The Black Hills union. [volume] (Rapid City, Pennington County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1889-1904, 1898-12-09


ton of his power wherever assailable rs
the speedy and sure means to win Il peace,
divided victory was not permissible, 1Or
no partition Of the rights and ,eSpons.
biliies attending the enforcclnent Of u
just and advantageous peace could be
Thought of.
following the coming of the compre-
hensive scheme of general attack power
ful forces were assembled, at various
points on our coast TO invade Cuba and
Porto kico. Meanwhile, naval dcmcn-
strations were made at several exposed
ton and torpedo boat Winslow We're IN
successful in an attempt to silence the
batteries ut Cardenas and aguinso M;ltan-
zas, Ensign Worth Baglcy ana four sea-
men falling. These grievous fatalities
were strangely enough among the very
er..rions in this extraordinary conflict.
Coming "f Cervera.
Meanwhile the Spanish naval prerara-
A powerful squadron under Admiral Ger
ver;L which had assembled at the Cape
Verde islands before the outbreak of hos
tllities had eros: ed the ocean, and by It's
errAuic movements iii the Caribbean Sea
delayed our military operations while
battling the pursuit. of our fleets. For y
time fears were lclt lest tho Oregon and
Marietta, then rearing home, after their
long voyage FROM san Francisco OF over
Is OOO miles, might be surprised by Ad-
mlrll Cervera's fleet. but their fortunate
arrival dispelled the " prehcnsions ana
brought the much needed rcini orcements.
NuJ until Admiral Cervera took refuge
nl'the h,rbor OF Santiago de Cu' IL, abotG
Nay 8, was it prlcJlcable to plan {" - e.
nLlu.c military ut nck upon the AhIllies'l
Possessions OF SPAN.
Several demon stratiols occurred on 'nH
colsi OF Cuba and For,o Rico, III lrep;lrL-
tions for the larger event. On May Is tne
north Atlantic squadron shclltu San
Juan de ior,o Rico; on May 20 Gomnio, no,
forts guarding the mouth of SantlilgO
hArbor. NeitNer attack had any MATERIAL
result 1t was evident that we'll ordere
land operations were Indispensable 10
achieve IL decided advantage.
The next act in the war thrilled no1
alone the hearts of our countrymen buG
the world by its exceptional herolsm: On
the night of June 3 Lieutenant Hobson,
aided by seven devoted volunteers,
blocked the narrow outlet from SANTIAGO
harbor by sinking the collier Nlerrimac IN
the channel under II fierce fire from the
shore batteries, escaping with their lives
as by miracle, but falling into the hands
of the Spaniards 1t is u most gratifying
incident of the war that the bravery OF
the little band of heroes was CORDIALLY
appreciated by the Slaniards who sent Il
5 f1:tr of truce to notify Admiral sampson
of their safety and to compliment taenl
upon their daring act h.'y were supse-
quently exchanged July z.
First Landing In Cuba.
BY June the GU ting of the last Cuban
cable isolated the island. Thereafter the
INVASION WIS vigorously prosecuted On
June 10, under a heavy protecting lire,
landing force of COO marines OF the. Ore
!; gon, Marbehc,ll and Yankee was effected
in Guantanamo bay, where it had teel
determined TO establish ii naval station
This important and essential port va:
taken from the enemy after severe fight
, ing by the marines, who ere the firsL o.
|, ganZed force of the United States tx
| land in Cuba.
he position so won was held despite
desperate attempts to dislotlse our forces
BY June Ii additional forces were lane. ct
ami strongly entvrn he'd. Cn June =
the advance Of the invading army unde1
} Major General Shatter landed in Bal
e qutri, about 10 miles east of Santiarn
: This was accomplished under great dill
g cultcs. but with marvellous dispatch. o.
| June % the movement against Santiago
il was begun. On the gath the first seriou
e engagement took place. in which th'
= First and Tenth cavalr and the First vol
j. untcer cavalry, General Youngs briGad
0 of General Wheeler's division, partici
= ever, ground within five miles of SAINT
l. ago was won. The advantage was 81 e.ao
$ lily increased On July severe battl
n took place, our force gaining the QUITE
= works of Santiago and Ell Cancy and Sa
g Juan were taken after desperate charg
), and the investment of the city was con
u pletcd. The navy co-operated by shellln
y the town and the coast forts.
!e Battle of July Third.
~ On the day following this brillia,
:! achievement of our land forces, July
" occurred the decision of naval comba:
~ ~ the war. The Spanish fleet, attemptin
70 to leave the harbor, was met by tt
i. American squadron under command
y hours all the Spanish ships were d
-. 20 stroyed, the two torpedo boats sunk ar
20 20 the Maria Teresa, Almirante Oquend
40 's Vizcaya and Cristobal Colon drive
ID ID ashore. Tns Spanish admiral an
pr %: prSx prisoners, While the enemys less
n life wns deplorably, large, some 9
IL perishing. On our side but one man "
"a killed and one man seriously wounde
at Although our ships were repeated
nv struck, not one was seriously injure!t.
ha Where NIL so conspicuously disti
av guished themselves, from the comman
~ ers to the gunners and the unnamed +
Iia roes In this boiler rooms, each and I
"a contributing toward the achievement
.rss this astonishing victory, for whi
neither ancient nor modern history
fortis parallel in the completeness OF
event and the marvellous dlsproportion
Of casualties, it would be invidious to sint
rly out any for special honor. Deserved p
nd motion has warded the more conspi<
ICY GUS actors-the nations profoundest gr
ts, itute is due to all Of those brave men W
os- by their skill and devotion in q few sh'
led hours crushed the sea power of Spain q
in wrought triumph whose decisiven
st and fsr.roaching effects can scarcely
raj measured. Nor can we Le unmindful
pit the achievements OF our builders, n