The Savannah morning news., 1902-01-31
HARD HITSAT SCALEY
,rwIY AND HANNA COMMENT ON
HIS APPEAL.
THEY RENEW OLD CHARGES.
uAIM THAT THE ADMIRAL HAS
SHIFTED HIS GROUND.

and Benhnm Found Against
sobIex on Main Features of Case.
s+.meDts Made by Schley in
puhIished Reports and by Wit
,osses mt the Inquiry Adduced as
r,.idence That He Admitted Samp-
.ou.s Chief Command and pres
.e ut Battle of Santiago.
Washington, Jan. S0.-The com
.on+" of Judge Advocate General
Ton,Iv and Solicitor Hanna upon the
ornesl of Admiral Schley, as submit
+ed to the President by Secretary
Long. begins with the statement that
Admiral Schley and his counsel have
sbif+ed their ground. They say the
chief features of the case were the
,atrograde movement; ''disobedience
~ orders" inaccurate and misleading
ot8ciaI reports; failure to destroy
vessels of the enemy, lying within
sight: and injustice to a brother Off
GER" These matters are all grave.
The first was that the finest aggrega-
tfon of American naval vessels under
one command was, by Schleys direc-
ton, turned about and headed for
Key West, more than 700 miles dis
tant. when within twenty-five miles of
Santiago, where the enemy's ships
were. The second was that Schley de-
1iberately and knowingly disobeyed the
Secretary's order overtaking him in his
retrograde movement. The third was
that Schleys reason, officially given, for
the retrograde movement and jdisobed-
fence of orders, i. e., that the Flying
squadron was short of COAL" was not
true The fourth was that for three
days some of the Spanish ships lay
within reach of the Flying squadron,
and no sufficient effort was made to
destroy them. The fifth involves the
point of honor. The commentators
say:
"TTpon all the above named features,
believed by US to be the most import
ant, if not the only real important
matters. into which the court made in
ouirv. the conduct of Admiral
Sehley was condemned by that most
distinguished tribunal, Admiral
Dewey and Rear Admirals
Benham and Ramsay united in their
findings and opinion upon all OF these
several points"
The commentators charge that Ad-
miral Schlev now ignores all these
grave matters, and bases his appeal
upon relatively unimportant features
of the case.
rrf Gnu a m al
The commentators say they recog-
nize the fact that Admiral Schley de-
voted by far the larger part of his ap-
peal to the question of command, and
consequently give that question pro-
portionate space in their comment.
They declare that the question is be-
tween Sampson and Schey, both alike
interested, and to investigate it fairly
both should be heard. 1t is admitted
that the precept was broad enough to
have permitted the court to go into
the question, but it is recalled that
although the Judge Advocate expressed
willingness to enter upon 1t, the
court did not deem it necessary or
proper to do so. The Judge Advocate
they say, might have shown that 1t
was Admiral SIMPSONS plan of night
blockade that forced Cervera to come
out in the daylight, and Capt. Clark is
quoted to support this statement.
They quote Admiral Schley in his tes-
timony to the effect that
the American ships charged IN
according to the original plan
to sink the enemy in the channel,
and that plan failed because the en-
emy succeeded readily in passing the
battle line" They ask why did the
enemy succeed, and declare ''the
brOoklyn having abandoned her po-
silion on the left of the line, thereby
ieft an unguarded opening along the
Western shore. through which the
spanish fleet passed our ships and at
tempted to escape" The courts opin-
the Brooklyn lost distance in position
oy The loop" and delayed the Texas.
SchIey's Report Quoted.
To sustain their contention that
sampson was in command, the COM
Hentators quote from Schley's report
0l Juy 6, 1898, as follows:
Inc dense smoke of the combat
shut out from my view the Indiana
ana ana the Gloucester, but as these ves-
Ses We're closer to your flagship, no
SSouot their part in the conflict was un-
uer your immediate observation"
,Ahey remark: Nobody has ever
Ut,sputed Grants title to the victory at
aAppomatoX, though then lying sick
6aI 5o,ht miles from the place of surren-
$50 far that it was feared he
o( oVuid not be reached within the period
~ armlstice. Though Howard was
senior officer present at the capture of
80 auhah and Sherman absent on one
80 a. umiral Dahlgren's gunboats, no.
rV 10y mas questioned Sherman's fa-
se,. Sas 'eport to Lincoln: I big to pre-
nf you as Christmas gift, the city
vi Savannah
,o, An1' as showing Schley's own opin-
o,, " who was in command. they
~ 49, ~. tnis passage from his dispatch
Nay.u,...y H. 1898, to the Secretary of the
re,rsnl. eel some modification that the
H trlbn,aper accounts of July 6 have at
tire3iea victory of July 4. almost en-
they to me. Victory was secured by
chic 'oree under the comuander-in-
an1 VI the North Atlantic station,
r., ~ MIN the honor is due"
Il Of raosE they quote Schley's letter
Il tlfvfns. ~ 1901, to Secretary Long, JUS
gro,,s the loop" on the expressed
ecn.ill that 1t was made '1n the ex-
In" ot the standing order 10 cloge
sci, ~ Is \, asked But II he was then him
be- va. 'olnmand, how happens Il that
h,5, Executing the orders OF some
me se IN command? Before
10 sn,rl OF Inquiry, every prop raised
mo1,tl'9rt the contention that Com
me "a. ohley ala anything 10 achieve
mar5i..uiy by issuing orders as COM
vas s ,1 oilcer Of the American leet
f1r tb moved. The plain truth was
mo1s.. etst time revealed that Conn
man8 ,. nley ala not exercise com
NN hnut daV over asr gbf0 -.