The Columbian. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1866-1910, 1898-12-08

| desperate attempts to diSlodge our
forces. BY June 16 additional forces
| We're landed and strongly intrcn ,hed.
| On June - the advance of the invading
| army under Major General Porter
| landed Gt Daiquiri. about - miles cast
| of SaCti1Co Thle "'rs roN"-"ti .' =
under great difficulties. but with mar
| velous dispatch. On June 90 the move
| ment against Santiago was begun. on
| the 2ith ult. the first engagement took
| place, in which the First and Tenth
| Cavalry and the First United STATES
| Volunteer Cavalry, General Young'S
brigade of General Wheeler's division,
participated, losing heavily. BY night
| fall, however, ground within five miles
| of Santiago was won. The advantage
| was steadily increased. On July l a Sc
we're battle took place, our forces gain
| ing the outworks of Santiago: on tie,
I'd Ell Caney and San Juan were taken
| after desperate charge, and the in
vestment of the city was completed
| The navy operated by shelling the
| town and the coast forts.
| On the day following this brilliant
| achievement of our land forces the Sd
| of July occurred the decisive naval
| combat of the war.
The Spanish fleet attempting to leave
| the harbor, was met by the American
| squadron under command of Commo-
| dore Sampson.
In less than three hours all the Span
ish ships were destroyed the two tor
pedo boats being sunk and the Maria
Teresa, Almirante Oquendo, Vizcaya
| and Cristobal Colon driven ashore.
| The Spanish Admiral and over 1900
| men We're taken prisoners, while the
| enemy's loss of life was deplorably
| large. some GOO perishing. On our side
| but one man was killed, on the Brook
| lyn, and one man seriously wounded.
Although our ships were repeatedly
| struck NOT SarnnSlV in inra1
| Where all so conspicuously distin-
| guished themselves from the COM
manders to the gunners and the un-
named heroes in the boiler rooms, each
and all contributing toward the
| achievement of this astounding vic
| tory, for which neither ancient nor
modern history affords a parallel in the
| completeness of the event and the mar
| Velous disproportion of casualties. it
| would be nViGiOuS to single out any
| for especial honor. Deserved promotion
| has rewarded the more conspicuous
! actors. The nations gratitude is due
to all of these brave men, who by their
| skill and devotion in few short hours
| crushed the sea power of Spain and
wrought triumph whose decisiveness
| can scarcely be measured. Nor can we
| be unmindful of the achievements OF
! our builders, mechanics and artisans
| for their skill in the construction of
our warships. The capitulation of SAN
! tiago followed. The city was closely
besieged by land, while the entrance
of our ships into the harbor cut off all
relief on that side. After a truce to
| allow of the removal of on-combatants
| protracted negotiations continued from
| July to July 15 when, under menace
| of immediate assault, the preliminaries
| of surrender We're agreed upon. On the
! 18th General Shafter occupied the city.
The capitulation embraced the entire
! "a /. a. .T N.,1,a
The individual valor of officers and
| soldiers was never more strilliEgly
shown than in the several engagements
! leading to the surrender of Santiago,
! while the prompt movements and sue
| cessive victories won instant and uni
| versal applause. To those who gained
this complete triumph, which estab-
lished the ascendency 'of the United
States upon land as the fight off San
| tiago had fixed our supremacy on the
seas, the earnest and lasting gratitude
of the nation is unsparinGy due. Nor
should we alone remember the gallantry
of the living; the dead claim our tears,
and our losses by battle and disease
| must cloud any exultation in the result
and teach us to weigh the awful cost of
war, however Tightful the cause or sig
nal the victory. With the fall of Sam
tlago, the occupation of Porto Rico be-
came the next strategic necessity. Cen
eral Miles had previously been assigned
to organize the expedition for that pur-
pose. Fortunately he was already at
Santiago, where he had arrived on the
11th of July with reinforcements for
General Skaters army. On July q he
entered Ponce, one of the most impor-
tant ports in the island, from which he
thereafter directed operations for the
capture of the island. With the eXcep-
ton of encounters with the enemy at
Guyana, Hormagueros, Coamo and
/ Yauco, and an attack on force landed
at Cape San Juan, there was no serious
resistance. AS a potent influence to-
ward peace the outcome of the Porto
Rican expedition was of great conse-
quence, and generous commendation Is
due to those who participated in 1t.
The last scene of the war was enacted
at Manila, it's starting place. On Aug.
15 after brisk assault upon the works
by the land forces, in which the squad
ron assisted, the capital surrendered
Internationally. The casualties We're
comparatively few. BY this the con-
quest Of the Philippine Islands, viz
tually accomplished when the Spanish
capacity for resistance was destroyed
by Admiral Dewey's victory of the 1st
of May, was formally sealed.
/ The total casualties in killed and
wounded in the army during the war
with Span We're: Officers killed, 70; en-
listed men killed, 257; total, 80; officers
l,464; total, 1,557. OF the navy: Killed,
II: wounded, G7; died as result Of
wounds, /; invalided from service, &;
total, ~.
1t will be observed that while our
navy was engaged in two great battles
and in numerous perilous undertakings
in blockade and bombardment, and
more than $4,000 of our troops Were
transported to distant lands and We're
engaged in assault and siege aud battle,
and many skirmishes in unfamiliar ter
ritory, we lost in both arms of the SER
vice "a total of ,66S killed and wounded;
and i'll the entire campaign, by land and
sea, we did not lose u gun or a flag or
transport or a ship, and with The eE-
ceptiOn of the crew or the MerliEac,
not 4 soldier or sailor was taken pria-
oner. On Aug. I, forty-siX days from
the date of the landing of General
Skaters army in Cuba, and twenty
one days from the surrender of San
tiago, the United States troops com
menced embarkation for home. ana our
entire force was returned to the United
States as early as Aug. "a. they were
absent from the United States only two
months 1t is fitting that / should bear