The L'Anse sentinel. (L'Anse, L.S., Mich.) 18??-current, 1898-05-21
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.

| w uSHlIRlOH, may lf.--.Nl @p IL
day morning the navy department re-
ceived the following dispatch from Adj
miral Sampson. 1t was dated at ST.
! Thomas, May IL, 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-
fciently light commenced attack upon the
batteries defending the city. This attack
lasted about three hours and resulted In
much damage to the batteries and inciden-
tally to a 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 TO indicate that he did not
find il eXpedient to take the entire
squadron into the harbor, though il is
not Believed he has separated his fleet.
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 Bonbnrdm cnt from the Flagship.
On board the Flagship Iowa, OFF San
Juan de Puerto Rico. May IL (via st. Thorn
| 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 adj
! miral withdrew the fleet, and heading for
| Key West. he said II am satisfied with
! the mornings work / could have taken
! San Juan, but have no force to hold 1t. I
only wanted to administer punishment.
| This has been done. ] came for the Spanish
! fleet, and not for San Juan"
| Killed md Wounded.
The men killed were: Seaman Frank
! Widemark, Of the New York, and Gun
| ners 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
rine 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 above-named were injured
by the bursting of shell on the New York.
| This Is complete list of the killed and
wounded. The American ships were un-
| injured.
| StoTy III thc
The engagement began at 515 a. m. and
ended at S15 a. m. The enemy's batteries
were not silenced. The town in the rear
| of the fortihcations 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 COL
| umn, delivering broadsides, 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 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 swells made accurate
aim difficult. The broadsides from the
Iowa and Indiana rumbed in the hills
ashore for five minutes after they were de-
lvered Clouds of dust showed where The
shells struck, but the smoke hung over
everything. The shells screeching over
head and dropping around showed that
the Spaniards still stuck to their guns.
At three O'Clock in the morning all hands
were called on the Iowa, few final touches
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
80. a
ward 12-inch guns Numbered out at the
sleeping hills, and for IA minutes she
poured starboard broadsdes 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 led the
column, the forts replying fercely, concen-
trating on the Detroit, which was about
200 yardsaway, all the batteries on The east
ward arm OF the harbor. Thrice the column
passed from the entrance OF the harbor to
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,
and, failing to see the signal, banged away
alone for about half an hour the concert
OF shore guns roaring at her and the water
flying high around her from the exploded
shells. But she possessed a charmed life
and reluctantly retired at 815
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 hills, |
as the high shots must have reached II. |
NO traces OF the bombardment were dis |
cernible on the forts except small fires, |
which were apparently extinguished before |
the fleet left.
It Is impossible to fudge of the amount Of |
damage done to the buildings and forts. |
They appeared to be riddled with shot, but |
the Spaniards were plucky. After the first |
passage before the forts the Detroit and |
the Montgomery retired, their guns being |
too small to do much damage. The Porter |
and Wampatuck also stayed out OF range. |
The smoke hung over everything, spelling |
the aim of the gunners and making II i'm |
possible to tell where our shots struck. The |
officers and men OF all the ships behaved |
with GOODNESS and bravery. The shots flew
thick a nd IN 1t ounr all our shirs = L