The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1898-04-30

/
! The most interesting and exciting ep-
| ISOLDE during this long siege was the fe-
rocious attempt made by the Spaniards
| toward the close when they strained
every nerve to dismay and overcome
| the already exhausted but still UNI
flinching garrison. More than fifty
thousand troops and one hundred and
seventy pieces of ordnance of large call
ibre We're at the disposal of the Span
ish general, and an ingenious type OF
floating batteries, strongly resembling
the famous cheese boxes on RATS" of
the late war, had been devised by the
dons, who expected great things OF
them In the medtated assault. The
numbers of the opposing forces We're
ludicrously disproportionate Besides
the above mentioned troops and guns,
the Spanish possessed nine line of bat
tie ships, fifteen gun or mortar boats,
covered boats sufficient to land nearly
forty thousand men, and, in addition,
the ten floating batteries, which con-
sisted of large vessels, their sides pro-
tected by banking of timber seven
feet thick, and the decks and guns
screened with a slanting roof of shot
| proof material. To this gigantic arm
ament the defence could only oppose
| some seven thousand men, many of
them sick or wounded, and all reduced
to scanty rations for many months
past; ammunition was limited, and the
cannon even then We're antiquated.
On the Sth of September, 1882, fire
was opened on the fortress at a precon-
certed signal by the entire strength of
| hn icL vii |nt lon nd
af1oat. The floating batteries We're
moored within half range and proved
indeed invulnerable to shot and shell,
which lasted all night and day until
late on the 18th. On that day the gar
rison, unable to make any impression
on the fleet, whose efforts We're begin
ming to give the small force of defend
ers considerable trouble and inconven-
fence, conceived the idea of loading
their guns with red-hot and burning
shells, which, though of little or no PEN
etrating power, turned out to be very
effective against the wooden sides of
the battleships and gunboats. In fact,
within a very few hours every one of
the floating batteries lay quiescent on
the water useless mass Of burning
hull1s. The endeavors and energy of
the defenders finally prevailed over the
vast numerical superiority of their OPP
ponents, and on the 14th of the month
the desperately conducted attack was
given up and the Spanish troops retired
to their lines, severely crippled by the
enormous losses they had suffered;
winter quarters were taken up, the
bombardment practically abandoned,
and peace was declared on the I'd of
February following.
, Thus ended one of the most memora-
BILE seges that can be found in the
pages of history; remarkable for many
reasons but most of all for the small
, loss of life among the defenders, who,
; during the three years and half that
the investment lasted, lost in all but
five hundred men, while they inflicted
on the enemy a total loss of several
thousands of lives. Gibraltar to-day
!. simply bristles with artillery; the
mountain is honeycombed with pas
sages and galleries leading to remotely
| hidden batteries, some the result of ma
J lures workings, but most of them ex-
, cavated by years of arduous toll in the
/ very bowels of the gigantic rock.
+ Looking at the huge guns, many of
=
ell ibre, one is almost forced to the conclu-
! sion that they must have grown
there" for to one not learned in the
] mysterious ways and workings of the
gunner and engineer it seems abso-
: lutely impossible that these monstrous-
s ly long engines Of destruction could, by
: any but superhuman agency, have been
! brought through the steep and tortur-
: Gus passages that form the sole APP
{ proach to the dark, silent classmates
: where they repose.
I 1t is evident that Havana, not enjoy
= ing the admitted impregnability of the
E pillar of Hercules nor yet possessing
Y the magnificent defences that were the
!, boast of Paris, is more comparable to
1 Alexandria, which similarity is indeed
. further borne out by the resemblance
4 between the climates and the strategy
e cal positions of the two cities; and
j though Havana is lacking in quantity
e to equal the Egyptian batteries, the
r deficiency may perhaps be compensated
: for by the more modern quality of the
e guns and a. superior class of gunners.
q This last desideratum is most impor-
t tant one, for it is indisputable that
n with good guns and well-trained men
: behind them, even though the number
t of both leaves much to be desired, and
4 the Notifications be anything but in
s vulnerable, any fort ought to give a
good account of itself against even
Y greatly superior odds, for a short time
e at least. With the improvements OF
t late years in range-fnding instruments
r and the enormously increased destrue-
n tive range of high-power guns, the adj
e vantage is all in favor of stationary
= fort, from which distances are merely a
f matter of momentary calculation and
s directions easily observed, as opposed
e to constantly moving ship, on board
3. which distance observations are prac-
g tically matter of trial. while the roll
e ing Of the sea constantly interferes
d with correct laying.
: Especially is this the case in any
d kind of a heavy sea; but once let the
n guns of fleet be properly trained or
: the fort, and couple of good shots
# made, and it will take most powerful
= set of Notifications to resist annihila
= ton, for once the range is definitely
r obtained, the pitching and tossing OF
the ship, as we'll as it's capability OF
g constant motion, altering both speed