Evening star., 1898-10-24
CHASE OF CERVERA
Pursuit and Bottling of the Spanish
Fleet.
SIMPSONS REPORT OF OPERATIONS
Preparing for the Attack on
Santiago.
WORK OF TWO MON

|
West Indies, from May 1 to July l, was
| made public today. 1t is a narrative ac-
count of the naval campaign during that
period, including the blockade of Cuban
| ports, ending with the botting of Ceveras
fleet in the harbor of Santiago. The record
| of events attending the search and capture
| of the Spanish fleet is interesting. That
was duty specially assigned to the flying
| squadron under Admiral Schley. 1t ap-
pears that, although the Spanish fleet en-
| tered the harbor of Santiago on the morn
| ing of May 10, its presence there was not
| definitely and positively established until
| May 26, when Schleys fleet arrived off that
| port and blockaded the entrance. The cor
| respondence shows that there a strong
suspicion several days before Schley
| reached Santiago that Cevera was there
| but the fact was not positively established
until the day of his arrival. The Spanish
neet was supposed to be bound for Havana
| or Cienfuegos, and in that belief SIMPSONS
fieet was stationed off Havana and Schleys
fleet off CienfuegoS. Each commanding
| officer was strongly of the opinion that he
would be called on to fight the enemy and
| each made his arrangements accordingly.
May u Sampson at Key West sent the
| Marblehead to Schley at Cienfuegos, in
structing him in case he was not satisfied
| the enemy was there to proceed cautiously
| to Santiago. He said the enemy was prob
ably at the latter place, and if so, Schlev
| was to blockade him. Subsequently he sent
duplicate of these orders by the Hawk
| from Havana, where he had gone on the
| New York the same day In his second
| dispatch to Schley he said it should reach
him by 2 am. May %, SO that by leaving
| at daylight he should arrive a. Santiago on
the morning of the 2ith. 1T is thought"
said Sampson. that the Spanish squadron
would probably still be at Santiago, as they
must have some repairs to make and coal
| to take. . Follow the Spanish SQUAD
ron whichever direction they take"
On May - sampson issued orders of bat
tie to the vessels of his fleet off Havana In
apparent anticipation of the approach of
CerVeras S fleet. He said the fleet was sup
posed to be at Santiago, and that it was
anticipated 1t would leave there for Havana
before the arrival of Schleys fleet which
he toampson) supposed would leave Glen
luesos the same day (May 23D. That day
Navy Department saying that departments
Information all goes to indicate that the
principal aim of the Spanish fleet and gov
ei ernnnent Is to introduce supply of NUM-
tions of war and of food to Blanco by Ha-
vana and Ctenfuegos." May "a Sampson
issued another order of battle formation
to the fleet. 'O--
The same day Secretary Long teiegraphed
sampson that if Cervera had munitions of
war Tor heaVy guns he might attemut 10
lana them at Santiago. He advised close
watch OF shore by Sampson off Cane Cruz
and westward. May 25 Sampson received
word from Captain Cotton of the Harvard
at Mole St Nicholas that the Yale recon-
noltered Santiago May y and saw moth
ing in harbor" ~
At o'clock May 26 Vesuvius was sent to
key west with the following dispatches
TOR the commanding officers of the Vale
Minneapolis and St Paul:
Spanish squadron is at Santiago. If
Schley has not arrived there go to rian
fuegoS and inform him.
AT $50 p: m. of this day the Dolphin came
alongside New York with dispatches and
GGeported mat Commodore Schley had the
spanish squadron bottled up in Cienfuegos
SchIey Watching Cfenfueuos.
lot Of 90
Cfenfuegos: Il am by no means atisfed
that the Spanish squadron is not at Glen
tuegos. The large amount of smoke seen
| IN the harbor would indicate the presence
OF a number of vessels, and under such cir
cumstances it would seem to be extremely,
unWlse to chase up a probability at Sapti-
ago de Cuba reported via Havana no doubt
as ruse. l shall therefore remain eff this
port with this squadron, availing myself of
every opportunity for coaling and keeping If
ready Tor any emergency. On Saturday,
May Il, when about forty miles southwest of
this port | heard from the bridge of this
vessel trlng of guns toward Cienfuegos,
which L interpreted as a welcome to the
Spanish fleet, and the news this morning by
the Adula convinces me that the fleet is
here Latest was bulletin from Jamaica
received this morning, asserts that the feet
rad left Santiago. | think | have them here
almost to a certainty
The next evening Schley ascertained def
nitely that the Spanish fleet was not AZ
Clenfuegos and started for Santiago, reach
ing there the evening of the 26th He ar
rived in good season. as the enemy was
still there, and he made certain that ii
should not get away from him.
Admiral Sampson, however, did not at the
time know of Schley's discovery. While
his flagship New York was in St. Nicholas
channel, May p, he sent the Wasp to Glen
fuegos via Cape San Antonio with the fol-
lowing dispatch to Admiral Schley:
Every report, and particularly daily con-
lidential reports received at Key West from
Havana, state Spanish squadron has been
in Santiago de Cuba from the 10Th 10 the
10Th instant, inclusive, the 25th being the
date of the last report received You will
please proceed with all possible dispatch to
Santiago to blockade that port. IT, on ar
rival there. you receive positive information
of the Spanish ships having left you will
follow them in pursuit"
The Merrimac Project Suggested.
The same day he ordered the New Or
leans and the collier Sterling to proceed
with best dispatch to Santiago. To the COM
mandng officers he said:
You will communicate with Commodore
Schley and direct him to remain on the
blockade of Santiago at all hazards, assum-
ing that the Spanish vessels are in that
port. Tell him that l desire that he should
use the collier Sterling to obstruct the chan
mel at its narrowest part leading into this
harbor Inform him that l believe that 1t
would be perfectly practicable to steam this
vessel into position and drop all her an
chors, allow her to swing across the
channel, then sink her. either by opening
the valves or whatever means may be best
In his judgment. Inform Commodore Schley
that the details of this plan left to his
Judgment. In the meantime he must exer-
else the utmost care that none of the YES
sells already in the port are allowed to eS-
cape, and say to the commodore that l have
the utmost confidence in his ability to carry
this plan to successful conclusion and
earnestly wish him good luck.
Admiral Sampson arrived at Key West
May 2S and sent telegram to Admiral
Schley at Santiago saying:
1.-The Spanish squadron must be block
AIDED ut all hazards. Immediate communi-
cation with persons on shore must be en-
tered upon You must be sure of the Span
ish squadron being in port. l suggest COM
municatiEg with Spanish American Com
rany pier at Daiquiri bay. at distance of
fifteen miles east of Santiago de Cuba
The following day Sampson received
telegram from Schley off Santiago showing
that he was "blockading that port and
will continue to do so until coal supply has
been reduced to safe limit for large ships"
Thereupon Sampson sent following tele-
gram to Schley: