The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1898-05-28
CAPTURE OF PORTO RICO.
THE BRITISH DID THIS, MANY
YEARS AGO.


In the good old times. when gentlemen
concerned themselves less with interna-
tional law and more with the pleasant
science Of taking from their fellow man
anything that they wanted themselves.
Porto Rico was place to which the eyes
of the daring English sailors were turned
always. Spain held ii, and It was fortified
in manner that made it seem invuInor-
able In those times, when the biggest gun
that warshlp carried burned only fifteen
or twenty pounds of powder. It's invulnera-
blity deferred the mariners of England
only until the English navy began to lie
factor That was in Queen Elizabeth's
time and she met the same wise saws and
theories with which a demand for more
ships is met in our day. But Elizabeth was
a lady of temper the reverse of yielding.
and she had many men around her who
wanted whack at the golden West In
dies. So the English navy was created,
ana Spain Sot the friendly shove down the
incline which she has kept carefully
creased ever since
Porto Rico III those days was the key 10
the Spanish main, as it is now, and as it
VIII De the key TO the sea that lies before
the future Nicaragua canal. Spain held it
with great care; for it meant a refuge and
a recuperating station for the rich galleons
which bore to her shores the gold which
she had extoried from her colonies in the
other islands of the West Indies and in
South and Central America. Spain seems
TO have had a fatal passion for hugging
shores, as she has now, and her galleons
almost always rested at certain places on
the way
OF all the great sailors who harassed the
Spanish King and singed his beard in those
roaring days of Good Queen Bes, there was
none who did it with a heart so nearly sin
gle to his country's glory as the. Earl of
Cumberland. The other great sea captains
went out for booty, if not primarily at
least with the design of winning sea fights
where the victories would be most profita-
BILE to themselves. The Earl OF Cumber-
land did not neglect to strike at Spain
richest possessions and to take it's wealth
like frugal patriot when he could; but he
fought for England first
George Clifford was this Earl, the same
Clifford made famous by Shakespeare He
was one of the forty peers by whom the
queen of Scots was tried, and he became a
naval commander while he still was a
young man. He took part in the defeat of
the first Armada, and then he worried the
Spanlards on their own coasts till they
feared his name almost as much as they
did that of Drake, and that was a great
fear indeed.
At last he set sail with a squadron of
eighteen ships on the greatest expedition
which he had yet undertaken 1t was in
tended at first against the Brazil colonies:
but many circumstances made an attack
there impracticable, and Cumberland de-
clded to strike at She West Indies. His de-
sign was first to sack Margarita, which
was rich with stores of gold and precious
wood; then Porto Rico was to be taken and
held for England, st. Domingo was to be
held for ransom and then the fleet was to
sail to the East to intercept the galleons
which We're due in the end of the summer.
The first stop was made in the Virgin ISL
ands, within a days sail of Porto Rico
The filthy condition of ships of that day
and the poor provisions always decimated
the forces of a fleet on a voyage of any
length, and this one was no exception. So
there were not more than 1000 men ready
and able to fight They were divided into
twelve companies of eighty men each.
On the evening of June 3, 1893, the fleet
put into sandy bar near the town, and
the Earl of Cumberland made a speech to
the men, saying that in taking Porto Rico
they would hold the Indies BY o'clock on
the following morning the troops were all
landed, and they found that they were
within four leagues of the town When
they reached the front Of it the alarm had
been given by mounted scouts, and th.,
men in the fortress were ready for them
An arm of the sea separated the city from
the main land, and the approach by boats
to the island thus formed was hindered nv
a great bulwark with FIVE big brass can
non. The waterway was about sixty yards
| across and stopped with piles, so that on
/ troy fan s.,Ft
woods, however, revealed a long and mar
row road which connected with a bride
leading into the fort. The bridge was how
ever, drawn up, and on the opposite bank
was a strong barricade, covered by a fort
with many guns. negro whom the troops
captured told them that the water was
foTdable at low water, which was due at
z O'Clock in the morning. The men Law
down IN the woods to sleep, and at the des-
iehated time the alarm was given quietly.
ana they put themselves I'm ernor for
they looked that the service Should be
not This expectation was fulfilled.
The assault lasted two hours and though
they tried every conceivable way they
failed to affect an entrance. The six
great cannon and many muskets swept
the passage, but the ordnance that did the
most damage to the English was a niece
throwing many bullets at once. which
Ndo CeAiSu q murderer. The earl was
thrown into the water and nearly drowned
On account of the weight of his armor.
He swallowed so much salt water that he
became deathly sick and had to be car
ried from the spot. The English advanced
to the gate once and began to hew Mt il
while others, made desperate by the re-
slstance seized the Spaniard's pixies as
they were thrust at the assailants and
tried to wrest them away. But the tide
began to come in, and the order was given
to retire.
Then the earl determined on an attack
on the forts at the entrance to the chan
mel which they had seen first One of the
ships was warped close into shore. and
200 men embarked in small boats between
the forts and the town. After an hours
bombardment from the ship the Span
iards retired and the English took the fort
Then they found that the fort was on
small island and the town itself a mile
and half behind 1t; but they had no
trouble in taking it the next day.
The old writer's who described the town
of San Juan de Porto Rico as it was then
say that it was less in circuit than Oxford
l,,,t Ara Ia h.ol.