The times., 1898-05-09
An UnexampIed victory.

An UnexampIed Victory.
1t is a thing unparalleled in the his
tory of nations that the fleet OF an
enemy should be completely destroyed,
a fortified town taken, and the fortifi-
cations of another town destroyed,
without the loss of a single man on
the side of the victors. The battle Of
the Nile offers the nearest parallel. In
that engagement only two of the
French ships were allowed to escape,
and it was said that these would have
been destroyed had it not been for the
serious injury of Nelson during the
battle. In this war against Spain,
however, our warships destroyed the
Notifications of Cavite, demolished
the Spanish fleet of eleven vessels, and
practically captured Manila, without
tie loss Of a single American life.
This last feat might seem less extraor-
binary had the odds been in favor of
Admiral Dewey. The fact was, how
ever, that his ninety-six guns and six
warships contended against one hun
dred and four guns and eleven war
ships, with some strong Notifications
His boldness and address, together
with the fact that American gunners
know how to shoot, ultimately effected
the amazing result of an overw helm
ing victory for the United States with
but six men wounded (not seriously)
and no one killed. The most sanguine
patriot in the United States could not
have predicted such thing.
One OF the proofs Of the astonishing
nature of this victory lies in the re-
ports at first received by way Of
foreign consulates Some Of the men
who watched this battle from the
foreign warships lying at a safe dis
tance from the scene of conflict, and
from vantage points in the town. We're
experts in naval battles. and had seen
things Of this sort many times before.
They saw, Of course, that one after
another the Spanish guns We're slenced
and that the American squadron CON
tinued to blaze away with undiminish-
ed ardor They beheId the destruction
of one Spanish ship after another. un-
til ii became evident that the Ameri-
can Eagle rose victorious over the
scene. But they could not conceive
that so much powder could have been
burnt by Spanish guns without some
resulting carnage. They had seen the
Spanish warships apparently sweeping
the decks of their foes again and
again. with furious and determined
cannonading. 1t was inconceiyabla to
the English sailors who looked on that
sone of this fire should not have had
effect Therefore the authorities made
guess at the American loss. based on
the amount Of powder they had seen
burnt. and the number Of balls which
had gone ricocheting over the water,
and the clouds Of smoke which might
be supposed to be Spanish smoke, hang
ing heavily above the scene of battle.
The surprise of these calculators, on
learning the real facts, viii be great.
4 great naval battle won. the entire
fleet of the defeated nation crushed cut
of existence. and nobody on the other
1 side killed. Indeed, it is problsmatical
whether the six men VINO were struck
| by flying fragments of shell even con-
slider themselves injured. Their scars
] WILL ne DduScS VI SuGH iiOilOI llldl l1S
! triliing inconvenience of the wound
will be at a discount. In future years,
to be one of the six men who were
wounded at the battle of Manila will
be an honor like unto that of havii
ridden with the Six Hundred ar Bal
aklava. Dewey could not know that
these Spanish gunners were incom-
petent Neither could his men. Their
pluck in engaging feet twice their
size, with the assistance of forts on
shore, their courage in moving in and
out among submarine mines, under the
very nose of the enemy. was just as
| great as if the fleet had been manned
| by competent marines. Had the Amer
lean sailors been as incompetent as the
| Spaniards, there is not much chance
that they would have got out of that
trap alive, much less victorious.
Dewey, however. remembered the
Maine and Spanish treachery, and also
that old adage, which says:
| Thrice armed is he who has his quarrel lust.
| But four times he who gets his blow in-fust.