Santa Fe new Mexican. [volume] (Santa Fe, N.M.) 1898-1951, 1898-06-23


board the Associated Press dispatcl
boat Wanda, Baiqueri harbor. Cuba
June %, p. M, via Kingston, Jamaica
June 23, $50, p. MAT O'Clock thi
afternoon 5000 trained American sol
diers are camped in and around Bal
queri, and 10000 more rest on thei
arms on board the transports ready t,
join those who have debarked so sOol
as the available launches and boats cal
carry them ashore The time and Sc;
and weather were propitious for the in
vasion, and the navy and army cooper
ated splendidly, and when the big war
ships closed in on the shore to pave thu
way for the approach of the transports
and then went back again, three cheer.
for the navy went up from 10000 throat.
on the transports. and three cheers rost
for the army from ship to ship, as the
troopships moved in to take their share
in the hazardous game. 1t was war anC
it was magnificent. The Cuban insur.
gents, too, bore their share in the enter
prise honorably and well. Five thou
dark thickets or ravines, lay last night
on their guns watching every road and
mountain path leading from Santiago to
Guantanamo.
One thousand were within sight of
Baiqueri making the approach of Span
iards under the cover of darkness an
impossibility. At 4 O'Clock this morn
ing, as the Associated Press dispatch
boat approached Baiqueri, it was seen
that many of the troopships that had
been lying several miles out in the offing
had drawn in toward the shore, while
three or four warships lay menacingly
near the harbor approach. All around
the transports steam launches and small
boats were bobbing about like corks,
the first indication of the true object of
the undertaking ahead. An hour later
the sun was rising in the eastern sky,
touching the mountain tops with patch
es of light green, revealing the great
semi-circle of troopships, some close to
the coast line, others mile distant,
with the decks crowded with eager,
eXpectant men, impatient to begin the
first invasion by the army of foreign
country in half century AS the dis
patch boat of the Associated Press ran
closer in, where the New Orleans was
lying with her great Armstrong guns
trained on the bay of Baiqueri. tongues
of lurid flames and clouds of black
smoke were seen rising in the town, the
inevitable consequence of war, and a
sure sign that. the Spaniards had to
go, leaving a ruin behind. The captain
of the New Orleans shouted the news to
the dispatch boat adding: "You had
better keep off little, as you are in
range. They have rife OH the hill on
the eastern side of Baiqueri." This is a
steep, rocky hill, known as Punta Bal
quer, rising almost perpendicularly at
the place indicated 1t is a veritable
Gibraltar in the possibilities of de-
fense.
From the staff at it's summit. the
Spanish flag was deiiantly floating at
sunset last night, but it was gone this
morning and with it the small Spanish
guard which had maintained the signal
station. Between nightfall and dawn
the Spaniards had taken alarm and fed
from the place, firing the town as they
left. The flames were watched with in
terest from the ships. Two sharp ex-
plosions were heard. At first they were
thought to be reports of guns from
Spanish masked batteries, but they
proved to be explosions of ammunition
in the burning buildings.
A little before Q o'clock the lombard
ment of the batteries at Jaragua was
begun by the ships of Rear Admiral
fleet. This was evidently IA
feint to cover another point of attack,
tn, hot inn , hn, onn-hn1f 1,o
tween Baiqueri and Santiago. The
bombardment lasted only about 20
The scene then quickly
shifted back again to the great semi
circle of the transport fleet before
Baiqueri.
At $40 o'clock the New Orleans
opened fire with a gun that senta shell
and crashing against the hill
side. The Detroit, Wasp, Machias and
Suwanee followed suit, and soon the
hillside and valleys seemed to be ablaze
as shot followed shot in quick success
sion among wild and exciting cheering
from the soldiers on the transports. In
five minutes the sea was alive with flo
tillas of small boats headed by launches,
speeding for the Baiqueri dock. Some
Of the boats were manned by crews of
sailors, while others were rowed by the
soldiers themselves. Each boat con-
tanned 16 men, everyone in fighting
trim and carrying three days rations,
shelter tent, gun and 200 cartridges,
ready to take the field on touching the
shore, should they be called upon. The
firing by the warships, however,
proved a needless precaution, as their
Shots were not returned and no Span
iards were visible. Two correspondents
of the Associated Press, in small boat
ioined the first flotilla that went ashore,
and witnessed the inspiring sight of
landing. General Shafter, on board the
Seguranca, closely watched the landing
of the troops.
Brigadier General Lawton, VINO has
been detailed to command the landing
Of the troops, led the way in a launch,
accompanied by his staff, and directed
the formation of line of operation. A
achment of 80 regular infantry SOL
diers was first to land, followed by Cen
eral Skaters old regiment, the 1st in
fantry. Then came the 25th infantry,
s2nd infantry, 10th infantry, and the 7th |
and 18th infantry battalion of the End !
Massac chusetts regiment, and a detach-
ment OF the 9th cavalry. The boats rushed
forward simultaneously from every quar-
ter, in good natured rivalry to be first,
and the occupants scrambled over one /
another to leap ashore. As the boats
we're tossed about in the surf breaking
against the pier, getting ashore was no
easy matter, and the soldiers had to
4, l1t~ -
could climb up themselves. Some hard
tumbles resulted, but nobody was hurt
At the end of the pier the companies
and regiments quickly lined up and
were marched away.
General Lawton threw out q strong
detachment for the night about six
miles west, on the road to Santiago, and
another detachment was posted to the