The daily morning journal and courier., 1898-07-16
Major General Commanding.
NEGorIArrNe THE SURRENDER.
Details Up to the Time of Appoin then
 of taa

of Commissioners.
 [Copyrght, 1898, The Associated Press
 With the United States Troops Be- fore Santiago de Cuba, July IA, 6 p. m., via Kingston, Jamaica, July 15, 1915 D. m.-The negotiations which eliminated in the surrender of Santiago by Gen. eral Toral have been dragging on for ten days, with the intermission of Sun day and Monday, when our batteries and fleet bombarded the enemys posi- ton. Throughout these periods of truce, General Toral has shrewdly played for time, always declining to surrender internationally and falling back when hard pressed upon the state ment that he was simply subordinate without the sanction of his superiors, except under penalty of being court martialed. At the same time he seem ed to intimate that, personally, he thought it useless to hold out any long, CT. But he and his garrison were sol- diers, he said, and could die if neces- sary, obeying orders It was at the personal interview held by General Shafter and General Toral yesterday that the American general made the
 Spanish commander understand that temporizing must cease and that before noon to-day a categorical affirmation to his offer must be received or the bombardment of the city would begin in earnest.
 In the meantime, all our plans had
 been perfected. The delay had been
 utilized to good advantage. Our lines had been extended until Santiago was surrounded, and our light batteries had been so posted as to be able to do more effective work. In addition, arrange
 ments had been made to land troops at Cabanas, west of the entrance of the
 harbor of Santiago. The Spanish bat teries opposite Morro castle were to be bombarded and stormed their guns
 
 | and General Lawton's division, at the same time, was to fall on the enemy's left flank under the cover of our ar tillery fire. We could then have enfil- aded their lines and have driven them | into the city.
 General Toral must have realized he was trapped and that to hold out 1 longer must mean a useless sacrifice | of his men, but he made one last ef- ] fort to gain more time this morning. 1 While nominally yielding to the terms | General Shafter proposed, before 8 i o'clock he sent a communication to General Shafter enclosing copy of | telegram from Captain General Blanco 1 explaining that the surrender of such | an important position as Santiago and 1 the abandonment of eastern Cuba | would require the direct sanction of | the Madrid government and requesting | more time to hear from Madrid. At the l same time Captain General Blanco 1 authorized General Toral, if it was l agreeable to the American general to i appoint commissioners on each side to l arrange the terms of the equalization of the forces under his command on l the condition of their parole and II | transportation to Spain, pending the sanction of Madrid, He also commun- | icated the names of the commissioners | he had selected, namely Robert Mason | the British vice consul; General ToraPs 1 chief of staff, Colonel Fontaine, and | General Escarajao.
 This communication was so ambigu- ! ous that it might all be upset by the ! ,,of,,.ol of Madrid to sanction the +arr,o ] agreed to by the commissioners and I General Shafter resolved to have all l the ambiguity removed before proceed i ing further At il o'clock he mounted 1 his horse, and, together with General | Miles and the staffs, he rode to the | front. At General Wheeler's headquar- 1 ters General Shafter, General Miles, | Colonel Maus and an interpreter left lContinued on Seventh Page.)