The San Francisco call. [volume], July 04, 1898, Page 2, Image 3

About The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913

Image provided by: University of California, Riverside; Riverside, CA

                
2
A view of Santiago and the upper
bay looking to the west from the El
Puzo Ridge, south of the town of
Caney, where the American right un
der General Lawton rested on Satur
day.
Directly in the center of the picture,
in the quarter called "Alta," is the fam
WILL RUSH
MORE TROOPS
TO SHAFTER
General Reports the Need
: -;fi£of Reinforcements to
Take Santiago.
So the War Department Will
Send Additional Men to End
the Fearful Carnage.
Washington, July 3.—
From the bent and carnage of the
battle of Santiago, where for the
last '-three (lays the American
forces', have pressed forward
against at. entrenched enemy.
Genera } Shafter to-day sent the
following dispatch, summarizing
the situation :
PLAYA DEL ESTE,
July 3— To Secretary of
War; W ashington:
Camp n ear Sevilla,
July: 3-— We have the
town : well invested in
the north and east, but
with va very thin line.
Upon approaching it we
find it of such a char
acter arid the defense
sp strong it will be im
possible to carry it by
storm with, my present
forces. Our losses up
to date will aggregate a
thousand, but the list
has not yet been made.
But little sickness out
side of exhaustion from
intense heat and exer
tion of trie battle of the
day before yesterday
and the almost con-
stant fire which is kept
up on the trenches. The
wagon road to the rear
is kept up with some
difficulty on account of
rains, but I will be able
to use it for the present.
General Wheeler is seri
ously ill and will prob
ably have to go to the
rear to=day. General
Young is also very ill and
confined to his bed. Gen
eral Hawkins was slight
THE CITY OF SANTIAGO AND ITS GIRDLE OF GRIM FORTRES^cS.
ous old cathedral of Santa Ana, and to
the right the Church of La Trinidad
and to the left the Dolores Church. In
front of the cathedral on a hill, where
the road to Sevilla leaves the "Camino
del Caney," stands one of the best and
most advanced of the many forts
guarding the several approaches to the
ly wounded in foot dur
ing a sortie made last
night, which was hand
somely repulsed. The
behavior of the troops
was magnificent. Gen
eral Garcia reported he
holds the railroad from
Santiago to San Luis
and has burned a
bridge and removed
some rails ; also that
General Pando has ar
rived at Palma and that
the French Consul with
about 400 French citi
zens came into his line
yesterday from Santi
ago ; have directed him
to treat them with every
courtesy possible.
SHAFTER,
Major General.
Secretary Alger sent the fol
lowing reply to General Shafter:
To General Shatter: The
: President directs me to say that
you have the gratitude and
! thanks of the nation for the
; brilliant and effective work of
your noble army on Friday,
, July I. The steady valor and
; heroism of officers and men
thrill the American people with
pride. The country mourns
the brave men who fell in bat
tle. They have added new
names to our roll of heroes.
ALGER, Secretary of War.
The dispatch speaks for itself,
and, as Adjutant General Corbin
said, tells what a desperate fight
our gallant troops have been in.
It was received at noon to-day,
after a lull of nearly thirty-six
hours in the official information
from the field.
At first, when it became known
that the American commander
THE SA^ FRAXCISOO CALL, MONDAY, JULY 4, 1898.
city, the Fuerte Canosa. To the right
of Canosa come in succession Fuerte
Espanta Buenos, Fuerte Santa Inez,
Fuerte Cuasilas, Fuerte Antonio, be
tween Ta Arriba and the San Luis
roads, and the Fuerte Tarayo at the
head of the bay guarding the road from
Palma Soriano by which General
FIRST FLEET AT MANILA,
Continued from First Page.
Washington correspondent telegraphs :
Secretary Long received to-night a dis
patch announcing the arrival of the dis
patch boat Zafiro at Hongkong for the
purpose of filing dispatches from Rear
Admiral Dewey.
At a late hour to-night these dis
patches had not arrived, but as they do
not usually come in until morning the
authorities are not concerned over the
delay.
It is believed the purpose of the Ad
miral in sending the Zafiro to Hongkong
was merely to assure the Government
of the safety of the troops and that the
operations against Manila would be
commenced at once.
It is the understanding of the depart
ment that as soon as the American
troops have recovered from the effects
of their voyage they will at once co
operate with the insurgents and ships
for the reduction of the city, and it is
confidently expected the present week
will bring the good news that Manila
also has surrendered to the American
forces.
had reported the defenses to be
so strong it would be impossible
to carry them by storm with his
present force, there was moment
arily a wave of deep apprehen
sion. But this was not shared by
the military authorities here. All
their energies, all their attention,
was turned to meet the situation
as presented by General Shafter.
There was neither time nor dis
position to take account of what
had gone before, when the fact
was plain that the American army
had fought its way, inch by inch,
under a blazing sun,, through a
dense tropical vegetation, stead
ily advancing and beating back
the foe, taking position after posi
tion, until, as General Shafter re
ported, the town was well in
vested on the north and east by
the long drawn out line of Amer
ican troops. That was a sufficient
tribute to the valor of our brave
men, and it silenced all cavil over
the conditions now presented by
General Shafter.
It was a time for action, for re
enforcements, and toward the
Pando came with the re-enforcements
from Manzanlllo.
The first fort on the left of Canosa
is the Fuerte Pedrera, with Fuerte
Santa Ursula and Fuerte de las Can
adas covering the road from Justica,
Fuerte Benehcencia and Fuerte del
Castro on the San Juan and
execution of this end every effort
of the administration was at once
turned.
But there was other Information of a
different tenor coming about the same
time. The American army was not
alone feeling the effects of this three
days' shock of arms. Definite, posi
tive information was at hand that San
tiago had been literally torn to pieces,
and that in the wreck and ruin of de
molished buildings the Spanish casual
ties numbered fully 1000. This was a
fitting offset of any qualms raised by
the reports from the American lines.
This information came to one of the en
gineers stationed at Santiago, who re
ported to the representatives of his
country in Washington the fearful ha
voc within the city wrought by the
American army and the fleet.
The distress of the city, even before
the battle, was clearly shown by the
action of the French Consul in serving
out rationb of half a pound daily to his
fellow countrymen, a few hundred la
number, for the last onth. Evidently
there was no .ood to buy, the Spanish
military forces having taken every
available pound. Only by this official
distribution cf rations to the foreign
colony could they be kept from star
vation.
Then came the brief but graphic re
cital of the terrible effect of the Amer
ican attack from land and sea. The
bursting of shells from our fleet had
dor.c the 'test damage inside of the
city. Buildings were riddled with rifle
shot and mown down with the huge
shells and solid projectiles from the
shir I*.1 *. Most serious of all. the Spanish
commander, General Linares, occupy-
the Aguadores roads. Then an
other fort not named on the road to
Las Cruses, h^lf way down the entire
side of the bay.
Outside the circle of forts come the
line of earthworks and the line of
blockhouses, the three constituting the
immediate and most important defenses
ing a place similar :o that of General
Shafter in the American army, was se
riously wounded. This last fact had
been grudgingly admitted from Madrid,
but the report reaching here left no
room for doubt as to the seriousness of
this feature. With it was the further
fact that the Spanish casualties, even
behind entrenchments, ran up to a
thousand, and was equal to that of the
fearless men who fought in the open.
With all the lights furnished on the
situation, official and unofficial, direct
and indirect, it was apparent that each
side had suffered terribly, with not a
period of lull for those In responsibility
to measure their conditions, bury their
dead, care for their wounded and pre
pare for the graver conflict yet to come.
The President and his war advisers
remained calm throughout the trying
experiences of the day. All their at
tention was directed to the work of
preparation. The future movements
of General Shafter are well established.
They have been made known in his dis
patch, but it was demed advisable not
to make this portion public as it would
serve to advise the enemy of the Amer
ican plan. It can only be said that
General Shafter's forces will be strong
ly and favorably located, with the guns
of the American warships serving as
an additional protection to their front.
Re-enforcements will be hurried to
them, which will be ample for any
emergency, whether it be storm or
siege.
With Santiago partially wrecked and
filled with a thousand dead and
wounded, the condition there is des
perate, even critical. There is little
likelihood of any Spanish sortie in force
under such circumstances, but the pos
sibility is still open that the Spanish
garrison may seek relief by evacuating
the city and retiring to the mountain
paths to the north. But the American
plans are for offensive, vigorous action.
As General M'les said, 50,000 troops, if
need be, will be moved on Santiago; if
more are needed, then it will be 75,000.
The lesson of Santiago has served only
to enkindle a greater earnestness
throughout every avenue of official life
at the national capital. And there is
a deep-set determination to meet heroic
conditions with heroic treatment.
Following the receipt of General
Shafter's telegram there was a hurried
war conference at the White House.
Secretary Alger, accompanied by Gen
eral Corbin, reached there a few min
utes before 1 o'clock and was imme
diately closeted with the President.
Secretary Alger brought the Shafter
dispatch with him and also maps and
other data necessary for the important
meeting about to take place. General
Corbin was with the President and the
Secretary for a few minutes and then
hurried back to the War Department,
where he made public such portions of
General Shafter's dispatch as was com
paiible with the public interest As
sistant Secretary Meiklejohn, who has
a thorough knowledge of the transport
service, was also hastily summoned
and reached the White House about 1
o'clock. The conference lasted for
some time.
General Miles, who also was at the
White House, said that re-enforce
ments would be rushed to the assist
ance of General Shafter, and if neces
sary, these would aggregate 50,000 men,
though the general had no idea that
such a number would by any means
be necessary.
The combined American and Cuban
forces now under the command of Gen
eral Shafter amounted approximately,
he said, to 23,000 men, while those
available for the Spaniards were prob
ably 23,000 soldiers. These included,
however, the men at Holguin, presum
ably about 10,000, and the force under
another Spanish general, amounting to
about 8000 men.
General Miles d not say whether the
two bodies of men last referred to had
actually joined General Linares, but
the understanding here is that they
have not. Colonel Humphries is in
charge of the transport service with
Shafter's army, and will send back
to Tampa the vessels that can be
spared as rap'lly as possible. In fact,
word has been -"ceived that the trans
ports had started for the United States
this lorning.
If poss the War Department will '
send 35,000 men from Tampa on uiese
transports. Six vessels have been re
cently loaded with men, munitions,
arms, supplies, etc., and are now either
at Key West or oi their way to rein
force Shafter's army. Included in this
of the city from attack by land.
Admiral Cervera's late fleet is showr
in the position it took on Thursdaj
above Cayo Ralones, from which th<
vessels and their guns fired with deadlj
effect on our troops under Genera
Kent when assaulting San Jaur
Heights on Friday.
expedition are some batteries of artil
lery. In all tl.ese forces constitute
about 2o( or 3000 men.
General Miles, in the course of a brief
talk, said to-day that General Shatter
might contemplate the withdrawal of
his forces to the highlands in the direc
tion of Sibonf\, whore they would be
near the sea. This, however, would be
a temporary expedient, enabling the
soldiers to rest and prepare for the
work ahead
Th- officials hope to rush the rein
forcements to General Shafter, so that
there will be f rom 32,000 to 35,000 men
under his command within the next ten
days, and sooner if this can be ar
ranged. This is exclusive of the insur
gents, . horn General Garcia has
been able to bring to Shafter's com
mand approxi ately 4000 men. There
\ver« about 15,:00 men and officers in
the expedition that set out from Tampa
less than a month ago. These have
since been reinforced by the troops of
Brigadier General Dyffield's command,
amounting to 3000 men and consisting
of the Thirty-third and Thirty-fourth
Michigan and the Nint'. Massachusetts
regiments. Th • first 1400 of General
Duffield's brigade have been with Shaf
ter for a week, while the remainder
have just debarked.
During the past week a expe
dition of large proportion was sched
uled to leav rampa, carrying a good
porti n of General Simon Bnyder's divi
sion of the Fourth Corps as reinforce
ments for General Shatter. Assistant
Secretary Mciklejohn said to-day that
eleven transports were available to
carry Snyder's troops, and. while with
out official information on the subject
he assumed th^t probably 5000 of them
were on the way in these transports to
join those in Santiago Province. The
other troops to be sent to the aid of
General Shafter will, according to the
understanding here, be the remaining
portion of General Snyder's division
nand such other regiments now at Tar
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pa best equiiped and ready for active
work. ; .
General Btooke, commanding at
Chickamauga, has already received in
structions to lave fifteen regiments
prepared for immediate movement.
General Snydeifs division, which waa
under orders for Santiago, included the
following regiments: Eleventh and
Nineteenth Infantry of the regular
army; the First District of Columbia;
the Second New York; the Fifth Mary
land; the Third Pennsylvania; the Qn£
l.undred and Flfty.-sevfenth Indiana
and the First 0hi0.. .
General Garretson's brigade, now at
Camp Alger, Va., is under orders; for
Santiago. General Garretson's brigade
is composed of the Sixth Illinois, Fifth
Massachusetts and . the Eighth Ohio
Volunteer regiments. The army offi
cers, feeling that they have profited by
the experience in preparing the first ex
pedition, say better time will be made
with those to follow. The Mohawk and
the Mississippi, two. .vessels of the
American transport line, just acquired
by the Government, have facilities for
abou 1800 men an'" .'animals, and will be
utilized in sending aid to Shafter. They
are now at New York under orders for
Tampa. ■'•'•.- - ■
NEWS FROM MANILA
HAILED WITH JOY
Safe Arrival of the. Volunteers Ends
the Anxiety Felt Throughout ;^
the -State.
The news that our boys have at last
reached their destination :in the Orient
canr it fair to send a thrill of. \[ joy '■'■
through the heart; of! every patriotic
American, and -this Reeling: will be par
ticularly strong b.ri triiaiedasti as it is to
the .glory of California .that the ; : first :
troops to sail.fpr a; /foreign land --wer« '\
from the Golden .State.; .; ' . ,
The day w.he'. : the, :trah*fpbrtsf sailed/
the 26th of May, \v4lf live in the mlnda
of those who witrfeissed : the • event as :
long as body ajrfd' soul hold together. On
the morning of the^tthiarhid; the boom,
ing of cannon an.d : hoarse cheering of
thousands, the bo-ys : of the Hrst Cali
fornia Volunteers, under command pi
Colonel Smith,, marched idowii Market-,
stree 1 and boarded the' City of Peking. .
They were followed by; tjie Headquar- '
ters and two battalions : /the;; Second
Oregon, detailed to jj the Australia, and
the Headquarters' and; .a : b&Ualtbn of:.
the Fourteenth United , States infantry, ;
a battar of the Second- Oregori : Vol- •
unteers and a detachment of California'
heavy artillery, assigned to the City pi
Sydney. '" : ■•••:'•• . : ••"■.•-' ■'> -.
To tell again of the' tri.ur-i'pnal ' inarch
of the troops through the : city':" "'the
crowds who watched the vessels.swing.
ing at anchor in the bay until the. heavy
mantle of night hid them .from view,
and the parting salute -as.. they stemmed
through the Golden/ . .Gate, ' ..iwhile .
mothers, wives end sweethearts, -wl£h
pale, sad faces went, back, to desolate :
homes, is idle. Years .herice old. rni&h
will tell how they, : then ..children" -in;
arm" waved flags • with their puny. '
hands and* joined their childish trebles:
! | in the mighty chorus of huzzas ; ' which
drowned the music at fife' and di»um"and =
i the deeper diapason of -booming; cannon;.
Next came ihe story, of .a. grand tri.4:
i umphal reception by the natives ; of; the
: Hawaiian Islands, "where "somebody 's: :
I darling" was, for- a. few brief hours,,
made everybody's -pet. :.' They, .realised,
what those blue uniforrns^tood for,
and their -welcome was : such that the '•
boys regretted leaving .the sun-kissed,
islands in the balmy Pacific. ■ ; . ]■ : : . : ?-::•;■
Then came another period of waiting. ;
! Stories of typhoons: in the seas far out
| in the track of the setting sun made the:
I boldest tremble -as they : thought of the
S danger. The- ships,. Were heavily laden
and a few days overdue and rumors
! were constantly coming from Some- :
where, everywhere, or. nowhere that the
j Peking had foundered-. in a storm and
I all on board, were lost: It was hardly
! reasonable to give, the story credence "
i for a moment, yet when one's mind is v
| strained with anxiety he will listen to
! any rumor, good or" bad. and as bad
news spread quickest, -the city became
accustomed to tales of the loss of : the •
transports, until they -became almost like
the oLd cry of "wolf," and people hap
pily let them pass without comment: •"
It must be admitted,.- however, ; that ■"■
there was considerable genuine anxiety -
felt, and the news "that .oUr : boys are
now with the hero of Manila will mak» •'
our natal day all the more joyous. .- . .