Schley's Responsibility. It The subsequent criticisms of Schley's conduct embraced three charges. He was said to have delayed too long at Cienfuegos; but in that respect he replied that he acted within the discretion a high officer on detached service has a right to exercise, and he has a right to this defense. He was also blamed for the retrograde movement at Santiago. seems certain that he did not try hard enough to learn whether or not the enemy were in the inner harbor and that he showed little resourcefulness in trying to coal at sea. The third criticism was that when he established the blockade he lay so far out to sea that the Spaniards might have escaped had they been enterprising. There is little doubt that this was true. At the approach of hostilities he outranked Sampson, who was a favorite with the naval authorities. Both men were brave officers, and bore honorable parts in the campaign which followed. The Oregon. June 1 Sampson arrived and took command of the blockading fleet. He brought with him the powerful battleship Oregon, which had just completed, since March 19, the fourteen-thousand-mile trip from San Francisco around Cape Horn. Much fear had been felt for her safety when she reached the Caribbean Sea just as Cervera approached Cuba. May 9 she left Bahia, in Brazil; May 18 she was at Barbados; and six days later she was off the coast of Florida, joining Sampson at Key West as he was starting for Santiago. When asked if she could make thirteen knots, the captain signalled "Fourteen, if necessary." With the arrival of Sampson, the American fleet before Santiago included four first-class and one second-class battleships and two fast cruisers, besides two fast converted yachts able to meet torpedo-boat destroyers and several colliers and despatch boats. From the date of his coming the ships took station close inshore, with powerful searchlights at night bearing on the harbor mouth and always ready to fly at anything that attempted to escape. The channel leading into the harbor is only 350 feet wide at one point, and Sampson directed that a collier be sunk so as to block exit, but the order was not executed when he arrived, and his first care was to make the attempt. Lieutenant Richmond P. Hobson was selected to carry in the Merrimac, warp her athwart the channel, and sink her by exploding torpedoes and opening her sea valves. The point selected was directly under the guns of Morro Castle, but hundreds of men were ready to volunteer for the task. Only seven were taken, and just before dawn of June 3 the vessel glided noiselessly toward the harbor, Hobson and his devoted crew clad only in woollen underwear and going, as all men thought, to certain death. Behind the collier trailed a catamaran raft and a lifeboat in which they hoped to escape if opportunity offered. At five hundred yards from the castle they received a shower of shot, but coolly kept on, cast anchors at the designated spot, and sank the ship undisturbed by the hot fire concentrated A CALL FOR THE ARMY 795 upon them. But before the anchors caught the vessel was swung around by the current so that she did not settle across the channel, as was expected. In the operation the lifeboat was carried away, and Hobson and his crew, not hit by the Spanish shots, swam to the catamaran and concealed themselves under it until daylight, when they surrendered and were sent to Morro. They were well treated, and Admiral Cervera personally expressed admiration for their courage and informed Sampson of their safety. The incident resulted in failure, but the blockade continued with unrelenting vigor. Throughout June the giant sentinels stood guard, five miles out during the day, from one to three miles off during the night. On the sixth Sampson bombarded the forts, but the reply was weak. The Spanish guns were small and the ammunition was careProgress of the Blockfully husbanded. June 7 to 17, by means of hard fighting ade. by the marines, the Americans seized Guantanamo Bay and held it for a naval base. From this point Lieutenant Victor Blue, of the navy, with Cuban guides made two trips to the hills behind Santiago, located the hostile fleet, and made valuable topographical observations. His achievement, like Hobson's, was much acclaimed by the people at home. These feats, important as accessories to other movements, but indecisive in a large sense, marked the limit of the power of the navy, unless Cervera should elect to take the sea. Sampson recognized the fact, and turned to the army, saying; "If 10,000 men were here, city and fleet would be ours within 48 hours. Every consideration demands immediate army movement. If delayed, city will be defended more strongly by guns taken from the fleet." He reported the enemy in and around the city at 12,500. LAND OPERATIONS AGAINST SANTIAGO ganization. When the war began the regular army was enlarged to 62,000 men and a call was issued for 125,000 volunteers. A few days later congress called for 75,000 additional volunteers and authorized three regiments of cavalry and ten regiments from the Army Or Gulf states, composed of men immune to yellow fever. The response was enthusiastic; and throughout May and June regiments were assembling at Chickamauga Park, in the salubrious southern highlands. In August 58,688 regulars and 216,029 volunteers were in service. One regiment of volunteer cavalry drew special attention. It was commanded by Colonel Leonard Wood, formerly an army surgeon, and Theodore Roosevelt, who resigned an assistant secretaryship of the navy to be its lieutenant colonel. Most of the men were from the Far West, cowboys, ranchmen, and Indians, but it also contained prominent athletes from the Eastern universities. It was popularly known as "The Rough Riders." Shafter for The regulars were assembled at Tampa, Florida, with an idea of attacking Havana; but the summons of Sampson took them to Santiago. June 14 two infantry divisions under Brigadier Departure of Generals Kent and Lawton, one cavalry division under Santiago. Major General Joseph Wheeler, formerly of the confederate army, and four light and two heavy batteries of artillery, in all 16,887 men, set sail for the front, convoyed by a detachment of the navy. The "Rough Riders" served under Wheeler. The cavalry could not take their horses for want of transports, and the entire expedition lacked many necessary things. By some oversight only three ambulances were taken. The command was given to Major General Shafter, and on June 20 he arrived off Santiago, and two days later the disembarkment began. Defenses of Admiral Sampson overestimated the number of Spanish troops in Santiago. Their real number was 6500, distributed in the forts around the city with a large detachment thrown out to protect the water supply. General Linares, in command, was a competent officer, and the defenses were well placed, with strong protection from barbed-wire entanglements. His men were armed with magazine rifles using smokeless powder, while Shafter's men had black powder. The country around Santiago contained many troops placed as garrisons to hold back the insurgents, but through a strange kind of neglect they were not concentrated against the Ameri cans. Disembarkment. Shafter began to land his troops at Daiquiri on the morning of June 22. Here the shore runs east and west, and a road, parallel to it for the most part, reaches Siboney, six miles to the west, Las Guasimas three miles farther on, and San Juan Hill, seven miles still farther, and enters the city a little over a mile beyond that elevation. Along this road the Americans must advance. By nightfall of the 22d, 6000 men had landed through the surf at Daiquiri, the garrison there retreating before them. Nine hundred and sixty-four of the disembarked were dismounted cavalry under Wheeler, five hundred of whom were "Rough Riders." It was intended that Brigadier General Lawton should lead the advance and the cavalry bring up the rear; but Major General Wheeler outranked Lawton, and as Shafter remained on the transports Wheeler assumed command on shore. He lost no time in idleness, but moved his men to Siboney, and on the morning of the 23d attacked the retreating Spanish detachment at Las Guasimas. It was posted on a hill overlooking a wooded valley Las Guasi mas. through which the Americans approached by two roads. They were thus divided, as they came up, but deployed and formed line of battle. After an hour's fighting the Spaniards withdrew toward the city. They lost nine killed and twenty-seven wounded, while their opponents lost sixteen killed and fifty-two wounded. The skirmish was hardly over before Lawton's THE DEFENSES OF SANTIAGO 797 men rushed up from Siboney in order to get into the fight. From the crest of the captured hill Santiago could be seen, and the men were eager to go forward; but they were without supplies; and it was prudent to wait until the rest of the army and the stores could be landed. It was not until July 1 that the advance was resumed. Lines of Linares prepared for the onset at San Juan Hill, just east of which runs San Juan river, a small stream. On the hill itself he placed his first line, with a body of men thrown out to Kettle Hill, a smaller elevation at its foot, both hills commanding the Linares's river. A second line was half a mile in the rear of the first, Defense. and a third was 400 yards behind that and nearly a mile from the city. The first line was manned by 521 men, the second by 411, and the third by 140. There were many men in other parts of the field, but only a few of them were brought up in time to take part in the defense of these lines. Shafter's Three miles east of San Juan Hill the road crosses a small hill called El Poso, then falls into a thickly wooded valley which stretches away to San Juan river. Through this wood and parallel with the road runs a small tributary of the river, the road and river clearly discernible from San Juan Heights. Battle. Three miles north of El Poso, on the road from Santiago to Guantanamo, is El Caney, then a fortified village manned by 520 men. Shafter's plan was to send Lawton with 6500 men to seize this place and march at once down the road toward the city. When El Caney was taken the rest of the army under Wheeler and Brigadier General Kent was to move from their position behind El Poso, carry San Juan Hill, and the lines behind it, then unite with Lawton's advancing column, sweep away all further opposition, and enter Santiago. His army thought little of the fighting capacity of the Spaniards, and did not understand the advantage they had from smokeless powder and improved rifles. Lawton was confident he could carry El Caney, and promised to do it in two hours. He moved at dawn, July 1, but was delayed by wire Lawton's entanglements and the difficulty of bringing up his guns, and it was not until 2 P.M. that he had enveloped the village on three sides and was ready to carry it. His charge was received bravely, the Spaniards defending each position to the last, stubbornly falling back from one blockhouse to another, and finally fighting from the houses in the village until they were, at five o'clock, forced to withdraw to the northwest. This long battle in the hot sun under distressing conditions cost the Spaniards 270 killed and wounded and 150 captured. Lawton lost 81 killed and 360 wounded, and the time spent in the movement precluded his coöperation with the main column on the Santiago road. The other wing had not waited for him. Attack on At nine o'clock it crowded into the road and took its route to the ford beyond which it would form to carry the hill. There was much confusion, the progress was slow, and all was in view of the enemy on San Juan Hill who had the range of the road and the ford and delivered an annoying fire. By one o'clock this perilous march was ended, and the two brigades, 7573 in all, lay under what cover they could find 600 yards in front of the hill they were to charge. The men suffered continually, and were impatient to advance. For a short time no one seemed willing to order the charge. Finally the first cavalry brigade got permission to move; it was followed by the second, in which were the "Rough Riders" and the tenth regiment, colored, and the advance became general. The men rushed up the slope in little groups, paying slight attention to their officers, and firing as they went. At 1:30 P.M. they reached the crest, the defenders falling back into the second line of defense which commanded the position just relinquished. Holding San The men on the hill were now in extreme danger. They were without food, exhausted, demoralized by the exertions of the day, and on the point of falling back, when General Wheeler, who was ill early in the day, arrived and took command. He found some intrenching tools left by the Spaniards and induced General Shafter to send up others, and the hill was soon safe from the fire of the enemy's second line. July 2 brought heavy rains, from which the men had no protection. The road to the coast was a sluice of mud along which only the most meager supplies could be brought. Gloom settled down on the army, and it was doubtful if it could be induced to penetrate the city in front of it. All through the day it exchanged shots with the enemy, and the continuous firing, with other suffering, discouraged the troops, most of whom were new recruits and had never before seen a battle. |