Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1898-08-05
THE SIEGE OF HAVANA.
Lessons for Us From British En-
ccriSncc in I16C

rcricnce i'll 1862.
Although the capture of Havana
las been left for the last, no doubt an
American army will have to bcsiege
the capital OF Cuba before the war
i over. The wisdom OF leaving it till
the last, and occupying the time till
the rainy season is past i'll reducing
Porto Rico, Is not doubted by any one.
But n striking confirmation of its WIS
dom is afforded by the experience of
the English army that took Havana
in 1862. An interesting resume Of the
military history of the expedition is
contributed by Colonel John Adye, of
the BritiSah rtillery, to the Nineteenth
Century, from which we learn that
there were several curious coincidents
between that expedition and the pres
ent war in Cuba.
Recognizing all allowances for the
modern improvements which dis
tinguish the Notifications of Havana
to-day from those of 1852, it is, never
theless, interesting to see how similar
they are in their general outline.
Moro castle was then, as now, the
main defense of the city. 1t was then,
as now, inaccessible from the sea. 1t
was strongly secured on the land side
and the siege, which lasted from June
6 to July 30 was practically occupied
entirely with the reduction of MORO
Castle. The expedition, which was
under the command of Admiral Sir
George Bocock and General the Earl
of Albemarle, comprised an army of
1000 men and 90 sail of the line.
with an equal number of smaller war
ships. Arriving off Havana in June,
1852, the fleet found Spanish fleet
within Havana harbor, where it stayed
like Admiral Cervera in Santiago, and,
unlike Ccrvcra, never attempted to
come out. Not only did the Spanish
feet not come out of the harbor, but
the Spaniards sank three ships within
boom at the mouth of the harbor Ell.
trance, differing from Hobson's sink
ing of the Merrimac in its purpose.
These ships were sunk to keep the
enemy from getting in, instead of to
keep the beleaguered fleet from get
ting out.
Lord Albemarle recognized the
need OF energy, as the rainy season
was about beginning, and began dis
embarking before he had been near
Havana "a hours. He landed his
main body few miles to the eastward
of Moro Castle, at place where
Captain-General Blanco has recently
erected earthworks and mounted cam
non as if to guard against similar
landing. When the whole army was
safely OH shore at this point, heights
were seized from which Moro Castle
could be cannonaded. Then the
siege began in earnest, and a pro-
tracted, arduous siege it was, attended
by fever, toll and suffering. The
ground was so rocky and the soil so
scanty that the army was put to great
straits for the means of making roads
and raising earthworks. The batteries
were constructed slowly and with
great difficulty, and it was long and
toilsome task to drag the guns to them
and mount them. Fever ragged, and
at one time 5000 sailors and 1000
soldiers were Frustrated. The fleet
was anchored in an exposed spot Off a
rocky coast, daily expecting the hurri-
cane season to break upon it. The
Spaniards made bold defense, and
occasionally took the offensive with
great success. The ships took part in
the campaign against Moro, but with
out success. The conditions were
similar to those at Santiago, the bat
teries being too high to afford the
ships a good target, and the ships
suffering from the plunging fires of
the forts, exactly as admiral Sampson
apprehended his ships would suffer if
he undertook to run the gauntlet of
the Santiago forts.
Finally, however, battery after bat
terry having been built, and some of
them demolished, the English had
drawn close enough to Morro's frown-
ing ramparts to effect breach, and
though it was so narrow as to admit |
only one man at n time, the English |
swarmed through it, and, after muir
derous handto- hand combat, captured |
the fort. Its capture determined the
fate of the city. When the guns of
the fort were turned upon the town it
fell, after three days bombardment.
The British lost 500 killed or died
from wounds, and 4,7OS persisted from
sickness. AS the sanitary state of the
country around Havana is now proba-
bly, worse than in 1862, worse because
the country is more populous, this
fact alone is significant us to the
perils to be most avoided in besieging
Havana
Condemns Rocking Chairs.
Recently English physicians have
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