The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1899-01-22
DEREY'S Task At MANILA
The First Authentic Account
of the Naval Battle.
AN AMERICAN ULTIMATUM
"And, Brumby, Tell Admiral N""
ni.dcrt,b That If He Wants a.
Fight lie Can Rave It Right Now
The story of the Battle on I"
Famous sunday Morning


portant of all the events that occurred
during the battle of Manila Bay
This question has been put TO me so Oft
en- since my return from the Philippines
that / am glad to be at liberty-now that
peace is assured-to answer it without
risk of giving aid and comfort TO the enc
my.
1t has always been assumed in the
United States that. from start TO finish
,bara was nothing felt on our side except
a buoyant certainty of victory. 1t will
do no harm now TO tell the real facts
1t will be remembered that the battle be-
gan at six minutes past o'clock on the
morning Of May /: that Commodore (now
Rear AdmiraD Dewey led the line OF
American warships into action in his flag
shin OLYMPIA; that after a fierce fight last
ing two hours and half the attacking
fleet retired from the battle into the cen
ire of Manila Bay, and did not renew the
attack until nearly four hours later,
When We hauled OFF from the fighting
line, at 1876 O'Clock. the situation had be-
come apparently serious for Commodore
Dewey. We had been fighting deter
mined and courageous enemy Tor more
than two hours without having noticeabiy
diminished the volume of his fire. 1t is
true. at least three OF his ships had bro
ken into flames. hut so had one OF ours
the Boston. These fires had all been put
out without apparent injury 10 the ships
Generally. speaking nothing Of great I'M
portance had occurred TO show that we
had seriously injured any Spanish vessel.
They were all steaming about in the blight
back of sangIey Point, or in Bakor Bay, as
actively as when We first sighted them in
the early dawn. So far. therefore, we
could see nothing indicating that the enc
my was less able to defend his position
than he had been at the beginning.
On the other hand, our position was
greatly altered for the worse. There re-
manned in the magazines of the Olympia
only eighty-fve rounds of 5-inch ammu-
milton. and though the stock of S-inch
charges was not proportionately depleted
IT was reduced enough to make the con-
tinuance of the battle for another two
hours impossible. When it was remem-
-----.,,~. r'ar,rr,odnre Dewey was more
than 1000 miles from home port, and
that under the most favorable condition:
a supply of ammunition could not be OBJ
tanned in less than month, the outlook
was far from being satisfactory. The
commodore knew that the Spaniards haC
Just received an ample supply of ammuni-
ton in the transport boat Mindanao, Sc
there was no hope of exhausting theiI
fighting power by an action lasting twice
as long. If We should run short of powder
and shell, we might become the hunted in
stead of the hunters.
do not exaggerate in the least wher
say that, as we hauled off into the bay
the gloom on the bridge of the olympi;
was thicker than a London fog in Noyem
Der Neither Commodore Dewey nor an
of the stan believed that the Spanish ship
had been sufficiently injured by our fire Il
prevent them from renewing the battl'
quite as furiously as they had previousl!
fought Indeed, we had all been distinct
u disappointed in the results OF our fire
Our projectiles seemed 10 go too high o
too Iow-iust as had been the case wit
those fired at US by the Spaniards. Sew
eral times the commodore had espresso
dissatisfaction with the failure OF our gun
ners TO hit the enemy. We had begun IN
firing at too great distance but We ha
gradually worked in farther on each {
the turns, until We were within abou
$500 yards at the close of the fifth rounC
At that distance in 4 smooth sea, W
ought TO have made large percentage
hits; yet, so far as we could judge We ha
not sensibly crippled the foe. Cons'
quently Commodore Dewey hauled out il
TO the open bay at the end Of the fift
round TO take stock Of ammunition an
devise a new plan of attack.
As ! went aft the men asked me VIII
distinctly different humor from that whic
prevailed on the bridge. They believe
they had done we'll, and that the otht
ships had done likewise. The Olymp
cheered the Baltimore. and the Baltimo
returned the cheers with interest. tt
gun captains were not at all dissatisfe
with the results of their work. Wheth
they had better knowledge of the accl
racy of their aim than we had on II
bridge, or whether they took 1t for gran
ed that the enemy must have suffered 81
verely after SO much fighting, / do n
know; but, at any rate, they were Gag
to go on with the battle, and were con
dent of victory. ] told one OF them tn
We were merely hauling on for breakfas
which statement elected the appeal
Captain Lamberton, as he came past M
ment later:
For Gods sake, captain, don't let
stop now. To hell with breakfast"
When I told the commodore that il
tended TO attribute our Withdrawal to q
need for breakfast, he intimated that
was not a matter OF much importan
what reason ! gave. so long as / did n
give the true one And so the breakfa
episode went to the world a plausit
excuse for what seemed like an extrao
binary strategic maneuyer-one viii
has been the subject of more CONNIE
than almost any other event during {
battle. Many people have said TO me II
IL would be a pity to spoil so good a sto
by telling the truth; but, as the comm
dore Will be sure to let the cat out of
bag some day, ] may as well let her Ia
her freedom now.