The evening times., 1898-05-19
It WAS 4 GL0RDUs FIGHT
The Victory at San Juan Vivid
ly Portrayed.
THE DOONED CITY WARNED
The Responsibility for the Bonn
bardment and Dcmolition of the
Porto Rican City Rests Upon Its
Ieienders - Splendid Bravery of
OGicers and Men in Action.

OGscern and Men in Action
Key West, Fla, May 1s.-According to
the Spaniards the battle of May II at
San Juan was a great victory. They Say
some of the Yankees most powerful
ships had attacked the town. and were
driven Off after fight OF three hours.
unable to withstand the terrific fire of
the Spanish batteries. To the Yankee
tars. the battle was a disappointment.
They went to Porto Rico expecting to
meet a Spanish squadron and found but
a few forts. with guns bravely manned
but badly handled and instead OF sinking
the enemy's squadron they had the
meager satisfaction of smashing old walls
and dismantling the guns.
The capture of the town was not the
object of the expedition. Its lombard
hunt for Spanish warships. which began
at II O'Clock on the night Of May J,
when the Iowa. Indiana and Detroit
steamed away from Key West, followed
by the collier Niagara and the armed tug
boat Wampatuck. At daybreak launch
from Key West delivered dispatches 10
the flagship and Immediately afterward
she was under way headed for the Cuban
coast. With the New York was the
yacht Kanapaha. on which were the cor
respondents of the New York SUM- By IL
o'clock the flagship was of Havana.
where she was Joined by the cruiser
Montgomery. The two vessels pointed
their noses eastward and soon overlook
the Iowa, Indiana and Detroit.
Evening found the vessels OF Cardenas.
where they were REINFORCED by the mon
ftors Terror and Amphitrite and the tor
pedo boat Porter. which took on coal from
the Niagara Coaling the Porter delayed
the squadron until midnight when 1t once
more proceeded eastward. the Terror and
Amphitrite being towed by the New York
and Iowa.
ships Show No Lights.
The expedition was now on in earnest
and great precautions were taken to Keep
the movement as secret as possible. Dur
ing the day no colors were shown by any
of the ships and at night no lights were
carried. Either the Detroit or the Mont
gomery went ahead as scout af-
ter dark and the other vessels kept well
together. Five or six times day the
squadron lay to and drifted by the hour.
while the officers visited the flagship or
one or the other of the vessels replenished
its coal supply from the colliers.
While a number of sailing vessels were
sighted during the trip. no attempt was
made to seize any of them except In one
instance On the second day out from
Key West the bark Lorenzo, of Barcelo-
ma, from Argentina for Havana. laden
with meat. was stopped and prize crew
put aboard.
Saturday morning saw the squadron OF
Cape Maysi. the easternmost point in
Cuba. Sunday and Monday. May and 3.
were spent in drifting of Cape Haitien.
during which time final preparations were
made for the expected encounter.
On Wednesday afternoon. May IL. the
expedition was about fifty miles west OF
the Porto Rican capital Here Admiral
Sampson transferred his flag from the
New York to the Iowa. The night was
dark and a heavy sea running. The ships
could not make out each other at any
distance so red following lights were
carried astern. They steamed along at
a tive-knot pace in single file. the De-
troit and Montgomery scouting, and. at
long intervals, sweeping the sea with
their searchlights.
Mad Rush for Safety.
San Juan knew of the coming of the
fleet. The lookout on Cape Haitien saw
the squadron on Sunday drifting about
thirty miles off that point. The Spanish
consul in Negro City telegraphed warn
ing to Porto Rico This was followed by
a general exodus from the town. There
was mad rush for vehicles to carry peo-
ple to places of safety in the country.
Exorbitant prices held for transportation.
As high as three hundred dollars was
charged for single wagon to carry fami-
lies from town.
The head of SIMPSONS squadron sight
ed the citys lights at $50 o'clock on
Thursday morning. An hour later day.
light broke. and five minutes on the forts
were plainly visible.
San Juan lies behind a bluff, on the
summit of which are four forts. San
CristobaI, San Carlos. San Geronimo and
Moro Castle.
Spanimrds Fire ON White Flag.
On the western side of the harbor is 4
shore battery called Canueio. The
squadron headed straight for the harl,or.
The tugboat Wampatuck led, dying u
white flag from her masthead The exact
reason for this is not yet known. but 1t
is understood there was no intention on
the part of the squadron to lombard the
place without SlEinS EOn-COnuudtAuts du-
pie time to withdraw.
However, the Spaniards fired on the
flag, thus bringing about themselves the
battle that followed and proved SO dis
astrous to them.
The rest of the squadron followed the
Wampatuck in this order:
Porter, Detroit, Iowa, Indiana, New
York. Terror. Amphitrite and Montgom-
cry A glance at the harbor showed that
the Spanish squadron was not there. The
Porter and Detroit passed directly un-
der Canuelo's guns, across the harbor's
mouth and under Moro. The Wampatuck
steamed in closer to land. Then one of
the forts fired on her.
About the time the Iowa was abreast Of
Canuelo Admiral SAM icon gave the order,
and straightway the oombardment COM
menced.
All captains fought their ships from
the bridge unprotected by any armor.
Each vessel opened fire as she passed
the shore battery. The forts on the hill.
hitherto silent. were now ablaze and
showered shells at the warships below.
The vessels rolled a good deal in the
heavy sea, and this. with the great eleva-
tion of the forts. made the early gun
merry bad. Many shells struck the water,
never reaching the bluff at all, but the
fight went on. The American shots land
ed more frequently and with terrible
effect. Whenever a shell burst a great
cloud of debris rising many feet In the
air marked the spot.
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