Marshall County independent. (Plymouth, Marshall County, Ind.) 1897-1902, 1898-05-13


north and the Restingo fort at the
south, but none of the shots took eff
feet, and the shore batteries were ST
fenced by the guns of part of the
fleet
When the fleet forced an entrance
All but the McCulloch passed without
a sign from the Spanish batteries. 1t,
however. was fired upon from the
south battery. The Boston and Nc
Culloch answered Then the shore fir
ing ceased. 1t is seventeen miles from
the entrance of the harbor to the ma
val station at Cavite. There the Span
ish fleet was waiting under the wing
of four batteries
The Spanish began firing at $40
o'clock. The Olympia. Baltimore, Ra-
leigh, Petrol, Concord and Boston adj
vanced to short range. They reserved
their fire until $50 o'clock. Then the
Olympia's guns began to speak. The
American fleet swung and passed be-
fore the Spanish fleet and forts in
Then, wheeling. they passed back, fir
ing their starboard guns. These tao
tics were repeated until the American
had passed the Spanish fleet five times,
each time drawing to closer range.
This made two hours and a half of
terrific fighting. The Spaniards seemed
to resist with desperate energy, but
they fired wildly They had eleven
ships and five land batteries within
range. Admiral Dewey had but six
American warships. Whenever one of
our guns spoke something was smash
ed.
Wher our fleet withdrew at 7:45
o'clock to allow the smoke to clear and
to hold a consultation it could be seen
that some of the Spanish ships were
crippled and lurching in the water,
and at least two were on fire.
At 1910 the Americans renewed the
attack This time the Baltimore led.
What was left of the Spanish fleet gave
way before this awful hammering. At
12:45 the Spanish surrendered Ad-
the survivors fed to Manila.
At 1 o'clock Sunday afternoon the
Spanish fleet had ceased to be- Ten
warShips had been totally destroyed
under the deadly and accurate firing
OF the American gunners. One large
steamer was burned The Spanish had
lost 140 men on the flagship alone. in
Guiding Captain Cadarso. No less than
ninety more had been wounded out of
a crew of 400. 1t is now estimated that
Of the Spaniards engaged in the fight
400 were killed and 500 wounded.
The Americans achieved this Won
derful victory without the loss of a
life and with a damage which can be
repaired for $1,000. Eight men were
slightly injured. but they fought on
to the end of the engagement. Here
was the situation, then. when the Nc
Culloch left Manila bay on Thursday to
bring the official dispatches to Hong
Kong. Admiral Dewey was in absolute
possession of the bay and there was
no war vessel and only one active
battery to oppose him. The city is
at his mercy. He could take it at any
moment, but he does not want to bonn
bard the town and destroy the prop
erty of nOn-combatants if that can
be avoided
The Spanish are cooped up in the
walled portion of the city. The coun-
try round about Manila is n posses
sion of the insurgents. There is no
way in which the Spanish may com
municate with the outside world. 1t is
certain that the food supply is limited
They are literally between the devil
and the deep sea. The sea is COM
manded by the AmericaU fleet, and the
insurgents. wrought to- fury by long
years Of oppression and cruelty. are
in a devilish mood andIready to wreak
terrible vengeance. When We left
Manila it was believefl that the town
would surrender in less than week.