The leader., 1898-05-18
Killed and WOun d e Il.

|
fleet. and not for San Juan
Killed and Wounded.
The men killed were: Seaman Frank
| Widemark. of the New York, and Gun
| ners Mate -, of the Amphitrite. The lat
| ter died from effects of the extreme heat.
OF the injured men three were on board
! the Iowa and four on board the New York.
| The names of those slightly injured on the
| Iowa are: Seaman Mitchell, Private Ma
| rine Merkle, Apprentice Hill. The injured
on the New York are: Seaman Samuel
Feltman seriously; Seaman Michael Muir
| ply, two other enlisted men, slightly In
| jured. All the above-named were injured
| by the bursting of shell on the New York.
This is a complete list of the killed and
wounded. The American ships were un-
injured.
story of the Battle.
The engagement began at sis a m. nd
ended at S:l5 a. m. The enemy's batteries
were not silenced. The town in the rear
of the Notifications probably suffered. The
ships taking part In the action were the
Iowa, Indiana, New York, Terror, Am
phitrite, Detroit Montgomery, Wampa-
tuck and Porter. The enemy's firing was
heavy but wild, and the Iowa and New
York were probably the only ships hit.
They went right up under the guns in col
umn. delivering broadsides, and then re-
turned. The line passed thrice In front OF
the forts. pouring tons of steel on shore.
MORO battery the Target.
Moro battery, on the eastward arm Of
the harbor was the principal point of at
tack. Rear Admiral sampson and Capt.
Evans were on the lower bridge of the Iowa
nd had a narrow escape from flying splin-
tiers, which injured three men. The Iowa
was hit eight times but the shells made no
impression on her armor. The weather was
fine, but the heavy swells made accurate
aim difficult. The broadsides from the
md Cd in he !
as hore for five minutes after they were de-
lvered Clouds of dust showed where the
shells struck, but the smoke hung over
everything. The shells screechng over
head and dropping around showed that
the Spaniards still stuck to their guns.
At three O'Clock In the morning all hands
were called on the Iowa, few final touches
| In clearing ship were made, and at five
general quarters" sounded. The men were
eager for the fight. The tug Wampatuck
went ahead and anchored. her small boat
to the westward showing ten fathoms. but
! there was not a sign OF life from the fort,
| which stood boldly against the sky on the
| eastern hills hiding the town. The Detroit
| steamed far to the eastward opposite VAL
| tern. The Iowa headed straight for the
shore. Suddenly her helm flew over. bring
| ing her starboard battery to bear on the
| Notifications. At 5:15 a. m. the Iowa's for
| ward 12-inch guns Numbered out at the
| sleeping hills, and for IA minutes she
| poured starboard broads!des on the coast.
Meanwhile the Indiana, the New York and
| other ships repeated the dose from the
| rear. The Iowa turned and came back to
| the Wampatuck's boat and again led the
column the forts replying fiercely, concen-
| trating on the Detroit, which was about
| 700 yards away, all the batteries on the east
ward arm of the harbor. Thrice the column
passed from the entrance of the harbor to
| the extreme eastward battery.
ships Retire.
| At 7:45 a. m. Admiral Sampson signaled
| Cease firing" "Retire" was sounded on
| the Iowa, and she headed from the shore.
The Terror was the last ship in the line.
alone for about half an hour, the concert
| of shore guns roaring at her and the water
| flying high around her from the exploded
shells. But she possessed a charmed life
and reluctantly retired at s:15.
In6icted Much Damage.
| 1t is impossible to judge OF the amount of
damage done to the buildings and forts.
| They appeared to be riddied with shot, but
the Spaniards were plucky. After the first
passage before the forts the Detroit and
the Montgomery retired. their guns being
too small to do much damage. The Porter
and Wampatuck also stayed out of range.
The smoke hung over everything. spelling
| the aim of the gunners and making II i'm
possible to tell where our shots struck. The
| officers and men of all the ships behaved
with GOODNESS and bravery. The shots flew
thick and fast over all our ships.