on board of the American fleet noticed a thick cloud of
smoke hanging over the harbor, coming from the funnels of the Spanish
war-ships. Then one of the enemy's vessels showed itself, quickly
followed by the others, and all turned westward, to escape up the coast.
"The enemy is escaping!" was the signal hoisted. And then one cannon
after another boomed out, giving the signal to all our ships in that
vicinity. The booming of the cannon was heard away eastward at Siboney,
whither Admiral Sampson had gone with his ship to confer with General
Shafter, and without delay the _New York_ raced madly back to get into
the fight that followed.
"Remember the _Maine!_" was the cry. "Down with the Spanish ships! Give
'em what Dewey did!" And this cry, "Give 'em what Dewey did!" was heard
on every hand.
The first vessel to go down was a torpedo-boat, sunk by the
_Gloucester_, and this was quickly followed by the sinking of the second
torpedo-boat. In the meantime the larger vessels were pouring in their
rain of steel upon the Spanish cruisers with deadly effect, knocking
great holes into the ships and killing scores of those on board.
The Spanish cruiser _Teresa_ was the first to succumb to the heavy
attack, and soon she turned in to shore to save her crew from drowning.
Then the _Oquendo_ caught fire in several places, and burning fiercely
from stem to stern, she, too, turned in.
But two ships were now left to Admiral Cervera, the _Vizcaya_ and the
_Colon_, and each had suffered much. Both were doing their best to get
out of reach of our guns and the marvellous accuracy of our gunners.
"Don't let 'em get away!" was the cry. "Give 'em what Dewey did!"
Forward went the war-ships of Uncle Sam, the powerful _Oregon_ leading,
with the _Brooklyn_ and _Texas_ not far behind. The rain of steel
continued, and at last, burning like her sister ships, the _Vizcaya_
turned shoreward, and many of her crew leaped overboard to save their
lives.
Only the _Colon_ now remained. She was still in fair condition, and it
was the Spaniards' ardent hope to save at least one ship from the dire
calamity that had overtaken them. But this was not to be, and after a
run of a few miles, during which the _Oregon_ and _Brooklyn_ continued
to pound her with shot and shell, the Spanish flag was lowered, and the
_Colon_ also ran ashore.
It was assuredly a mighty victory, a fitting mate to the great victory
won by Admiral Dewey, and when the news reached our country there was
such a Fourth of July celebration everywhere as will never be forgotten.
Twice had our navy met the ships of Spain, and each time we had sunk
every vessel without losing any of our own. More than this, while the
Spaniards had lost many men through shot and fire and drowning, our
total loss was but one man killed and a handful wounded.
The loss of her second fleet was a bitter blow to Spain, and many
predicted that the war would not continue much longer, and this
prediction proved correct.
During the rush made by the Rough Riders and our other soldiers, they
had gone right through several bodies of Spanish guerillas who were
secreted in the trees of the jungle. These guerillas, really lawless
fellows belonging to no particular command, could not get back into
Santiago because of the strong American guard at the intrenchments, and
consequently they contented themselves with remaining out of sight and
peppering our soldiers whenever the opportunity offered.
"This will not do," said Theodore Roosevelt. "They are shooting down our
men without giving them a chance to fire back. We'll have to get after
them." And without delay he sent out a detachment of the best Rough
Rider shots to be found. These sharpshooters searched the jungle back of
the intrenchments thoroughly, and as a result killed eleven of the
guerillas and wounded many more. After that the guerillas kept their
distance, satisfied that the Yankees could beat them at their own game.