Part 33 (1/2)
The first day of May saw one of the greatest naval victories in the history of the world. Our government had telegraphed orders to Commodore George Dewey, then at Hong Kong, China, in command of our Asiatic squadron, to sail at once to the Philippine Islands and ”capture or destroy” the Spanish s.h.i.+ps.
Dewey had taken part in important naval battles in our Civil War, and was an experienced and skillful officer. In antic.i.p.ation of war, his fleet was ready for action on an hour's notice.
After his instructions arrived from Was.h.i.+ngton, Dewey promptly sailed for Manila with six wars.h.i.+ps and two tenders. He delayed outside the harbor till the moon had set, and then steamed silently through the three-mile-wide channel. He was entering in the dark a bay he had never seen. He knew it was planted with torpedoes, and that he was going to attack a Spanish fleet of ten s.h.i.+ps, besides large forts with heavy guns.
A wonderful task! but Dewey was a wonderful man. He understood his business. He had been trained under the eye of the great Admiral Farragut and had fought long and hard in the war for the Union.
=354. The Remarkable Naval Victory at Manila.=--Dewey's fleet arrived before sunrise in front of the forts and the line of Spanish s.h.i.+ps. The battle at once began. Our vessels kept moving on the curve of a long ellipse or flattened circle, and every time each came around it poured a series of rapid and accurate shots directly into the enemy. They answered furiously, but not deliberately. Round and round wheeled our s.h.i.+ps in a slow and deadly circle. Our men could see the walls of the forts crumbling, some s.h.i.+ps all ablaze, and others shattered and sinking.
After two hours of these tremendous circuits Dewey stopped firing and moved his s.h.i.+ps about three miles out of range to rest his men, give them breakfast, and look after his ammunition. The men, in fine spirits, ate their morning meal, and rested. It was a stoker on the flags.h.i.+p Olympia who said that below ”the temperature is nearly up to two hundred degrees, and so hot that our hair is singed.”
Before noon Dewey returned, circled nearer still, and fought even more fiercely. In an hour and a half more the work was finished. One s.h.i.+p was riddled, then reeled and sank; then another; one was broken midway and went down; now one was in flames, then a second, and so on till the entire Spanish fleet, besides gunboats and transports, were sunk or burned up or shot to pieces!
[Ill.u.s.tration: BATTLE OF MANILA.]
How did our s.h.i.+ps stand the contest? Only two or three were hit at all, and none seriously injured. Our six had destroyed thirteen Spanish vessels and silenced their forts. The Spaniards had lost six hundred and thirty-four men, killed and wounded. We had only one man killed and seven slightly wounded.
=355. The Nation's Grateful Appreciation of Dewey's Victory.=--Thus was fought, on May Day, 1898, at Manila, perhaps the most surprising naval conflict the world had ever seen. In three and a quarter hours the naval power of Spain went down in the blue waters of the bay, and the splendid fame of George Dewey echoed round the globe. Congress gave him a vote of thanks and a gold medal; and he was made Admiral, the highest officer in the American navy.
Many years ago Admiral Farragut said to the father of the hero of Manila, ”Doctor Dewey, your son George is a worthy and brave officer. He has an honorable record, and some day he will make his mark.”
Never before in the history of our country was there projected a series of patriotic demonstrations grander in their purpose or finer in their execution than those which greeted Admiral Dewey on his return to this country, in the fall of 1899, from the scene of his famous victory.
When Dewey sank the Spanish fleet in Manila Bay, he opened a new era in the history of our country. From that day the United States received more distinct recognition among the nations responsible for the political affairs of the world.
=356. Preparations to meet the Spanish Fleet.=--Now let us return to the scene of war in our own country. On the last day of April the Spanish fleet, under Admiral Cervera, left the Cape Verde Islands, sailing west; there were four armed cruisers and three torpedo-boat destroyers; all good new s.h.i.+ps and in prime condition. The alarming question was, Where will they strike? The good people of our great eastern cities began to imagine what would happen if these powerful wars.h.i.+ps should come sailing into our harbors.
Every effort was promptly and vigorously made to defend exposed points with forts and torpedoes. Events proved that it was needless. No s.h.i.+p of that Spanish fleet came within five hundred miles of any American city.
Yet it was evident that Cervera's fleet must be captured or destroyed before our coast could be safe, or military operations could be prudently begun in Cuba.
Extraordinary efforts were made to ascertain the exact location of the hostile squadron.
Finally it was found that it had slipped on May 19 into the bay of Santiago. Our fleet at once gathered around to blockade the entrance, to make it impossible for any vessel to pa.s.s in, and to attack Cervera's s.h.i.+ps should they attempt to come out. Among our blockaders were the splendid s.h.i.+ps New York, Ma.s.sachusetts, Brooklyn, Texas, Iowa, Indiana, and the Oregon that had sailed around Cape Horn from San Francisco, fourteen thousand miles in sixty-seven days.
[Ill.u.s.tration: RESCUE OF HOBSON BY THE SPANISH ADMIRAL.]
=357. Hobson's Brilliant Exploit.=--Admiral Sampson did not deem it advisable to steam in and attack Cervera, as the channel was thickly planted with mines. So our semicircle of s.h.i.+ps watched and waited. At night our strong search-lights blazed into the mouth of the harbor and lighted it with a fiery glare.
If the narrow neck of the harbor could only be somehow obstructed, so that Cervera's s.h.i.+ps would either be completely ”bottled up,” or would have to creep out to sea by daylight, the naval power of Spain would be crippled. So thought Admiral Sampson, and he selected Lieutenant Hobson for this daring deed. It meant going right into the midst of the enemy's batteries and torpedoes.
A large steamer, the Merrimac, was taken and loaded down with coal; and a crew of seven men were selected to go with Hobson. Strange fascination of mingled courage and patriotism! Hundreds of sailors begged the chance to go!
It was all carefully planned; and about two hours before dawn, on June 3, they started. As they drew near, the Spanish made the water boil and hiss with their shots. But on they went to the chosen spot, b.a.l.l.s and sh.e.l.ls striking all about, howling and shrieking in their ears and tearing their s.h.i.+p.
Coolly but quickly they sank the Merrimac, sprang to the raft they had prepared, and were clinging to it when the firing ceased and a little steam launch came up with Cervera in it! The Spanish admiral reached out and helped lift in Hobson and his seven comrades! He took them ash.o.r.e, praised them for their daring, gave them dry clothing, fed them, and soon after exchanged them for some Spanish officers who had been captured by our men. =358. The Army does Brilliant Service at Santiago.=--It was plain that the Spanish s.h.i.+ps would never come out until they were driven out. So during the last week in June an army of about twenty-five thousand men, under General Shafter, landed a few miles east of Santiago to cooperate with our fleet in capturing the city. Our forces, losing no time, moved on through tropical jungles, exposed to the enemy's sharpshooting from trees. It was a deadly advance towards log forts on the steep heights, impeded by the annoying tangle of barbed-wire fences.
On the first and second days of July our gallant troops captured the two forts, El Caney and San Juan, which overlooked Santiago, and drove the enemy in hot haste into the city.
=359. The Remarkable Naval Victory at Santiago.=--Then Cervera's hour had come! On July 3, a beautiful Sunday morning, the eyes that for more than a month had watched with sleepless vigilance that narrow opening between the rocks, saw at last the bow of a Spanish wars.h.i.+p. It slipped out and turned sharply to the west; then came another, and a third, and so on till all six had pa.s.sed. They at once opened a fierce but ill-directed fire upon our fleet.