Vilas County news. [volume] (Eagle River, Vilas County, Wis.) 1896-1927, 1898-12-05

larger American ships and extensive
shore batteries were known to exist
His chief of staff had indicated TO
Shafter the points that should Zoe car
ried before any attention was paid TO
the city, and the taking Of these points
would have insured the destruction OF
the mines and the entrance of the
American fleet Shafter had cordial
ly consented to this and Sampson did
not know why the plan was changed
unless the troops had been advanced
too far to divert He expressed the
belief that adherence to the orig
inal plan would have resulted in a
much quicker surrender Of the Spanish
troops and less loss of life except to
the navy, which would have borne the
brunt of the attack.
Sampson tells how he contemplated
bringing UP the marine battalion from
Guantanamo, landing it at the foot OF
MORO to assist in the assault Or 10
take the west battery and had no
doubt of the success of his plan. He
arranged q visit with Shafter to calII
this over, but being i'll was obliged tc
send his chief of staff, Capt. Chadwick.
They reached an arrangement ITO oom-
bard Santiago from the sea for "a
hours with heavy guns and it that
failed to bring the enemy to ter MS
then to assault Socapa battery with
marines and Cubans and force an en-
trance to the harbor with some of the
smaller ships. Thus, says Sampsca,
II have been surprised to see pub
lished in the papers any statement Of q
refusal on my part to endeavor 10
force my way into the harbor, and
cannot UNDERSTANDING case these re-
ports be truthful statements why
Gen. Shafter has been sending any re-
port of this kind Sampson quotes a
message from Shafter dated July 1,
asking him to begin firing on the city
according to program, but to be care
full to put his shots well to the west
ward. The admiral says the repor1s
from the army headquarters show that
the shells were fired with great effect,
starting several fires in the city and
only a few falling in the water. He.
also quotes a dispatch from Secretary
Long saying that the secretary of war
desires Sampson to force the harb0r;
that he wishes to do all that is reason
able to bring about surrender but
leaves it to Simpsons discretion, lex
cept that the United States armored
vessels must not be risked.
The admiral says: i think the falls
ity of the suggestion that the navy
was unwilling to cooperate in forcing
an entrance to Santiago is already
sufficiently shown l would, however,
add, to show the good will Of the navy
and my desire and understanding, that
in case the enemy failed to come to
terms through the bombardment Of the
harbor, an entrance should be forced,
that in the meanwhile all preparations
were completed for counter-mining,
mines having been removed for this
purpose from the Resolute to the
collier Lebanon. Lieutenants Roy
Smith and E. E. Capehart, who are
mining experts, were placed aboard the
Lebanon and everything arranged for
action whenever desired. The only
reasons for postponement came from
the general commanding the army
The navy has been placed in such an
invidious false position before the
country through the unwise publica-
ton of Skaters kilograms, that |
think this matter should be in some
- 80
In a report dated July %, Sampson
informs Secretary Long that steps
should be taken at once to garrison
and clean up Guantanamo and says he
is perfectly willing to aid in the work.
out would not take any steps without
a request from the army. In another
report, dated August l, from Sampson
to the secretary of the navy, Sampson
goes over again all the circumstances
connected with the joint operations
before Santiago in order, as he says,
that a more complete history Of the
action of the fleet in combination with
the army may be at the disposal Of the
department. Some of the additions
follow:
When Shafter signaled that Miles
and himself were to have a conference
looking to the surrender Of Santiago
Sampson sent a message to Shafter
saying that he desired to be represent
ed in any conference which included
the surrender Of the Spanish. Shafter
agreed to this. On July "A, Sampson
sent the following to Secretary Long:
"Puhlished kilograms of Gen. Shafter
in the Herald Of July reflect on the
navy. | wish the department. and the
president to understand that the first
requisite to the opening of the harbor
Of Santiago de Cuba is the occupation
Of the intrenchments at it's entrance
guarding the mine fields, and
that the general never made
move to do this, although
before his army landed he stated that
such was the primary object of his