Evening star., 1898-07-21
THE BATTLE OF SANTIAGO
An English Critic on the Lessons It
Teaches.
Generous Praise for Our Navy-The
.'Hab.t of Winning at
Sea-"

From the London Spectator
The first thought of all Englishmen in
regard to the naval battle is that the
American fleet did it's work splendidly.
The whole performance of Admiral Samp-
sons fleet was in accordance with the best
traditions of the Anglo-Saxon navies, and
every Engiishman has read of their dongs
with flush of pride. There was the old
hard pounding such as the Elizabethan
dogs used. and the same curious mix
ture of steadiness and daring. GOODNESS and
reckless DASH No doubt the comparative
strengths were very different, but as one
reads of the Spanish ships tearing full
speed up the coast of Cuba closely pur-
sued by the relentless Americans, who
poured in a continuous and well-directed
fire. it is impossible not to think of the
Armada as it passed up the channel in
flight, brakes ships hanging on its flank
and riddling the Spaniards hulls with
their ceaselesS fire-a fire which, as on
last Sunday, always hit and always did
damage. Had. indeed, the Spanish ships
been more numerous and larger, and had
most Of the American ships been the size
of the Gloucester. the battle, after the
Spanish ships emerged, would have been
working model of the battle which began
the destruction of the Armada. In word,
the moral aspects Of what was almost the
first and may be the last fleet action be-
tween the Spanish and the English races
were very much alike. In both cases it
was the man behind the gun who, in the
last resort, won the battle.
What Cervera Might Have Done.
The technical lessons of the last naval
battle will have, of course, to be fully
worked out by the naval experts, but even
the most superficial view shows one or two
facts of great Importance. They are not
new facts exactly, but old facts with new
faces and therefore we'll worth consider
ing. The first thing that strikes one is the
practical futility of passive courage es-
pecially at sea. One might almost as we'll
be a coward as a man who runs head
long on his death, careless whether he
loses his own life. but also careless wheth-
er he Kills his enemy. If the SpaniardS had
been as cool and dashing as they were in
different to death, they might not have
beaten the Americans, but at least thew
would have done an immense deal of dam
age to the American fleet. Granted that
Admiral Cervera had formed the resolve
OF breaking out of Santiago by daylight
how should he have acted? How that is
could he have sold his ships and the lives
or his men dearest? That surely should
have been the question put to himself by
the Spanish admiral If it had been put.
could the answer have been any other than
something of this kind? Il will order each
OF my ships as she gets clear of the neck
OF the bottle which forms the harbor of
santiago to choose one of the American
ships and to fly straight at her as a saw
age dog flies at a man. Nv shin shall rom
the American If she can but If not assaiI
her as furiously possible. If the Amer
can snip gives way before the Spanish on
slaught the Spaniard can get out To sea
and escape. ~ 90"
H. on the other hand the American
crosses with her. then there will be fierce
nght, In which one or the other. or proha
pIy ootA' Will go to the bottom This will
probably happen. but meantime some of The
Spanish ships will have had time to set
INTO the open sea. Once there scatter and
NY Is to be the ORDER II Admiral Cervera
had adopted these bold, or, If you like. mad
lacucs, ne would no doubt have lost most
OF his ships. but then he would have proba-
bly, sunk or damaged three or four of the
American vessels. while one or two of his
own would very likely have got away scot
iree. AS II was. he lost all his ships and
OLD no damage to the Americans He Sc
cured this really astonishing result by In
stead or flying at the throats of the AmerI-
cans. attempting to run along the shore
with the American fleet between him and
the open sea AS he and his ships ran
the Americans poured upon them a storm
OF shot and shell. and showed once again
that he who runs away Is in far greater
danger than even he who waits to be killed
but intends to sell his life as dearly as nos
sible. That is an oldtime lesson to he
drawn from the battle off Santiago An
other Is equally clear. equally important
and almost equally old.
The Man Behind the Gum.
1t Is that in naval war what really mat
ters Is not the armor-p plating the build of
the ship, or even the power of the engines.
Eut the man behind the gun. When Cap
tain Mahan was entertained in England at
a naval dinner, the speech of the evening
was admitted by all to have been made by
the American officer. He reminded his
hearers that strategy. and armor and new
types OF gun. and scientific lodges. and all
the rest were very good things, but In the
last resort what really mattered was the
man behind the gun. That was true in the
old wars. and has been proved true again
both at Manila and at Santiago. Straight
shooting Is, after all, what wins the battle
OF course, you had better have a gun that
Will fire, and fire a powerful shot at a long
ish range. but even If you have got 1t, it is
perfectly useless If the men behind 1t are
too excited or have had too little practice
to be able to fire 1t straight, and so to hit
with it.
The most deadly patent SHE'LL fired from
the newest and most expensive and most
scientific Of guns, is no better than an old
fired from a gun of Nelson's
day if 1t DROPS in the water and does not
strike the enemy's hull or deck In other
words superiority of gun fire Is now, as. in
the days OF old. the chief thing to lock for
No doubt you should. as we have said, give
your men as good gun to fire with as
possible, but teach their officers and them
to rely. not upon the ships armor or the
range of her guns or the weight of the
metal discharged. or the speed of the en-
gines, but upon the power. If need be, to
make the enemy's hull look like a porous
plaster. Look at the heroic fight made by the
little Gloucester. By the way, the people
of the old city should send a greeting and
a silk flag to the little ship that has done
their name such credit) What gave the
her victory. and also allowed
her to escape. was ner gunfire. 1.-The de-
stroyers' she disabled. let alone the Span
ish cruisers. could have sunk her easily
could they have hit her. but they failed
to do so. partly because of their own es-
sentially bad craftsmanship. and partly also
because a man who is peppering you from
a revolver Is always hard to hit. Being
shot at with great accuracy Is apt to de-
stroy ones aim. That our own sailors are
very good marksmen already we do not
doubt, nor do We doubt that their prac-
tice would be better, rather than worse, In
an actual engagement. Still. we hope that