Page 71 - NS-2 Textbook

64 MARITIME HISTORY

ago to capture the batteries. With naval assistance, the blockade weakened, the Spanish admiral chose this
Shafter landed at Daiquil'i, 16 nllies east of Santiago, on opportunity to try to escape. He realized his move was
22 June without opposition. an unlikely gamble, but he thought that this was the oniy
But Shafter had other ideas about how to conduct the way to avoid slll'render of his squadron without fighting.
operation. Instead of making his objective the Spanish That, he felt, would result in a terrible loss of honor, se-
batteries, he went charging into the jungle with the intent verely damage the morale of all Spanish forces, and de-
of capturing the city. He thought this would either force stroy Spain's l'eputation in Europe.
Cel'vera out into the waiting blockaders or cause him to The Infanta Maria Teresa, Cervera's flagship, headed
surrender or be destroyed in the harbor. directly for the harbor mouth at 0935 on 3 July. She was
Shafter's army found the going velY rough and slow. followed at ten-minute intervals by tlll'ee armored cruis-
His men were hampered by barbed-wire entanglements, ers and two desh·oyers.
poor trails, heatstroke, and typhoid fever. On 1 July the The American fleet, somewhat relaxed in Slmday
Spaniards made a strong stand at El Caney and San Juan blockade routine, was caught by surprise but quickly re-
Hill, inflicting nearly 1,500 casualties before retreating to covered. The Americans 'were under 'way tmvard the har-
the city's main defense lines. During this battle, Lieu- bor entrance as the Spaniards exited and turned west to
tenant Colonel Theodore Roosevelt's Rough Riders and a run along the coast. By now both sides were firing at
l'egiment of African American cavalrymen swarmed up each other, the American battleships concentrating on
nearby Kettle Hill on foot and threw the Spaniards off. the Teresa. The enemy shells were missing the American
(Roosevelt had resigned his post as assistant secretary of ships, but soon the Teresa was in bad shape. Hit repeat-
the navy in order to get into battlefield action.) edly by 8-inch and 12-inch shells, her wooden decks
Shaftel; shocked by his losses and ill with fever, con- ablaze, she nevertheless led her battle line out of the har-
sidered retreating to escape from the Spanish forces, bor and tried to ram the cruiser Bl'OoklYIl, Schley's flag-
which were now much larger than his own. As a last re- ship, before turning west. The Bl'Ookly", on Schley's or-
sort, however, he called on the Navy to try to force the ders, turned sharply away to the east, crossing the bow
entrance of the harbor to relieve the pressure on his men. of the Texas and almost causing a collision. The Bl'Ooklyll
Sampson was very upset by fhis request, as it was asking was then temporarily out of the fighting as she circled to
him to risk the fleet in a narrow, twisting, mined channel recover her position. The confusion enabled the Spanish
to save the Army, when the Army had not proceeded on to clear the harbOl; but soon the faster speed and supe-
its mission of silencing the shore batteries. On Slmday rior firepower of the American warships made the Span-
morning 3 July, the exasperated Sampson turned over ish ships blazing torches. 111ey turned into the beach, one
command of the blockading force to Commodore Schley at a time, to run aground and surrender rather than to
and sailed eastward along the Cuban coast in his flag- sink and lose all hands. As the BrooklY1l and battleships
shlp, the cruiser USS New York, to meet personally with Texas and Oregon cut down the Spanish cruiser Vizcaya,
Shafter. The blockade had been hll'ther weakened that Captain Philip of the Texas called to his jubilant crew,
morning with the departure of the USS Massachusetts for "Don't cheer, boys, the poor devils are dying." The Ore-
Guantanamo to refuel. gall overtook the last and fastest Spanish cruiser, Cristobal
Though the situation looked bad to the Americans, it COlOIl, about 70 miles west of Santiago. With 13-inch
looked worse to the Spanish. The Spanish authorities in shells slamming all around, the Cololl ran onto the beach
Havana, feeling that Santiago would probably soon fall, and surrendered. 11,e two Spanish destroyers were cut
had directed Cervera to escape at his first chance. Seeing to pieces by the battleship Indiana shortly after they

The Battle of Santiago de Cuba. Cervera came out of the harbor from anchorages behind Morrow Castle and ran into Schley's blockading force.
All Spanish ships were sunk or beached, with only one American killed and one wounded.