The Washington times., 1901-09-28
A Tale of Two AdmiraIs.

Nearly every American living today
will remember the joy which flooded the
country when Admiral Sampson, who
had arrived off Santiago after Admiral
Cervera had surrendered to Commodore
Schley, sent his misleading and con-
temptible despatch to the Navy Depart
ment announcing the victory. That
message read as follows:
"of Santiago, July (S:15 p. mr..
'"The feet under my command offers the nation
Fourth Of July present the destruction OF tn,
entire Spanish feet 1t attempted to escape al
$3.50 this morning.
'.At the Last ship, the Cristobal Colon, mad
run ashore sixty miles west of Santiago and
hauled down her flag
..The Vizcaya. oauendo and Maria Theresa
were forced ashore burned and blown up with
in twenty miles of Santiago. The Furor ana
Pluton were destroyed within four miles oil the
fort.
..our loss is one killed and two wounded. En-
eIny's loss amounted to several hundred from gun
fire and explosion. About 1880 prisoners are tax
en-, including Cervera-
'.The man killed was George II. Ellis, yeomau
OF the Brooklyn. sAMPSoN.
Originally it was SIMPSONS evident
intention to suppress the fact that the
one man killed on our side was killed
on the Brooklyn, as will appear later
1t is not to be wondered at that the re-
ceipt of this Fourth of July present"
from the feet under my command
should have made the country ring with
praise of Sampson. On the strength OF
his careful suppression of the vital Tact
that he was not present during the en-
gagement, it is not strange that Pres
ident Mckinley should have cabled him.
You have the gratitude and congratu-
lation of the whole American people"
or that his friend and political backer.
Secretary Long, should have tele-
graphed, You have maintained the
glory of the American Navy" Neither
President nor Secretary dreamed that
SIMPSONS way of maintaining the
glory of the American Navy" had been
to ignore the report that Cervera was
preparing for a sortie which probably
would be attempted on the morning of
July 3, and early on that morning to
take the flagship New York from the
fighting force and steam behind the
horizon, where he remained until the
battle had been fought and won by
Commodore Schley.
When the hum!liating truth developed
q day later, we all remember the uni
versal popular rage it provoked. The
American public might have forgiven
Sampson for his absence from the
scene, and accepted his own excuses for
it. if he had been man enough to accept
the situation, and to tell the truth about
it. But he did not He attempted in
every way possible to create the i'm
preston that the victory was his per-
sonally, and in his despatch he did not
SO much as mention the name of Com
modore Schley, who commanded, and
to whom Admiral Cervera surrendered.
Sampson's suppression of the truth
did not end here. After the battle was
yer, Commodore Schley sent Lieuten-
ant Sears ashore to report to the Navy
Department. Shortly after he arrived
st the cable station he was overtaken
by Lieutenant Staunton, of Admiral
Simpsons staff. who stopped commo-
dore Schley's despatch, and substituted
the famous, or infamous, one with
which the country is familiar, to it's
eternal disgust. Mr. Sears demurred to
being shut off. but Mr.. Staunton re-
minded him that junior officer was not
entitled. under navy regulations, to.
make reports to the Government save
through the channel of the "comman-
der in chief" that officer being present
after the fighting and danger was all
over. Mr.. Sears did induce SIMPSONS
man to add the paragraph to the
Fourth Of July" message, acknowledge
ing that the one sailor who was killed
belonged to the Brooklyn. The message
forward to the Navy Department, but
which was suppressed by SIMPSONS
orders. read as follows:
Santiago, July g. 1895
Secretary Navy, Washington, d. C., United
States Of America:
Spanish squadron came out Of Santiago Uar-
Dor this morning, July 3, at balf-past nine, and
were all captured or destroyed in a running
fight to the westward OF about three and one
half hours.
''yciy :aw casualties in our feet Ellis, chief
yeoman, killed, and man wounded on the
Brooklyn. Reports from other ships not in yet.
The commsnder-in-chiei nov experimenting
transfer of prisoners from the Cr1sfobal Colon,
which surrendered to the Brooklyn and Oregon
St quarter past one 2. m. Victory complete.
Details later.
..several water tight compartments (oO the
Brooklyn filed with water. Probably pierced
or strained. sCHLEY."
Here was a modest, business-like re-
port of actual facts and occurrences,
without a word of self-praise or bonn
bast. If that message, instead of the
vainglorious and currish despatch of
Sampson had gotten on the wire before
Simpsons messenger arrived to stop IT,
the country would have known what
really had happened, although 1T still
would have reclired a day for 1t TO
learn that the 'commander-in-c chief
had not appeared until after the last
Spanish ship. the Cristobal Colon had
"surrendered to the Brooklyn and the
Oregon"
The two despatches-the false one and
the true-are fairly representative OF
the men whose names are signed to
them. Let our readers compare them
and decide which is most likely to have
been written by the officer who fought
the battle-and won IL.
New York and Chicago.
New York ie deriving constdera hta