The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1898-07-16

WITH THE UNITED STATES
TROOPS BEFORE SANTIAGO DE
CUBA, July IA (via Kingston, Jamaica,
July 15).-The great blow to the Span
ish army in Eastern Cuba has fallen.
Santiago is lost and with 1t all the east
ern end of the island. General Toral, the
Spanish commander, agreed to the gen
eral terms of the surrender at per-
sonal interview with General Shafter
this afternoon, at which General Miles
was present. The armies have had
campaign of three weeks of unprece-
denied hardships both for officers and
privates.
The victory of the Americans is
greater than was expected at first. The
Spanish troops in the Fourth Corps, the
military division of Santiago province,
from a line drawn north from Aserra-
deros, eighteen miles west of Santiago,
through Los Palmas, Palmas Sorian,
Alcantaza to Sagua de Tanamo on the
north coast, and eastward to Cape
Maysi, are surrendered and the terri
tory is abandoned. Between $4,000 and
10000 Spanish prisoners are taken,
about 10000 of whom are in Santiago.
The remainder are at Guantanamo, and
others are garrisoned in the towns of
Eastern Cuba. All these troops are to
be embarked and sent back to Spain
under parole.
General Shafter bears his honors
modestly. To a correspondent of the
Associated Press he said:
The enemy has surrendered all the
| territory and troops east of Santiago.
The terms were dictated from Wash
ington. 1t has been a hard cam
paign, one Of the hardest l ever saw.
The difficulties to contend with were
very great. Never during our Civil War
were more difficult problems solved.
| The character of the country and the
roads made it seem almost impossible
to advance in the face of the enemy.
The transportation problem was hard,
too, but all the difficulties have been
successfully surmounted. Our troops
have behaved CALAMITY. They fought
like heroes and 1 am proud to have
| commanded them. during all the haro-
ships they have suffered they have
shown resolution and spirit. They de-
serve to conquer.
THE resistance of the enemy has
been exceedingly stubborn. General
Toral has proved himself a foeman
worthy of any mans steel. The nego-
tiations which eliminated in the sur
render of General Toral have been
dragging on for ten days with the in
Permission of Sunday and Monday,
when our batteries and fleets bonn
barded the enemy's position. Through
out these periods of truce General Toral
has shrewdly fallen back, when hard
pressed, upon the statement that he
was simply a subordinate and power
! less to agree to the proposals without
the sanction of his superiors except UNI
der penalty of being court-1nartlaleo.
At the same time he seemed to init
mate that, personally, he thought 1t
useless to hold out any longer. But ne
and his garrison were soldiers, ne Sald,
| and could die, if necessary, obeylng
| orders"
II was at the personal interview be-
tween General Shafter and General 10
raj that the American general made the
Spaniard understand that tempor1zlng
must cease and that before noon TO-
day q. categorical acceptance of his Of
| fer must be received or the lombard
ment of the city would begin in earnest.
! In the meantime all our plans had been
perfected. The delay had been utilized
to good advantage. Our lines had been
extended until Santiago was nearly
surrounded and our light batteries had
been so posted as to be able to do more
| effective work In addition, arrange
ments had been made to land troops
! at Cabanas, west of the entrance or
the harbor of Santiago. The Spanish
batteries opposite MORO Castle were to
be bombarded AMI stormed, their guns
were then to be turned upon the city
and General Lawton's division at the
same time was to fall on the enemy S
| left flank under the cover of our artil-
lery fire. We could then have enfiladed
their lines and have driven them into
the city.
General Toral must have realized that
he was trapped and that To hold out
! longer must mean a useless sacrihce
of his men. but he made one last effort
to gain more time this morning. While
| nominalIy yielding to the terms General
| Shafter DrOooSed before 8 o'clock he
sent a. communication to General Shat
ter inclosing a copy of telegram from
Captain General Blanco explaining that
the surrender of such an important po-
sition as Santiago and the abandon
ment of Eastern Cuba would require
the direct sanction of the Madrid Gov
| eminent and requesting more time to
hear from Madrid. At the same
time Captain General Blanco author
lied General Toral, If 1T was agreeable
to the American general, to appoint
commissioners Of each side to arrange
the terms Of capitulation of the forces
under his command on the condition of
| their parole and transportation to
Spain, pending the sanction OF Madrid.
He also communicated the names of the
commissioners he had selected, namely
Robert Mason, the British Vice Consul;
General Toral's chief of staff, Colonel
Fontaine, and General Escarajao.
This communication was so ambigu-
ous that it might all be upset by the
refusal Of Madrid to sanction the terms
agreed to by the commissioners and
General Shafter resolved to have all
the ambiguity removed before proceed
! ing further At IL o'clock he mounted
his horse and together with General
Miles and his staff he rode to the front.
At General Wheeler's headquarters
| General Shafter. General Miles, General
Maus and an interpreter left their re-
tinue and passed on over our trenches
with a flag of truce to the mango tree
under which the interview was held
Yesterday They were soon Joined by
General Toral, his chief Of staff and