Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1898-07-01
SPANISH STORY OF MANILA.
Admiral Montojo's Account of His Defeat
by Dewey.

the steamer Peru contain some inter-
esting matter in regard to the battle OF
Manila, which was not sent by cable.
1t seems that the Spanish were in
tensely disguised that Admiral Dewey
should not have given formal warning
that he was going to enter Manila har-
Dor and that he should have entered
it by the broad channel instead of by
the narrow channel, which had been
mined The few shots which Admiral
Dewey's ships fired at the Corregidor
forts on the night they entered the
harbor killed forty-two men, although
the only target the American gunners
had were the flashes of the Spanish
cannon.
The correspondent of the Hong Kong
China Mail, who went to Manila on the
British steamer Esmeralda, arrived on
the day after the battle. on May he
had an interview with the Spanish Ad
miral, Montoio, and obtained his YER
sion Of the battle. 1t contains some
novel and interesting facts. The cor
respondent describes the Admiral as
IAN old man about 50 years of age, .
slight in stature, and in appearance
everything but Warlike. He realized
my ideal of an old Spanish grandee,
was cordiality itself and talked with
frankness of Sundays conflict" Adj
miral Montojo said his intention was
to go to Subig Bay and fortify it, but
he found that it would require at least
a month. So after spending a week
there he returned to Manila on April
90 Had Dewey started one day earlier
he would thus have caught the Span
ish fleet outside Manila harbor
Admiral Montojo said he had re-
| Questioned Madrid Cor ships and tor
| pedoes. but had received neither, 50
he laid the blame of his defeat on the
| Spanish Government. In describing
the fight Admiral Montojo said
THE Reina Cristina and Don Juan
| d'Austria, as you know We're old cruis-
ers; the Castella was a wooden cruiser,
but was unable to steam owing to the
breaking down of her engines. The
Don Antonio d'Ulloa and the Nelasco
were helpless and We're undergoing re-
pairs off the arsenal The olympia,
Baltimore, Raleigh and Boston en-
gagged my flagship in turn about $50,
attracted by my flag. l recognized the
necessity of getting under way and
slipped both anchors, ordering the
other ships to follow my example. AL
though We recognized the hopeessness
Of fighting the American ships We We're
busy returning their fire. The Reina
Cristina was lit repeatedly.
shortly after $50 l observed fire on
my ship forward and our steering gear
was damaged, rendering the vessel I'M
manageable. We We're subjected to a
terrific hail Of shell and shot. The en-
gines were struck and We estimated we
had seventy hits about our hull and
superstructure. The boilers We're not
hit. but the pipe to the condenser was
destroyed. a few moments later l OBJ
served that the after part of the ship
was on fire. A shell from an American
ship had penetrated and burst with
deadly effect, killing many of our men.
My Flag Lieutenant said to me:
1.-The ship is in flames 1t is i'm
possible to stay on the Cristina any
longer
He signalled to the gunboat Isia
de Cuba and l and my staff were
transferred to her and my flag was
hoisted. Before leaving the Cristina
my flag was hauled down. My flagship
was now one mass of flames l ordered
away all boats l could to save the
crew, Many of the men jumped over
board without clothing and succeeded
in reaching shore, several hundred
y
drowned, the majority being picked VI
by the boats.
Before jumping overheard Capt
Cadarse's son, a Lieutenant on boart
the Cristina, saw his father alive OF
deck, but others say that as the Cap
tain was about to leave a shell burs
over the ship and killed him. We es.
innate that so men were killed or
board the Cristna and about 10
wounded. The chaplain was killed an
the assistant physician, the chief en-
gineer and three officers We're wound.
ed. The boatswain and chief gunner
were both killed. In the Castella onl,
about 10 men We're killed, but Their
were many wounded both on the Cas-
tella and the Don Juan d'Austria, OF
which IS men were killed. Altogether
so far as we know at present, 400 mel
were killed and wounded on our ships
LAS soon as 1 translated myself from
:, the Reina Cristina to the Isla de Cuba
all the American shots were directe,
, upon the Isla de Cuba, following m,
, flag. We sought shelter behind tn
> pier at Cavite, ana recognizing tn
: futility of fighting more, l prepared t
y disembark, and gave orders for tn
) evacuation of the remainder of tn
SHIPS. Inc CaSlella naQ Deen on mr.
from end to end for some time, an
: was of course, already abandoned. TIL
Ulloa was also burning. My last sig
: nal to the captains or all the vessel
\ was 'Scuttle and abandon your ships
He said: THE Captain of the Bosto
) said to my chief of staff, Capt. BoadC
! You have combatted with us four yer
bad ships, not warships. There wa
: never seen Drawer fighting under sue
: unequal conditions. 1t is a great pit
you exposed your lives in vessels NJ
: fit for lighting Commodore DeWe
: also sent me a message by the Eng
y fish consul yesterday, saying tina
peace or war, he would have grea
: pleasure in clasping me by the han
: and congratulating me on the gallar
y manner in which we fought"
The Yankee Destroys Five Ships.
Key West, Fla, June 29.-The Var
n kee, which arrived here from Cienfut
s1a..w