Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1902-02-20
THE RUNNING FIGHT.


tlllery Of the forts, to which she was
also exposed
THE RUNNING FIGHT,
In the running fight which followed,
until the Teresa Oquendo and Wis
caya We're destroyed the Indiana grad
ually dropped behind although she
continued to fire until the last Of the
three vessels went ashore. The Brook
lyn was ahead Of any of the American
vessels on a course outside theirs; she
was nearly broadside on to the Span
iards The oregon Iowa and Texas
were all close together and actively en-
gagged throughout this running ight
The Brooklyn and oregon, followed at
some distance by the Texas. then con-
tlnued In chase OF the Colon which
went nearly 30 miles farther before she
also went ashore During the chase
Of the Colon there was practically no
fighting.
These are the facts as set forth In the
above statements Of the captains and
elsewhere in their Official reports and
testimony They leave no room for
doubt on any important point
QUESTION OF COMMAND.
The question Of command is In this
case nominal and technical Admiral
Simpsons ship the New York, was
seen at the outset Of the fight from all
The ships except the Brooklyn. Four of
these five ship captains have testified
that they regarded him as present and
tn command He signaled CLOSE I'M"
"a the ileet as soon as the first Spanish
ship appeared but his signal was not
seen by any American vessel. He was
actually under fire from the forts and
himself fired couple OF shots at the
close Of the action al the torpedo
boats, IN addition to signaling the In
diana just at the close Of the action
But during the action not single or
der from him was received by any Of
the ships that were actively engaged,
sCHLEY's SIGNALS.
Admiral Schey at the outset Of the
action hoisted two signals Of CLEAR
ship" and "Close in, which were Sim
ply carrying out the standing orders Of
Admiral Sampson as to what should be
done If the enemys ships attempted to
break utof the harbOr Until after
the close Of the first portion OF the
fight, at the mouth Of the harh0r and
until after he had made his loop and
the Spanish ships We're fleeing to the
westward, not an American ship no.
ticed signal from him When the
western pursuit had begun, the ore
gon, and the Oregon only, noticed and
repeated one of his signals Of com
mand Capt Clark of the Oregon then
regarded him as in command, but did
not In any shape or way execute any
movement or any action of any Kind
whatsoever In accordance with any or
| der from him,
TT WAS A CAPTAINS FIGHT.
In short the question as 10 which one
| of the two men. Admiral Sampson OF
! Admiral Schley, was AT the time In
command Is Of merely nominal charac-
| ter. Technically, Sampson commanded
the fleet, and Schley as usual the
western division. The actual fact, the
| important fact, is that after the battle
| was Joined not helm was shifted, not
| a gun was fired, not pound Of steam
was put on In the engineroom aboard
any ship actively engaged IN obedience
to the order Of either Sampson or
Schley, save on their own two vessels.
1t was a captains fight
| Therefore, the credit 10 which each
OF the two Is entitled rests on matters
apart from the claim Of nominal com
mand over the squadron, for, so FAR as
the actual fight was concerned, neither
| one or the other in fact exercised any
command.
CREDIT DUE SAMPSON
Sampson was hardly more than tech
nlcaly In the fight His real claim for
credit rests upon his work as com
mander-in.chie upon the excellence Of
the blockade; upon the preparedness OF
| the squadron; upon the arrangement OF
| the ships hoad-On In q semi-clrcle
around the harhor and the standing or
ders In accordance with which they In
stantly moved TO the attack Of the
| Spaniards when the latter appeared
For all these things the credit Is his.
LoUP MARRIED BRooKLYN's
WORK.
Admiral schley Is rightly entitled
az IL Capt Cook--to the credit of what
the Brooklyn did in the fight. ON the
whole she did well; but ] agree with
| the unanimous finding Of the three ad-
| mirals who composed the court OF m
| qulry as TO the loop. II seriously mar
| red the Brooklyns otherwise excellent
record; being IN fact 'he one grave
mistake made by any American ship
that day. Had the Brooklyn turned
TO the westward: that is. In the same
direction the Spanish ships We're going
instead Of the contrary direction. she
would undoubtedly have been In more
dangerous proximity 10 them. But
Il would have been more dangerous for
them as well as for her
This kind Of thing must not be too
nicely weighed by those whose trade II
IL to dare greatly for the honor OF the
nag. Moreover, the danger was GER
tainly not as great as that which, In
the self.same moment marked VAIN
wright's fragile craft az he drove Tor
ward against the foe, 1t was not. IN
my Judgment as great as the danger
10 which the Texas was exposed by the
turn as actually made. II certainly
caused both the Brooklyn and the Tex
az materially 20 lose position compared
20 the fleeing Spanish vessels.
but after the loop had been taken