Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1899-09-15
SKILL OF OUR GUNNERS
Some Notable Shots by the Men in Samp-
sons Fleet.
Knocking Over q Flagstaff In Three
Shots Mt Twenty-Five Hum
dred Yards.
From the New York Sun.

and Punta Gorda batteries. The Socapa
battery located on the crest of the
ridge to the westward of the harber en-
| trance and consisted of two 64-inch Hon
torias. These guns were landed from the
decks of the cruiser Reina Mercedes just
before the appearance of the American fleet
at one of the main piers of the town and
were dragged by mules and men entirely
| around the head of the upper end of the
bay. a distance of twenty-five miles. over
the toughest kind of country to their
places on the hill The Spaniards had not
roads or even trails to haul the guns over.
They had to bridge gorges and toll up and
down steep hills, hacking their path
through the tangled underbrush with
machetes as they advanced. They worked
in relays night and day for ninety-siX
hours before the task was accomplished.
These guns were protected by an ordinary
earthen redoubt. plainly visible for miles
out at sea. They were manned by gunners
from the Mercedes The commander of the
battery was Spanish naval lieutenant.
| the nephew of prominent statesman. The
Yankee gunners ever received warmer
praise than they got from this officer. He
said to the Sun correspondent after the
surrender:
1.-THE shooting Of your men was marvel
GUS It was so accurate and so rapidly de-
livered that we were never able to work
our guns for longer than a few seconds.
Two or three shots from would attract
the fire of the vessel which happened to be
nearest us, and the hail of shells, large
| and small, which always followed 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 the ex-
! plosion Of big shell that we could not get
| 1t in place again. Four or five times after
| this misfortune the men at the other gun
were buried under avalanches of the same
u
! day before we could dig them out the fire
| being so hot that their comrades could not
| work. The Oregon and New Orleans were
| the boats that made it hottest for u.s.
significant feature of the Spanish Off
GERS testimony was that the concentrated
| fire of two or more vessels was never re-
| quired to smother the fire Of his battery.
He said that the guns Of a single ship were
always sufficient, and that when two or
| more Joined in the cannonading he and his
| ren had to retire below the crest of the
| ridge on the land side and walt until the
storm was over.
The Punta Gorda occupied a sugar-loaf
| hill which juts out into the harbor three
miles back from the entrance and directly
| in front of it. The battery consisted of
| two 6.4-inch Hontorias, two breech-loading
howitZers of the same caliber, and two
| smaller pieces arranged in a semi-circle
around the crest of the hill with their muz-
| zles pointing in so that they might concen-
| trate their fire on any boat attempting to
l
from stem to stern. The battery was man
| ned by gunners of the fleet, who were well
trained.
| In entering the harbor the hostile ships
would have been unable to reply except
one at a time from their forward batteries.
because the channel is not wide enough to
permit advance In any other formation
| than single file. AS no such movement was
! attempted the Punta Gorda battery did not
| play a conspicuous part in the war The
Hontorias sent occasional shots through
| the harbor gap at any Yankee ships which
| in passing before 1t far out at offered
| fair target. None of these shots hit any
thing Once in while the Americans
would drop smell or so at from five to
seven miles range In on the sugar loaf
hill. One of these shells. an eight-inch mis-
| sfle, from one of the big battle ships. struck
| in a pile of rock just under the howitzer
battery. ton of earth and stone was
| hurled into the air by the explosion, but no
damage was done to the howitzers, which
J Gen. Wood afterward used to salute Gen.
Lawton with when Lawton left Santiago
on his return to the states At still later
date Lieut.. Ingram of the 9Th Infantry used
them to tell oil Santiago that its popular
military governor had been advanced to
| the grade of major general by the Amer
lean Congress
| only protection from foreign invader Just
now. The Hontorias from both the Punta
Gorda and Socapa batteries were long ago
| sent home by Col. Borup.
| Perhaps the best bit of gunwork of the
| war was executed by Lieut.. Victor Blue of
| the Suwanee. 1t was at Aguadores
| morning in June. Half a dozen Yankee
ships, including the New York. Admiral
| SIMPSONS flagship, had been bombarding
| the Spanish positions in the hills which
| fringed the shore. without any other result
| than to smother the enemy's fire. when the
signal Cease firing" f1uttered from the
New York. The position of of the
Spanish batteries which had been uncom-
monty active in replying to the Yankee
| volleys. though without doing any damage,
was marked by a red and yellow flag,
| which could easily be seen in the clear
morning atmosphere. The staff from which
this flag floated was fixed in solid pier of
| masonry. the top of which showed above
the redoubt that protected the Spanish
guns and gunners. Blue was preparing to
take a crack at the flag when the order
came. He appealed to Lieut.. Commander
Delehanty, who was in command of the
Suwanee. to let him go on and cut the flag
down. Delehanty's desire to see the thing
done was as keen as Blues desire to do it.
He asked permission of the flagship to go
ahead.
Cease firing" was the peremptory sig
nal repeated from the flagship.
II guess it's no co. he said to Blue.
THE admiral says we can't do any more
shooting
But I can cut 1t In three Shots" pro-
tested Blue.
Delehanty pursed his lips and squinted
wistfully at the Haunting red and yellow
!
again. he said half to himself, "but I'll
do it," Back futtered this signal to the
flagship:
Can cut the flag down in three shots
For several moments there was no reply.
The admiral seemed to be considering the
Suwanee's proposition. Every eye from
the Suwanee and from the other ships.
which had seen the exchange of signals,
was fixed on the flagship. Finally the adj
mirars signal, "All right: if you can cut it
down in three shots, go ahead was dis
played. The signal received with
cheer on the Suwanee. which several of the
other boats echoed. Then the attention of
the fleet became riveted on the Spanish
flag. Blue bent his gun, adjusted the
sights showed cartridge into the cham
Der and closed the breech. For the frac-
ton of a second he glanced down the bar
rel. Then there was sharp report. The
far-away flag suddenly twisted itself
around the staff. Then it slowly unwound
and two yellow pennants ffuttered in the
brisk east wind. Blues shot had cut out
the red bar in the center which bore the
Spanish coat-of-armS.
"A corker, Blue shouted Delehanty
from the bridge. TRY again. but remem-
Der that you were little high that time.
Depress your piece a bit"
Blue readjusted his sights and again his
gun spoke. This time a cloud of dust rose
from the base of the Flagstaff, which leaned
III. --lk,1 ~