Audubon Republican. [volume] (Audubon, Iowa) 1894-1925, 1898-05-12

On the forward edge Of the flagship stood
ecutive Ofhcer Rees,s and Navigator Lieut..
Calkins. Capt Gridley, commander of the
ship, from the coming tower awaited the
| order to begin the engagement. Dewey
looked at the batteries, from which puffs
of smoke were rising, and said, grimly:
Shoot whenever you get ready, Gridley.'
"At 10 minutes Of six the starboard eight
inch gun in the forward turret of the Oiym-
pia belched forth a welcome to the dons at
a distance of $500 yards. The firing was
taken up by the Baltimore and Boston In
turn, and shell after shell from their great
guns was sent hurting toward the Cas-
tilla and the Reina Christina. At first it
was all guesswork. The Spaniards. know
ing the exact distance, fired rapidly.
Their guns, ashore and afioat, were maxi
ing 1t warm for the American squadron.
Shot plunged and screamed about the YES
sells, while the shells burst in the air, their
fragments flashing the water till It
splashed all about their hulls. One shot
struck the Olympia nearly abreast of the
wardroom gun. but burst without doing
much damage. Another entered the Bos-
toms port quarter, exploding in the state
room and starting fire, which was quick
ly extinguished. Capt. Wildes, of the Bos-
ton, a moment later had a narrow escape.
A she'll from Spanish gun tore through
the vessels foremost, passing just in front
of him.
Encouraged by the small amount of dam
age that was being done by the guns from
the Spanish ships and batteries the flag
ship turned and steamed majestically up
within 1000 yards of the enemy's vessels.
At this range even the quick-fring six
Founders were found to be effective, and
perfect storm of projectles was poured
in upon the unfortunate Spanish fleet.
Vessels Burning.
Three vessels were set on fire and their
men were forced to abandon the guns. Sat-
isfied with the work thus far accomplished,
Commodore Dewey gave the signal and the
fleet steamed slowly out of the range of
the batteries in order that the crews, which
had been continuously at the guns for
moro than two hours, could go to break
fast. There was a lull in the firing, and
shortly before eight o'clock the feet
steamed past the flagship, the men cheer
ing Justify. For three hours they remained
out of range of the enemy's guns, and then
the signal for action fiuttered at the hal
yards of the flagship.
Attack Renewed.
This time the Baltimore was given the
place of honor. She opened up with her
guns on the Spanish ships and batteries as
coolly as if at target practice. The replies
were slow and irregular. The Raleigh, the
Boston, the Concord and the Petrol were
directed to break into the inner harbor and
destroy every hostile ship in sight. The
gunboat Petrol, with her light draft, was
enabled to move up within 1000 yards With
her guns going as rapidly as they could be
fired, she created awful havoc among the
vessels still flying the Spanish flag.
"In the meantime the Reina Christina
had been burning fiercely and had been
abandoned. The Ulloa, which had also been
deserted, lurched suddenly and sank be-
meath the waters of the bay.
"a few minutes later the Spanish flag
A. ,n1 1t-a 4
placed by white ensign that futtered
bravely in the wind. The signal was then
made to the Petrol to finish the destruc-
ton of the vessels in the inner harbor.
The Don Juan de Austria, the Marquis
Duerc the Isla de Cuba and the Correo
were set on fire. The Manila. a large
transport, and number of tugboats were
seized before they could be sunk and passed
into the hands Of the Americans.
"Dewey's orders on approaching Manila
had been to capture or destroy every Span
ish vessel in sight Within six hours after
the Olympia steamed past the Notifications
at the entrance of the harbor the orders had
been implicitly obeyed. Not Spanish YES
sci remained In the hands of the enemy.
The total casualties on the American fleet
were six men slightly wounded, while the
Spaniards report 61S missing
Spaniards Were Brave.
1.-The officers of the gunboat McCulloch
iards. They particularly praised the gall
liant crew Of the Castillo, whom they de-
scribe as 1.-The bravest men ever sacrificed
in battle" They consider the result Of the
fight a remarkable instance Of the advan-
tage of lcng-range firing to the side which
is better in artillery and craftsmanship
THE Don Antonio de Ulloa made most
magnificent show of desperate bravery.
When her commander found she was so
torn by the American shells that he could
not keep afloat, he nailed her colors to the
mast and she sank with all hands fighting
to the last. Her hull was completely rid
died. and her upper deck had been swept
clean by the awful fire of the American
guns, but the Spaniards, though their YES
sci was sinking beneath them, continued
working the guns on the lower deck until
she sank beneath the water"
THE only loss on the American vessels
was of Chief Engineer Randall, of the Nc
Culloch, who died Of heat and apoplexy,