The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1898-10-24

liilOuSu lieutenant stanton, winch
said the admiral had bombarded the
forts at the entrance of Santiago and
also Punta Gorda battery, inside, 81
lenclng their fire. and asked whether
he (Shafterl wanted further firing on
the admirafs part. The explanation
was made that it was impossible to
force an entrance until the channel
! vas cleared of mines-a work of some
tune, after the forts were taken pos
session OF by the troops.--To this Gen
eral Shafter replied:
sHAFTER's PERTINENT QUERY.
1t is impossible for me to say when
] can take batteries at entrance of har-
! Dor If they are as difficult to take as
those which we have been pitted
against, it will take some time and a
great loss of life. 1 am at a loss to
see why the navy cannot work under
a destructive fire as we'll as the army.
My loss yesterday was over 500 men.
By all means keep up fire on every
thlng IN sight Of you until demolished.
l expect, however. in time and with
suIlclent men, to capture the forts
along the bay"
Admiral Sampson then says: Il
wrote General Shafter the following
letter and began making preparations
10 countermine, and, with the object of
arranging an attack upon the batteries
at the entrance, visit was arranged
with General Shafter so that the mat
ter might be thoroughly discussed. and
combined action take place. 1 had in
view the employment of the marines for
an assault on either the MORO or So
capa battery, while at the same time
assaulting the defenses at the entrance
with the fleet:
" United States Flagship New York
FIRST Rate, off Santiago de Cuba,
july g 1898
My Dear General-I have your note
OF this morning-just received at 1880
An officer of my staff has already re-
ported to you the figure which we did
TINS morning, but l must say in adj
dltlon TO what he told you, that the
lorts which We silenced were not the
forts which would give you any incon-
venience in capturing the city, as they
cannot fire, except to seward. They
cannot even prevent our entrance into
the harbor Of Santiago. Our trouble
from the first has been that the chan
mel to the harbor is we'll strewn with
observation mines. which would GER
tainly result in the sinking of one or
more OF our ships if we attempted to
enter the harbor. and by the sinking
OF a ship the object of the attempt to
enter the harbor would be defeated by
the preventing Of further progress on
our part.
1t was my hope that an attack on
your part of these shore batteries
from the rear would leave us at liberty
TO drag the channel for torpedoes. If
1t is your earnest desire that we should
force our entrance, I will at once ap-
pear to undertake it. / think, however |
that our position and yours would be |
made more difficult if. as is possible |
we fail in our attempt
We have in our outfit at Guantan-
, M
VIII bring here with as little delay as |
possible, and if we can succeed in free |
ing the entrance of mines by their use, |
will enter the harbor.
This work, which is unfamiliar to |
US, will require considerable time 1t !
is not so much the loss of men as it is !
the loss of ships, which has, until now, |
deferred me from making direct at
tack upon the ships within the port. |
Very truly, w T. SAMPSON.
- Rear Admiral, U. S. N, Commander
in-Chief North Atlantic Station
Major General Shafter. u. S. W"
The sortie of Admiral Cervera's
squadron and it's destruction has been
made the subject of a separate paper
and need not be repeated here This
event closes the purely naval cam
paign, crowning with complete success
the anxious work of almost exactly
two months.
DESIGNS OF AUSTRIAN GUNBOAT.
1t is apparent from the following dis
patch from Acting Secretary Allen to
the commanding officer of the fleet, and
which appears in the correspondence,
that the department felt some appre-
hension regarding the movements and
designs of the Austrian gunboat Maria
Teresa, which appeared in the West
Indies during the war:
Washington, June 13.-Austrian gun
boat Maria Teresa in West Indies is
thought to be visiting various block
AIDES to see if effective. Upon the ar
rival of our troops, send without delay
rs many as consider necessary of the
convoy to commodore No. 10, off Glen
Iuegos, Cuba, and as there is some sim
larity between Austrian and Spanish
Tags, caution your ships against posi-
Die mistakes
The apprehension by the department
1t one time of the possibility of the es-
ape of the Spaniards from Santiago,
'ia Manzanillo, Cuba, is shown in the
dispatch to Sampson:
Washington.-When the Spanish
give up hope at Santiago. they may at
empt to escape via ManZanillo, Cuba
As understood here. they receive sup
)lies now via ManZanillo, Cuba.
LONG"