much at the first. . . . Our total force for the order of battle, prior to the arrival of the Oregon, was nominally only equal to that of the enemy, and, when divided between the two objects named, the halves were not decisively superior to the single squadron under Cervera, — which also might be reinforced by some of the armored ships then in Spain. The situation, therefore, was one that is not infrequent, but always embarrassing, a double purpose and a single force, which, although divisible, ought not to be divided. .

... The Flying Squadron was kept in Hampton Roads to calm the fears of the seaboard, and to check any enterprise there of Cervera, if intended or attempted. The other division of the armored fleet, however, was placed before Havana, where its presence not only strengthened adequately the blockading force proper, but assured also the safety of our naval base at Key West, both objects being attainable by the same squadron, on account of their nearness to each other. . . .

. Cervera's destination was believed — as it turned out, rightly believed to be the West Indies. His precise point of arrival was a matter of inference only, as in fact was his general purpose. A natural surmise was that he would go first to Puerto Rico. . . . Whatever the particular course of reasoning, it was decided that a squadron under Admiral Sampson's command should proceed to the Windward Passage for the purpose of observation, with a view to going further eastward if it should appear advisable. Accordingly, on the 4th of May, five days after Cervera left the Cape de Verde, the Admiral sailed for the appointed position. . . .

. . He then decided to go on to San Juan, the chief seaport of Puerto Rico, upon the chance of finding the Spanish squadron there . . . and on the early morning of the 12th arrived off San Juan. An attack upon the forts followed at once, lasting from 5.30 to 7.45 A.M.; but, as it was evident that the Spanish division was not there, the Admiral decided not to continue the attack, although satisfied that he could force a surrender. . . .

. . . The squadron started back immediately to the westward. During the night of this same day . . . towards midnight, reliable information was received at the Navy Department that Cervera's squadron had arrived off Martinique, four armored cruisers and three torpedo destroyers. . . .

The departure of Admiral Cervera from Martinique for Curaçao was almost simultaneous with that of Admiral Sampson from San Juan for Key West. . . . When he began thus to retrace his steps, he was still

ignorant of Cervera's arrival. . . . But on the morning of the 15thSunday at 3.30, his despatch-boat returned to him with the official intelligence, not only of the enemy's being off Martinique, but of his arrival at Curaçao, which occurred shortly after daylight of the 14th. The same telegram informed him that the Flying Squadron was on its way to Key West, and directed him to regain that point himself with all possible rapidity. . . .

...

The Flying Squadron had sailed at 4 P.M. of the 13th. . . . It is to be inferred from the departure of these vessels that the alarm about our own coast, felt while the whereabouts of the hostile division was unknown, vanished when it made its appearance. . .

The Department could calculate certainly that, by the time its message reached Sampson, his division would be so far advanced as to ensure interposing between Havana and the Spaniards, if the latter came by the Windward Passage from the eastward. It was safe, therefore, or at least involved less risk of missing the enemy, to send the Flying Squadron to Cienfuegos, either heading him off there, or with a chance of meeting him in the Yucatan Channel, if he tried to reach Havana by going west of Cuba. But... Cienfuegos was thought the more likely destination. . .

On the 19th of May the Department received probable, but not certain, information that the enemy's division had entered Santiago. . .

Although the information received of Cervera's entering Santiago was not reliable enough to justify detaching Sampson's ships from before Havana, it was probable to a degree that made it imperative to watch the port in force at once. . . .

The intention of Commodore Schley to return to Key West precipitated the movement of Admiral Sampson, with his two fastest ships, to Santiago; but the step would certainly have been taken as soon as the doubt whether all the Spanish division had entered was removed. . . .

. Fortunately, on second thoughts, the Commodore decided to remain; but before that was known to the Department, Sampson had been directed, on May 29th, to proceed with the New York and the Oregon, the latter of which had only joined him on the 28th. . . .

Admiral Sampson with his two ships arrived off Santiago on the 1st of June at 6 A.M., and established at once the close watch of the port which lasted until the sally and destruction of Cervera's squadron.

Alfred T. Mahan, Lessons of the War with Spain (Boston, 1899), 30-180 passim.

184. Capture of Santiago (1898)

BY JOHN BLACK ATKINS

Atkins was war correspondent for the Manchester Guardian, an English newspaper, and in that capacity accompanied General Shafter's army in the campaign against Santiago.

A

BOUT five o'clock on the evening of Sunday, July 10, began what is known as the second bombardment. The firing was desultory, and almost entirely on the American side. But even there it was very slight the guns in one battery, for example, were being fired only once in nine minutes. ..

When I awoke the next morning the first thing I saw was a new regiment of volunteers just come to the front, with the sunlight aslant on their faces. They all expected to receive their baptism of fire that day; their friends rallied them on the expectation, and they on their side replied facetiously. After the first sunlight came a dulness over the whole sky, so that the day was like night sick to reverse Shakspere's phrase. A mist still lay over part of Santiago; everything was still, and dead, and wet, and silent; the leaves of the palms seemed as though they must fall for very heaviness. Perhaps the valley was never more strangely rich and beautiful. A shell came up from the American fleet, fired blindly at a range of over 8,000 yards, and plunged with a shrill cry into the mist; we could not see it burst. The American artillery was now a little stronger than on July 1. To the sixteen guns with which the fighting had begun eight mortars had been added and were now in position. But I heard an officer say that the ammunition for them could be fired away in half an hour with only four mortars in use. The siege guns which came with the first expedition had never been taken off the ships. General Randolph, who had lately arrived with General Miles, brought with him six batteries, and some of these guns were at the front and some were on their way there, but apparently none had yet been put in position. The artillery was of course delayed by the badness of the roads. When I left the front for the last time some of General Randolph's guns were still stuck in a mud pool. The engineers appeared to do little. Where were they? Were they all building permanent forts in the United States? Of the brooks that one crossed on the ordinary route between General Shafter's headquarters and the front not one was bridged over; one would think that with so much timber handy they

could have been bridged at about the rate of one an hour. As it was, waggons sometimes overturned in them, and soldiers who had to wade through them were made unnecessarily wet.

The American intention was to surround the city as nearly as possible by extending the right of the line till it reached beyond the end of the harbour. Most of the infantry firing was in that direction, and for this reason General Lawton's division was strengthened by the transference to it of a brigade from General Kent's division. As on the previous evening, the firing was slight; the most active guns of all were those of the Rough Riders. Perhaps there never were volunteers who went about their business with greater zest than these, or who learned more in so short a time. Not content with the amount of ordinary artillery, they carried about with them quick-firing guns as a kind of personal equipment. Someone had presented this Colt to the regiment, someone else that Gatling, others had bought among them the dynamite gun. Sometimes there was a noise exactly like rapping on a door — that was one of the Colts at work; sometimes there was a noise like the grinding of coffee that was one of the Gatlings. One of these nights I spent in the Rough Riders' camp. The men in the trenches were like men out for a holiday; their chief characteristic was a habit of cheering on every possible occasion; they used to cheer when they went into the trenches, and cheer when they came out; they used to cheer when there was food, but also when there was no food. The camp used to laugh for hours over some quite silly joke, which seemed at the time to be mightily amusing and witty, and afterwards it would turn out that it was only that the silliness had been opportune. It was vastly amusing, for example, to hear a certain officer, whose name had incessantly to be repeated, spoken of as General Mango, or another officer spoken of as Lieutenant-Colonel Cocoanut. These light-hearted people did as much firing as they were allowed to do with the quick-firing instruments which one had come to look upon almost as their playthings. The dynamite gun was not fired very often, because it used to become jammed, but everybody loved it as a great big expensive toy. The firing string was not very long — not longer than that of an ordinary field-piece but, as the operator used to explain, if the gun blew up you were no better off fifty yards away than five. When the gun was fired there was very little noise only the sound of a rocket; but when the shell exploded there was a tremendous detonation. It was said that everything near the explosion was devastated. In one case a Spanish gun and a tree were seen to be

hurled bodily into the air. It was my singular misfortune, however, to find no traces of the devastation done by this terrible instrument.

Colonel Roosevelt, the lieutenant-colonel of the Rough Riders, since elected Governor of New York, was a man who impressed one. He is the typical strong man, with the virtues and defects of the strong man; creating opposition and making enemies, but in the end beating down in his own direct, honest, didactic way the opposition which he himself has created, and turning, often, into friends the enemies whom he himself has made. So that in every adventure he almost inevitably to use the expressive American phrase 'gets there.' The impulse of which he is capable was illustrated by his sudden resignation of his Assistant Secretaryship to the Navy to command this whimsical, gallant regiment. The Rough Riders were the devotees of his person.

All the morning of July 11 the bombardment was a half-hearted affair. Neither side left its trenches. At noon General Toral, who had succeeded General Linares, sent out a flag of truce saying that he would meet General Miles personally in conference the next day. With the flag the firing ceased, and, as all the world knows, never began again....

John Black Atkins, The War in Cuba (London, 1899), 176–182 passim.

185. Ultimatum in the Negotiation of Peace (1898)

BY ENVOY WILLIAM RUFUS DAY

Day was assistant secretary of state from the beginning of McKinley's administration, and when Sherman resigned the state portfolio at the outbreak of the Spanish War, Day was appointed his successor. Later in the year he resigned, and became head of the commission to negotiate peace with Spain. This extract is from his official letter to the head of the Spanish commission.

H

Paris. November 22, 1898.

AVING received and read your letter of today, touching the final proposition presented by the American Commis sioners at yesterday's conference, I hasten to answer your enquiries seriatim, first stating your question, and then giving my reply.

"First. Is the proposition you make based on the Spanish colonies being transferred free of all burdens, all, absolutely all outstanding obli