The herald., 1898-10-24

Ii Gen. Shafter asked that the admiral
keep up his fight on the Santiago water front.
On July I'd the following was received from
''Tsrrible fight yesterday, but my line is
now strongly intrenched about three
fourths of a mile from town. urge that
you make effort Immediately to force the
entrance to avoid further losses among my
men, which are already heavy. You can
now operate with less loss of life than can.
Please telephone answer"
A reply was telephoned Gen. Shafter from
Admiral Sampson through Lieut.. Stanton,
which said the admiral had bombarded the
forts at the entrance of Santiago and also
Punta Gorda battery inside, silencing their
fire, and asked whether he (Shafter) want
ed further firing on the admirals part. The
explanation was made that it was impossl-
bic to force an entrance until the channel
was cleared of mines-a work of some time
after the forts were taken possession OF by
the troops To this Gen. Shafter replied:
cit is impossible for me to say when can
take batteries at entrance of harbor. 1t
they are as difficult to take as those which
we have been pitted against, it will be some
time and great loss OF life. | am at a loss
to see why the navy cannot work under a
destructive fire as we'll as the army. My
loss yesterday was 500 men. BY all means
keep up fire on everything in sight, until
you demolish it. ] expect, however, in
time and with sufficient men to capture the
forts along the bay
SAMPSON WRITES SHAFTER
Admiral Sampson then says:
Il wrote Gen. Shafter the following let
ter and began making preparations to coun-
termine and, with the object of arranging
an attack upon the batteries at the entrance,
a visit was arranged with Gen. Shatter, so
that the matter might be thoroughly dis
cussed and combined action take place.
had in view the employment of the marines
for an assault on either the Moro or So
copa battery, while at the same time as
saulting the defenses at the entrance with
the fleet.
"'UNITED STATES FLAGSHIP NEW
YORK, first rate, off Santiago de Cuba, July
2, 1893: My Dear General have your note
of this morning-just received at ll:30.
An officer OF my staff has already re-
ported to you the firing which we did this
morning, but l must say in addition to what
he told you that the forts which we slenced
were not the forts which would give you
any inconvenience in capturing the city, as
they cannot fire except to seaward. They
cannot even prevent our entrance into the
harbor OF Santiago. Our trouble from the
ulsI HhS DteH tHdt tue cIldHnel 10 tne DafDOf
is well strewn with observation mines,
which would certainly result in the sinking
of one or more of our ships if we attempted
to enter the harbor; and by the sinking of
q ship, the object of the attempt to enter
the harbor would be defeated by preventing
further progress on our part.
=" 1t was my hope that an attack on your
part of these shore batteries from the rear
would leave us at liberty to drag the chan
mel for torpedoes.
g. If it is your earnest desire that we
should force our entrance / will at once pre-
pare to undertake it. l think, however, that
our position and yours would be made more
difficult if, as is possible, we fail in our at
tempt
1--WE have in our outfit at Guantanamo
forty countermining mines, which | will
bring here with as little delay as possible,
and if we can succeed in freeing the entrance
of mines by their use will enter the har-
bor.
This work, which is unfamiliar to us,
will require considerable time 1t is not so
much the loss of men as it is the loss of
ships which has until now deferred me from
making direct attack upon the ships with.
in the port. Very truly,
"Rear Admiral, U. S. n, Commander-in-
Chief North Atlantic Station.
Maj. Gen. Shafter, u. S. A."
July 3-The sortie of Admiral Cervera's
squadron and its destruction has been made
the subject of separate paper and need not
be repeated here.
This event closes the purely naval cam
paign, crowning with complete success tile
anxious work of almost exactly two months.
A NEEDLESS SCARE
1t is apparent from the following dispatch
from Acting Secretary Allen to the COM
manding officer OF the feet, and which ap-
pears in the correspondence, that the de-
partment felt some apprehension regarding
the movements and designs of the Austrian
gunboat Maria Teresa, which appeared in
the West Indies during the war:
WASHINGTON, June l3-Austrian
gunboat Maria Teresa in West Indies is
thought to be visiting various blockades to
see if effective. Upon arrival of our troops
send without delay as many as consider nee
essary of the convoy to commodore No. 10
off Cienfuegos, Cuba, and as there is some
similarity between Austrian and Spanish
flags caution your ships against possible
mistakes"
The apprehension by the department at
one time Of the possibility of the escape of
the Spanards from Santiago via Mama
Milo, Cuba, is shown in the following dis
patch to Sampson:
Washington-When the Spanish give
up hope at Santiago they may attempt to
escape via Manzanillo, Cuba. As under
stood here, they receive supplies now via
Manzanillo, Cuba. (Signed) LONG"
~e--
HorSeShoers, IJninn