Bryan morning eagle. [volume] (Bryan, Tex.) 1898-1909, 1898-07-10
SPANISH GUNNERY.
GRIEVANCE AGAINST PERU WHICH
THE ooNs FAILED 20 sfrTtE.

Three Vessels and Whipped sis Spanish
fleet Of seven-Torcsd 10 Quit n Few
Hours After beginning the Battle.
A chapter from modern Spanish hts.
tory which was oyerahadowed In this
country by events OF greater import.
ance, but which serves 20 give some
indication Of what Spanish gunnery
was a few years ago. Is worth retelllnp
now. Spain had a grievance against
Peru In 1866 because some OF her sub.
iecta had been malireatod there. and
she sent a squadron OF seven vessels
mounting 2ii guns. 10 punish the Pc.
ruvlans. Peru had no navy at that
time, but her neighbor Chilli came e
her aid with three ycssela-the Esmer.
aida, carrying a. smooth-bores. the
Victoria, a small one-gun monitor. and
the Loa. diminutiye Merrlmac. plated
with iron, and mounting two Cs-pound.
era. a writer ln the Army and Navy
Journal describes the affair.
"The Esmeralda." De says. "met the
Spanish gunbolt Cawudago thrcC
guns) and captured her 90 twenty min.
ute8 without the loss of man. The
spanIards Cred only three shots. They
had two men killed and fourteen
wounded. The loss OF the Cavaudago.
followed by the capture of an arm0red
launch. al chaFrlued tho Spanish Adj
miral. Parela that be- blow out bis
brains ln hIs cabin
Admiral Nuuoz. who succeeded
Pareia, then calamity assaulted the de-
fenceless Valparaiso. where not a sim
gle gun was mounted. except a few sa-
luilng pieces. Not shot was fred
from the town and the inhabitants
promptly evacuated a. This Spanish
Admiral. In spite OF the protests Of the
foreign men-of-war In the harbor.
threw from 1000 to 5000 shells into IL
from a fleet OF six vessels. The Span
ish gunnery was So wretched that little
damage was done. except by FIRE. which
destroyed slO,OOO.OOO worth OF neutral
goods. Il was a most wanton piece OF
barbarlty. for n the spaniards had had
a landing force they could have taken
the town without firing a shot.
THE gallant Nhnez next assalled the
city OF Callao. which taught him the
difference between an open town and
one that was adequately defended. In
four Of Eve hours the Spanish squad q
ron was badly used up. and was glad
TO crawl back to Spain as best Il could
In lis crippled condition. The villa de
Madrid. ffty-slx guns. got a shot In
her steam chest. and was towed out OF
action. The Berenguela, thIrty-slx
guns. had a hole twenty feet square
knocked into her near the water line
by an exploding shell. and crawled out
Of range to repair damages.
THE ammunition In two other Span
ish vessels gave out after a two hours
fight. and they had TO retire, one OF
them having been twice on FIRE In the
nelghborhood Of the magazine. This
left two vessels. the Numancla. iron
clad and the Almanac. Two hours
later these two vessels ceased their
FIRE and withdrew. The Chlllans hr-
Ing az them until they we're beyond
range. The Spanish loss ls not ex-
actly known but Is supposed 10 have
been about 200. Commander Rodgers
u. s. ~, estimated the loss Of the Chill
ians at so. though others give a larger
number No serious damage was done
TO either ships or forts by the FIRE be-
yond that named. Tho spanlards then
withdrew discounted from the Pacific.
being short OF stores and ammunition
and with their vessels foul for want OF
docking. They had established a base
az the Chlncha Islands. but they had
no facilities for repair"
In speaking Of this hasco a naval
officer said Spain has In a measure
shared In the movement toward more
formidable ships and guns. but II ID
the personal factor which tells In a
hef"' N"h"h'H'"N h"M IN MUM IN ~
did century ago. when battles were
fought with wooden ships. This ID
recognized by all authorities on naval
warfare, although the uniformed are
apt 10 think that the modern guuboal
Is a complicated machine which fights
automatically. Good gun service will
win against great odds In armament
and In this particular we have good
reason TO believe that we are much su.
perlor TO Spain. Il is a well-estab.
lIshod fact that the Latin races do moi
develop good gunners. Whenever the
Spanish navy has attempted to show
i,s skill with guns In the last half cen.