The Jersey City news., 1898-06-11
THE BATTERIES.
Particulars Of Commodore
Schley's First Bombard-
ment Of Santiago.

OFF SANTIAGO DE CUBA, May 81,
1898, via Fortress Commodore
Schley decided today that he would locate
for himself the batteries on the highlands
surrounding Santiago de Cuba. Blue
prints and maps with which he had been
supplied and information given by pilots
brought from Jamaica by the Harvard
were extremely conflicting, and, as he
expressed it himself
Il can draw their fire and locate their
batteries and at the same time give our
4 men a little necessary excitement to break
| the great tension they have been under
for weeks. l shall not waste much am
| munition either
AT ten o'clock this (Tuesday) morning,
with Flag Lieutenant James H. Sears,
Lieutenant Benjamin Wells and Flag En-
sign Edward McCauley, Commodore
Schley transferred his flag 10 the yacht
Vixen and fifteen minutes after went
aboard the battleships Massachusetts,
putting the Commodore's flag at the
masthead
| The battleship then lay off Moro Castle
about five miles. and Commodore Schley
made his plans to run closer and fire in
which could be seen only at a certain an
| At 12:45 the signal was made to clear
| ships for action, the Iowa and the New
Orleans with the Massachusetts, only
being designated to take part The sig
nal for the men to go to quarters was
given at LOS, and cheer went up from
every ship at the order.
The Brooklyn, Texas and Marblehead
in the meantime were quietly coaling. At
lilo the ships, which lay to the west of
Santiago de Cuba began a movement to
the southeast The order was given that
| the big guns should be trained on the
Cristobal Colon and only fired when she
was sighted, A speed of ten knots was
designated and the order was given to
fire very deliberately and not waste am
munition
When 5000 yards from the mark the
MASSACHUSETTS opened fire with her 13-
inch guns, and the first shot dropped in
the harbor, ON a direct hne with the
Spanish warships, and about 800 yards
short. Then It was found that the Colon
was much further in from the entrance
to the tarbor than was at first supposed,
and the guns were therefore further ele-
waited. Two shots took effect, but the dis
tince prevented much valuable damage.
The ruse. however, was quite as sue
cessful as Commodore Schley had hoped
for In an instant it seemed that the hills
around Santiago de Cuba bristled with
guns.
Puffs of smoke issued from hitherto un-
known quarters, and where smokeless
powder was used the flash of the dis
charge could be noted. The water seethed
well outside of the danger line to the
American ships.
The Iowa took up the engagement where
the Massachusetts and the clever little
New Orleans left off, and one shot from
the big Pinch gums landed under the.
stern of the Colon. One of the shots
from the New Orleans exploded some
mines in the entrance of the harbor and
they sent up mountain Of water
The smaller batteries of the squadron
had not been manned and the American
sailors stood unconcernedly on deck
watching the craftsmanship. As a shot
fell near the Spanish ship or in the
harbor there was cheer and when the
Spanish shells fell short there was loud
laughter and jeers.
Commodore Schley stood outside the
coming tower of the Massachusetts and
chewed a cigar as he watched the shore
batteries critically and told Lieutenant
Sears to note them. Two modern, evil
IDENTIFY 12-inch guns, to the asst Of Moro
Castle, were cleverly handled and some
of the shots fell close
The modern battery at Cay Smith. just
inside the harbor. dropped shells out over
the intervening hill, but not near the