Cleveland daily leader. [volume] ([Cleveland, Ohio]) 1865-1873, 1866-05-09
BOMBARDMET OF VALPARAISO.
Another Account by an Eye witness
Interesting Details of the Amir
Incidents Of the B0mbardment-kOE-
ChiIians Insiguineant, &e.

Another Account by an Eye wines
interesting Details of the An9
eign Loss Very Heavy-That OF y
Chilians Ins~ignineant, @e'
At seven o'clock, A. NJ, on the 3lst of
March, the English frigates Sutlei and
Leander left their anchorage and disap-
peared in q southerly direction, but soon
after reappesred at the entrance of the
bay, andtook position among the numer-
Gus prize ships and transports Of the enc
nv, opposite Vina Del Mar, where the
supply ship Nereus and the Devastation
were anchored. The French supply ship
Egerie was anchored at the same place.
The ships of the American squadron were
the last which left their anchorage in the
bay. The obvious slowness of their move
ments showed but too clearly the unwil-
lingness and the disgust Of the American
naval officers. Only at the last moment,
and the hour for the consummatiOn of the
d~isgraceful deed had arrived, the Ameri-
can men-of-war began TO steer for the
northwestern part of the bay, where they
took position in the rear of the Spanish
line.
The ships of the Spaniards we're now
undisputed masters of the anchorage
only the two floating docks and the boats
which had been sunk remained, besides a
few tow-boats. Slowly the Spanish ships
began to move to their places-the Nj
mancia, Resolution, Villa de Madrid,
Blanca, Vancedora, Paquete de Maule and
the despatch boat of the Numancia had
their steam up. The Berenguela and the
other smaller craft remained at anchor
among the groups of prize vessels. A
little before eight o'clock the Numancia
steamed slowly and majestically across the
harbor; she stopped at q distance OF a
mile from the shore, and at ten minutes
before eight fred the two guns which
were to serve as a last warning, since the
bombardment of the city was to begin an
| hour later. At the same moment the flag
of Chill on the Fort San Antonio was
raised to the summit of the flagstaff. On
| the hills thousands of spectators stood
breathlessly expecting the solemn and
terrible moment.
At eight minutes past . \. NJ. the Blanca
opened fire on the Custom House with
the shout aLong live the Queen y fol-
lowed Immediately after by the Villa de
Madrid. It seems hat this honor had
| been shown TO the heroes Of the fight of
Abtao as q reward for taking q small
| Chilean steamer. But with such a ON
venient target as the warehouses Of Val
paraiso, only one hundred metres distant,
| the Spaniards flare much better than
they did at Abtao. Almost every second
a dense cloud of dust appeared above the
roofs and walls, showing the effect OF
well-aimed missiles. The solid shot from
the riaed guns of the Villa dc Madrid
penetrated the air with 3 terrible whist
ling sound. Occasionally we could see
white smoke, and ~soon,after flames, caused
by the explosion of shells; however,
many of these missiles burst into the air,
in the water, or on the sides of the hills.
About this time the Blanca began to
open fire on the Rolsa (Exchange), and
the ~Intendencis, on the government and
\ other neighboring buildings. Here, how
ever, the firing was not kept up with the
same fury as was noticeable in the bonn
| harding of the government warehouses
the artillery barracks and the agstaff. 4
passionate fury against the national en-
blem of Chill seemed to ill the breasts OF
the Spaniards. Hollow, conical and solid
shot literally hailed down on it but al
in vain. Meanwhile the RESOLUTION
opened FIRE on the railroad station, Of
rather, so imperfect was the aim, on the
Faubourg Baron, inhabited densely by
thousands. Barcaleel, the commander O
the Resolution, fired broadside after broad.
side in this direction, covering the poor
house, as well as many public and pri
vate dwellings, with a storm ofiron. AL
though protected by a white flag, the hos
pital still bears the trace of Barcaleel
brutality. Not less glorious wa
the task soon after undertaken By
the sloop Vencedora. Taking her posi-
ton quite near to Gale del Cabo, sht
fred leisurely at the elegant private villa
situated along the shore, especially at Mr.
Edwards house. After this she begar
firing at the Molo, the government build
ings and thu houses in the streets Coch
rane and Planchada. Every five minute
a white column of smoke appeared on tht
Vencedora, and towards the end the firing
from her forty-eight and t~hirty-twC
Founders (riaed) was rather accurate anC
effective. At such a short distance it wa
indeed quite impossible not to hit tht
mark at every shot. The balls Yhistle(
through the air and through the Exchangi
and the houses of Senior Agular and thu
neighboring buildings as ifthe solid WALL
had been so much thin paper. But thi
was not all. Smoke began TO appear il
dense masses st the north corner of thu
third division of Custom HOUSE buildings
The flames burst out shortly before noon
columns of black smoke hid the building!
completely. Still tho Villa de Madrid
and the Resolution continued TO fire or
the warehouses and the arsenal with un.
diminished energy. 4 shsil from thG
Vencedora set fire to the bathing estab,
lishment near the Hotel de "a Union, and
the flames quickly seized this hotel and
were communicated to the streets Cooh-
rane and Planohada. Up to the last mo-
ment of the bombardment the shot of the
Vencedora hailed down upon the devoted
city with the most terrible and fatal reg
ularity.
The aag in front of the artillery bar
racks still waved tFiumphaHtly. AL
efforts to bring it down failed. A solid
shot fell quite near to the flagstaff and 8
she'll burst over il, but that was all that
the Spaniards were able to accomplish in
the fight, which lasted three hours.
All eight minutes after twelve O'Clock
the Numancie gave the signsl to "cease
firing and in the same moment thu ships
grew silent and took their course by their
flagship. The thousands of spectators
fastened down from the hills into the
city to extinguish the fires and see the ex.
tent of the damage.
For every thousand dollars worth o.
Chilean property destroyed there ha;
been lost a million dollars belonging tc
foreigners, in most cases the accumulation
of long years Of hard labor and unremit'
ting exertions.
rSObered-KerOsene vs.. Whisky
From the Richmond (Va.,) Times.l