Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1903-11-11
FATE Of VIRGIN|US
General Ryan's Bravery Re-
called by Old Friend.
WAS SOUL OF HONOR
MET HIS UNFORTUNATE END
WITH ALL vALOR
Last Will and Testament, Planned Just
Before Death, is Now in
Washington.
WAS SOUL OF HONOR
Written for The Evening Star.

Written for The Evening Star.
The saddest, the most pathetic docu-
| ment that, perhaps. I ever held in my
| hand I hold at this moment and decipher
without difficulty its simple, eloquent
overpowering meaning. penned in ex-
tremis thirty years ago, in prison, In
Santiago de Cuba, by Gen. W. A. c. Ryan,
| the leader of the filibustering expedition
of the Inflated and now historical Vir-
| ginius.
This letter, last will and testament and
postscript bear date November and A,
| 1873, and were conveyed to his faithful
| friend and comrade, Gen. Geo. w. Cook,
| Washington, D. c., whom he appointed
| his executor. The text of the last dying
| messages are their best presentation, so
| I proceed to quote from the documents
just delivered into my hands by Gen.
| Cook, and which are now lying before
| me on my desk-thirty years after the
date Of their and their writer's dispatch.
| Here are the memoranda:
Point of departure, Washington, D. c.:
| destination, southern coast of Island of
| Cuba-say, Santiago Cargo, ammunition
| and arms. Vessel, an old blockader of 500
| tons burden, chartered by the CubanS.
Commander of VirginiuS, or, rather, nav
igating officer, Capt. Fry Of Boston; 165
|
| Spanish war steamer Tornado, in the
| Caribbean sea, eighteen miles off ia
| mafca, and court-martialed by order of
| Capt. Gen. BarrioS, said court being held
| on board of Tornado.
"A1l ordered for immediate execution
| Ryan first, Fry next; thirty-five the first
day, fifteen next, and at that rate to the
very last one. The friend with whom we
| were to meet and advise was native
! Cuban patriot in command. named Bar
| betro. The chase lasted seven hours, and
- ~svas,, -;,ka
conditional surrender, having no means
| of resistance and no refuge whatever.
being off Jamaica and yet long distance
| from Cuba.
The precise latitude and longitude has
| not been designated. The crew had been
| watched for and intercepted. They were
| conveyed into the harbor of Santiago, to
await the coming of the captain general
OF Cuba, and the execution of their SEN
tence was not long deferred.
Efforts Were in Vain.
Every effort was made to defer or abro-
gate the sentence. but in vain. The youth,
fine appearance and gallant bearing of the
American commander of the unfortunate
expedition commended him and his COM
| rades to the sympathies of all hands,
friends and foes alike.
The English vice consul, Fred w. Rams
den, was extremely kind and did all that
was possible for the condemned, which was
cooperation on the part of the consular
representatives of the United States gov
eminent at Santiago.
| Ryan's heroic conduct at his execution at
sunrise the next day along with Capt.
Joseph Fry and thirty-five of their fol-
lowers. provoked the admiration and dis
tressed the soul of all beholders. The exc
cution took place on narrow plaza ad-
joining the barracks at Santiago. A trench
was dug and there the bodies remain to
this day. Ryan was laid in nearby and
separate grave. 49, '.
Ryan's Personality.
While upon the subject of Ryan's per-
| sonality I may as well complete it as far
as possible. Ryan was sunbrowned, wiry
as an Indian, was, Of course, as his name
indicates, Of Irish parentage, but American
born, In the city of New York, and wore
his heavy. straight, brown hair long, al
most upon his shoulders, similar to Gen.
Custer. His fighting weight-and he never
had any other. being prepared at all times
for the combat-was 165 pounds.
He had an eagle eye, nose an eagles
beak. mouth lips smiling, attractive.
He was as sweet in his manners and
as true in his heart and reverent and
benevolent in his mind as he was pleasing
and charming in physique.
Capt. Joseph Fry of somewhere I saw
once, once only. He came up to me the
night before the departure from Washing
ton of the Virginius. He struck me
rather a slabsided. mean and mercenary
downeaster; loose-Joirited and stumbling,
with a detestable voice and accent That
may have been prejudice; no doubt it was.
But he left upon me the conviction of fail
ure and disaster.
At the time of his death Ryan was about
thirty-five years old. When he departed on
this expedition he, of course, left girl
behind him. his ffancee, at Sunnyside, N Y.
Besides, he left to truly mourn him q
mother and sister in Chicago and a brother
in Arkansas.
Ryan, on embarking for his adventur-
Gus. nay hazardous and fatal filibustering
expedition, firmly and authoritatively sta
toned his friend and principal lieutenant,
Gen. Geo. W. Cook, here in Washington,
with orders not to quit his post or attempt
to join or follow him on pain of the direst
consequences.
Hour of Departure.
The day came and the hour of departure
approached. Ryan, Cook and the writer of
this spent the afternoon and the evening
up to midnight together in Ryan's quarters
at the Metropolitan. then Browns Hotel.
Pennsylvania avenue and 9th street, kept
by Marshall and '"Tilr' Brown
The sailing master of the Virginius came
in and joined us for short time during the
evening, but, somehow, though with us he
was not Of us. That memorable and jolly
meeting and parting none of us can ever
forget.
At midnight we parted, Cook going off
with Ryan and seeing him on board the
filfbuster craft. Not more than ten or ff-
teen days of ominous silence succeeded.
when the appalling news of the capture and
fate of the Virginius, her passengers and
crew. was flashed by wire over all the
world. The effect was more terrible than
could be caused by any cataclysm All
newspapers and an classes of persons clam
ored for and demanded immediate war with
Spain. The European journals, almost
without exception predicted it. But it an
pears the times were unpropitious the Eu-
ropean powers were undecided and some
thing else was needed.
About month afterward there came a
letter from Frederick w. Ramsden the
British consul at Santiago de Cuba, adj
dressed to Gen. Cook, Washington, contain
ing translation of the last will and testa-
ment of Gen. Ryan, and also conveying
certain relics. valuables and souvenirs of