Evening star., 1902-02-20

ships had closed In simultaneously.
Then occurred the incident which caused me
for a moment more alarm than anything
Cervera did that day. Suddenly q
whfff OF breeze and a lull in the firing lifted
the pail, and there bearing toward US and
across our bows. turning on her port helm.
with big waves curling over her bows and
great clouds of black smoke pouring from
her tunnels, was the Brooklyn. She looked
as big as half a dozen Great Easterns, and
seemed so near that it. took our breath
away. Back both engines hardF went
down the tube to the astonished engineers
and in a twinkling the old ship was racing
against herself. The collision which SEEM
ed imminent, even If 1t was not, was avert
ed and as the big cruiser glided past. all
Of US on the bridge gave sigh Of relief
Had the Brooklyn struck us then 1t would
probably have been the end Of the Texas
and her half thousand men. At
ten minutes to 10 Qhe Spanish ships had
appeared at about 9:3O the Iowa,
Oregon and Texas were pretty well bunch
ed. holding q parallel course westward with
the Spaniards. The Indiana was also COM
ing up, well inside Of all the others Of our
squadron. but a little In the rear. owing to
her far eastward position at starting. ss'
About quarter past 10 the Teresa, which
had been in difficulties from the mo-
ment she left the shelter of the Morro,
turned to seek beachfng place. She was
on fire, and we knew that she was no long
minutes later our special enemy. the
Oquenda, also turned In shore The
Viscaya kept blazing away vfciousiy. but
the pounding she got from our four ships,
more particularly the Oregon, was too
much for her, and in half an hour she too
headed for the beach. I determined
to push on with the Texas. 1t
gives me pleasure to be able to write that,
old ship as she is and not built for speed,
the Texas held her own and even gained on
the Colon in that chase - Admiral
Sampson was commander-in-chief before,
during, and after the action.
Capt. Clark's Statement.
Captain Clark's statement is as follows:
The credit for the blockade which led
up to the fight Is, Of course, Admiral Samp
sons The position Of the ships on the
morning of the fight In a semi-circle head
on TO the harbor In consequence of which
we were able to close in at once, was his.
In closing in that is, In making the first
movements, We were obeying his instruc-
items, though a matter Of fact we would
all have closed in any way. instructions or
no instructions. When the Spanish ships
came out of the harbor the navigator Of
my ship saw the New York to the east
ward, but received no signal of any kind
from the New York during the action. nor
was she near enough to signal directly to
me until after the Colon surrendered.
The engagement may be said to have
been divided into three parts: First, the
fight proper, while the Spanish squadron
was coming out of the harbor and until 1t
nitely headed westward; second, the rum
ming fight wit = already damaged vessels
as they fed \. ward, until the Teresa,
Oquendo and Niscaya ran ashore; and,
third, the chase of the Colon. during which
there was practically no fighting. During
the first stage l did not the Brooklyn
or receive any signals from her At the
close of this stage the Oregon had passed
the Iowa and Texas, and when we burst
out of the smoke l saw the four Spanish
ships going west apparently uninjured, and
followed hard after, at the same time OBJ
serving the Brooklyn a little ahead and
offshore. She was broadside to the Span
ish vessels and was receiving the weight Of
their fire, and was returning 1t. The
Brooklyn and the Oregon thereafter occu-
pied substantially these positions as re-
CARDS each other. being about eQui-distant
from the Spanish ships as we successfully
overlook them, except when the Oregon at
tempted to close with the Oquendo. The
heaviest fighting was at the harbor mouth
AMI while the enemy was breaking through
or passing our line Not long after the
running fight began the Teresa and then
the Oquendo turned and went ashore, the
Viscaya continuing for some distance far
ther before she also was beached. Through
out this running fight the Brooklyn and
Oregon were both hotly engaged. being
ahead Of any Of our other ships; and we
then constituted the western and what /
regard the then fighting division Of our
fleet. l considered Commodore Schley In
responsible command during this running
fight and chase, SO far as l was concerned.
and acknowledged and repeated signal
he had flying for close action or some
thing Of the kind As, however, the prob
lem was perfectly simple. namely, to pur-
sue the Spanish ships as l had been doing
before I saw the Brooklyn, he did not, as
a matter Of fact exercise any control over
any movement or action OF the Oregon nor
did perform any action Of any kind what
ever In obedience to any order from the
Brooklyn, neither as to my course nor as
to my speed. nor as to my gun fire, during
the fight or chase.
THE Oregon always had fires under all
boilers. In spite Of the speed shown by the
Oregon in this fight she had not been and
IL not classed as the fastest ship; but dur
ing all her service, In order that no scale
should form In them not one of our boilers
was used for condensing. though the re-
sulting discomfort for all hands was
additional hardship for her commanding
officer"
Admiral Evans.
The following is Admiral Evans state
ment:
THE credit for the blockade. for the ar
rangement OF the ships at the opening OF
the fight. and for the first movements for
ward into the fight must Of course belong to
Admiral Sampson whose orders we were
putting into effect. When the fight began
Admiral Sampson's ship, the New York,
was in plain sight. I saw her turning to
0Vertake U.S. Throughout the nSnL con-
sidered myself as under his command, but
/ received no orders from him until the
Viscaya was aground. Nor did I receive
any orders whatever from the Brooklyn,
nor should I have needed them If I had
received them, inasmuch as I considered
Admiral Sampson to be present and in CON-
mand.
''The heavy fighting was during the time
when the Spanish vessels were coming out
OF the harbor and before they had stretched
fairly to the westward. When they thus
stretched to the westward we all went after
them without orders-of course we could do
nothing else. Until the Teresa and Oquen
do ran ashore the Iowa was close behind
the Oregon and ahead OF the Texas, and all
of us were firing steadily at the Spanish
ships. The Texas then recovered her speed
for she was dead in the water after hav-
ing backed to avoid the Brooklyn when the
Brooklyn turned-and she went ahead OF
the Iowa. Both Of US continued to fire at
the Viscaya until she went ashore. Then
stopped. but the Texas followed the Brook
lyn and the Oregon after the Colon.
when the battle began the New York
was not much farther to the eastward Of me
than the Brooklyn was to the westward.
After the Viscaya had grounded the New
York overlook me and signaled me to re-
turn to the mouth Of the harbor to prevent
any other Spanish ship from coming out
and attacking the transports. I received no
signals of any kind from the Brooklyn. All
we had to do was to close In on the Span
fch ont Of fho ha rho