Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1912-07-05


land. A rocket which was answered
by the mainland told the lookout on
the Olympia that the shore batteries
were warned of the fleets approach.
Shortly after there came from the
nearest guns of the shore batteries a
squirt Of flame, quickly followed by a
dull boom. The Spanish American
war was on. The Raleigh and Boston
pumped shell after shell In the direc-
ton Of the Spanish fire, but 1t was
not until the Concord dropped par
ticularly well aimed shell into the
fort that the guns Of the latter were
silenced.
Dewey now slowed down, as he
wished to have the light of day upon
!, the sbattle which was to follow. Some
Of the sailors managed to snatch q
little sleep, but 1t was only the more
Iiron-nerved who could 80 far forget
the danger of being blown sky-high by
a submarine torpedo that could slum-
ber. When day broke the shore bat
teries at Cavite commenced firing. The
Olympia, with the signal Remember
the Maine" at her masthead and the
rest of the fleet following in battle or
der, took up a position parallel to
that Of the enemy. When within range
Commodore Dewey shouted to Capt.
Olympia, Fire when you're ready,
Gridley!"
The command and the discharge Of
the Olympia's broadside seemed ST.
lmultaneous. The discharge was the
signal to the rest Of the feet, and soon
! q cloud Of smoke hid the Spanish fleet
from view. The Spanish fired their
guns with great rapidity in reply but
with little or no effect. Their aim was
high, and though several Of the Amer
lean ships were struck little damage
resulted. After the whole feet had
passed in review before the Spanish
squadron II retraced It's course and
about faced, letting the feet under the
red and yellow pennants have 1t again
| from the star board guns. Montojo,
the Spanish commander, made q gal
liant attempt to leave the rest Of his
squadron and engage at closer quar-
ters, but he was quickly distressed by
the hail of shell which ripped open his
boiler plates and smashed his guns
from their carriages.
At 730, with the battle practically
won, the fleet headed for the eastern
side of the bay for breakfast. The
jackies gulped down q cup Of coffee
crippled Spanish squadron. The lat
firing from the scene Of the battle,
mistakenly supposed that Dewey had
given up the fight. They gave feeble
cheer. Shortly after eleven the bat
| tie was renewed. The Reina Christina
blazing from end to end, soon explod-
ed. Admiral Montojo transferred his
flag to the Isla de Cuba. The Don An
tonic de Ulloa, although pierced with
q hundred shells and burning from
waterline to topmast, refused to haul
down its flag and sank with a muffled
explosion, her colors still flying. Ad-
miral Montojo, seeing the battle wasta
hopeless one, deserted the Isla de Cuba
and escaped to shore.
At half past one o'clock the arsenal
at Cavite ranNup the flag Of surrender
and the battle was WOE.
Not q man had been killed on the
American side. Only four were wound
ed, and these by the one shell on board
the Baltimore. The Reina Christina,
lMontojo's flagship, the Castillo, the
Don Antonio de Ulloa, the Don Juan
de Austria, the Isla de Luzon, the Isla
de Cuba, the Marquiz del Duero, the
General Lezo, the Correo, the Velasco
and the Isla de Mandanao were totally
destroyed, and the casualties among
the Spanish sailors amounted to 1000.
The battle Of Manila Bay launched
the United States, unwillingly or no,
upon its career as q colonial power It
expelled Spain from the Pacific just
as the battle Of Santiago drove the
flag Of CASTLE from the western hemi-
sphere.
Santiago.
After a blockade Of a month the
American feet under Commander
Sampson on the morning Of July 8.
1898, saw cloud of smoke rising In
Santiago harbor, where the Spanish
fleet under Admiral Cervera had been
nifty to escape.
The American feet consisted of the
Indiana, Iowa, Massachusetts,, the Ore
gon, Texas, Brooklyn and New York.
Spain, besides its first-class battle
ships Infanta Mari Teresa, Christie
bal Colon, Oquendo and Vicaya, had
three torpedo boat destroyers, the Fu-
rer, Pluton and the Terror, which were
very much feared by the American
feet, being a type Of vessel so far un-
known to the navy at that time.
The cloud Of smoke betrayed that
the Spanish fleet was getting under
way. Soon after the Iowa lookout dis
covered the Maria Teresa poking her
IlOSt OUT vi tie CIldUItl W TIC hdI =
bor. She was closely followed by the
lVizcaya, the Colon, the Oquendo and
the torpedo boat destroyers. The
American ships passed the signal tor
action and at once closed in. Two Of
the destroyers were taken In hand by
the Indiana and the Gloucester and In
a few minutes the Furor was sunk
and the Pluton chased to shore. The
Maria Teresa was pierced by several
shells and at 1915 exploded and ran on
shore. The Oquendo, riddled from
stem to stern, likewise soon caught
fire. Her decks were Uttered with the
dead and dying. The Vizcaya was
caught about fifteen miles from Moro
and ran ashore to escape sinking. The
Brooklyn. Oregon and Texas continued
the chase after the Colon, and thirty
miles west from where the Vizcaya
had beached the Colon gave up the
fight and ran on shore. Her comman-
der surrendered. Only one man was
killed and one wounded on the Ameri-
can side. The Spanish lost GIT in kill
ad ond runnndad