The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1901-10-10

thirteen-inch turret and took his place on
the small platform on the lee side OF the
Captain LemIy-At what stage Of Che ac-
ton was this?
"As we were steaming in toward the en-
trance before we had turned 10 the east
ward"
Captain Lemly-Did you hear any further
conversations
Il heard the conversation when Ccmmo-
dore Schley was leaving the ship, I'm which
he stated that he was satisfied with the
reconnaissance he had made in drawing the
effect"
Captain Lemly-what was the bearing
and manner Of Commodore Schlcy during
the engagement OF tho 3lst. 10 which YOU
have already referred?
lis bearing and manner was that OF A
man who was suffering under extreme men,
tai excitement. as one who had a disagree
able duty To perform. and performed Ia re-
luctently. and tried to get through il as
Mr.. Rayner then began his cross exam
i%nation, Who was the captain OF your
ship?' he asked
Francis J. Higginson."
IT want TO read you what Captain Hig-
ginSon says about Commodore Schley
manner and bearing on that occasion. He
says: His manner was that OF a com
mander-in-chief. He left a different inn
preston in your mind from what he left
on Captain Higginson's mind?i
Had Captain Higginson opportunity to
observe him on hat OCCASION
Not as well as / did"
Why was that?"
Because Captain Higginson was I'm the
coming tower and l was outside"
Did not Captain Higginson have any
conversations with the commodore at that
timer"
From time to time. yes"
What 90 you mean by mental excite
ment?"
81 quoted conversations that I had. The
first thing was the apparent anxiety OF
Commodore Schley about using the con-
ming tower: secondly. his stating that at
a distance OF five 10 six miles men stand
ing on the forward thirteen-inch turret
were conspicuous objects"
tower?'
UNDER MENTAL STRAIN.
81 did not see the commodore so into
the coming tower. To the best Of my
knowledge and belief he did not. He was
outside the coming tower and between the
coming tower and the heavy plate that
protects the manhole I'm the coming tower.
My preconceived idea Of Commodore schley
different from the impression I received on
that day / concluded that he certainly was
under a tremendous mental strain"
Have you ever been under any mental
strain in time of battle?"
Il have been scared"
Have you any other facts from which
you base your statement TO the court that
he was laboring under mental excitement
except the facts which you have given?"
10os NOAlAAiONOIN 0illAtN AdLlt III
board the Massachusetts he stated i'm dis
tinct terms that he was going in 10 destroy
the Colon The Colon was not destroyed.
When he left the ship he called it a recon-
~noissance,' drawing the fire of the batteries
and developing their weakness or strength"
do you gather from that that he was
laboring under great mental excitement"
From that and from circumstances /
have already stated from my observation
of him from the time he came on board the
ship until he left"
Suppose you were made aware of the
fact that when he entered into the engage
ment he was under the regulations OF the
navy not to engage shore batteries IL there
was any danger OF the shore batteries
gripping the ships would you say. IL you
knew of that, that he was still laboring
under great mental Excitement"
II cannot answer that"
Captain Lemly objected TO the i~ntroduc-
ton OF the Navy Departments orders as
evidence. but the court decided that they
could be put in.
The witness said on further examina-
ton that Lieutenant Commander Schroed-
er, Lieutenant Sears and Lieutenant Wells
had been present during the Commandment
of the, Colon when Commodore Schley had
remarked that as they were conspicuous
objects on the thirteen-inch turret il would
be better TO move away.
The court asked questions as follows:
can you give the distance the l~ge YES
sells were from the entrance 10 Cienfuegos
on the early morning Of either the ed or
Il do not recolect being any nearer tha~
/ have said-fOur or five miles. 4 du~
measure the distances there"
What efforts were made by the vessels
Of the flying squadron prior 20 the arrival
OF the Marblehead to determine whether
or not Servera's squadron was in the har-
Dor Of CienfuegOS?"
RANGE OF GUNS.
None that I ever knew Of" Referring
to the range of the guns for that day Com
mander Potts said the range given previous
TO entering the engagement was 1000 yards.
but he had increased IL to $500 yards. then
10 5000 yards and finally TO 10000 yards.
Only one shot which had been fired at the
American, fleet had impressed him as be-
Massachusetts, Soon after that the COM
modore had given the order. Put your
helm to starboard and lets get out OF this"
He said he had seen no shore batteries az
Cienfuegos. Commander Potts was then
excused and Lieut.. E. r Leiper called. He
served on the New Orleans during the
Spanish war and told OF the PARTICIPATION
OF that vessel in the bombardment OF the
Colon May 81.
He described hat engagement, saying
that the first shot from the Massachusetts
had fallen outside the Moro, and, notwith-
standing the range was increased, all of
the shots fell short Of the Colon. Theirs
were, he said, no orders either to fire at or
make observations Of the batteries. But.
Notwithstanding this, he did fire at the
eastern batteries on his own responsibility.
He had personally aimed the guns, but the
distance was so great that only the red
line OF earth could be seen. Neither guns
nor men We're dlscernible. One shot from
the enemy fell thirty or forty yards from
the New Orleans. The projectile was so
small that he had been surprised that il
reached such a range All told. the firing
Of his vessel upon the Colon had not con-
sumed more than six minutes. He thought
all the shots from the American ships had
fallen short OF the Colon. The witness
said he had seen no evidence Of the pres
ence of large or powerful guns in the shore
batteries. and was of the opinion there
were none TO exceed six inches in caliber.
The witness said he had secured his most
accurate idea OF the strength Of the shore
batteries by the fact that on June IA the
New Orleans had approached TO within l.
600 yards of them, remaining for twenty
minutes, and silencing them after four or
five minutes
Lieutenant Leiper was still on the stand
when the court adjourned for the DAY.