The Washington times., 1901-10-25

| that we had better be careful In any at
| tempt at intercourse.
| II FASTENED back to my ship in the
| afternoon and the New York ap-
| preaching. The flagship arrived. salutes
| were exchanged. and / went on board the
| New York TO pay my respects and to have
| talk with Admiral Sampson over the
| situation. ! found that the admiral was
| very much worn. and necessarily so. His
| responsibilities had been very great. and
! he had very great trouble in keeping MS
squadron together: and he appeared to me
as If he was in great dea' of anxiety,
| which ] could readily appreciate.
| He showed me a number of orders
| among them one deciding upon division
| ern and the other for the southern coast
| of Cuba-in which he was given the
preference of command. That order
stated that under any circumstances l
| was to remain with my command. |
asked him which OF the two sqUadrons be
would like to take. He said ne proposed
| to hold Havana, the northern coast. He
| also told me that wherever l went l was
to remember that they were very heavily
| fortified, and that his confidential in
structiGns, given verbally, were that we
We're not to risk our battleShips against
the fortified places of the coast until
after the Spanish fleet had been disposed
Of.
''Hc told me that the Spanish squadron
WAS somewhere in the Venezuelan Gulf.
but that it was supplied with ammunition
and stores destined for Havana, and that
that was undoubtedly the point which 1t
was to reach. He said that his informa,
ton was that the order of the Spanish
squadron to reach Havana or some
point in railroad communication with it
was Imperative, and that he believed and
thought that Cientuegos was the port
We had quite "A talk together. l told
him that | had been ordered to report FOR
duty to Admiral Remey and that that
wanted to assure him TT the outset that
l should be loyal to the cause we both
represented.
whnt Chadwick Said.
Captain Chadwick, who was present,
said: Commodore. anyone who knows
your character would know that it would
be impossible for you to be otherwise than
loyal l asked the admiral if he had
established any means of communication
with the insurgents. He told me he did
lot know, but that when he got the mat
ter better in hand he would communicate
with me and that he thought 1t better
for me to go off and blockade Cienfue-
gos as early as possible We looked over
the maps and 1 must say / agreed with
him. l could not imagine that anyone
who had studied the military situation
could have supposed that Santiago would
have fulfilled any of the conditions of the
instructions.
Il said l was very glad, of course, to
20 anywhere. That terminated our inter-
view and 1 left the flagship and went on
board the Brooklyn TO hasten the opera
lions Of cOaIing-
!, hiIe there the Algonquin came out.
bearing an order from the Secretary of
the Navy to Commodore Remey, directing
me to go on Havana. / slgnaled to the
admiral TO know whether or not he un-
that nay orders were to go on
havana. lie replied by signal that he |
understood that his coming TO Key West |
my orders, and that l should be |
prepared to carry out the orders which |
we agreed upon in the afternoon. The |
ships were coaled with considerable ra- |
pidity and the result was that by the |
morning OF the 18th the Brooklyn had her |
of coal, with the exception |
Of about 100 tons, and the Massachusetts |
signaled that she lacked only 140 tons. |
Admiral Schley identified the telegraph |
despatch from the Navy Department, di- |
recting the blockade at Cienfuegos with |
she least possible delay. and to maintain |
il as close as possible. He continued:
Under the direction OF that order, my |
got under way between and |
; in the morning. and started westward
for Cape San Antonio. Between 10 and
II o'clock | fell in with the Marblehead, |
wen up to the northwest. Captain Nc
Gala asked permission to pass on, as is |
he custom when an officer meets his Sc
nioT IN a little while | saw approaching
In the direction OF my squadron a small |
auxiliary, which proved to be the Eagle.
The Eagle passed close enough to the
Brooklyn to hail by megaphone. she
that there was no news. ! felt
as sure about that as If it were almost
burned into my mind; but, after what l
have heard here, l may possibly have
been mistaken.
Next morning I saw some smoke
ahead and started for 1t, and soon dis
covered the Cincinnati and the Nesuyius
lying Just outside the lighthouse at San
MT ffantain Chester /
and we thrashed out a great many cir
The one in which he was
interested was the location
IF the Spanish squadron, which L could
not definitely locate for him because | |
lid not know what its movements had
been. Captain Chester was very ANXIOUS
10 join the Flying Squadron, and he |
lsked me if he could accompany me, al
hough he said at the same time that his |
,oaI supply was so limited that he was
obliged to go TO Key West in day or
wo.
Il said to him that / did not think /
lad any use for ship that had to go
'ack Immediately Then he suggested |
hat he be permitted to coal from |
ollier somewhere in the vicinity Of Cape |
.ntonio, which l. of course. declined. / |
aid to him that / could not attach him |
D my squadron as he was not within my
or under my control. That, of !
curse satisfied him. After this CONVEX
alton Captain Chester went on board his
hip and the Flying Squadron continued !
- way o'l To NltillutSpS Z
Close to Cienfucgos.
ION the morning Of the 22d We steamed ,,
n pretty Close l think within a mile OF
he harbor. could not see into it at ALL t
[ was only through the tops of trees that | :
here could be from time to time distin- :
.uished the masts of some vessel-merely 4
he top of IT. In relation to the matter of s
spoken Of. will say that there |
vera sorpe cart hyyorks thrown nm I should |
ay two or two and one-half miles from Z
he mouth Of the river and lying imme t
lately under ii was a village. But that | :
5 ahead Of my story. We took position ;
hree or four miles from the mouth of the $
larbor and toward o'clock of that same q
lay the torpedo boat Dupont arrived and ,
,rought to me the now celebrated Dear :
;chley' letter. I
II did not remember the fact till within q
he past few months because there were 7
duplicates of that letter. but l remem- J
,ered it from the fact that / had sent the $
scorpion to the eastward in obedience to I
he instructions of that letter to COM
nunicate with the scouts about whose
resence of Santiago 1 was very uncer-
ain, as ! link the admiral was. on ac- !
cunt of some orders having been sent
Erecting them to proceed in the direction
4 the Spanish Main. But the admiral | I
vas not certain whether they had got
ack, nor was |. but | sent the Scorpion {
asst ,
u think in the afternoon, some time
ftCr the men dinner. the Iowa came !
lieutenant Commander Rodgers then
anne on board instead of her captain, 5
tating that he did SO because Of an in ! &
ury TO Captain Evans by Il battle axe :
aving fallen on his shoulder, which in l
apacitatcd him. / have no recollection | :
( any despatch from the Iowa beyond | {
n envelope containing some letters, one '