The Boys of '98 Part 18

"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 sh.e.l.ls 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 sh.e.l.l of the latter fell short of their pursuers.

"The Spaniards were a mile off Morro, and our s.h.i.+ps 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 s.h.i.+ps.

"As soon as the battery opened, Commander Lilly signalled, and his fleet stood offsh.o.r.e. Captain McKensie, on the bridge of the _Vicksburg_, watched the fall of the sh.e.l.ls, 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 s.h.i.+ps, 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 pa.s.sed 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 a.s.signments to the different corps and other important commands were announced. The order is as follows:

"The following a.s.signments 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 sh.o.r.e 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 s.h.i.+p. Sh.e.l.ls 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.

[Ill.u.s.tration: 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 quant.i.ty of arms and ammunition, sailed for a point about twenty-five miles east of Havana, on the steamer _Florida_. These men and their equipment const.i.tuted 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 circ.u.mstances 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 sh.o.r.e."

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-s.h.i.+ps, laden with soldiers, sailed from San Francisco for Manila.

_May 26._ The battle-s.h.i.+p _Oregon_, which left San Francisco March 19th, arrived at Key West.