The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1898-05-18
SHIELDED SAN JUAN.
Sampson Attacks the Batteries De-
Tending the City.
Retires without Attempting Capture
~ of the Town Two of Our
Men Killed and Seven
Wounded.

day morning the navy department re-
ceived the following dispatch from Adj
miral Sampson. 1t was dated at ST.
Thomas, May 10, and was as follows:
"a portion of the squadron under my
command reached San Juan this morning
| at daybreak. No armed vessels were
| found in the port. AS soon as it was suf-
! ficiently light commenced attack upon the
| batteries defending the city. This attack
lasted about three hours and resulted in
much damage to the batteries and nciden-
tally to portion Of the city adjacent to
! the batteries. The batteries replied to our
| fire, but without material effect. One man
was killed on board the New York and
seven slightly wounded in the squadron.
No serious damage to any ships resulted.
"(Signed) SAMPSON"
Admiral SIMPSONS statement that
he attacked with only portion of his
feet is taken TO indicate that he did not
find it eXpedient to take the entire
squadron into the harbor, though it is
not believed he has separated his fleet.
The navy department officials were at
loss to know how his dispatch reached
ST. Thomas until the press dispatch an
nounced the presence of the Yale at ST.
Thomas.
The BOmbardment from the Flagship.
| On board the Flagship Iowa, Off San
! Juan de Puerto Rico, May II (via St. Thorn
| as, Danish West Indies, May 14.-The forts
of San Juan de Puerto Rico were bonn
| barded by part of Rear Admiral Samp-
sons fleet Friday morning. The enemy's
loss is believed to be heavy. The Ameri-
can loss is two men killed and seven men
injured. After three hours firing the adj
miral withdrew the fleet, and, heading for
Key West, he said II am satisfied with
70 in rnr1y how fob
San Juan, but have no force to hold it.
only wanted to administer punishment.
This has been done. l came for the Spanish
fleet, and not for San Juan"
Killed and Wounded.
The men killed were: Seaman Frank
| Widemark, of the New York, and Gun
ner's Mate -, of the Amphitrite. The lat
ter died from effects Of the extreme heat.
Of the injured men three were on board
the Iowa and four on board the New York.
The names of those slightly injured on the
Iowa are: Seaman Mitchell, Private Ma
rine Merkle, Apprentice Hill. The injured
on the New York are: Seaman Samuel
Feltman, seriously; Seaman Michael Muir
ply, two other enlisted men, slightly in
| jured. All the above-named were injured
by the bursting of shell on the New York.
This is complete list of the killed and
wounded. The American ships were I'M
injured.
Story of the Battle.
| The engagement began at 5:15 a. m. and
ended at Sis a. m. The enemys batteries
were not silenced The town in the rear
of the Notifications proba bly, suffered. The
ships taking part in the action were the
| Iowa, Indiana, New York, Terror, Am
phitrite, Detroit, Montgomery, Wampa-
tuck and Porter. The enemys firing was
heavy but wild, and the Iowa and New
York were probably the only ships hit.
They went right up under the guns in col
| nri o. hrOa6Si0aS e.
turned. The line passed thrice in front of
the forts, pouring tons of steel on shore.
Moro Battery the Target.
Moro battery, on the eastward arm of
the harbor, was the principal point of at
tack. Rear Admiral Sampson and Capt.
| Evans were on the lower bridge of the Iowa
| and had narrow escape from flying splin-
tiers, which injured three men, The Iowa
was hit eight times, but the shells made no
| impression on her armor. The weather was
fine, but the heavy swells made accurate
aim difficult. The broadsides from the
Iowa and Indiana rumbled in the hills
| ashore for five minutes after they were de-
| livered. Clouds of dust showed where The
shells struck, but the smoke hung over
| everything. The shells screening over
| head and dropping around showed that
the Spaniards still stuck to their guns.
At three O'Clock in the morning all hands
were called on the Iowa, few final touches
in clearing ship were made, and at five
general quarters sounded. The men were
eager for the fight. The tug Wampatuck
went ahead and anchored, her small boat
to the westward showing ten fathoms, but
there was not sign OF life from the fort,
which stood boldly against the sky on the
| eastern hills hiding the town. The Detroit
steamed far to the eastward opposite Val
| tern. The Iowa headed straight for the
shore. Suddenly her helm flew over, bring
ing her starboard battery to bear on the
Notifications. At 5:15 a. m. the Iowa's for
ward 12-inch guns Numbered out at the
sleeping hills, and for IA minutes she
| poured starboard broadsideS' on the coast.
! Meanwhile the Indiana, the New York and
other ships repeated the dose from the
rear The Iowa turned and came back to
the Wampatuck's boat and again led the
column, the forts replying fiercely, concen-
trating on the Detroit, which was about
700 yardSaway, all the batteries on the east
ward arm of the harbor. Thrice the column
passed from the entrance of the harbor to
the extreme eastward battery.
Ships Retire.
At 7:45 a. m Admiral Sampson signaled
"Cease firing" Retire was sounded on
the Iowa, and she headed from the shore.
The Terror was the last ship in the line,
and, failing to see the signal, banged away
alone for about half an hour, the concert
of shore guns roaring at her and the water
flying high around her from the exploded
shells But she possessed a charmed life
and reluctantly retired at SIS.
Inflicted Much Damage.
AS at Matanzas, the unsatisfactory con-
dition, the smoke and the distance pre-
vented any important conclusions being
drawn. The town of San Juan must have
suffered, although protected by the hills,
as the high shots must have reached it.
No traces of the bombardment were dis
cernible on the forts except small fires,
which were apparently extinguished before
the fleet left.
1t is impossible to judge of the amount of
damage done to the buildings and forts.
They appeared to be riddled with shot, but
the Spaniards were plucky. After the first
passage before the forts the Detroit and
the Montgomery retired, their guns being
too small to do much damage. The Porter
and Wampatuck also stayed out of range.
| Tho Snoaka hung over thing. smelling