The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1904-09-28
A SPICY BOOK.
Admiral schley Writes Of His Service
in the Navy.
HERO OF SANTIAGO TALKS OUT

F., And Establishes His Right to the
Credit Of Being in Com
! mand IN That De-
/ cisiye Battle.
Rear Admiral Winfield SOFT Schley
is guilty OF lese najaste. President
r yo,eyelt, whose province is the
whole field OF knowledge, decided that
nobody was in commald Of the Amer
lean feet at the battle Of Santiago
on July 3, 1898, when the entire
Spanish fleet was destroyed. And yet
here comes Admiral Schley with a
book telling the story OF his more than
two score years of honorable and dis
tinguished service in the navy, in
which be contradicts the all-wise
President and says that Ee, Schley,
was in command at that battle. What
is more he proves it.
What will happen to the Admiral
for thus daring to assert himself and
guard his hard-won fame there is no
telling. He may be court-martialled
or dismissed from service by executive
order-but hardly before the Presi-
Dental election.
This book, Of which the advance
sheets have been received, will be
published on the 23inst. by Appleton
& Co. 1t is entitled ''Forty-fve Years
Under the Flag" and covers the
career Of the author. Naturally inter
est will centre upon the chapters
dealing with the Spanish-American
war, and especially the great sea fight
for winning which credit was clalmsd
for Sampson, who was not among
those present.
In these chapters, says the au-
thor, the purpose has been to record
the events from the writer's own
viewpoint, to criticse in spirit OF
fairness, tut without malice. !" He
ADDS and this casts an interesting
light on ex-Secretary Of the Navy
Long-that through the courtesy OF
Secretary Moody recourse has been
had to official papers which were not
available b:fore his accession &c
ottice."
That Admiral Schley expects things
to happen because OF his book is evil
dent from the paragraph OF bis pre-
face in which be remarks:
In times Of danger and duty the
writer endeavored to do the wcrk SET
before him without fear Of personal
conse quences. With this thought in
mind, be has felt moved, as a duty
20 his wife, his children and his
name, to leave a record of his long
professional life, which has not been
without some prestige at least for the
flag he has loved and under which he
has served"
Admiral Schley has done his task
Of truth-tellirg as thoroughly as
man in his position could well ven
ture to do. He goes minutely into
all the movements Of Il e squadron
under his command, and supplies t
the historian Of the future the facts
upon which an impartial Judgment o.
his conduct can be formed.
It is not necessary here to follow
him into the details Of his voyage
from Key West to Cienfaegos ane
thence to Santiago. Nor is 1t need
full to 90 withhim iuto the difflcultie:
attending coaIing at sca, or the rea
sons for the Brooklyn's loop at the
opening Of the action Of July 3. Al
these matters were made much Of BY
Secretary Long and others Of Samp
sons partisanS, but interest the
public com paratively little now.
Time gives perspective and places
things in their right relative proper
tion. II Schley had been a cavalry
man instead Of sailor, and had led
terrific, victorious charge against the
enemy, winning the war, criticism a:
to his alleged carelesSness about the
oat supply for his horses, or failure
to gobble up a straggler or two
months previous to the glorious ane
decisive charge would hardly fnc
listeners among the largeminded: Yet
that sort Of carping finds it's perfect
parallel in the criticism Of which
Schley has been made the victim-no1
by petty busybodies merely, but BY
Long, Secretary Of the Navy, anc
Roosevelt, President Of the United
States.
On the morning Of the great day
Sampson, in obedience to orders from
Secretary Long, sailed away for Slbo
ney to confer with General Shafter
flying the signal, Disregard move
ments of the commander-in-chief.
And while Sampson was gone the
Spanish fleet came cut Of Santiago anc
was smashed.
Smashed by whom? Not by Samp
son, certainly.
The Colon was the last Of the
Spaniards to surrender, which she
did at LIS p. NJ, and the New YORK.
with Admiral Sampson on board, die
not arrive on the scene till 2.23 p. m.
cne hour and eight minutes after
wards.
During the three hours and forty
I minutes of this immortal chase and
battle the Brooklyn, Schley's flag.
ship, led the van. His vessels were
hit forty-two times by the Spanish
guns, and thirty of these hits were
received by the Brooklyn. The only
man killed and the only man wound.
ed were on board the Brooklyn.
The Admiral does not by name
mention President Roosevelt, who in
his decision denying the appeal Of
Schley from the majority report Of
the Board Of Inquiry asserted that
there was really no commander at
the battle-that it was captains
fight" But the Admiral deals with
the point en- page 29S, when writing
of the departure Of the New York
; and Massachusetts on the morning OF