Willmar tribune. [volume] (Willmar, Minn.) 1895-1931, 1902-02-26
PRESIDENT CALLS IT
a CAPTAINS VICTORY.
Rules Against Admiral Sch1ey the Latters Appeal
Declares He Was Not i'm Command at
#@ Santiago-Loop Movement
: Grave Mistake.

ments Of the commander in chief signal
frequently made. and we'll understood by
the entire fleet. It did not transfer the
command. No signal was made for the
second IN command to assume command
OF the fleet, which was usually done by
tne comma nder IN chief before reaching the
unit OF signal distance when he proposed
Tor any reason temporarily to relinquish
his command to the next ranking officer"
The president also quotes from state
nents made by Admiral Taylor and Com
mander Wainwright to the same effect as
that made by Admiral Evans. In all of
these statements the story of the battle
Is graphically recited, and the president
says: Prom the statements of the cap
tains above, from the official reports, and
from the testimony before the court of
inquiry. the fight can be plotted with alb
solute certainty in its important outlines,
though there Is conflict as to minor points,"
but they leave no doubt on any important
point
Nominal and Technical.
1.-The question Of command is in this case
nominal and technical. Admiral Samp-
sons ship, the New York. was seen at the
outset of the fight from all the ships ex-
cept the Brooklyn. Four of these five
| ship captains have testified that they re-
garded him as present and in command.
He signaled Close in to the fleet 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 a couple of
shots, at the close OF the action with the
torpedo boats in addition to signaling the
Indiana just at the close of the action. But
during the action not single order from
MIN was received by any Of the ships that
were actively engaged.
Admiral Schley at the outset of the &C.
ton hoisted the two signals of clear ship
and close in,' which was simply carrying
out the standing orders of Admiral Samp-
son as to what should be done If the en-
emys ships attempted to break out of the
harbor. Until after the close of the first
portion OF the fight at the mouth of the
harbor and until after he had made his
loop and the Spanish ships were fleeing to
the westward, not another American ship
noticed signal from him. When the west
ern pursuit had begun, the Oregon, and
the Oregon only, noticed and repeated one
of his signals of command. The captain
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 Wha tsOever in accordance with
any order from him.
Was q Captains' Fight.
I'm short. the question as to which Of
the two men, Admiral Sampson or Admiral
Schley, was at the time in command, is of
merely nominal character. Technically
Sampson commanded the fleet and Schley,
as usual. the western division. The &C
tual fact, the important fact. is that after
the battle was Joined not helm was shift
ed, not gun was fired. not pound of
steam was put on in any engine room
aboard any ship actively engaged, in obedi-
ence to the order of either Sampson or
Schley, save on their own two vessels It
was captains fight Therefore the cred
1t to which each Of the two is entitled rests
on matters apart from the claim of nomi-
nal command over the squadron, for so
far as the actual fight was concerned
neither one nor the other In fact exercised
any command. Sampson was hardly more
than technically in the fight. His real
claim for credit rests upon his work as
commander in chief: upon the excellence
of the blockade, upon the preparedness of
the SQUADRON upon the arrangement of the
ships head-on in semicircle around the
harbor, and the standing orders in accord
ance with which they Instantly moved to
the attack of the Spaniards when the lat
ter appeared. For all these things the
credit is his.
Loop a Grave Mistake.
admiral Schley is rightly entitled-as
Is Capt Cookie the credit of what the
Brooklyn did in the fight. On the whole
she did Well. but I agree with the unani-
nous finding Of the three admirals who
composed the court Of inquiry as to the
loop 1t seriously marred the Brooklyn's
otherwise excellent record being in fact
the only grave mistake made by any Amer
lean ship that day. Had the Brooklyn
turned to the westward, that is, in the same
direction that the Spanish were going.
instead of In the contrary direction she
would undoubtedly have been In more
dangerous proximity to them. But it
would have been more dangerous for them
as we'll as for her! This kind of danger
must not be too nicely weighed by those
whose trade it is to care greatly for the
was certainly not as great as that which
in the selfsame moment, menaced VAIN
wright's fragile craft as he drove forward
against the foe. It was not in my judy
ment as great as the danger to which the
Texas was exposed by the turn as actual
ly made. It certainly caused both the
Brooklyn and the Texas materially to lose
position compared to the fleeing Spanish
vessels But after the loop had once been
taken Admiral Schley handled the Brook
Ign manfully and well. She and the Ore
gon were thenceforth the headmost of the
American vesseis-though the Iowa GER
tainly, and seemingly the Texas Also did
as much in hammering to a standstill the
Viscaya, OQuendo and Teresa; while the
Indiana did all her eastward position and
crippled machinery permitted. In the chase
of the Colon the Brooklyn and Oregon
share the credit between them
Mckinley Justified.
Under such circumstances, it seems to
me that the recommendations Of President
Mckinley were eminently proper and that
' 50 far as Adnirals Sampson and Schley
were concerned, it would have been I'M
just for him to have made other recon-
mendations> Personally feel that in view
of Capt. Clark's long voyage in the Oregon
and the condition in which he brought her
to the scene Of service, as we'll as the way
In which he actually managed her before
and during the fight it would have been
well to have given him the same advance
ment that was given Wainwright But,
waiving this, it Is evident that Wainwright
was entitled to receive more than any
Of the other commanders, and that it was
just to Admiral Sampson that he should
receive greater advance in numbers than
Admiral Schley-there was nothing done
in the battle that warranted any unusual
reward for either. In short, as regards
Admirals Sampson and Schley, I find that
President Mckinley did substantial Jus
tice, and that there would be no warrant
for reversing his action.
Agitation Should Cease.
Both Admiral Sampson and Admiral
Schley are now on the retired list In con-
Guiding their report the members of the
court of inquiry Admirals Dewey, Benham
and Ramsay, unite in stating that they
recommend that no further action be had
in the matter. With this recommended
I most heartily concur. There is no excuse
whatever from either side for any further
agitation of this unhappy cont roversy To
keep it alive would merely do damage to
the navy and to the country.
THEODORE ROOSEVELT" II
Well-Known Evangelist Dead.