Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 20, Number 70, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 5 May 1899 — DEWEY'S GLORIOUS VICTORY [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

DEWEY'S GLORIOUS VICTORY

YEAR ago, when the smoke of battle rose from the surface of the Bay of Cavite, when nothing remained of the proud Spanish fleet but a few smoking hulks of junk—some so far "beneath the waves that they will remain there to rust and rot forever, others still burning and

sending up a reek of smoke, not of battle, but of abject helplessness and surrender—this republic of ours sprang at one bound from a naval power of the sixth class to an acknowledged equality with the most powerful on the .globe. The name of George Dewey, some time of Vermont, had been placed along with those of Drake, Nelson, De Ruyper, Collingwood and Farragut. When Dewey, theretofore almost unknown, hoisted the signal to “Remember the Maine” the American Jackies took it to mean the same as the words of Nelson’s famous sentence. They cheered the flag and cut loose with a smothering fire which made it impossible for the Spaniard to serve his guns with any accuracy. When the fight was ended the Spanish fleet was not surrendered to the victors; it had ceased to exist. The commander had little to surrender but himself and the few remaining uninjured men under his command. The victory was a glorious one and was won without damage to the victor. Six men in all that fleet received injuries, the most serious being a broken leg. When day dawned in Mirs bay, a little land-locked inlet on the eastern coast of China, thirty-five miles north of Hong Kong, on the morning of April 27, a mist hid the face of the sun. Heavy batiks of clouds covered the gray hulls of the fleet resting at anchor there for the coming of the news of the outbreak of war. A cold frizzle soon came to add to the discomforts, to increase the gloom of the anxious watchers. Every moment of delay meant so much grace and so much preparation in Manila. Would the news never come? Morning mess had hardly been sounded when a sudden call to quarters roused every man aboard ship. A faint smudge of smoke had been made out at the mouth of the bay. Was it a tug with the important news, or had the Spaniard anticipated the Yankee? Men sprang to their positions, guns were scaled and. everything cleared for instant action should it be needed. Up to the gray Olympia steamed the little vessel, which proved to be the long-looked-for tug. Consul General Williams went aboard the flagship and soon the signal waq bent on the halliards calling ship commanders to a conference with the commodore. Soon the signal, was seen to up anchor and drop in the wake of the flagship. Out steamed the Olympia, followed in turn by the Baltimore, Raleigh, Petrel, Concord and Boston in one line. Abreast of the flagship the little cutter McCulloch steamed on, followed by the Nanshan and Zafiro in the second line. The formation for the descent upon Manila had been made. No matter if it did rain, apother kind of rain would soon envelope that little fleet of warships. Silently, in regular order, with a way of but six or eight knots, the fleet put to sea. Then a strange ceremony was enacted on the decks. Each crew was piped to general quarters. When all had assembled the executive officers stepped to the front and informed officers and men that the commodore directed that the proclamation of war issued by Spain be read. Slowly and impressively the words were read. Then hearty cheers rose on the heavy air as the men dispersed to their several positions. On speeded the vessels, now divested of almost everything needless in a hot fight. Six hundred miles away was Manila, but who could tell where Montejo and his fleet might be lurking? What land is that to the south and east? That is Bolmoa cape. It is a part of the island of Luzon. Manila is on that island. See it Is about six miles off. It is a bright morning, this April 30, what will to-mor-row be like? One thinks of the green shores and broken headlands of the south Atlantic looking at that dim line off there. See the Boston and Concord have put on steam and are far in advance. What is their mission? They go to explore Subig bay. The don may have a vessel or two there and if so he can come up behind and smash the transpbrts Nanshan and Zafiro. The commodore will smash him first. Hot, hot beyond belief. The vessels roll lazily along, seeming to make no way. At this rate it will be late in the afternoon before the inhospitable shores of Corregidor are sighted. Now the Baltimore gets up speed and disappears in the wake of the two gunboats which have gone forward as scouts. It needs her big eightinch guns to add to their lighter ones to give the possibly waiting enemy an object lesson. Big guns count in naval warfare now; just wait and see until the clash when the hostile armadas meet. But what of the rapid-fire guns, the little fellows? Good to keep off torpedo boats; they won't be needed. Wait and see. The afternoon is long and very hot. Why so slow? Manila is but thirty miles away. See, there is Subig bay and there the smoke of one of the scouts, or is it that of a hostile vessel? Scarcely the latter, or we would have heard the guns. The scouts will not giVe in without a hot fight, mind you. Here come the Boston and Concord; that is the Baltimore behind. What? Stop the engines? Yes, the old man slants all commanders to come aboard to consult. So here off Subig the fleet must lay until the final plans are adopted. All right, as well here as anywhere else. Six o’clock and once more under steam. Battle ports are taken out and all lights aboard ordered extinguished. The line is Iffhcu U)' uvauiCf *’ c Vl * ‘“v** *v#uui|s and the Boston dosing the main line. Only tike following ships may not foul the for-

the ships are lost in its impenetrable gloom. But 400 yards part them, yet one cannot see the vessel in front, nor the one directly aft. Quietly, with not a sound on board, the fleet approaches the entrance to Manila bay. The old man has determined to £ass Corregidor, the dreaded island which guards' the entrance, to the south. What does he care if the passage be mined and filled with torpedoes, he will pass the island in the secrecy of darkness or fight his way by if need be. He goes to Manila to fight the Spaniards and such little things as mines and torpedoes will not stop him. He does not send in the little gunboats to blaze the way and hunt for torpedoes—a duty they might well undertake from their lighter. draught—but he leads the way with the biggest skip in his eommand. The huge Olympia, with over 1,000 tons greater displacement than any other vessel in the fleet, is in the van and the old man is on the bridge. The Olympia, Baltimore, Raleigh, Concord and Petrel are well beyond the island as midnight chimes. The Boston and McCulloch are still under the fire of the land batteries on either side. Success for the commodore’s plan of slipping by in darkness seems certain. But just as this thought enters the mind a column of fire rushes from the funnel of the little cutter. For a couple of minutes it hisses and roars, then subsides. The after 3-inch gun is manned and loaded, and the crew stands by to fire, but no shot comes from shore. Once more upward shoots that column of flame. Over on the shore a light flashes for a moment and then! A flash of fire, a puff of white smoke and a shell screams over the little cutter. The order to return the fire is about to be given, but is withheld for a moment. Once more the dull report is heard and once more a shell flies over the little vessel. “After bridge, there,” calls the commander of the Boston. “Aye, aye, sir.” “Clear away those after turret guns.” “Aye, aye, sir.” Silently but for the sharp words of command the men work on the big guns. Cartridges are sent home, breech locked and

the officer reports all ready. Then comes the order to fire. Oat from the muzzles spring the first big shells of the battle of Manila; the war has commenced in earnest. But the projectiles do no damage on either side and sodn the lines of ships are oat of range, seventeen miles from Manila. All bands go below and take a sleep, for in the morning we fight the don. Day dawns clear and bright May 1. The fleet is standing past Cavite for Manila, looking for the enemy. While the men are waiting for the morning mess call the Spanisfl fleet is seen snugly ensconsed in behind the arsenal. The Reina Cristina la in front The Castilla is nearly abreast of her and ia protected by barges so shells cannot pierce, her sides. So the don was ready. Well, so much the better. Although the Americans are four miles away a puff of smoke comes from the forward 1 turret of the flagship of the enemy and the fight commences. Dewey turns the prow of the Olympia sharp to starboard and bears directly down on the enemy. The cruisers and gunboats follow in order excepting the which steams in toward the point and engages a shore battery. Not a shot is fired in reply as the vessels still steam rapidly toward the enemy. Shells are shrieking all around them. At last the Olympia sheers up and crosses the line of fire. The commodore, sedately standing on his bridge, still preserves his reputation for placidity and silence. In the conning tower Captain Gridley peers out at his superior in an agony of desire to get into action. When the line has swept almost dear across the admiral —he flies the flag of that rank—turns to the impatient commander of his flagship and remarks slowly: “Yon may begin as soon as yon are ready, Gridiey.” “Aye, aye, sir,” ia the grim response. big eight-inch forwsrd guns belch forth fiasne and smoke. The battle of'Manila

find only deliberately: Men cannot handle the enormous shells, so steam winches are used. But the Petrel and Concord, with their small-bore guns,, can fire with dazzling rapidity. The smaller calibers on all the vessels in the fleet are hot at work, sending out a continuous hail of projectiles. A six-pounder shell is not big to look at, but It travels nearly as far as a six-inch. When it reaches its destination it expands into a peck measure of hurtling missiles, busily looking for victims. Over into those vessels of the don these peck Pleasures are bursting at the rate, of several hundred to the minute. Small wonder then that he is unable to handle his guns with any degree of accuracy. Slowly the American ships move in the form of a wide ellipse. Turning, they put'their port batteries into action, giving the boys on the other side of the vessels a rest. Rut it is but a brief moment, for once more the starboard batteries swing into range. Thrice the ships wheel in the ellipse, drawing ever nearer to the enemy. Flashes of fire are seen emerging from hatches on several of the ships of tike latter. At 1,500 yards the American fire riddles the enemy. The Cristina steams out to ram the Olympia, but, receiving the concentrated fire of the whole fleet, is glad to retire to cover. As the attacking fleet turns to steam out and take a rest the Olympia pumps an eight-inch shell into the flagship of the dpn and rakes her fore and aft. The huge fabric goes up in smoke and flame as a magazine explodes, rending her into pieces. Dewey draws off his ships after two hours’ fighting to take account of damage. In all that fleet after these two hours of fierce conflict none is hurt. In all the crews but six men have been injured, not one dangerously. A marvel in sea fighting has been accomplished and a nation scorned and reviled is now feared by all, for she has a navy and men who can fight it. A couple of hours resting that the men might breakfast follows the first battle. Then the little Petrel, which had dodged in and out, fought at short range with vessels superior in weight and armament, flashing here and there, is sent in behind the arsenal where her heavier consorts cannot go. In goes the stanch little craft while the others resume the battle. But it is no longer a battle, for the enemy, though bravk and defiant, has been so fearfully crippled that longer defense is fruitless. But for a couple of v hours the shells hiss and explode over the sunken, burning remains of the Spanish fleet. Then again the Americans draw off. By noon the fighting is all over, the opposing fleet utterly wiped out and not a vessel of the Americans injured above or below. No commander ever put to sea with the purpose of seeking a fight who did not ex-

pect to get a run for his money. Dewey did not underestimate the strength of his enemy, for he sailed slowly and took every possible precaution all the way from Hong Kong to Cavite to avoid surprise. Hl« daring has never been excelled, for he dashed into n narrow channel commanded on both sides by heavy land batteries and mined -throughout, its extent, as he supposed. That this was not so takes nothing from his fame. He did not know it. Had it been true he in his flagship would have been the first victim of what a few have been hardy enough to call his recklessness. But to fight he must get within striking distance of the enemy. His passage of Corregidor under cover of night wag but a proper precaution to avoid possible crippling before meeting Montejo. What a difference in the estimation of the world of the republic of America between sunset of Saturday, April 30, and the dawn of Sunday, May 1. As the ships drew near the mouth of Manila harbor the world watched with eagerness, fearing and some hoping that the daring American commander would be whipped. He attacked a force stronger than Jus—on paper—and could at beat, the critics said, make it a drawn battle. But with the smothering fire of bit rapid-fire guns, the accuracy of aim for which Americans on land and sea are noted, he bore down on the Spaniard and not only won, bat annihilated him in less than half a day of fighting. That battle changed the face of the globe. That battle taught the scornful lords of Europe with their enormous military and naval establishments, to respect the starry banner. With fewer ships than most other nations, a few Deweys and a few such men behind the guns as fought at Cavite, would be formidable opponents to the mightiest fleet under sail. Nations fell over each other In their desire to express their wondering admiration for man who dared and the men who executed # « i a « .* « .