Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1898-12-01

would be suicidal folly. and ! have not
the force TO form landing parties strong
enough 10 ensure the capture Of the forts
No Disbursements mentioned by the paper
have been brought TO my notice by Gen
eral Shafter."
TOO LATE FOR SURRENDER.
Admiral Sampson gives a number OF
dispatches, showing that he was asked
TO participate I'm the terms OF surrender,
and tried to find out when he should send
representative, but owing 10 one or
two delays no time was fixed. Sampson
comments as follows:
The foregoing certainly shows clearly
the most absolute Joint action. and
took for granted that we should be joint
sgnatores Of any capituation. as Is Gus
tomary I'm all services in such circum-
stances.
Captain Chadwick arrived at the front
1 at the earliest hour Il was possible for
him to do so, and Informed General
| Shafter Of my expectation In the matter,
but General Shafter peremptorily refused.
The convention had already been signed,
and he stated as one reason that nothing
had been said Of the army in my report
Of the fleet action Of July 3D. There
would have been az much reason for men,
| tioning the navy in the report Of the land
I
by our army on the Spanish lines.
CAPTURED SHIPPING DEMANDED.
"No mention was made of the shipping
/ In the captulation and Captain Chadwick
| informed General Shafter that all Span
/ ish ships would be regarded by MS as pro-
/ perty 10 be turned over to the navy. He
| said he would refer such matter to the
Secretary of War. but that, Of course,
4 L.. .pfV NFhn |
sidered my duty in the matter, par'icu-
! larly in view OF our late experience OF
Spanish perfdy in regard TO thee injury
of ships, which. in my opinion, made il
necessary to look after their safety AT
once.
81. thus. after the hauling down Of the
Spanish flag. sent prize crews on board
the Spanish gunboat and the five mer-
chant vessels in the harbor."
An office rvay on board the Alvarado,
who said ne had been sent to take charge
Of her. whereupon ! sent the following
TO General Shafter: Flagship New York:
Upon sending i'm an officer To take charge
Of the captured Spanish gunbOat the
Alyarado IL was found that one Of your
officers was on board, evidently with the
expectation of taking charge Of her 1t
should hardly be necessary to remind you
that in all joint operations of the charac-
ter of those which have resulted In the
fan of Santiago, all floating material is
turned over TO the navy as all forts, etc,
go TO the army. | have been acting with
I'm 200 Yards OF the Moro. from which the
Spanish flag was hauled down at 9
o'clock. and upon which the United
States flag has not yet, at 7. NJ, been
hoisted Although my forces have fire.
quently engaged these forts, and yours
have not exchanged a shot with them,
I await the arrival Of detachment OF
your troops to take possession, as they
must eventually occupy them. ] expect
the same consideration. ! request that
YOU will relieve Lieutenant Caruthers Oh
the duty given. as / have directed Lieu
tenant Marble to assume command Of
the Alvarado Very respectfully, etc
NAVY NOT APPRECIATED.
After ouoting some further correspond
ence on the matter in which Sampson
Claims the prizes. he refers to the eXpul-
sion of Lieutenant Doyle from cap |
tured vessels. and the failure Of Shafter
IN invite any Of the squadron ofticers 10
he present at the surrender, ana ADDS;
This may have been mere oversight,
but il Is. of course to be regretted that
any such should have taken place. Had !
the navy been withdrawn after the action |
of the 3d-after which all the heets ope-
rations were to aid the army-ah the |
shining referred TO would have escaped, |
and our army have become the DesieSed /
instead of the besiegers as. Of course !
the Reina Mercedes and the gunboat Al |
vorodo would have been free TO destroy |
or drive off the transport fleet. ] do not
think the commanding general quite ap-
preciates how necessary part our lorces
were 10 the reduction Of Santiago ana
the surrender of its garrison, which was
one of the principal causes
of the surrender at this time.
Shofter's reioinder came on August lst,
directed to Admiral Sampson, as folloWs:
sHAFTER RULES SAMPSON OUT.
Santiago. August /. 1851 DO not ac-
knowledge the authority or the Secretary
of the Navy IN the matter IN whlch you
wire me. The surrender OF Santiago was
made by General Toral in person. In sur
rendering verbally al the prisoners anu
public property Of Spain in the district
by him. and | accepting the
same i'm the presence of troops represent
ing all the respective armies.
'.,The details for carrying this into erect
we're arranged by three commissioners on
.ach side these articles were signed by
he respective commissioners IN duph-
ate and one copy was handed to Gene
al Toral and the other sent by me 10
he Secretary Of War. Neither General
roral nor myself signed them.
.I certainly could not and would not
,ermit these articles 10 go TO any officer
OR signature. my own not being affixed,
md | shall protest 10 the Secretary or
Yar against your signature of that docu-
nent. I respectfully invite your atten-
ion TO the fact that no claim for credit
or the capture Of Ceryera and his fleet
,os been made by the army. although IL
! a fact that the Spanish fleet did not
cave the harbor until the investment OF ]
he city was practically completed and ! Z
,ervera had suffered losses on land on {
ulv lst and %. notably among them his
hief OF staff.
,sienen 'W. II. SKATER,
"Major-General"
sampson says that he acknowledged re- |
eipt OF the above without argument. and
hat the matter should be decided at !
Meanwhile he cites a number OF tele-
rams and signals to show that Shafter
ad the assistance OF the feet I'm bring
lg about the surrender.
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