The Kenosha telegraph. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1860-1888, 1882-12-29
A MEMORABLE SEA FIGHT,
Ex-Dictator PferOIa Tells How the
Peruvian Ram Huascar Whipped

Peruvian Ram Huascar Whipped
Two Britishers.
N. Y. Truth Interview.
"Said the Englishman, on coming aboard, be-
fore had even opened my mouth
"'Admiral De Horsey commanding her
Britannia majestys South Pacific squadron,
instructs me to inform you that if you do not
surrender at discretion within five minutes
from now, your vessel will be sunk with all on
boardr
1" For what reason?' asked surprised be-
yond measure, when the officers words had
been translated by an Interpreter
" For committing acts Of piracy on the high
SEAS was the reply.
"Just imagine the predicament we were in
Here were two large British men war, each
sufficiently large to gobble up the Huascar
single-handed, on the point of bouncing down
upon us; and this in the very moment when
our coup was proving success Well, there
was no use arguing the question with De Hor-
sey's emissary. l had set all my hopes on this
expedition and, though it cost me my life,
was determined not to surrender, and SO the
English officer retired with negative answer
Scarcely had he boarded his vessel than
the fight began. 1t was now about o'clock in
the afternoon. The fog had cleared away en-
tirely, and, seeing that something unusual was
about to take place, numbers Of the inhabit-
ants of lilo assembled on the hill-tops sur
rounding the town and watched us with
breathless anxiety. Although, as have since
heard, few sympathized with our cause, not
one but prayed In his heart that the victory
would be ours
Gas soon as the British officer left us active
preparations were made on board the ram t.
repel the attack, and so admirably had the
brothers Carasco organized our small forces
that by the time the first few shots whizzed
around us, our guns were manned and we were
able to return fire. Our entire crew mustered
less than 100 men, but all did their duty, and
never wavered an instant.
@Of course, / cannot relate all the details Of
fight Time has partly effaced them from my
mind, but do remember how nobly my men
behaved During the entire struggle / sat by
the side Of Captain Carasco in the very same
turret in which poor Admiral Grau was blown
to pieces by the Chilians six months later
The captain watched the movements of the
enemy through the spyhole, and gave. his
orders with sangfroid that to me was mex
plicable, for must confess that myself felt
very nervous and excited OF sudden the
British fire Stacked and the Shah moved in our
direction, with a view to getting us between
her and the Amethyst. This Carasco was not
going to allow, for obvious reasons, 30 we
put on steam and made for the enemy. It was
our intention to ram her. With great rapidity
we neared her, and our hearts beat high at the
prospect of success But 10, and behold! the
Britisher deity turned to the leeWard and we
sped harmlessly by However, so much had
been gained that De Horsey became aware of
our strength, and avoided nearing us for the
rest of the fight
after this little maneuFre the fire on both
sides was redoubled. The English who had
trained gunners on board, fred with wonder
full precision Not a shot but found it's way
home somewhere. First our rigging was blown
away; then the smaller turrets and the Calling
guns on the masts were put hors du combat,
and finally bomb burst into one of the large
turrets, killing gunner named Bejar and
Wounding several others. These casualties
only served to enrage our men the more, and
they fought with renewed vigor All. you
should have witnessed that scene. It is one
never to be forgotten.
But we were not the only ones to suffer At
2:30 o'clock our men saw fire on board the
Amethyst, and q cheer, that was plainly heard
by the English, rang from one end of the ram
to the other. 1t soon became plain that We
had done the Amethyst some damage, for she
slowly retired 200 yards, and for the rest of the
fight her fire was comparatively weak At 3
o'clock we made second attempt to ram the
Shah, but again failed, and in so doing were
badly damaged ourselves by well directed
broadside from that vessel In our turn we
smashed a portion of her bow and disabled
two of her guns Every time such success
was scored, we cheered Justify, and our cheer
ing was answered by the spectators on shore.