Courier Democrat. (Langdon, N.D.) 1891-1920, 1898-07-14
had been sunk, but she always forged
ahead and appeared again buster than

l
ers slackened. but although some Of their
gums were disabled. their machinery was
all right. and they moved on till Moro
could ne longer take part in the battle.
Then the New York appeared, hurry
ing on news from the Resolute that
Cervera had dashed his wedge Of cruis-
ers into the American fleet and was dy-
ing gloriously. The New York was six
miles away when the destroyers saw her.
The Moro Numbered at Sampson as he
came within range. but the admiral never
haeded, seeing only in the distance the
dim forms of the Vizcaya and the OQuen-
do, hopelessly W. 5t
Hemmed In by Circle Of Fire,
and In the foreground the Gloucester
| fighting two destroyers at sIHrt range
When the destroyers saw the flagship
they sped away from the Gloucester and
tried to overtake the vixcaya and get into
shelter on her starboarl side II that
could not be DONE there ought to be q
chance to torpedo the Indiasa and break
| through our line to the oi;en sea, where
speed would save them, but the Indiana
steamed !Eshore and the 1caa, too. but
farther away. The Indiana's secondary
battery had the first destroyers range
and rained shells upon it. Splintered and
torn. but still with their steering gear and
machinery intact, both destroyers turned
bAck to run for the mouth OF the harbor
and seek safely aside. But !; was too
late. The fiEnt had been carried nearly
four miles west of MORO and the New
York was already past the harbor mouth.
The Gloucester &as ready for them
close at hand. She and the destroyers
and the Indiana se:med & triangle OF
which the destroyers were the apex and
the American fise, convergiag. was too
| fierce for human Es!rgs to Withstand.
One destroyer c.;ft3d :::to the surf of fire,
a battered wreck, and then crept on
| toward the Gloucester and the New York
with her guns silent and showing a flag
| of truce. She was on fire, too, and her
crew ran her ashore to save the lives Of
| those who had escaped our shells. She
blew up soon after they abandoned her.
! I was standing behind DR.. Simons. of
| the Iowa, when the Gloucester was In the
greatest peril and he could not help turn
| ing from the main battle to watch her
she would not run short of ammunition.
Her commanders skill and courage were
simply magnificent. The Spanish admiral
was lost in smoke to the westward, when,
at quarter before II o'clock. the
Vizcaya Hoisted a White Flag.
This was followed by the Oquendo's
going ashore, with flames bursting from
her decks. The Iowa, Indiana, Texas
and Massachusetts, ceased firing. the
Massachusetts, going at once to join the
Oregon and the Brooklyn in pounding
up and smashing Cervera's ship. Once
| headed off, the Oquendo turned into a
| small bay four or five miles west OF
Santiago. where she lay close to the land.
With an ever weakening broadside the
| Vizcaya followed, first heading out as If
| to break through the line of battle. The
Indiana and Iowa, closed in their forma-
ton, made her escape in that direction
impossible. Capt. Eulate then attempted
| to reach the east side of the bay, occu-
pied by the Oquendo, but in vain.
could that the VlZCG-
yas bulwarEs near the stern had been
torn away. Smoke poured out where shells
had exploded inside, and she was on hre.
Her guns, with the exception of those for
WI I'd, were out of action. Her bow guns
were still fired at intervals. Those who
| were not working the bow guns crowded
forward to escape the smoke and fire aft.
The Oquendo was ashore. her guns silent
and smoke rising in thick. black clouds.
| There was a laundering of guns to the
| westward now, and flashes IN the smother
told that Cervera still fought. but to the
eastward of his ships lay the burning
wrecks of his two destroyers. The tor
pedo boat Ericsson was seen coming
along with the New York. The Oquendo
was helpless. The Indiana and the Iowa
were closing in, and shell after shell
burst above and aboard the Vizcaya.
Eulate hoisted a white flag as his ship
went ashore to save the remnant of his
men, and simultaneously up went flag
of white on the Oquendo and
Down Came the Flag of Spain.
An hour and a half had elapsed since
Cervera left the harbor and of the five
vessels which came out only this flag
ship was still in action.
The Moro battery still stormed impo-
| tenty at the New York. The American
army, with 200 dead and wounded. was
| not yet in Santiago, but Cervera's fleet
was destroyed and Cervera himself was
l rys~lS4
make his defeat glorious in the eyes Of
the attentive world
He had proved, at least, that he was
not bottled up so tightly as was supposed.
He had lost four vessels and perhaps
more than half Of his men, but his PEN
| nant was still flying and some of his
guns were still in action.
Cervera passed the bay in which the
OGuenda had sought refuge and held on
a due west course close to the land, but
evidently ncurishing the desperate hope
that he might break through the line
| and reach free water He had passed in
succession the Iowa, the Indiana and the
Texas, not to speak of the little Glouces-
| ter, which spouted 6-pound shells at him.
Since his flag appeared outside the harbor
his ship had been struck again and
again. BY this time the Vizcaya and the
| Oque1 do were practically beaten. but in
spite of the IL and 13-inch shells that
| were rained upon him at range which
was very short for such gurs, in spite
| o: the fact that his boilers and machinery
| were damaged. he held his course. From
! point mile west Of the Moro the
| Cristobal Colon was Invisible frequently
! in the low-hanging smoke from his own
guns and also that which drifted in shore
| from the battleshps
Clearly. now, it might have been better
If they had moved in circles and given
battle under the Santiago batteries,
| whose aid would have lessened the odds
against him, but the Spaniards through
| splendid strategy, had not been headed
off until the batteries could no longer
train their guns on our fleet.
Cervera's Last Desperate Move
| At 1880 Cervera saw the Oregon cutting
in shore ahead of him to round him to.
The smoke was very thick. The firing
was incessant. Cervera's available guns
were no longer we'll served. Shells had
set fire to his ship near the stem, and the
flames were controlled with difficulty, but
the Spanish admiral altered his course
and headed off from the coast, as If to
attempt to pass between two ships
and run for it. 1t was impossible. The
| Iowa and the Texas were already moving
| down to close the gap, and the Spanish
| flagship, raked by the Oregon and the