Belding banner. (Belding, Mich.) 1889-1918, 1898-07-14
UNCONDITIONAL SURRENDER,
Skater Demanded It of Spanish
at Santiago.
THE FIGHTING WAS RESUMED,
Gen. Toral Wanted to Leave Santiago
Fully Armed and With Colors Flying
but Gen. shafter Would Not Listen
to any Such Terms.
Fighting Resumed at Santiago.

Fighting Resumed at Santiago.
Mai. Gen. Skaters demand for the
surrender of Santiago was finally re-
piled to by Gen. Jose Torai who sue.
ceeded Gen. Linares in command of the
Spanish forces in Santiago when the
latter was wounded. Upon represen-
tations of the foreign consuls Gen.
Shafter extended the truce three days
to allow the non-combatants-w
old men, children and foreigners-to
get out of the city. Then the Spanish
desired to communicate with Madrid
and Havana before giving their final
answer to the demand for surrender.
but said they had no competent tele-
graph operators. Gen. Shafter sup
piled this want and then another wait
occurred. The Americans were becom-
ing impatient when at last little
group of Spanish officers, under flag
of truce came out under the yellow
wall of the besieged city and slowly
made its way toward the American
line. A detail was sent to meet them
and they were escorted to comfortable
quarters, while the letter from Gen.
Toral was carried to Gen. Skaters
tent two miles from the front. The
letter was couched in the Jelly courte-
Gus terms, characteristic of such com
munications and was brief rs possible
1t bore the signature of Gen. Toral,
and stated that he was prepared to sur
render the city provided his army
would be permitted to capitulate with
honor" This, he explained, meant
that the Spanish forces should be un-
molested and go in any direction they
wished with arms and flying their
colors. The letter concluded with the
bold statement that surrender under
any other terms was an impossibility
and would not be considered.
Gen. Shafter Immediately cabled the
facts to Washington and sent to Gen.
Toral a refusal of his proposal, but
his government. Gen. Skaters dis
patch to Washington was as follows:
II have just received a letter from Gen.
Toral declining unconditional sur
render. Bombardment by army and
navy will begin at as near p. m. as
possible"
Enemy Opens Fire.
A short time later the following dis
patch was received from Gen. Shafter:
Enemy opened fire a few minutes past
with light guns, which were soon
silenced by ours. Very little musketry
firing and the enemy kept entirely in
their Entertainments. Three men
slightly wounded. Will have consid-
cradle forces tomorrow, enough to
completely block all the roads on the
northwest. / am quite well. Gen.
Garcia reports that the enemy evacuated
little town called Doscaninos about
three miles from Santiago and near the
bay"
Washington: Informations received
by the war department indicates that
during the few days of truce Gen.
Shafter materially strengthened his
position. During the week he re-
ceived achievements of both artillery
and infantry. Randolph's battery of
"a guns was placed in position before
Santiago. Gen. Shafter then had
nearly so guns and large number of
finch mortars, besides lighter artil-
lery at his disposal. These guns taken
in connection with the work of the
fleet, would, it was believed, carry
terror and destruction to Santiago
When hostilities were renewed every
thing was in readiness or the Ameri-
can lines.
hA
transport Catania arrived with the
Eighth Ohio volunteers, numbering
/, $50 men; the First Illinois infantry,
numbering !, 1850, men; about $50 recruits
for the regular regiments in the field,
and the District of Columbia infantry,
consisting of 915 men.
The American program was for the
war vessels of SIMPSONS fleet to bonn
bard the city by throwing shells over
the coast hills. The distance was about
five miles, and after several prelimi-
nary shots to establish range-finder
the cruiser Newark opened fire into
the city with her S-inch guns. The
signal corps officers stationed on top of
the ridge reported the effect of the shots.
The New York, Brooklyn and Indiana
participated in the firing at intervals
of five minutes. The bombardment
lasted for two hours, when Gen Shat
ter reported that the shells were
mostly falling in the bay and doing
but little damage. The last shot, how
ever, struck prominent church in the
heart of the city, which was heavily
stored with powder and ammunition,
causing tremendous explosion. The
extent of the damage is not yet known.
When the warships ceased firing and
before Gen. Shafter had begun land
attack flag of truce was seen coming
from the city.
Capt. Sampson, acting rear admiral
of the American squadron off Santiago,
has been nominated a commodore by