Iowa state bystander. [volume] (Des Moines, Iowa) 1894-1916, 1898-06-24
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Territory Embraced in !
Our Present War. !


a.
|$SEGGEEGEE&E
The duration of the war with Spain
may be brief and the reported crisis
which the run on the Bank OF Spain
has precipitated in the Spanish finan-
cial situation leads one to the opin-
| ion that it will be, but it Is certain
that 1t will cover wider territory
geographically, than perhaps any wal
in the history of the world. When mill
tary operations open in the Philip
pines and shift in day more than
twelve thousand miles to Matanzas, 1t
is certainly a struggle which has dis
tinguishing features that are worthy OF
exceptional attention.
The wide range which the operations
of the war encompass is certainly re-
markable. Our first attack was made in
the Gulf of Mexico, where the flagship
New York, of our Key West squadron
captured the Buena Ventura, Spanish
merchantmen, and brought her into
port as prize. The capture was fol-
lowed by several of a similar nature
before the scene Of operations was
shifted by the declaration Of the block
ade of Havana. The territory at first
embraced by the blockade was hun
dred miles, extending from Matanzas
on the east to Port Cabanas on the
west, and covering all the possible
ports of entrance and exit from the be-
leaguered city. Its scope was gradu-
ally extended to embrace all the points
of the wild coast of Cuba, and finally
a detachment of the Key West feet
was entrusted with the task of patrol
ling the waters before Cienfuegos, on
the south coast. ! =
When the attention was fairly CEN
tered here Admiral Dewey distracted it
by his advance from Hong Kong upon
the Philippines. Three days after his
departure he appeared before Cavite,
silenced the batteries there and upon
Corregdor Island, sunk the Spanish
fleet harbored there and practically &C.
cupied Manila. For awhile Manila and
the adjacent city of Iloilo consumed
the interest, until it was suddenly re-
called to Cuba by several movements
of the American feet in that neighbour
hood.
The first move by them was the at
tack on Matanzas, when Admiral
Sampson reduced the batteries there
and dispersed the Spanish military
forces without the loss of a single
man. This was followed by several
minor skirmishes Of no Importance
whatever, eliminating in the success
full attempt to cut the cable off Car
denas, which resulted in the death Of
the first American and the disablement
Of our first warship. These might
have been followed by a hundred such
incidents had not another distracting
influence appeared in the Spanish fleet
at Cape Verde.
The Cape Verde fleet was bugaboo
that introduced many uncertainties.
After it left st. Vincent, Cape Verde
Islands, it was first suspected of sail
ing south in order to intercept the
Oregon and her consorts, which were
returning from San Francisco around
Cape Horn, and were last reported at
Rio Janeiro. Later dispatches from
Spanish sources averred that it had
returned to Cadiz, with the intention
of joining the other Spanish vessels for
either an attack on the North Ameri-
can coast or for an advance on Dewey
at Manila, after passage through the
Suez. For considerable time nothing
was heard Of the movements OF the
Spaniards, and Admiral Sampson was
ordered to San Juan, Porto Rico, to in
tercept the fleet. Then followed the
bonn bardment and reduction Of San
Juan.
The American guns had scarcely
ceased their firing before the Span
iards appeared off Martinique, finally
anchoring in Port Royal. Sampson i'm
mediately distributed his fleet over the
West Indian waters in the neighbor-
hood of St. Thomas, Port au Prince
and Cape Haytien, to intercept the
Spaniards should they attempt to pass
north, either for the purpose of attack
ing the American coast or striking Ha-
vana.
Again the Spaniards disappeared,
leaving but one trace, the torpedo boat
Terror, at st. Pierre, Martinique. In
due time it reappeared at Curacao,
Dutch Guiana, only to again depart,
destination unknown. The course OF
the fleet was then, however, limited to
three movements, one against the
southern coast OF Cuba, second north
on one or the other side Of Cuba TO
the American coast, and the third back
to San Juan, Porto Rico.
They chose the first and struck San
tiago de Cuba, thus introducing new
locality to public attention. Meantime
NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS.