The record-union., 1898-12-06

| of the war that the bravery of this little
band of heroes was cordially appfe-
fclated by the Spaniards, who sent a flag
| of truce te notify Admiral Sampson of
their safety and to compliment them
upon their daring act. They were sub
lsequently exchanged July 9TH.
GUANTANAMO TAKEN.
| BY June 7th, the cutting of the last
Cuban cable isolated the island. There
after the invasion was vigorously pros
ecuted. On June 10th, under a heavy
protecting fire, landing force of 600
marines from the Oregon, Marblehead
and Yankee was effected on Guantan-
amo Bay, where it had been determined
to establish a naval station. This i'm
portant and essential port was taken
from the enemy after severe fighting
by the marines, who were the first or
ganized force of the United States to
land in Cuba.
THE ADVANCE ON SANTIAGO.
The position so won was held, despite
the desperate attempts to dislodge our
forces. BY June 10th additional forces
were landed and strongly intrenched.
On June 22d, the advance of the in
vading army under Major General
Shafter landed at Daiquiri, about fif-
teen miles east of Santiago. This was
accomplished under great difficulties.
but with marvellous dispatch. On June
23d the movement against Santiago was
begun. On the oath the first serious en-
gagement took place, in which the First
and Tenth Cavalry and the First Vol
unteer Cavalry, General Young's bri-
gade of General Wheeler's division,
participated, losing heavily. By night
fall, however, ground within five miles
of Santiago was won. The advantage
was steadily increased. On July 1st
severe battle took place, our forces
gaining the outer works of Santiago
and FL Caney and San Juan were taken
after a desperate charge, and the in
vestment of the city was completed.
The navy co-operated by shelling the
town and the coast forts.
lCERVERA'S FLEET DESTROYED.
On the day following this
brilliant achievement of our
land forces, July Sd, occurred the
decisive naval combat of the war. The
| Spanish fleet, attempting to leave the
harbor, was met by the American
squadron under command of Commo-
dore Sampson In less than three hours
all the Spanish fleet were destroyed, the
two torpedo boats sunk and the Maria
Teresa, Almirante Oquendo, Vizcaya
and Cristobal Colon driven ashore. The
Spanish Admiral and over 1,30O men
were taken prisoners, while the enemy's
loss of life was deplorably large, some
| 600 perishing On our side one man
was killed and one man seriously in
jured.
Where all so conspicuously distin-
guished themselves, from the COM
manders to the gunners and the un-
named heroes in the boiler-rooms, each
| and all contributing toward the
achievement of this astonishing victory,
for which neither ancient nor modern
history affords a parallel in the COM
pleteness of the event and the marvel
Gus disproportion of casualties, it would
be invidious to single out any special
| honor. Deserved promotion has re-
warded the more conspicuous actors
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 decisive
| ness and far reaching effects can
scarcely be measured. Nor can we be
unmindful of the achievements of our
| builders, mechanics and artisans for
| their skill in the construction of our
| warShipS.
| With the catastrophe of Santiago,
| Spain's effort upon the ocean virtually
! ceased.
SANTIAGO SURRENDERS.
| A spasmodic effort toward the end
of June to send her Mediterranean fleet
under Admiral Camara to relieve Ma
| Mia was abandoned, the expedition be-
| ing recalled after it had passed through
! the Suez Canal. The capitulation of
| Santiago followed. The city was close
| ly besieged by land, while the entrance
| of our ships into the harbor cut off all
relief on that side. After a truce to
| allow of the removal of the non-com-
| batants, protraeted negotiations con-
| tinued from July Sd until July 18th,
when under menace of immediate as
sault, the preliminaries of surrender
were agreed upon. On the 18th Cen
| eral Shafter occupied the city. The ca
pitulation embraced the entire eastern
end of Cuba. The number of Spanish
soldiers surrendered was $4,000, all OF
whom were subsequently conveyed to
Spain at the charge of the United
! States. The story of this successful
| campaign is told in the report of the
| Secretary of War, which will be laid
before you. The individual valor of Of
ficers and soldiers was never more
| strikingly shown than in the several
| engagements leading to the surrender
| of Santiago, while the prompt move
ments and successive victories won in
stant and universal applause. To those
! who gained this complete triumph.
| which established the ascendency Of
| the United States on land, as the fight
off Santiago 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 bat
| tie and disease must cloud any exulta-
ton with the result and teach us to
weigh the awful cost of war, however
rightful the cause or signal the victory.
PORTO RICO FALLS.
With the fall of Santiago the occupa-
tion of Porto Rico became the next
stragetic necessity. General Miles had
previously been assigned to organize
an expedition for that purpose. For
tunately, he was already at Santiago,
where he had arrived on the 18th of
July, with reinforcements for General
Skaters army. With these troops,
consisting Of 3,415 infantry and artil-
lery, two companies of engineers and
one company of the Signal Corps, Gen
eral Miles left Guantanamo on July
Dist, having nine transports conveyed
I