The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1914-05-25
HOW SHIPPERS SHOT
At blUEJACKETS
MAN WHO TOOK PART IN FIGHT.
ING AT VERA CRUZ WRITES
ABOUT BATTLE.

| G. T. Moser, OF the U. S. s. South
Carolina has written to the Norfoik
Naval Y. NJ. c.. A. letter in which
one of the participants In the battle of
Vera Cruz describes graphically the
scenes incidental to the occupation or
the Mexican city by American sailors
and the transfer Of authority from the
navy to the atmy.
The letter from Moser, OF the South
Carolina, follows:
The South Carolina lay at anchor in
the harbor Of Key West, Florida. on
the morning of the 10th of April, 1914.
At noon We were under sailing orders.
and at p. NJ. we steamed out into the
open sea, keeping a sharp lookout al
ways for the fleet that was steaming
down the coast of Florida. When we
/ left Key West our orders were to join
the fleet and proceed with them to
Tam pico, Mexico. On the morning OF
! the goth at o'clock the ships Arkan-
sas. New Hampshire, New Jersey and
Vermont were sighted, and by 9 A" NJ.
We had taken our position with the
| feet and all were steaming in column.
/ The same day all ships changed their
course from Tampico and headed di-
rectly toward Vera Cruz. Our stand
ard speed had been. and was up to the
morning of the 21st, twelve knots an
! hour but afer receiving intelligence OF
the battle that was fought on the 2lst.
orders We're given to make nineteen
knots per hour. We steamed steadily
! at this speed until A. M. of the 22nd.
at that time we were In the harhor of
I Vera Cruz. Reville was sounded at
this time and breakfast was put before
the crew at Gao A. NJ. Fifteen min
utes later the buglar blew the call
! fall in: each man answered the call
prepared for the first time to meet a
/ fighting enemy. while the mantle of
J a, -. IL. Id a.
ample folds the boats of all the ships
were lowered and the companies silent
| ly passed down tie quarterback o. tho
ships, passe 1 over the Eangways and
as silently were lowed to the landing
/ that was protected by the forces that
| landed from the Prairie, Utah and
Florida on the previous day. The bat
I talions from all ships were massed in a
vacant square just opposite the wharf
and Immediately front of the Terminal
hotel, which had been chosen the day
before by the brigade commander for
| brigade headquarters.
| AT intervals the crack OF a Mauser
! rifle would cause It's to realize that
/ the enemy OF the American or Grin
| GO CAS- we are commonly referred
/ TO by the Mexicans), was endeavoring
| to touch our bodies with tempered
! steel; was hoping to sever the golden
/ cord Of life and place us in the care
/ Of the guardians of death. The whir,
whiz. and whine of the bullets that
/ came close to all caused the situation
/ to take on a color of tragedy, and add
j ed degree of excitement to the an
| ticipated action which the men had
! imagined prior to the landing OF the
| forces
The main body Of the forces were
/ landed long before daybreak. When
the city began to stir and the Mexi
cans saw what had happened during
! the night. the patriotic and the preju-
] diced began whitening fire from the
/ housetops and iatttced windows which
annoyed our men, since anything of
! this character was entirely unthonght
| of in the modern form of war. This
continued until about 7:45 A. M. be-
fore action was taken against 1t. At
that time the brigade was called to
quarters, orders were issued to the
reeimental commanders and each
regiment was massed at the end OF
( some street or avenue with instruc-
ti0ns to march towards the fortified
part Of the city, which lay directly
To the south. AS soon as the natives
saw what We intended to do they be-
gan firing from all quarters. The
policemen. army officers, and soldiers
dressed in civilian clothing leading
The houses are all built like a fort
and the windows are heavily latticed
and, naturally, the people firing from
this great advantage had the upper
hand in the fight until we realized that
our mode of fighting had to be
changed in order to save ourselves
from unnecessary exposure to their
fire.
orders were given to enter each
! n5 IN
that offered resistance and to conffs-
/ cate all deadly weapons. When our
men began to execute this timely or
der the tune sounded quite different:
| our men were in less danger, and the
! results In casualties increased at an
alarming rate among the Mexicans.
The regiment that marched toward
/ the Naval academy, which consisted
| of the bttalions from the U. S. s.
South Carolina. the r, S. S. Vermont.
! the e.. s, S. New Jersey and the L.
s. S. New Hampshire. had the hard
est fighting of the day; and had It
not been for the timely firing from
the L. s. s. Chester of her flve-inch
| battery. there would have been many
more wounded and dead. After con-
| tinual fire of twenty minutes the Ma
val academy was a total wreck, and
sixty dead and many more wounded
/ were found after our troops had oc-
cupied the building.
Shipping continued throughout the
entire day, and our forces did SPLEEN
did work in their efforts to bring the
snipers to terms. either by verbal de-
mand or by the use of a steel jacketed
/ bullet, the latter mode carrying the
| greatest power of persuation.
/ All business was suspended on the
day following. but less disorder was
being reported and less sniping was
heard, On the twenty-fourth business
was resumed but all persons We're in
formed that at p. NJ, they were to
be in their homes for the night. to re-
| main there until $50 A. NJ, OF the fol-
lowing morning. On the twenty-s sixth
the people were allowed to revert to
/ the old custom of going and coming
and they enjoyed this freedom after
| being in the throes of battle.
Martial law continued until the
twenty-eighth, when II. l., Kerr,
Chicagoan, recently Of Mexico City,
was made governor by the territory
occupied by the forces of the United
States
The taking of Vera Cruz. placing 1t
/ under martial law, restoring order,
establishing a military government,
n