"Like a Citadel, the Oregon!" Joshua Slocum, the first person to circumnavigate the world alone, was on his way home to Massachusetts from his three-year voyage on 14 May 1898 when he and his little Spray had an awesome encounter. I did not know that war with Spain had been declared , and that I might be liable, right there, to meet the enemy and be captu red . . . . Even in the fever-hear over the disaster to theMaine I did not think there would be war; but I am no politician. Indeed, I had hardly given the matter a serious thought when, on the 14th of May, just north of the equator, and near the lon gitude of the river Amazon, I saw first a mast, with the Stars and Stripes floating from it, ri sing as tern as if poked up out of the sea, and then rapidly appearing on the horizon, like a citadel, the Oregon! As she came near I saw that the great ship was flying the signals "C B T ," which read, "Are there any men-of-war about? " Right under these flags, and larger than the Spray's mainsail, so it appeared, was the yellowest Spanish flag I ever saw. It gave me nightmares some time afrer when I reflected on it in my dreams. I did not make out the Oregon's signals till she passed ahead, where I could read them better, for she was two miles away, and I had no binoculars. When I had read her flags I hoisted the signal "No," for I had not seen any Spanish men-of-war; I had not been looking for any. My final signal, "Let us keep together for mutual protection," Captain Clark did not seem to regard as necessary. ron from Japan to Hong Kong to be closer to M anila, and he soon received his orders: "In the event of war ... yo ur dury will be to see that th e Spanish squadron does not leave the Asiatic coast, and then offensive operations in the Philippine Islands." On 25 April more specific orders arrived: "Proceed at once to Philippine Islands. Commence operations at once, particularly against the Spanish fleet. You must capture vessels or destroy. " For students of the Nelson era, the last sentence smacked of the attitude expressed by Admiral Jervis in his orders to Nelso n to "take, sink, burn or destroy the enemy fleet," almost precisely 100 years earlier. T he order of battle weighed heavily in favor of the American squadron. Dewey had four cruisers, including his flagship USS Olympia at 5,870 tons, USS Baltimore, USS Raleigh and USS Boston, plus two gunboats and a revenue cutter. His opponent, Rear Admiral Don Patricio Montojo, commanded one modern vessel, the Regina Christina, at 3,500 tons, plus six smaller ships. The Spanish fl eet was seriously overmatched, and M ontojo chose to fi ght from an anchored, defensive position off Cavire in Manila's inn er harbor. Dewey exercised his ships vigoro usly on the way to Manila Bay, and on the correct ass umption that the Spanish did not have the capabiliry to mine the deeper waters, moved into Manila's outer harbor in dark-
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Perhaps my small flags were not made out; anyhow, the Oregon steamed on with a rush, looking for Spanish men-o f-war, as I learned afterward. T he Oregon's great flag was dipped beautifully three times to the Spray's lowered flag as she passed on. Both h ad crossed the line only a few hours before. I pondered long that nigh t over the probabiliry of a war risk now coming upon the Spray after she had cleared all, or nearly all, the dangers of the sea, but finall y a strong hope mas tered my fears. From Sailing Alone aro und the Wo rld, by Captain Joshua Slocum
(Annapolis MD: Naval Institute Press, 1985)
ness. At 05 40 on 1 May D ewey was within range of the Spanish ships and told the captain of his flagship, Olympia, "You may fire when yo u are ready, Gridley. " By noon , all of the Spanish ships were sunk, burn ed, or otherwise destroyed. Soo n 11 ,000 US Army troops we re on their way from San Francisco to occupy Manila and the Philippine Islands. T hey also bega n the American suppress ion of the insurgency. On the way, they captured Spanish Samoa, without resistan ce from the island's governor, who was not aware that war had been declared. Within a month, the US had annexed the Hawaiian Islands.
The Caribbean Actions In the Caribbean, one essential point was agreed upon: the Spanish squadron under Admiral Pascual Cervera had to be dealt with. Afrer the sinking of Maine, Cervera, with fo ur cruisers and two destroyers, had been deployed to the Cape Verde Islands to await further orders. Along the US East Coast, there was a general war scarereaching panic levels-but to US and civilian naval leaders, it was cl ear that a serious attack against the US mai nland was highly improbable. Acting Rear Admiral W illiam T. Sampso n was in command of the American squadron based in Key West an d was ready for offensive operations aga inst the Span-
ish in Cuba and Puerto Rico. H e proposed an amphibious assault on Havana, but was overruled by the Secreta1y of the Navy, John Long, and the Naval War Board, which by this point had become the central strategy entiry for the Navy. T he assumption was that naval control of rhe areaelimination of Cervera's squadron-was a prerequisite step to furth er militaty action. When Cervera left rhe Cape Verde Islands, Sampson assumed he was heading for Puerto Rico, but he was outguessed . On 19 May, Cervera, via C urac;:ao, slipped into Santiago, at the southeas t end of C uba, and soon was blockaded there. By 1 June, a major naval force under Sampson had been assembled off Santiago. O n 10 June, 650 Marines seized G uantanamo Bay, and in a week secured it as a US base. They were the first Americans in combat on Spanish soil. T he next events demonstrated a serious lack of coordination between the Army and the Navy. A force of 16,000 troops, including Teddy Roosevelt and his Rough Riders, was sent from Tam pa. T he Army General, William R. Shafter, plan ned to attack the city of Santiago. Howeve r, Sampson thought Shafrer's objective was to capture the harbor's shore batteries so the Navy could clear the entrance to Santiago harbor of mines and get at Cervera' s ships. Shafter met strong resistance on the gro und and was srymied ourside the ciry. As the Navy
SEA HISTORY 86, AUTUMN 1998