The Morris County chronicle. [volume] (Morristown, N.J.) 1877-1915, 1898-08-26
THE ADMlRAL's STORY:
MontOjo Tells of the Big Fight at Ma
Mia Bay.

toto, which was obtained by special
correspondent of the China Mail not
long after the Spanish commander was
defeated by Rear Admiral Dewey at
Manila. The Spanish Admiral speaks
freely of the great fight Of May !, and
his talk, while it gives few details of
the battle with which American read
ers are not already familiar, still fur
nishes vivid picture Of the conditions
surrounding it from the Spanish point
of view, and throws additional light on
the neglect of the Peninsular govern
ment to prepare for the American at
tack.
Admiral Montojo is described by the
China Nails correspondent as about
sixty-fve years old. slight in stature,
and in appearance anything but war
like-more a type of Spanish gran
dee than a fighter" In response to
request for a description of the battle,
he said that when he saw the Amer
lean squadron coming straight across
the bay toward Cavite all the Spanish
ships were in Cavite bay at anchor.
the Castillo, a wooden cruiser, being
unable to steam owing to broken en-
gines, and the Ulloa and Velasco being
helpless and undergoing repairs.
Continuing, the admiral said in part:
1.-THE Olympia, Baltimore, Raleigh
and Boston engaged my flagship (the
Reina Christina) in turn about half
past five, attracted by my flag. 1
recognized the necessity of getting I'M
der way, and, accordingly, slipped both
anchors, ordering the other ships to
follow my example. Although we rec
ognized the hopelessness of fighting the
American ships, we were busy re-
turning their fire. The Reina Chris
tina was hit repeatedly Shortly after
half-past six l observed fire forward;
our steering gear was damaged, rem
dering the vessel unmanageable, and
we were subjected toa terrific hail Of
shell and shot. The engines were
struck, and we estimated that we had
seventy hits about our hull and super
structure
1.-THE boilers were not hit, but the
pipe to the condenser was destroyed.
A few moments later l observed the
after part on fire. A shell from the
Americans had penetrated and burst
with deadly effect, killing many Of our
men, My flag lieutenant said to me,
The ship is in flames. 1t is impossible
to stay on the Christina any longer.
HE signalled to the Isla de Cuba,
and I and my staff were transferred to
her, and my flag was hoisted. Before
leaving the Christina my flag was
hauled down. My flagship was now
one mass of flames. / ordered away
all the boats l could to save the crew.
Many of the men jumped overheard
without clothing and succeeded in
reaching the shore, several hundred
yards away. Only few men were
drowned, the majority being picked up
by the boats.
Before jumping overheard Captain
Cadarso's son, lieutenant on board
the Christina, saw his father alive on
deck, but others state that as the cap
tain was about to leave, shell burst
over the ship and killed him. We esti-
mated that fifty-two men were killed
on board the Christina and about one
hundred and fifty wounded. The chap
lain was killed The assistant ply
stefan, the chief engineer, and three
officers, were wounded The boatswain
and chief gunner were both killed. In
the Castillo only about fifteen men
were killed, but there were many
wounded, both on the Castillo and the
Don Juan, on which thirteen men were
killed. Altogether, so far as we know
at present, four hundred men were
killed and wounded on our ships.
CAS- soon as I translated myself from
the Reina Christina to the Isla de Cuba
all the shots were directed upon the
Cuba, following my flag. We sought
shelter behind the pier at Cavite, and,
recognizing the futility of fighting
more, 1 prepared to disembark and
gave orders for the evacuation of the
remainder of the ships. Ny last sig
nal to the captains of all vessels was,
'Scuttle and abandon your ships This
was about half-past seven. To prevent
the guns being of use to the Ameri-
cans the captains, on abandoning,
brought away portions of the mechan-
ism and also succeeded in saving all
the ships papers and treasure.
cat this point there was a cessation
of firing The Boston sent ashore
boat with an officer: carrying white
flag and parleyed with the chief of the
arsenal. He asked permission to de-
stroy the vessels completely without
interference from the shore
AFTER consultation with me the chief
of the arsenal replied on my behalf
that it was not competent on my part
to give any pledge; the ships were at
his mercy and he could do with them
as he liked. While the parleying was
proceeding, the Petrol and Concord
went across the bay and fired large
number of shots into the Isla de Min
danao, which was lying ashore near
Bacoor, and she soon caught fire. Her
captain had run her ashore when the
American squadron was making for
Cavite bay. She never fred a shot.
Three or four men of her crew were
killed by shells carrying over her into
the brushwood beyond, where they
were lying"
Admiral Montojo, when asked if he
himself was wounded, said:
YES, l was wounded in the left leg
by an iron splinter, and my son, lieu
l.