The Washington herald., 1914-06-07
TELLS HOW HE
TOOK VERA Cruz
CONTINUED from PAGE EIGHT.

CONTINUED FROM PAGE EIGHT.
San Francisco simultaneously opened frs
with Pinch, 4-inch, and 5-inch batteries
against the second story of the naval
school building. In short time the up
per story was riddied by forty shots and
the fire silenced.
- Advance Is Steady.
y "our forces advanced steadily through
n the city, entering houses from which they
were being fred upon and disarming tht
occupants. The Chester. from a favor.
able position commanding the southern
part of the city. shelled the enemy oui
of houses along the waterfront. old Fort
Santiago, and from the vicinity of the
Military Barracks BY II a. m. ouI
forces were in complete possession of al
parts of the city and fighting had prac.
= tically ceased.
1.-THE following signal was sent to the
cruisers Chester, Prairie, San Francisco,
q and to brigade headquarters on shore:
The division commander desires tc
express his appreciation and admiration
for the splendid and efficient work OF
the naval brigade in their capture Of the
city OF Vera Cruz, and the efficient sup
port given by the cruisers in the harbor
reflected great credit on the accuracy
of fire of their gunners-
"JSgnedD FLETCHER
THE Atlantic Fleet under command of
Rear Admiral Badger approached the
harbor of Vera Cruz on the night OF the
Ist at full speed all ready TO land and
come to anchor in the outer hsrbor sew
ersl hours ahead of the expected time.
) , am not allowed to command my super
Tor officer, but / think it only proper to
say in this report that Rear Admiral
Badger, during the naval operations on
shore at Vera Cruz, afforded me the most
prompt and willing assistance, and my
slightest request or Recommendation, or
\ call for aid was in all cases met with
Immediate compliance. and II is great
pleasure for me to record the thoroughly
by him and his stan IN their hearty sup
port Of the work on shore"
Praise for His Men.
Thus concludes the admiraFs account
of the fighting ashore Under a separate
heading he devotes a few commendatory
paragraphs captioned thus:
Work on the cruisers Prairie, Ches-
ter. San Francisco"
The Prairie remained moored in the
inner harbor with steam up in a position
to cover the landing of troops and con-
troll the water front in the vicinity or
the Consulate between Pier No. and
Sanitary Pier at the lighthouse. During
the afternoon of the 2lst the Prairie
dad occasion to silence the firing coming
from the Naval Academy, the Market
Building near by, from a barge along
side the castom-house wharf, and from
a small frame house near Sanitary Pief.
This was done by few well-aimed shots
from the three-inch guns and a Colts
automatic which riddled the frame
structure.
o
rected by radio 10 enter the inner har-
bor and was warned against rife fire
from the breakwater at the entrance and
-Alongshore. She came in at p. m. with
out pilot or the assistance of navigation
Nights. anchored near the Prairie and
shifted berth to the moorings assigned.
receiving a signal, We'll DONE
The Chester arrived from Tampico at Il
midnight on the 21st. She<entered the
harbor with alf lights screened and
cleared for action. with marines stationed
along deck for rife fire. She promptly
took up moorings in assigned position of
Sanitary River and was signaled. well
done" Both commanding officers report
ed on board Prairie. received instructions
as to disposition of our forces and gen.
eral instructions relative to sunfire from
their ships. 1t was not desired to cause
any more destruction of property than
was necessary to protect our men ashore,
and buildings were to be fired upon only
when il was ascertained that they were
being used by the Mexicans as defensive
positions, from which they directed fire
upon our troops. This IAN was most
effectively and efficiently carried out by
the commanding officers of all three ships
and not a building was fired into unneces-
sarily. 49,
Silenced the Snipers.
The Chester was moored inshore near
est to the firing, and at daybreak rife
firing was directed from small tugs and
barges near No. breakwater This was
returned with rifle fire, but had to be si-
fenced by a three-inch gun. Later firing
from number of points in this section
Of the city was located and both three
inch and fiye-inch guns of the Chester
had to be used to silence it
Soon after the final advance of the
landing forces into the city, which COM
menced about $50 a. m. of the I'd the
talions Of the New Hampshire, South |
Carolina, Vermont and New Jersey. I
marched across the open space between |
tthe lighthouse and the naval academy, |
passing to the southwark. When our |
men met with a heavy fire most of them |
dropped prone on the ground or against |
lower walls of the naval school and in |
stantly the guns of the Chester, Prairie |
and San Francisco opened fire The fir |
Ing was very accurate. directly over the |
heads of our men, and in short space |
of time the whole second story of this |
building, about 500 feet front, was |
wreck, not shot missing its mark The |
work of these three vessels-Chester,
Moffett; Prairie, Commander |
Stickney; San Francisco Commander |
Harrison-in supporting our troops en- |
short was most effective and is deserving |
OF special praise. Initiative and clear
judgment was required on the part of |
the commander officers, and the results
showed in a striking manner the eff
cheney of the ships under their COM
mands. The Chester being in the most |
forward position did most Of the firing
and received a greater number of hits.
THE San Francisco and Prairie were
hit by rife fire many times, over a hum
dred shots hit the Chester. Two men
on the Chester and one Of the Prairie
were wounded.
The EsperanZa, in charge Of Lieut..
Fletcher, lying between the Chester and
Prairie was struck thirty-one times and
one man Of the crew slightly wounded.
All refugees were placed in position
of safety and none were injured"
Y. M. E.. A. CAMP WILL
REOPEN ON JUNE q i