Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1902-02-20

fight written frnmcdlnteIY after II oc-
CURED: closing with an c:;tract from his
letter TO the secretary of the navy .
February y. 1899.
ADMIRAL PHILIPS NlE,W.
1T was tho blockade that madc the bat
tie possible. The battle was a direct con-
sequence OF the blockade, and upon the
method and effectiveness of the blockade
was very largely dependent the issue of
the battle u. Under the orders of
Admiral Sampson the blockade was con-
Quoted with a success cXempifed by the
result. When the Spanish admiral
at last made his dash to cE cape, We We're
lroadN-rcady with our men. with our guns,
and with our engines + 1t was only
a few minutes after we had seen the leader
of the advancing squadron that it became
'appdrcnt that CerVeraS plan was to run
his ships i'll column westward i'll an effort
TO escape. Before lie had fairly
found himself outside the Alorro the entire
lbl5ckading squadron-Indiana, Oregon.
iowa. Brooklyn and ToXas--was pumping;
shell into him at such a rate as virtually
to decide the issue of the battle in the first
few moments. All our ships had closed IN
simultaneously. Then occurred the
incident which caused me for moment
more alarm than anything CerNera did
that day. suddenly IL whin of
breeze and a lull in the firing lifted the
pail. there bearing toward us and across
our nows, turning ON her port helm, with
bis waves curling over her bows and great
clouds of black smoke pouring from her
tunnels. was the Brooklyn. Sh" looked as
biz a. half dozen Great lIasterns. and
seemed so near that it took our breath
away. Back both engines hard" went
down the tube To the aStoniShed engineers
and in a twinking the old ship WAS racing
against herself. The collision which Scou.-
ed imminent. even if it was not. was avert
Cd and as the big cruiser glided past, all
of Us OH the bridge gave a sigh relief. Had
the Brooklyn struck US then it would prob
ably have been the end of the Texas and
her half thousand men, AT ten
minutes to 10 the Spanish ships had ap-
pcareu at about $3.50 the Iowa
Oregon and Texas We're pretty we'll bunch
ed holding IA parallel course westward with
tn" Spaniards. The Indiana was also COM
Ing up. well inside of all the others of oul
squadron, hut a little in the rear owing
to her far eastward position ut starting
About quarter past 10 the Teresa
which had been in difficulties from the mo-
mcnt she left the shelter of the MORO
turned to seek II Bleaching place. She was
on fire. and We knew that she was nc
longer quantity to be reckoned with
Five minutes later our special enemy, the
OquCndo also turned in shore" Th,
NiSCaNa kept blazing away NlciouSly, hui
the pounding she got from our four SHIPS
more particularly the Oregon. was too
much Tor her, and in half an hour she toe
headed for tho beach. | deter
mined to push on with the Texas.
# gives me pleasure to he able to writ
that, old ship as she is and not built 70
speed. the Texas held her own and eve
gained on the Colon in that chase. ."
Admiral Sampson was commandcr-m
chief before, during, and after the action.
CAPTAIN CLARKS STATEMENT.
Captain Cllrks statement is follows:
"The credit for the blockade which 10
1 up to the fight is of course Admiral Samp
sons. The position of the ships on tn
morning of the fight in a Senicircle head
on to the harbor, in consequence of Whlc
We were able to close in at once, was his
In closing in, that is, in masking the ..rs
movements, We were obey ing his instruC
ticns, though as a matter OF fact W
would all have closed in any way. instruC
tions or no instructions. When the Span
l ish ships came out Of the harOor tn
navigator Of my ship saw the New \ or
3. 20 the eastward, but received no sigma
ot any kind from the New York dUrln
; the action, nor was she near enough t
signal directly to me until after the colo
surrendered.
The engagement may be said to hav
> been divided into three parts: First, In
! HEnt proper, Wnllc the spanish SpNaurO
; was coming out of the harhor and unit
, it was clear of the Diamond Shoals an
2 dehritcly headed westward; second, tn
! running fight with the already damage
l vessels as they fled westward, until tn
e Teresa, Oquendo, and Niscays ran ashor,
u and third, the chase of the Colon. dur II
= which there was practically no ightins
q During the first stage | did not see III
= Brooklyn or receive any signals from he
d Al the close of this stage the Oregon ha
9 passed the Iowa aud Texas, and when "
g burst out OF the smoke | saw the for
70 Spanish ships going west apparently II,
!, injured, and followed hard after. at II
= same time observing the Brooklyn a litt
: ahead and offshore. She was broadside
@ the Spanish vessels and was receiving II
= weight of their fire. and was returnng
+ The Brooklyn and the Oregon thereaft,
t occupied substantially these positions
u regards each other, being about cqul I
( tant from the Spanish ships as We SUI
cesslvely overlook them, except when II
r Oregon attempted TO close with the Ouu"l
o do The heaviest hghting was at the hA
o bor mouth and while the enemy W,
# breaking through or passing our line, NJ
n long after the running fight began Il
o Teresa and then the Oquendo turned Al
n went ashore. tho Niscaya continuing II
a. Spmt liatuIs, Farther b,fnrp 81 ne "A so "a,