River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1898-05-19
SHIELDED SAN JUAN.
Sampson Attacks the Batteries De-
Tending the City.
Retires without Attempting Capture
of the Town - Two of Our
Men Killed and Seven
Wounded.

day morning the navy department re-
ceived the following dispatch from Ad-
miral Sampson. 1t was dated at St.
Thomas, May ~, and was as follows:
"a portion of the squadron under my
command reached San Juan this morning
at daybreak. No armed vessels were
found in the port. AS soon as Il was suf-
fiCiently light / commenced attack upon the
batteries defending the city. This attack
lasted about three hours and resulted Ia
much damage to the batteries and inciden-
tally to portion of the city adjacent TO
the batteries. The batteries replied to our
fire, but without material effect. one man
was killed on board the New York and
seven slightly wounded in the squadron.
No serious damage to any ships resulted.
"(Signed) SAMPSON"
Admiral SIMPSONS statement that
he attacked with only a portion of his
fleet is taken 10 indicate that he did not
find it eXpedient TO take the entire
squadron into the harbor. though it is
not believed he has separated his feet
The navy department officials were at
n loss TO know how his dispatch reached
St. Thomas until the press dispatch an
nounced the presence of the Yale at St.
Thomas.
The Bombardmcntf from the Flagship.
on board the Flagship Iowa, OF San
Juan de Puerto Rico, May - (via st. Them
as, Danish West Indies May 1D.-The forts
of San Juan de Puerto Rico were bonn
barded by part of Rear Admiral Samp-
sons fleet Friday morning The enemy's
loss is believed to be heavy The Ameri-
can loss is two men killed and seven men
Injured. After three hours firing the i'd
mIral withdrew the fleet, and, heading for
Key West, he said: II am satisfied with
the mornings work. l could have taken
San Juan, but l have no force to hold it. I
only wanted to administer punishment.
This has been done. l came for the Spanish
feet, and not for San Juan"
Killed and wounded.
The men killed were: Seaman Frank
Widemark, of the New York, and Gun
ner's Mate -, of the Amphitrite The lat
ter died from effects OF the extreme heat.
OF the injured men three were on board
the Iowa and four on board the New York.
The names of those slightly injured on the
Iowa are: Seaman Mitchell, Private Ma
rtne Merkle, Apprentice Hill. The injured
on the New York are: Seaman Samuel
Feltman, seriously; Seaman Michael Muir
ply, two other enlisted men, slightly in
jured. All the aboye-named were injured
by the bursting Of a shell on the New York.
This Is a complete list of the killed and
wounded. The American ships were IN
injured
story of the Battle.
The engagement began at 5I5 a. m. and
ended at SIS a. m. The enemy's batteries
were not silenced. The town in the rear
of the fortifications probably suffered. The
ships taking part in the action were the
Iowa, Indiana, New York, Terror, Am
phitrite, Detroit Montgomery, Wampa
tuck and Porter. The enemy'S firing was
heavy but wild, and the Iowa and New
York were probably the only ships hit.
They went right up under the guns in coll
umn, delivering broadsdes, and then re-
turned. The line passed thrice in front OF
the forts, pouring tons Of steel on shore.
MORO Battery the Target.
MORO battery, on the eastward arm of
the harbor, was the principal point Of at
tack. Rear Admiral Sampson and Capt.
Evans were on the lower bridge of the Iowa
and had a narrow escape from flying splin-
ters which injured three men. The Iowa
was hit eight times but the shells made no
impression on her armor The weather was
fine, but the heavy sweus made accurate
aim difficult. The brCadsdes from The
Iowa and Indiana rumbled in the hills
ashore for five minutes after they were de-
liyered. Clouds of dust showed where the
shells struck, but the smoke hung over
everything. The shells screeching over
head and dropping around showed that
At three o'clock In the morning all hands
were called on the Iowa few final touches
in clearing ship were made, and at five
general quarters sounded. The men were
eager for the fight The tug Wampatuck
went ahead and anchored, her small boat
to the westward showing ten fathoms. but
there was not a sign OF life from the fort,
which stood Boldly against the sky on the
eastern hills hiding the town. The Detroit
steamed far to the eastward opposite Val
tern. The Iowa headed straight for the
shore Suddenly her helm flew over, bring
ing her starboard battery to bear on the
Notifications At 5:15 a. m. the Iowa's for
ward Pinch guns Numbered out at the
sleeping hills, and for ii minutes she
poured starboard broadsides on the coast.
Meanwhile the Indiana, the New York and
other ships repeated the dose from the
rear The Iowa turned and came back to
the Wampatuck's boat and again lC>i the
column, the forts replying iiercely, concen-
tratinE on the Detroit, which was about
700 yards away all the batteries on the east
ward arm OF the harbor. Thrice the column
passed from the entrance Of the harbor 70
the extreme eastward battery.
ships Retire.
At 7:45 a. m. Admiral Sampson signaled
cease firing" "Retire" was sounded on
the Iowa, and she headed from the shore,
The Terror was the last ship in the line,
ana, failing to see the signal, banged away
alone for about half an hour, the concert
of shore guns roaring a her and the water
flying high around her from the exploded
shells. But she possessed a charmed life
and reluctantly retired at S:l5.
Inflicted Much Damage.
As at Matanzas, the unsatisfactory con-
dition. the smoke and the distance pre-
vented any important conclusions being
drawn The town of San Juan must have
suffered, although protected by the mus