The evening times. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1895-1902, 1901-08-03
HISTORIAN SPEARS COMMENT.
He Il Charged With HeIittIinE SchIey
and PrafsinE sampson.

ana IrafStnE sampson.
Thu utIoU Of the Navy Department
has been unoficialIy called TO another
History Of Our Navy" recently issued
wherein the account of the vircUm-
stances preceding the battle of Santiago
Dr. coLUred So AS L. cast "a reflection upon
the conduct OF Rear Admiral Winfield :
Schley. The author Of the work. which is
in FIVE volumes, is John r. SPEARS. and
his account Of the Santiago campaign is
contained i'm the fifth volume which is
now 20 Doe found in the library of the Ma
w DEPARTING Nj Spears attack upon
Admiral SchIey is less vicious than that
made by Mr. Maclay. but there is never
thcless apparent. it is claimed. strong
effort, not only to beIittIe the achieve
ments Of Rear Admiral SchIey. but 70
ceUSurc him for various actions The book
is not used officially in any way SO that
the department has no intention Of max
ing any attempt 10 suppress IL, OF 10 re
quest its revision. in the story Of the
campaign which ended in the destruction
of Ccrvera 8 feet Sampson is given ful!
credit, IL is alleged. for everything he did.
After describing the events which took
place while the flying squadron WAS for
three days or CfenfUegos, Mr.. Spear
goes on 10 say that on the afternoon Of
May a SchIey determined 10 obey the
spirit Of his Instructions received by way
OF the Hawk on the 23d. and go from
Cieufue gUs 10 Santiago. AT noon on May
70. the book SAYS the lookouts were
able 90 see the MORO at the mouth OF
Santiago harbor, but at o'clock IN the
afternoon SchleyS squadron was stiu
twenty miles away. and the MORO could
only be- made out by means OF glasses in
the military tops.
The historian then relates that Captain
Sigsbee presently brought news which
convinced most Of the officers Of the fleet
that Cervera was in Santiago. Never
theIess, Schlsy's squadron remained where
il was tiH after dark. the writer adds,
and then came the signal from the fao-
ship TO start for Key West at a speed of
nine knots.
Continuing. Mr. Spear says: Let il be
repeated that the squadron was at that
time twenty miles from the MORO Of San
tiago- and IL had not been any nearer nor
had any effort been made To learn wheth-
tr CeTyera was within or not. At 9-l5
o'clock that night the squadron did ac-
tually start for Key West" The histo-
rian here asserts LAT repeated accidents
20 the collier delayed matters so that. be-
fore h. could get well under way orders
arrived for SChiey to remain hIockading
Santiago. no matter what happened On
the strength Of this new turn he proceed
cd 10 have the Texas coaIed "a the open
sea in spite Of his previous appreheusions
that this could not be done.
At night ION the 2SthJ Schley took his
squadron in shore Till the ships were
estimated 70 be- at a distance Of eight
miles from she MORO" continues the his
tory, and then al sunrise on the morning
Of the 18th. with the Brooklyn IN the lead.
the sgUa drOn swept iu and across the har-
Dor & distance not stated. but the
ships were close enough 10 enable every
man on deck to see clearly into the mouth
Of the harbOT with the naked eye. And
every man on deck definitely located the
Spa nish SQUADRON" Mr.. Spears continues.
Having had What an old sailor would
call severe ioOE al the enemy. SChley
steamed out to sea The Spdniards did
not fire a gun-they did not even beat 10
quarters on their ships There was no
necessity for their doing so
Going ten miles out TO sea, Schley
stopped and scattered his squadron in
blockddInG formation And there the
squadron remained idle for two days
Meantime the New Orleans had come
from SIMPSONS squadron
Then on the 3Ist. he determined on
making what he reported as 'recOnnOis-
sauCe.' The reporters called il a battle
lasting hfty-fiye minutes.
Transferring his Tag 10 the Massachu-
sets. Commodore Schley ordered the
Iowa ana the New Orleans into line. and
soon after noon ne left his blOckadiug
station and steamed in 20 attack the
forts Reports vary as 10 the location Of
his bIOckadiug station on that dav-vary
between six and ten miles OF shore At
any rate IL Is certain that he steamed iU
20 make the attack. and that when he
had arrived at a range Of 1000 yards the
Massachusetts opened fire A range Of
1,cr yards is Just forty yards short Of
four land miles
The batteries at once began replying.
while the Colon Joined them as soon as
she could bring her men 10 quarters.
Having passed across the mouth Of the
haTbOT al "a distance of four land miles
from the forts. our ships turned out 20
sea IN o wide curve. and once more passed
across the mouth; this time al "A range
or -HNH yards or NOR than uEc land
miles a private letter from an officer Of
the Iowa To the writer hereof saws that
the range Of this round was more than
tNc sea milcS-'mCrc than lH"aD yards.
Let % stand at I'VE land miles but this
much is certain The strain on the car
rage Of the Iowa g Pinch Euus-thc
strain was due To- the extreme elevation
that was necessary for the great range
almost disabled them"
Having quoted in fun SChley despatch
Of May -, IN which he said, ia response
To- an order 70 blockade Santiago. Il shall
no, te able 10 remain OF that port on ac-
count of general short coal supply Of
squadron. SO viii proceed. etc. the his
tuIIau quotes evidently by way Of CON
trast, Admiral Simpsons despatch from
Key West. May q, 20 Secretary Long
Would like 10 start at once with New
in TWO days ! can blockade indefinitely"
and TO tell the story OF Sampson thir-
t,su-kuUt run around the east end u Gu
ba. covering the whole distance from Kew
West 60 Santiago. 500 miles. in barely
more time than Schley took TO cover the
q To- d