Omaha daily bee., 1898-08-31
FIGURING UP THE WAR LOSSES
The Total Much Less Than in Single Battle
Of the Rebellion.
INCURRED CHIEFLY ABOUT SANTIAGO
The Army the Greatest Suffcrer-Only
One American Naval officer
Killed-Casualties of
the Spanish.
} CHIEFLY ABOUT SANTIAGO


greater than ours, but are difficult to esti-
mate because of conflicting reports. The
first defenders OF Spanish honor to fall in
the war were undoubtedly killed at the
! bombardment of Matanzas on April "a the
war having been declared by congress TO
have commenced on April 21.
Shortly after this the cruiser New York
| fought some Spanish cavalry at Cabanas,
| thrty-eight miles west of Havana, without
| sustaining loss, and on May l Dewey won
| his world famous victory off Manila, after
| stopping for breakfast when half way
| through The loss on the Spanish side footed
| I'D 400 killed and over 600 wounded. The
| American casualties consisted of the wound
| ing Of six seamen.
Among the Spanish wounded were the
| two commanders of the Castillo and the
| Don Antonio de Ulloa and the executive
officer of the Reina Cristina. The captain
chanlain. clerk and boatswain of the Reina
Cristina were killed. few days later
Dewey captured the gunboats Leyte and
Callao. and the Spaniards captured the
| American bark Saranac.
| ONLY American Naval Omcer Killed.
The Vicksburg and the cutter Morrill, en-
! gagged the Santa Clara batteries of Havana
| on May without sustaining injury.
| Four days later came the fight in Cardenas
| harbor, in which the only American naval
officer to be killed in the war met his DEATH
| The cruiser Wilmington, torpedo boat VIM
slow and gunboat Hudson had entered the
| barbor to attack some Spanish gunboats.
| In the fight shell burst aboard the Win
slow, killing Ensign Worth Bagley and four
others. The Spanish losses in Cardenas in
| cluded one medical officer, three sailors,
| two women, three children killed; wounded
| unknown.
The day of this skirmsh was also the day
on which the cruiser Marblehead, the gum
boat Nashville and the auxiliary cruiser
Window attacked some Spanish troops be-
hind improvsed breastworks at Cienfuegos.
One seaman was killed and another was
so badly hurt that he died later Captain
Maynard and Lieutenant Cameron VIM
slow, both of the Nashville, were slightly,
and Robert Volts of the Nashville, Herman
w. Kuchneisted, John Davis and John I.
Doran of the Marblehead, and William
Levery were seriously wounded. Many other
Americans received trihing wounds. The
Spaniards lost 800 killed and many hundreds
wounded.
SIMPSONS bombardment of San Juan de
Puerto Rico, an engagement satisfactory in
it's results, took place the next day, the
Iowa, Indiana, New York, Terror, Amphi-
trite, Detroit, Montgomery, Wampatuck
and Porter joining in the attack. The
enemy responded with a heavy fire, killing
Frank Widemark, a seaman on the New
York, and the gunner's mate on the AM
phitrite, and wounding seven. The ships
were uninjured. The Spanish governor
general reported the casualties in the town
as eight killed and thirty-four wounded.
A second minor attack on Cardenas took
place in which seven Spaniards were re-
| ported wounded, and on May 81 Commo-
dore Schley bombarded the Santiago forti-
fications, firing Moro Castle La Zoca-
pa and Punta Gorda. Our forces were un-
| scathed and the Spanish loss was reported
heavy. On June 6 Sampson took turn at
the forts silencing them without sustaining
loss. On the Spanish side Colonel Ordonez,
Captain Sanchez, Lieutenant Yrizar and
Officers Perez and Garcia were wounded.
An ensign and five sailors were killed and
sixteen sailors wounded. One infantryman
was killed and twenty wounded.
Losses in the Marine Corps.
Five American ships bombarded Caiman-
era, In the bay of Guantanamo, on June
Z, and forty marines went ashore there from
the Oregon three days later. Then they
were joined by 600 more marines from the
troop ship Panther, under Lieutenant Colo
mel Huntington, and the Marblehead, Vixen
and Dolphin ran up the bay to fire on the
Spanish earthworks. The first battle of
the marines took place June IL, when AS
sistant Surgeon John Blair Gibbs of Rich
mond, Va, Sergeant Charles H. Smith and
two privates were killed. The Spanish loss
is unknown. IN the next two or three
days fighting, in which the marines did
gallant work, Sergeant Major Henry Goode
and Private Tauman were killed and FIVE
privates wounded There were also some
| Cuban casualties.
SIMPSONS next bombardment of Santiago
resulted in the killing of an officer and three
men and the wounding of an officer and
twenty men. On June 13 the Yankee fought
q Spanish gunboat off Cienfuegos, and Solon
p. Kennedy of New York was wounded
Three days later the Spanish general, Joval,
was killed in naval attack on Santiago A
gunner was killed at target practice on the
Yankee by an exploding she'll
| Then Shafter effected a landing in Cuba
and moved upon Siboney, and the army
took up it's share of suffering and danger.
The daring and famous charge of the Rough
Riders and the Tenth cavalry and the First
cavalry on Sevilla Heights, near Siboney,
when 900 Americans fought twice their
| number, took place on June "a, The killed
included Captain Allyn K. Capron, Sergeant
Hamilton Fish, Sergeant Marcus d. Russell,
all of the Rough Riders; Captain MaXimil-
iano, Corporal White of the Tenth cavalry,
Corporal Doherty and ten privates; Major
Grow, Lieutenant Colonel Alexander o.
Brodie, Captain McClintock and Lieutenant
Thomas of the Rough Riders and Major Bell
Captain Knox and Lieutenant Byram of the
First cavalry were wounded and forty-six
other soldiers. The Spanish lost 2S5 killed
and wounded.
The Texas shelled the Santiago batteries
on June %, when a siX-inch shell killed
Apprentice Frank e. Blakely and wounded
seven seamen.
Casualties at Santiago.
In the advance on Santiago of July l.
and there were killed twenty-one officers,
2O5 enlisted men, and seventy officers
and 1,l97 enlisted men were wounded. At
this time eighty-tour enlisted men, of whom
many have since been found, were reported
missing.
In the destruction of Cerveras fleet on
July 8 Chief Yeoman George II. Ellis of the
Brooklyn was the only American killed
Three were slightly wounded on the Texas
The Spanish loss has been estimated at
35O killed and 100 wounded Including Ad-