New-York tribune., 1901-12-15
THE COMBINATION OF scHLET.


Schley in the Santiago campaign had peeh
unanimous Oh all points the result would nave
been universally accepted as conclusive SET
Element of a bitter controversy. 1t is an uh-
happy consequence of the Navy Department
benevolent determinatio soon after the close
of the SDanish war not TO order the court mar
tial TO which it believed SchleyS conduct lalu
him open that passion and prejudice nave peeh
so infamed in the interval on his SIDE aS u
prevent minds thus affected from concedlnG' Ior
a time at least the competency ana the justice
of the verdict against him. The probablllty oI
such general acknowledgment, Leading 10 Il
cessation of the warfare which has been de-
moraIizIng the naval service and discfeultlhs
the country for more than two years, Is lheHl-
tahly diminished the case now stands ny Au
miral Dewey's dissent from some OF the cohclu-
sionS adopted by the court, and IN particular u!
his gratuitous designation of Admiral SchleE aS
the officer in absolute command, to whom the
credit for the glorious victory OF santiago 10
due-a designation of questionable propr1eE
under the circumstances. because all evidence
bearing on that point was expressly excluded
br tho court from the beginning to the end OF
the inquiry.
Neyartheless the findings of the court-those
only in which the members unanimously agree
being considered-are graye!y adverse 10 Au-
r1iral Schley. In the haste of an early analysis
and comparison the substance and effect or AL
miral Dewey's individual memorandum were
seriously misapprehended and exaggerated III
some quarters. His opinion is that the passage
of the FLYING Squadron from Key west 10 Zen
fuesos was made with all possible dlSpatch' III
,oI,- of tho imnortance of arriving with as large
q sunnIv of coal as possible. and that the block
odo of Cienfuegos was effective The finding OF
the court is that Schley did not proceed Win
-he utmost dispatch off CieDfueSos ana piochaue
that port as closely as possible. The court nllus
that Schley should have endeavored 10 ooIaln
information at Cienfuegos from the insurgents
concerning the Spanish squadron Admiral
Dewey offers as offset the statement 'ii''
scb1nv expected to obtain information from the
Adula. which he permitted to enter the PoI' VI
Cionfnaoos The court finds that Schley did not
nroceed from Cienfuegos to Santiago with ali
dispatch. and that he should not have delayed
+ba souodron for the Eagle. Admiral Dewey
holds that ''the passage from CienfueGos 10
..noint about TWENTY-FIVE miles south of Sant-
..oro was made with as much dispatch as was
..nossible while keeping the squadron a unit d
conceivable implication being that 1t was oeSIr-
ahla to keep the squadron a unit but ne says
nothing whatsoever in his dissenting memoran-
DUN concerning the subsequent movements Vi
the SQUADRON. Aside from the irrelevant eul'ss
already referred to- these points, which are OIL
comparatively minor Importance. are the oniS
ones as to which Admiral Dewey slgnlhes the
SLIGHTEST disagreement with the other members
Of the court.
Tot rs then turn to those findings which are
unanimous for, inasmuch as Admlrai dewey
took care to dissent as TO certain matters thefe
can be no possible doubt Of his agreement as 10
all the rest The court therefore unanimously
finds that Schley should not have maze the
retrograde turn westward with his squadroh'
that he should have promptly obeyed the Navy
DEPARTMENTS order Of May %; that ne shoulu
have endeavored to capture destroy the
Spanish vessels at anchor near the entrance OF
Santiago Harbor on May % and 30; that he
did not do his utmost with the force under his
command to capture or destroy the Colon and
other vessels Of the enemy which he attacked
on May 81: that the loop described by the
RrookIyn near the beginning Of the battle or
JuIv 2 which was simultaneously ordered by
Commodore Schley and Captain Cook, was
made TO avoid getting into dangerous proximity
TO the Spanish vessels, that it caused the Texas
to stop and back her engines in order to avoid
possible collision. and that it cost the Brooklyn
the loss Of distance and position IN respect
especially TO the NiZcaya and the Colon; that
Schley's conduct in connection with the events
of the Santiago campaign prior TO June ! was
characterized by vacilation, dilatoriness and
lack of enterprise: that his official reports
regarding coal supply and facilities were mac
c1lrate and misleading, and that he did injustice
TO Lieutenant Commander Hodgson in publish
ing only part of the correspondence when
passed between them. We have taken the
courts opinion as to the Hodgson episode out of
/ roI-o IF Hiney 1aorp nx-pr1-
iently that it reflects with special emphasis on
Schley's character an officer and a gentle
man. Assuredly it not an error of judg-
! ment or an inadvertence TO apply the influence
/ belonging to a superior of high rank for the
! purpose of extorting from a subordinate con-
! tradiction of q statement deemed discreditable
and to publish that contradiction without the
slightest reference to the accompanying letter
! which annulled it. If there were nothing else
! against Admiral Schley. that indisputable act
! would leave him deserving of severe censure.
Proceeding to more agreea bic matters Adn
J raj Dewey asserts and his colleagues seem tC
consider that the blockade of Santiago. once
established. was effective. while the conclusion
/ is unanimous that Commodore Schleys conduc1
! in the battle Of July was selfpossessed and
/ that "he encouraged. in his own person, his
..subordinates officers and men to fight coura
! -'EeouSly- Inefe mas meyer DeeH Il Soou war
rant for accusing him of cowardice Thai
| odious charge based on petty gossip attributed
with more or less justification TO exctable ant
! loose tongued officers of the navy, and never
worthy of credence is finally dismissed tC
/ the great satisfaction of the American people
and the utter confusion of the vehement com
! piler of naval records, Maclay, who hoped Il
procure for it official sanction and popular
| acquiescence. Those who have disdained II