The western recorder., 1898-05-12
66oo66 s. 1865 $500 5000 oo6oooos
8 The Battle of Manila. |
9 One Of the Greatest Naval BATTLES of 5
g Modern Times. s


a. part Of the land batteries. although
prisinE the movable guns, was remov--
ed to shore Saturday. Later she was
riddled with American shells, some Of
which set her on fire. and she burned
nearly to tho waters edge.
The American fleet forced the fight
ing from the FIRST. Captain WiIdes Of
the Boston was ordered to run out
ahead and his ship had the honor Of
firing the first shot. The effect was
not noticed. for the battle began almost
Immediately afterward on both sides.
the fire OF the Spanish feet being aug
mented by that Of the Cavite batteries.
Under orders the American boats de-
ployed to the right and left until or
dered back for the formation and ad-
vance which finally destroyed the
Spanish feet. Admiral Montejo direct
ed the movement Of his feet from the
deck Of the Reina Maria Christina dur
ing the early part of the fight. and
Commodore Dewey never left tho
Olympia until It was all over.
Tho Boston and Baltimore were In
advance Of the American line and the
roar OF their guns was incessant. But
presently the commodore's flagship
came up az though enyious Of the part
the others were playing. Her main
battery Of eight-inch guns was soon
laundering away. while the cannon OF
the Concord and Raleigh were making
It interesting for the remainder Of the
Spanish boats. The Petrol was not
idle. nor was the McCulloch. which
lodged In and out among the fleet,
doing Its work OF dispatch boat. The
noise OF the bombardment was deafen-
ing on both sides. and the firing. con-
siderIng the dense smoke which soon
arose and obscured the fleets from each
other, was well nigh continuous. al
though every shot was intended TO
cornt. The noise was plainly heard at
Manila, each shot being easily noted.
although. of coursc. the result was not
known.
Suddenly Spanish ship. which
proved afterward to be the Don Juan
de Austria. ran down the Spanish line
under mistaken signal from the ad-
mirnl. 1t was struck at least three
times by the American shells. one OF
which was plainly seen to hit one OF its
guns, disabling It. It fred as It went,
but a shot from an cight-pounder on
the Olympia struck the Spanish boat
near The waterline. Watchers saw the
Doh Juan CULVER as a horse does when
shot in battle. Then in sudden ces-
sation OF firing on both sides. which
seemed almost for the purpose Of
watching what followed. the Spanish
cruiser exploded with noise which
made all the cannonading that had
gone before sound like the popping OF
so many corks. The tearing OF steel.
the asplitting Of timbers, even the
shrieks of the wounded could be plain
ly. heard following this awful noise.
Dead bodies OF men were seen flying
through the air, while the survivors
were noticed jumping from the decks
The Don Junn careened over to port.
righted again and dipped once more
and began to sink rapidly Hardly
seconds time elapsed between the
striking OF the fatal shot and the ex-
plosion, but II seemed to the watchers
that 1t was five miiiutes.
Tho. shot undoubtedly penetrated
and exploded the Don Juan's maya
zines. The Americans had an oppor-
tunity to see this. for at that moment
| the dense clouds of smoke had settled
in the direction of the Spanish line.
while the American ships were COM
paratively free. The vice consuls re-
port says; "The notoriously bad
Workmanship of the Spanlards was
apparent from the start. The fleet was
managed with daring and skill. bu. al
though numerically stronger than It's
enemy, 1t was no match for 1t in gun
|. merry. The latter was. splendid. and
| much regret Ia expressed that our naval
| Representatives were not given better
| opportunity to take note Of an engage
ment, which must mark an epoch in
naval warfare" As matter of fact.
the Raleigh. Boston and Baltimore
| were reported to have been struck by
| Spanish shells and several men killed
and wounded, but the victims. having
been landed at distant point upon
the shore, the names could not be as
certained at the time the Spanish au-
| thorities; cut the cable or at least stop
| ped its use at Manila.
When the Don Juan blew up a cheer
arose .from'each Of the american fleet
and again the cry went up, "Remem-
her the Maine The Maine is avenged"
From his post Commodore Dewey gave
out his orders and these commands
were to keep maneuvering. 1t was this
order which rendered the shots from
the Spanish gunners SO ineffective.
| They and their commanding officers
seemed unable to locate any of the
American ships in time to deliver the
broadsides where they intended. No
sooner would gun be sighted than
the whole American squadron would
have seemed to change position, and
the Spanish shots simply churned the
water in the bay. Those shells which
did take effect did SO almost without
exception merely by chance, and 1t is
! quite likely that some Of them came
-