The Newberry herald and news. (Newberry, S.C.) 1884-1903, 1899-09-29
Lieutenant Blue, Of the SuWanee
r., fS.sSEST BIT OF GUN WORK IN THE
Nsis5s WITH SPAIN.
Skill of Our cun"Ss sss-somo Notable Shots
on Santiago zhhh!ent. Victor Blue
Knocks Over u EIag Stnr In
Three Shots .at 2 600
Yards.
(New York SUM-

the Socapn and Punta Gorda bat
tories. The Socapa Battery was To-
Gated on the crest Of tho ridge to the
westward Of tho harbor entrance and
consisted Of two G.4-inch Hontoras.
These guns were landed from the
decks Of the cruiser Reina Mercedes
just before the appearance of the
American fleet at one of tho main
piers Of the town, and wero dragged
by mules and men entirely around
tho head of the upper end of the bay,
distance of twenty five miles, over
tho toughest kind of country to
I their places on tho hill Tho Span
iards had not roads or even trails to
haul the guns over. They had to
bridge gorges and toll up aud down
steep hills, hacking their path through
the tangled nnderbrush with ma
chetes as they advanced. They
worked in relays, night and day, for
ninetyhix hours before tho task was
-. accomplished. These guns were pro-
ted by an ordinary eastern rcdoubt,
inly visible for miles out at sea.
y were manned by gunncrs from
gDsp ne Mercedes. The commander of
@. the battery was a Spanish naval lieu
y tenant, the nephew Of Il prominent
N CT of Tho Nnr1,on
mover received warmer praise than
they got from this officer He said
to The Sun correspondent after the
surrender:
"The shooting of your men was
marvellous. 1t was so rapid and SO
accurately delivered that wo were
never able to work our guns for long
er than few seconds. Two or three
shots from us would attract tho fire
of the vessel which happened to be
nearest to us, and the hail of shells,
largo and small, which always fol-
lowed quickly, smothered our fire.
One of our guns was dismounted
during the early days Of the blockade
and buried SO deeply under mass
Of stone and earth thrown up by tho
explosion Of big shell that wo could
not get it in the place again. -Four
or five times aftor this misfortune the
men at the other gun wore buried
under avalanches Of the same kind
and two of them were suffocatod one
day before we could dig them out,
the fire being so hot that thoir com
rades could not work Tho Oregon
and the New Orleans wo'o the boats
IA that made it hottest for u.s."
RsssA significant feature Of tho Span
"A officers testimony was that the
Asentrated fire of two or moro yes,
sssgladlssa;s,s required to smother
ttery. He said that
@ ship wero always
two or more
d he and his
Row tho crest Of
\ re- Sand side and wait
& DS9Tm was over
Punta Gorda occupied a su-
ssH sgf loaf hill, which juts out into tho
- harbor three miles back from the en-
58g trance and directly in front Of it.
S The battery consisted Of two G.4-
S inch Hontorias, two breach loading
M howitzers of tho samo calibre, and
# two smaller pieces arranged in n
81 semi circle around tho crest of tho
hill, with their muzzles pointing in 50
that they might concentrate their fire
on any boat attempting to force the
heIbor entrance and rake it from
stom to stern. The battery was mann,
cd by gunners of the fleet, who were
we'll trained.
In entering the harbor the hostile
ships would have been unable to re-
ply except one at timo from Their
forward batteries, because tho chan,
mol is OF wide enough to permit an
advance in any other formation than
single file. As no such movement
was attempted the Punta Gorda bat
tory did moi play conspicuous part
in tho war. The Hontorias sent o.
casional shots through the harbol
gap at any Yankee ships which il
passing before it far out at sea offer
cd fair target None Of these shots