Evening star., 1901-10-23
SIMPSON TELLS OF FIGHT
GRAPHIC STORY of THE BATTLE OF
JULY 3, 1895.
Yesterday Afternoons Testimony Be-
fore the Schley Court of Inquiry
Lieut.. Fitzgerald Called.

One of the most graphic accounts of the
battle of July 3, 1898, that has been given
before the Schley court of inquiry was pre-
sented yesterday afternoon, when Lieut..
| Edward Simpson was on the stand. Lieut..
Simpson was in charge of the forward tur-
ret on the Brooklyn during the battle. He
described events during the war from the
| time the flying squadron left Key West
until after the battle.
| He said there was a moderate sea on the
! voyage to Santiago. but it was rough for
small vessels, and had impeded the prog
ress of the Eagle. Referring to the coaliag
of the Texas and the Marblehe1l May %,
the witness said he remembered that the
sea had suddenly become very calm. He
placed the distance of the fleet from Santi-
| ago harbor at six miles, saying it was about
the same both day and night. L'eu7. SimD-
son said that. Commodore Schley had given
a general order before starting the cam
| paign that all lights should be concealed
at night.
The Battle of July ,.
Lieut.. Simpson had occupied n position
in the forward turret when the battle 2t
July 3 began and he fired the first gum
The range was given at $500 yards, and
the Maria Teresa was right in line. Tfe
least range he had heard was 1,4U0 yards.
He was unable to testify conc erning the
| loop because he had had to repair MS
guns. -.- -.
After the turn he said that he had again
| picked up the forward Spanish ship, which
| was still the Maria Teresa. He could near
! smaller shot, indicating close range, ana
during the entire time he had tielrd COM
modore Schleys voice frequently cheering
the men. Again when he saw .alt the FlS-
caya's fire slackened he heard the COLI
modore give the order Fire uelloerateiH,
! hat
Viscaya turn toward the Braoklyn, but
she had received a shot which trrned her
to the shore.
At this point the witness described the
coming up of the Oregon.
1T was after the Maria Teresa had drop
ped astern,' he said, "and we had only two
ships to contend with, L got the cry that
one of the Spanish ships was on fire and
heading for the beach. l tried to see her.
| looked back and could see nothing for
the smoke. Then 1 heard the cry very
shortly afterward, Another one is on hre,
heading for the beach Between shots l
looked back again and saw bow wave
coming from the smoke, followed almost
Immediately by the two thirteen-inch guns.
1t was the Oregon. She was then about on
our Starboard quarter, l should say 6OU
yards. / called to the men that the oregon
was with us, got a cheer in reply and then
the action continued, the Oregon firing also.
AS the Viscaya turned and headed OF the
Oregon fired one of her big guns. L heard
she is on fire. Signal to Oregon to cease
firing, and through the peep holes of my
hood l saw Lieut.. McCauey climb on top
of my turret with the wigwag nag, and
could hear the Tapping of the flag. AS soon
as the Viscaya- turned in we ceased firing
on her and were allowed to come out OF
the turrets for breathing spell.
Chase of the Colon.
1.-The Colon was in the neighborhood of,
roughly speaking six miles ahead Of us.
She continued to gain, but later we held
her The Oregon came along with us and
got pretty near up abeam. Then as our
steam came up our speed increased. We
still held her and finally commenced gain
ing on her and the Oregon. Nine thousand
yards was the elevation of my forward
guns. l was ordered occasionally to try a
shot at the Colon simply for range, using
armor-piercng shell because l had very
few common shell left at that time
We would try a shot at her and it would
fall short. Then the Oregon would try a
shot. and there was wigwagging going on
between the vessels as to the results of
the fall of the two shots. Finally, my
range decreasing and firing not at will but
by order, was told to try again. l tried
at the Colon at 6.S00 yards, and 1 saw the
splash of my projectile the other side
of her. 1 jumped out of the turret to ask
permission to fire another shot Immediately
at GOO yards. Before they gave me per-
mission or l had a chance to do it the Ore
=
that also went over her. Then the Colon
turned in, ran to the beach and her flag
came down. We kept on steamin., IN toward
her. At the time her gaff came down I
heard the commodoreS voice asking, w hat
time is it?' and / heard the chief quarter
master answer, 'One-fifteen, sir. AS We
steamed in toward her l heard one of the
quartermasters say, They are jumping
overheard l splashes alongside and
thought that they were But it was prob
ably what we afterward heard to be breech
blocks. Captain Cook left the ship after
some difficulty in getting out boat and
went to the Colon to receive her surrender"
In reply to a question Lieutenant Simp-
son said he had seen Commodore Schley
several times during the engagement Of
July 8, but he remembered him especially
as he stood when the Viscaya went ashore.
"He was" said the witness, leaning
against the turret in the most natural po-
sition, holding his gloves in his arms"
What was his department and bearng?'
ut was that of brave man, self-pos-
sesscd. alert to his duties and encouraging
| to officers and men to do their duty
On cross-examination Lieutenant Simpson
said that>at Cienfuegos the blockade line
had been three four miles out in the
daytime and further out at night.
Lieut.. Fitzgerald Called.
| When Lieutenant Simpson was excused
Lieutenant Edward p. Fitzgerald, who was
an assistant engineer on the Brooklyn dur
ing the battle off Santiago, was called to
the stand. He said that he in the fire
room during the battle and that there were
several orders. One of these, given at the
beginning of the engagement, was TO
Stand by for ram. or collision quarters.
The witness was not questioned on other
points nor cross-examined. When he left
the stand the court adjourned for the day.
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