Iowa state bystander. [volume] (Des Moines, Iowa) 1894-1916, 1898-07-15

MY boats crews worked manfully
and succeeded in saving many Of the
wounded from the burning ship. One
man who will be recommended for pro-
motion clambered up the side of the
Vizcaya and saved three men front
burning to death. AS ! knew the crews
of the first two ships wrecked had not
been visited by any of our vessels. J
ran down to them. I found the Glou
sester with Admiral Cervera and u
number of his officers aboard. and in .
frightfully mangled condition. Many
prisoners had been killed on shore by
the fire Of the Cubans. The Harvard
came off and T requested CaptAn Cot
ton to go in and take off the crews OF
the lnfanta Maria Teresa and the AL
mirante OqUendo. and by midnight tho
Harvard had 9IG prisoners aboard,
great number of them WoundvG
For courage and dash there is ~
parallel in history to this action OF tho
Spanish admiral. He submitted to the
fortunes of war with grace that pro
claimed him a thoroughbred.
1.-The bottoms Of the boats held two
, or three inches of blood. in many casra
dead men were lying in the blood. Five
poor chaps died on the way tn the ship
! They were afterWard buried with MIL
itary hOnorS from the Iowa. Gradual
" the mangled bodies ard naked we'll
men accumulated until it would have
been almost difficult to recognize the
Iowa as a United States battleshir.
"F'inally came the boat with Captain
Eulate, commander of the Nizcaya, for
whom q chair was lowered over the
side, as he was evidently wounded. AS
the chair played on deck the marines
presented arms. He slowly raised HIM
self on the chair, salutcd me with
grave dignity. unbucliled his sword
belt and, holding the hilt o: the sword
before him kissed it reverentiy with
tears in his eyes, and then surrendered
it to me. OF course. I declined to re-
ceive his sW ord. AS l started to take
Captain Eulatc into the cabin to let
| the doctors examine his wounds, the
magazines on board the Vizcaya eX-
ploded. Thirty officers Of the NiZcaya
were picked up, besides 212 Of her crew.
! Our men gave up their staterOonls and
| furnished food, clothing and tobacco
| to those naked officers of the Vizcaya.
! The paymaster issued uniforms to the
! naked sailors, and each was given all
| the corned beef, coffee and hard tack
| he could eat. The war had assumed
| another aspect
Captain Evans is intensely proud Of
his ship and her men. The Iowa fired
thirty-one twelve-inch, forty-eight
eight-inch. 27O four-inch. LOGO six
pound and 120 one-pound shots.
| The officers Of the FiZcaya said they
simply could not hold their crews at
! the guns owing to the rapid fire poured
| upon them The decks were flooded
with water from fire hose and blood
| from wounded made this a dark red.
Fragments of bodies 1loated in this
along the gun deck. Every instant the
| If boI1 tol1 of
havoc. One Of the Pinch shells from
the Iowa exploded topedo in the Viz
caya's bow, blowing twenty-one men
against the deck above and dropping
! them dead and mangled into the fire
which at once started below.
The flames leaping out from the huge
shot holes in the Vizcaya's sides licked
up the decks, sizzling the flesh of the
wounded who were lying there Shrek
ing for help. Between the frequent ex
plosions there came awful cries and
sroans from the men pinned in below.
This carnage was chiefly due to the
rapidity of the American fire. Corpor-
al Smith, of the Iowa, fired 1875 aimed
shots in fifty minutes from u 4-inch
gun. Two shells struck within ten feet
of Smith, but the corporal went on
pumping shots into the enemy. From
two six-pounders 440 shots were fired
in fifty minutes. Up in the tops the
marines banged away with one-pound-
ers, too excited to duck as the shells
whistled over them.
One gunner of a secondary battery
under a Pinch gun was blinded by
smoke and salt petre from the turret,
and his crew driven off, but sticking a
wet handkerchief over his face with
holes out for his eyes he stuck to his
gun. The siX-pounders were so close
to the S-inch turret as to make it i'm
possible to stay there with safety. The
men We're ordered away. but refused to
| leave. When the S-inch was fired the
| conclusion blew two Of the crew ten
feet from the guns and threw them to
the deck as deaf as posts. Back they
went and We're again blown away, and
| finally had to be dragged from their
stations.
During the day on the Iowa, Admiral
Cervera endeared himself to all. After
| Blanco's orders We're issued he want
ed to come out on the night Of July 2.
but General Linares said: wait till
! tomorrow morning, you will catch
| them at divine service them
The Spaniards say that 10 torpedo
boat ever came out to attack Admiral
| SIMPSONS fleet. The Pluton and Ter
roy they say. kept guard every night
inside the harbor.
! The Indiana was hit only twice. She
! fired no piercing shells except
from the slnokelcss siX-pounders. Tho
| Oregon was hit three times. twice by
| fragments from shells. The Iowa was
| struck nine times.