The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1899-02-11
oi,hc Moving Sccncsin the City
OF Santiago
DURING The AMERICAN SIEGE
Notes from an Officers Diary that
add,Many Valuable and Interesting
Chapters TO the History Of that
Famous Campaisn-Thc First Bonn
uardmcnt and its Terrific Effects.
Depressing Conditions = Vanishing
Act orihc Volunteers.

o. .
Louis Globe Democrat: The Spanish
story OF Santiago was written by Lieut..
lose Muller, of Tejelro. second In COM
uand Of the naval forces for the pro-
vince. From day TO day from hour
10 hour. from minute to minute" the
lieutenant said, he kept IAN exact dia-
~ o. everything WOE. everything
that came to my notice. or,that passed
through my hands in my official capa-
civ 0. that knew TO be accurate and
trustworthy These notes" as the
writer calls them, have been translated
from the Spanish by the Bureau of Ma
val Intelligence. They add.many valu-
able and intensely interesting chapters
to the history OF the Santiago campaign.
The first serious bo!rbardment By the
fleet took place OH he 9th; of Junc.
when the American neetiopened fire
1T was so intense and the shots followed
each other in such quick succession,
wrote Lieut.. Tejeiro at the time. that
II might have seemed like a fusillade II
the mighty thunder OF guns car be
compared with the cracking OF small
arms.
Ten war ships. elghttnf, them bat
,le.ships. divided into two divisions. OPP
ered shortly after S,a. mon the bat
,erles at the mouth OF the harbor and.
by, elevation. on the bay.ltt5During the
first few moments the firing was SO in
tense that Il resembled tone prolonged
thunder. In fact had fuo idea that
any firing could be so terrific as that OF
those ten ships. Much has been said
OF the bombardment of Sebastopol and
Alexandria. but do not believe that
they could have been as terrible as the
bombardment we suffered that 9Th day
OF June-a day which the inhabitants of
Santiago will never forget. l might
write pages about II. but even that
would probably not give the faintest
4 idea what II really was. y
The hostile ships had at least 100
large guns. tina, Is to say,Eof Il. 20 and
g chi. CaliberS. and abohts eighty small
cSliber guns that is to say. of 81 and
q mn. or a total Of 49, guns, for they
fired with guns OF all sizes: and as I
am far from wanting to eXaggerate and
since the guns OF the two sides OF a ship
can not be fired at the same time Chose
mounted in turrets forward and aft
canl..f will say that ninety-one guns
were firing upon four lG-cm. muZzle-
loading guns at the Moro and two To-
ctn. breech-loading Hontoria guns of
the Socapa battery.
Il do not count the guns OF the Punta
Gorda battery, which fired only eleven
shots. FOR the americans. In spite OF
their enormous superiority. still had the
prudence OF avoiding 1t. and not en-
caS!nE II. because it was not in line.
Before the eloquence of numbers, any
hing else that | might say becomes
unnecessary.
How did it happen that the MORO
vas not RACED 20 the ground. and that
It's suEs and those OF the Socapa were
10; t!snOunted? How did il happen
Tat those who served these guns were
r5t buried under the ruins? l do. not
know, tha; is all I can say; and those
|al were In those forts may be sure
that, since they were not killed that
tay. they will die Of old age.
Captain COpcas, who IS very clever
al computations Of certain nature.
counted AT different times the number
Of shots fired in a minute, and his de-
tuci!on is that about 5000 proiectiles
were fired; though this figurA may ap-
pear exaggerated at first sight, It is not
so In reality: the firing lasted one hun
dret and seventy-tlve minutes. which
would give an average OF for.y-nve
shots per minute I believe. II anything.
the computation falls below the truth.
Il have always believed that the fleet.
which by means OF the yacht referred to
communicated with the insurgents on
me coast by way of Punta Cabrera.
knew everything that was going on In
santiago as vel! as in the harbor. and
the position 0! our ships But II I had
any DOUBTS on that subject, they would
nave oeen dispel!ed that 9th day OF
Jlhe wnen saw the aim OF their pro-
;JeStiieS. Most Of them dropped in the
nay N the direction Of the Maria Tere-
sa ana Nizcaya, which we're covering
.he Nrst line. and II was a miracle that
oo'H OF them were not seriously dam
aged' Tor the large calibe- shells fell all
at9uhc them; there were moments when
IL seemed rs tough some had hit them,
especially the Eizcaya.
Aey were also perfectly acquainted
VITA the position Of the Mercedes. which
- AoFeu by the fact that the ships to
t"e east. heiHg the division which bonn
nasteu the MORO, were firing their
r'oJeCtIes right at the cruiser. and
NlousA protected b. the hill .. the So
eapd' she received In her hull and rig
s!"S tAlfty-ilve shells. causing two
,leS' one OF them quite extensive, being
III the paint locker forward
Commander Emilio Acosta Y, Ever
mann was directing the cx;irgulshing of
~ are IN the foreclStle when a large
sae1! cut of his right leg at the hip and
10 ~ MS right hand. mutiiating him hor-
.ioi!: hut he lived for half an hour az
ar mat and kept on boxing after the
n'e, Us was told By Mr.. Ozafniz, who
vas close 70 him in those critical mo.
nn.FI'S' do not like to think pt-it: he
"aG o-en a fellow-stuient OF mine nj
toNe9e' and our friendship had always
remained the same. AS there was M
Stlf place In the ship, his b6ts vas
nI1ss' on a cot and taken to thebSoc
"a coast; five soldiers who had bnap
.t''EA the same day were also carried
. mere and all Of them were covered
""il me Tag which they had been do
ending and for which they Ind died
49,, ,,'H' ne rest in peace. this first chief o,
~ navy killed in this war.
,;,, Tue large nrojcCtileS shot through
49, Srace across the Day. causing trc-
Ils"'i'uS noise which only those who
,''H IL can understand come fell on
r,;- opposite coast Oo the westwarD,
, ,'S''s, as they exploded. clouds OF dus,
- -lnoke: others could not be seen