The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1902-03-01
GA CAPTAINS FIGHT"
The First Ever Known in the H1story
of the World, Where a Fleet
Acted in Concert.
Special Correspondence of the Advocate.

| Special Correspondence OF the AuNo1ote'
| WASHINGTON, D. c., Feb. 26, l9o2
| The Presidents memorandum" in the case OF
| Admiral schley, wherein, adopting almost in toll
dem verbs the language of Capt. Lemly excepting
that he applies it to Sampson as well as Schey, he
saws: "The actual fact the important TACT, Is that
after the battle was Joined. not helm was shllteu'
not gun was fired not pound of steam was put
on in the engine room aboard any ship actiVeiy ell
| gagged in obedience to the order OF either saihps
| or Schley save on their own two vessels, anu eoh
| cludes therefrom that the battle was "a captain
fight" cannot fail to be recognized as reYolutioii-
| ing the whole theory of naval warfare.
From the earliest ages up to the battle OF oaiisi
| ago, whenever feet of ships has fought pal'ie'
the senior officer present has always, Wlthou' al
exception been recognized as in command, regard
less of the exact number of unnecessary ORDERS ne
may have given. So that when the fresiueh'
| abandons as he unhesitatingly does the Navy De-
| partment's theory that Sampson was IN comlnanu'
! he necessarily puts Schley in command, regaruless
| of the exact manner in which the neilns "eie
shifted the guns fired and the steam put on lhese
are matters usually left to the Captains SO long as
they perform them to the satisfaction OF Inc super
wishing eye of the officer in command.
This macmillan method of reasoning Admiral Schley
out of the aurels he at Santiago brings 10 mino
tho story of a man and his dog who once took pas
s
amused himself by joking the dogs owner regarding
the worthless character of his properly, when ono
day as they approached a landing the commander
in-cbief of the dog made wager with the captain
that the dog would promptly obey three successive
commands he would give him, which the latter
promptly accepted Throwing the dog, whose name
was Major" overheard, he commanded, s"lm'
Major SWIM" which was promptly obeyed; theh'
as the dog approached the shore, he shouted wade
Major wade" and, after he had gotten upon the
bank "shake yourself, Major. shake yourself 10
both of viii uu-...rands Major yielded equally
,.., obedience. The proprietor OF the Dog by
common consent won his wager, but 1t Is propapie
that without the actual commands the Intelligent
c,uine vnuld have made exactly the same perform
ance.
As the ships were lying in semi-circle head on
to the harbor, with standing orders to 'close IN
whenever the enemy appeared, 1t was useless LOT
Admiral Schley to repeat that order, except LOT tle
purpose of showing that he had assumed inc GULL
mand but all the evidence is clear that ne dld So
even that of the navigator Of the Texas, VINO tesll
fed that he called the attention of his captain 10
the signal and was Immediately ordered to conhne
! his attention to his own ship.
| But after the ships had "closed in ana mao laieu
! TO destroy the Spanish feet i'll the mouth oi TIC
h,rhor and after. as Admiral Schley testified. the
|
then it became necessary for the officer i'll command
of the fleet to devise new plan OF pattie "iiioh nc
did by turning his ship, putting his broadsde 10 the
Spaniards and taking the lead i'll the running hght'
and h,istiug the signal ''follOw the flag, when
! meant of course to do as the flagship was dong.
| The statement of Capt Clark OF the oregon, WHICH
| the President cites furnishes unequivocal evidence
of the failure of SIMPSONS plan ana the lhausul"
ton of Schey's plan, which succeeded for he says:
| "At the close of this stage the Oregon had passed
the Iowa and Texas, and when we burst out ol tne
! smoke saw the four Spanish ships gong west up
D1yclfy uRiajured, and followed hard after at the
same time observing the Brooklyn little aheau
,nd off shore She was broadside to the Spanish
vessels and receiving the weight OF their hre anu
was returning it." Captain Clark also says that he
| regarded Commodore Schey as 'in Responsible
| command" and in his testimony before the Court
orInauirv, he said that he first acknowledged ana
then repeated TO the rest of the fleet behind MIN
! Schlcy's signal to follow the flag
Cant Lemly has contended that the signal TO 1ol-
| low the flag was not much of signal anyway pu'
| Admiral Dewey thought differently, ana me haiu'
| common sense of the fair minded American peope
will SAY that for the rest OF the fleet to nave 1olo"e"
the flagship and the example she set, as the oregon
did was their clear duty; and that every heim
| should have been shifted, every gun should nave
been fired and every pound of steam put on III oDe
dence to that order.
ANY other course on the part OF the captains cali
not in fairness be regarded otherwise than gross in
subordinaton and the people are apt to think that
the COMMANDMENTS Chief of the Army and Navy,
instead of commenting this INSTRUMENTATION and
the bureaucracy that made it possible, ought TO
have in strong terms condemned them
The "most unkindest cut of all" is what the Pres
iient SAYS about the "loop and the danger that
was "too nicely weighed" The President cannot
he unaware of the statement of all the captured
Spanish officers that they were induced to come out
ut that particular time by the absence OF the New
York the only fast ship of the American squadron
besides the Brooklyn and that their plan was 10
concentrate upon the Brooklyn and destroy her' IN
the hope of escaping through the superior speed OF
their squadron from the slow going battle ships.
Having as he states, read all the testimony before
the Court of Inquiry the President must also be
aware that at the time of the loop the Brooklyn was
going almost "head on" toward the Spanish ships,
that the last range reported by rangehnder Ellis De-
fore the loop 100 yards and that the tactical
diameter of the Brooklyn (the space required for
her to turn I'M was 600 or 700 yards From these
data il does not require naval expert to determine
that for the Brooklyn to have turned toward the
approaching Spanards while they were coming
RAPIDLY in her direction would, beyond a doubt,
her and probably resulted in her destruction and
the escape of the Spanish fleet. Capt Euate, of the
Viscaya has stated that he had shaped his cruiser
to ram and sink the Brooklyn if she had turned to
port and was greatly disappointed by the fine tacti
| cal vancouver, called the loop, she made. Sup
pose that had been done with the result mentioned,
| what would be said of the question of COM
membership and the too nice weighing of dangers?
| The remarkable suggestion of the President that,
| i'll his Judgment, there greater danger to the
| Texas i'll the turn to starboard than the Brooklyn
| would have encountered by her proximity to the
Spanish ships had the turn been made to port, is
not only not warranted by the evidence but is most
| certainly refuted by it. Capt. Cook of the Brook
Ign, and Admiral Schley both testified positively
| that from the moment the turn or 'oop'' was COM
| mcnced until it completed the starboard side
| of the Texas was not visible from the Brooklyn
| but only her port side. This affords conclusive
| proof to ordinary landsman, and ought to be
clear to the COMMANDMENTS Chief that the Brooklyn
at time crossed the of the Texas, and that
Il collision was therefore impossible, except through
| the Texas changing her course Then it follows us
| an inevitable conclusion, either that both Capt
| Cook and Admiral Schley deliberately perured
| themselves regarding matter peculiarly within
their knowledge, or else the Texas was at no time
| in any possible danger from a collision. 1t is OBJ
| servabe that even Capt. Phillips, of the Texas in
his magazine article which the President is pleased
to quote, admits that his apprehension of danger
might not have been real. These extraordinary
conclusions regarding the loop are regarded here
as the most awkward bunders of an awkward and
| tactlesS paper.
| The memorandum" will, beyond a doubt, figure
| largely campaign document in the next ma
tonal campaign. 1t is generally regarded as tact
less, unfair, prejudiced and illogical to degree
bordering on eccentricity. People are now calling
to mind the editorial of Henry Waterson in the
Courier Journal on the day after the Booker Wash
| ington dinner, wherein he said THAT young man
is broncho buster and, referring to the next ma
tional campaign, saluted the Democrats with "sur-
| sum corda-lift up your hearts, VERITAs.
Oyster Suppers.