The San Francisco call., 1898-12-06

ttiagyo, de Cuba, about May g. was it pracc- tack upon the Antillean possessions of i Spain. ! coast. of Cuba and Porto Rico in perpara. i tion for the larger event. On May 13 the i North Atlantic squadron shelled San Juan l de Porto Rico On May 20 Commodore 1 Schley's squadron bombarded the forts l guarding the mouth of Santiago harbor. Neither attack had any material result | It was evident that well ordered land op- erations were indispensable to achieve ! decided advantage.
 The next act in the war thrilled not alone the hearts of our countrymen but the world by its exceptional heroism. On Hobson's Deed Lleutenant Hobson,
 Thrilled teers, blocked the nar- 4h yu,s row outlet from Santi tne WofIu. ago harbor by sinking
 the collier Merrimac in the channel under q severe fire from, the shore batteries. escaping with their lives as by miracle, but falling into the hands of the Spanards It Is most grat- flying incident of the war that the bra very of this little band of heroes was cor dially appreciated by the Spaniards, who Sampson of their safety and to compli- ment them upon their daring act. They were subsequently exchanged July [
 By June the cutting of the last Cuban cable isolated the island. Thereafter the invasion was vigorously prosecuted; On June TO- under a heavy protecting fire, landing force of 500 marines from the Ore gon. Marblehead and Yankee was effect ed on Guantanamo Bay, where 1t had been determined to establish naval station. taken from the enemy after severe fight ing by the marines, who were the nrst or ganized force of the United States to land in Cuba.
 the desperate attempts to dislodge our forces. By June 16 additional forces were landed and strongly intrenched;, On June under Major General Shafter landed at BaiQuiri. about 15 miles east of Santiago This was accomplished under, great dith- cuitfes but with marvellous dispatch. On June 23 the movement against Santiago was begun. On the 24th the first serious engagement took place in in which sha rgIaf the brigade of General Wheeler's division, participated losing heayy tb,y va By ,ia ngh5 df Santiago was won The advantage was steadily increased. Or. July l a severe battle took pace our forces e1d gamnng m a1ev 5ee and San Juan were taken after desper- ate charge and the investment of the city was completed. The navy co-operated by smelling the town and the coast forts.
 On the day following this brilliant achievement of our land forces, July 5,
 occurred the decisive
 Decisive naval combat of the
 war The Spanish fleet, Naval Combat attempting to leave the
 1r harbor. was met by the
 or the war. American squadron un-
 der command of Com nnodore Sampson. In less than three hours all the Spanish forts were destroy ed. the two torpedo boats sunk and the Maria Teresa, Almirante Oquendo, Viz caya and Cristobal Colon driven ashore. l The Spanish admiral and over 1900 men were taken prisoners, while the enemys | loss of life was deplorably large, some six | hundred perishing. On our side but one man was killed and one man seriously wounded Although our ships were re- | peatedly struck. not one was seriously | injured. Where all so conspicuousiy dis tinguished themselves, from the com, heroes in the boiler rooms, each and all | contributing toward the achievement of this astounding victory. Tor which neither ancient nor modern history affords par allel in the completeness of the event and | the marvellous disproportion of casualties | 1t would be invidious to single out any l for special honor Deserved promotion | has rewarded the more conspicuous act | ors-the nations profoundest gratitude Is | due to all of those brave men who, by | their skill and devotion in few short | hours crushed the sea power of Spain and | wrought triumph whose decisiveness | and far-reaehng effects can scarcely be measured. Nor can we be unmindful of | inc achievements of our builders, mechan- ics and artisans for their skill in the con- struction of our warships.
 With the catastrophe of Santiago i Spain's effort upon the ocean virtually ceased.
 spasmodic effort toward the end of June to send her Mediterranean fleet un- der Admiral Camara to relieve Manila was abandoned, the expedition being re- called after 1t had passed through the suez Canal. The capitulation of Santiago followed. The city was closely besieged by land while the entrance of our ships into the harbor cut off all relief on that side. After truce to allow of the re- moval of the on-combatants protracted continued from July until July 15 when under menace of immediate assault. the prelminaries of surrender On the 17th General Shafter occupied the city. The equalization embraced the en-
 tire eastern end of
 Caritulation Cuba: The number of
 Spanish soldiers surren-
 of dered was % o00 all of
 can+;eoo whom were subsequently,
 SantlaSo. conveyed to Spain at |
 the charge of the United States. The story of this successful cam paign is told in the report of the Secre- tary of War. which will be laid before you. The individual valor of officers and soldiers was never more strikingly shown than in the several engagements leading to the surrender of Santiago, while the prompt movements and successive vic tories won instant and universal applause To those who gained this complete triumph which established the ascendancy of the United States on land, as the fight off | had fixed our supremacy on the seas the earnest and lasting gratitude of the nation Is unsparingly due Nor should we alone remember the gallantry of the living; the dead claim our tears and our losses by battle and disease must cloud any exultation with the result and teach us to weigh the awful cost of war, how ever rightful the cause or signal the vic tory.
 With the fall of Santiago the occupation of Porto Rico became the next strategic necessity. General Miles had previously been assigned to organize an expedition for that purpose. Fortunately, he was ai- ready at Santiago. where he had arrived on the 11th of July with reinforcenlents for General Shafter's army.
 With these troops. consisting of 3415 in- fantry and artillery, two companies of engineers and one company of the signal | corps, General Miles left Guantanamo m July 21. having nine transports convoyed by the fleet under Captain Higgnson. Wfth the Massachusetts (lagship), Dixie, GIou- cester, Columbia and Yale, the two Iat ter carrying troops. The expedition land ed at Guanica July 25. which port was en-