The Montgomery advertiser., 1901-09-29
REAR ADMIRAL SCHLEY VSx
 REAR ADMIRAL S APSON
Review of the Naval Controversy PS >fe the Board
 0fInQuiry Which Is Presided Over f-r by Admiral Dewey.

Sampson and Admiral Schley of the American navy 1t is absolutely necessary that the environment of the two men Irior to the Spanish-American var, and their physical and mental characteristics should be well understood, says a writer in The Chicago Record-Herald. When these are understood, 1t can be appreci- ated why the board of inquiry which is sitting in Washington will ultimately have a decision to make certain to pro- foundly affect the national navy for many years to come. Since the close of the civil war in 1885, attack n en e Fort enS Fisher H a there % has been slowly developing in the national navy two classes of advocates or theorists. Va rous titles Hes have been s5 appled as to sness the best are those of "sea dogs and N'tac- ticians." The first class has been com posed of naval officers who prefer sea to land duty; who hold that no tactics can be devised that will meet the exigencies of battle as well as sound judgment and cool daring on the part of commanding officers: who believe naval power Is for action and not for inactfon, and who think the English course the right course -shoot first and explain afterwards. Paul Jones' Truxton, Sterrett, Farragut were of this stamp. Schley, Dewey Robley D. Evans, Clark have been so classified The sea dog class is popularly sup posed to be composed of men who know much more of fighting than politics
 The second class has been made up of naval instructors. officers long on land
 
 sham battles in Washington during the last forty years: that is, executing at- tacks or making defenses on paper, and demonstrating theoretically how an en- emy could be repulsed. It is class com posed largely of officers of strong social inclinations commanders and others seen at Old Point, Newport or Bar Harbor every season. It Is made of men having strong political irfluerC es and strong the ories. one of the latter being that navy is purely for defense and that tactics may oftener win a victory than thirteen inch gun. Admiral Sampson Is at the headsof this class, an able instructor at Anr polls, a student at all times, one OF the most profound theorists the navy has ever known.
 When war was declared against Spain in 1898 by the United States Rear Ad- miral Sampson was a captain In the navy. Entering Annapolis in 1857, he graduated, served as lieutenant during the civil war, and then, after the cessa- ton of hostiiities, gave the greater part of his time to naval instruction work at Annapolis, lectures on torpedo work at Newport perfectirg plans for superposed turrets, such as are now in use on the Kearsarge. He was inspector of ord nancesat the Washington navy yard three saaa ana fnle5 t 1s SI ns M apdad s the closest student the navy department posse ssed, but was not widely known as dent fv of the % court ' of inquiry % to inyesti- ate the cause of the Maine's destruction This appointment was followed by anoth-
 
 North Atlantic naval station.
 Rear Admiral Sampsons origin had been most humble one. He came from an obscure family of Palmyra, N. Y, and worked his way upward by sheer appli- cation to books and their study. He made name for himself as mathema- tician and thinker, but lacked the rug ged qualities of a commander and man at sea. He was inordinately sensitive, rather retiring, rather slow The favor which President Mckinley showed him probably came to him with as much sur prise as it did to the American people, which did not know him. He was ad- who had seen long sea service and wait ed long for promotion for meritorious services. Justly or unjustly, his eleva- ton was charged to politics, and to the great desire of the administration to have an ultra-conservative commander at the head of the navy in Atlantic waters.
 There the first trouble in the Sampson Schley controversy started. The naval ca bal or clique, in Washington fully as strong as the army cabal, allied itself with the administration. fin the position son at a moment of great peril was a rec ognition of the "tactician" class. of off, dog class. of which Captain schIey was typical member. The sinking of the Maine and the failure of this nation to instantly attack Havana from the sea navy who believed less in diplomacy and more in fighting. who felt that Washing ton. with its cabals, turmoil and politics. could not appreciate a situation one-half as well as a commander on quarter deck at sea and flying the stars and The sea dog men of the navy took the selection of Captain Sampson for their superior as direct political slap at themselves; an intimation that no matter how many years man remained at sea, nor how many battles he fought he could be deprived of his honors at any time by landsman who had political T.,E, ftsa fna tfrf1 1NaaSf scented this sort of talk. but long before CerVera sailed for Cuba a wide breech had opened in the national navy-a nasty breach, broadened every day by gossip. recriminatCns petty jealousies and all the other bad things that go with human nature. It should be written in justice to both Captains Sampson and Schley that at this time neither of them person ally appear to have engaged in the squab- ble.
 Captain SchIey was of Southern birth of gentle blood and fighting stock. He was a favorite son of Maryland, an i'm pulsive. generous man. and born com mander. By nature he is dominant, even at times to brutality. He is a fierce op- ponent of sham. hypocrisy and false pre- tensions. He Is fighter and not a stu dent: a much stronger believer in na- tiOnal dignity than the average Congress man. and poor politician.
 It was a physical imposslbiIity for Cap tains Sampson and Schley tG-eEer be per sonal friends. Discreet and wise superi- Ors would never have brought them into as close conjunction as they were in the spring and summer of 1898. There was .snother source of trouble.
 The declaration of war with Spain dii not come until April 25, but prior to that time the Navy Department had assem- bled two squadro1s for active naval duty -one called then the Key West squadron having for its purpose the blockading of Havana. and the other flying squadron The first was commanded by Sampson and the second by Schley. Neither squad ron entered upon active duty until after the declaration of war, nor in reality un- til after May l. when DeWey's victory far east was known.
 On May the Key West squadron sail ed for Cuba under command of Rear Ad- miral Sampson. Following this was the naval fighting at Cardenas, the lombard ment of San Juan by Sampson. On May IS the Navy Department received word that the Spanish squadron of Admiral Cervera was west of Martinique. the Windward Islands Later Sampson vas advised that 1t was off Curacora. He was ordered to proceed to Key West at squadron had also been ordered. Both squadrons reached Key West, coaled and awaited orders.
 The flying squadron, under Schley. was the first to be ordered out. Composed of the Brooklyn. Texas Massachusetts and Scorpion, it waS directed to proceed to Cienfuegos a Cuban port near Havana. and to blockade the same. The Spanish squadron was supposed to be headed for that port, and Schley was clearly intend ed to inter cept it. So confident was Washington that he would find Cervera at Cienfuegos that the Iowa, Castine and E-4..