The Boys of '98 Part 2

"Profound sorrow is expressed by the government and munic.i.p.al authorities, consuls of foreign nations, organised bodies of all sorts, and citizens generally.

"Flags are at half-mast on the governor-general's palace, on shipping in the harbour, and in the city.

"Business is suspended, and the theatres are closed."

On the afternoon of the seventeenth the bodies which had been found up to that time were buried in Havana with military honours, two companies of Spanish sailors from the cruiser _Alphonso XII._ acting as escort.

A board of inquiry, composed of Capt. W. T. Sampson of the U. S. S. _Iowa_ as presiding officer, Commander Adolph Marix as judge advocate, Capt. F.

E. Chadwick, and Commander W. P. Potter, all of the _New York_, was convened, and on March 28th President McKinley sent a message to Congress, the conclusion of which was as follows:

"The appalling calamity fell upon the people of our country with crushing force, and for a brief time an intense excitement prevailed, which in a community less just and self-controlled than ours might have led to hasty acts of blind resentment.

"This spirit, however, soon gave way to calmer processes of reason, and to the resolve to investigate the facts and await material proof before forming a judgment as to the cause, the responsibility, and, if the facts warranted, the remedy due. This course necessarily recommended itself from the outset to the executive, for only in the light of a dispa.s.sionately ascertained certainty will it determine the nature and measure of its full duty in the matter.

"The usual procedure was followed, as in all cases of casualty or disaster to national vessels of any maritime state.

"A naval court of inquiry was at once organised, composed of officers well qualified by rank and practical experience to discharge the onerous duty imposed upon them.

"Aided by a strong force of wreckers and divers, the court proceeded to make a thorough investigation on the spot, employing every available means for impartial and exact determination of the causes of the explosion. Its operations have been conducted with the utmost deliberation and judgment, and, while independently pursued, no source of information was neglected, and the fullest opportunity was allowed for a simultaneous investigation by the Spanish authorities.

"The finding of the court of inquiry was reached, after twenty-three days of continuous labour, on the twenty-first of March instant, and, having been approved on the twenty-second by the commander-in-chief of the United States naval force in the North Atlantic station, was transmitted to the executive.

"It is herewith laid before the Congress, together with the voluminous testimony taken before the court.

"The conclusions of the court are: That the loss of the _Maine_ was not in any respect due to fault or negligence on the part of any of the officers or members of her crew.

"That the ship was destroyed by the explosion of a submarine mine, which caused the partial explosion of two or more of her forward magazines; and that no evidence has been obtainable fixing the responsibility for the destruction of the _Maine_ upon any person or persons.

"I have directed that the finding of the court of inquiry and the views of this government thereon be communicated to the government of her majesty, the queen regent, and I do not permit myself to doubt that the sense of justice of the Spanish nation will dictate a course of action suggested by honour and the friendly relations of the two governments.

"It will be the duty of the executive to advise the Congress of the result, and in the meantime deliberate consideration is invoked."

It was the preface to a mustering of the boys of '61 who had worn the blue or the gray, this tragedy in the harbour of Havana, and, when the government gave permission, the boys of '98 came forward many and many a thousand strong to emulate the deeds of their fathers-the boys of '61-who, although the hand of Time had been laid heavily upon them, panted to partic.i.p.ate in the punishment of those who were responsible for the slaughter of American sailors within the shadow of Morro Castle.

CHAPTER II.

THE PRELIMINARIES.

War between two nations does not begin suddenly. The respective governments are exceedingly ceremonious before opening the "game of death," and it is not to be supposed that the United States commenced hostilities immediately after the disaster to the _Maine_ in the harbour of Havana.

To tell the story of the war which ensued, without first giving in regular order the series of events which marked the preparations for hostilities, would be much like relating an adventure without explaining why the hero was brought into the situation.

It is admitted that, as a rule, details, and especially those of a political nature, are dry reading; but once take into consideration the fact that they all aid in giving a clearer idea of how one nation begins hostilities with another, and much of the tediousness may be forgiven.

Just previous to the disaster to the _Maine_, during the last days of January or the first of February, Senor Enrique Dupuy de Lome, the Spanish minister at Washington, wrote a private letter to the editor of the Madrid _Herald_, Senor Ca.n.a.lejas, who was his intimate friend, in which he made some uncomplimentary remarks regarding the President of the United States, and intimated that Spain was not sincere in certain commercial negotiations which were then being carried on between the two countries.

By some means, not yet fully explained, certain Cubans got possession of this letter, and caused it to be published in the newspapers. Senor de Lome did not deny having written the objectionable matter; but claimed that, since it was a private communication, it should not affect him officially. The Secretary of State instructed General Woodford, our minister at Madrid, to demand that the Spanish government immediately recall Minister de Lome, and to state that, if he was not relieved from duty within twenty-four hours, the President would issue to him his pa.s.sports, which is but another way of ordering a foreign minister out of the country.

_February 9._ Senor de Lome made all haste to resign, and the resignation was accepted by his government before-so it was claimed by the Spanish authorities-President McKinley's demand for the recall was received.

_February 15._ The de Lome incident was a political matter which caused considerable diplomatic correspondence; but it was overshadowed when the battle-ship _Maine_ was blown up in the harbour of Havana.

[Ill.u.s.tration: EX-MINISTER DE LOME.]

As has already been said, the United States government at once ordered a court of inquiry to ascertain the cause of the disaster, and this, together with the search for the bodies of the drowned crew, was prosecuted with utmost vigour.

Very many of the people in the United States believed that Spanish officials were chargeable with the terrible crime, while those who were not disposed to make such exceedingly serious accusation insisted that the Spanish government was responsible for the safety of the vessel,-that she had been destroyed by outside agencies in a friendly harbour. In the newspapers, on the streets, in all public places, the American people spoke of the possibility of war, and the officials of the government set to work as if, so it would seem, they also were confident there would be an open rupture between the two nations.

_February 28._ In Congress, Representative Gibson of Tennessee introduced a bill appropriating twenty million dollars "for the maintenance of national honour and defence." Representative Bromwell, of Ohio, introduced a similar resolution, appropriating a like amount of money "to place the naval strength of the country upon a proper footing for immediate hostilities with any foreign power." On the same day orders were issued to the commandant at Fort Barrancas, Florida, directing him to send men to man the guns at Santa Rosa Island, opposite Pensacola.

_February 28._ Senor Louis Polo y Bernabe, appointed minister in the place of Senor de Lome, who resigned, sailed from Gibraltar.

By the end of February the work of preparing the vessels at the different navy yards for sea was being pushed forward with the utmost rapidity, and munitions of war were distributed hurriedly among the forts and fortifications, as if the officials of the War Department believed that hostilities might be begun at any moment.

Nor was it only within the borders of this country that such preparations were making. A despatch from Shanghai to London reported that the United States squadron, which included the cruisers _Olympia_, _Boston_, _Raleigh_, _Concord_, and _Petrel_, were concentrating at Hongkong, with a view of active operations against Manila, in the Philippine Islands, in event of war.

At about the same time came news from Spain telling that the Spanish were making ready for hostilities. An exceptionally large number of artisans were at work preparing for sea battle-ships, cruisers, and torpedo-boat destroyers. The cruisers _Oquendo_ and _Vizcaya_, with the torpedo-boat destroyers _Furor_ and _Terror_, were already on their way to Cuba, where were stationed the _Alphonso XII._, the _Infanta Isabel_, and the _Nueva Espana_, together with twelve gunboats of about three hundred tons each, and eighteen vessels of two hundred and fifty tons each.

The United States naval authorities decided that heavy batteries should be placed on all the revenue cutters built within the previous twelve months, and large quant.i.ties of high explosives were shipped in every direction.

During the early days of March, Senor Gullon, Spanish Minister of Foreign Affairs, intimated to Minister Woodford that the Spanish government desired the recall from Havana of Consul-General Lee.

Spain also intimated that the American war-ships, which had been designated to convey supplies to Cuba for the relief of the sufferers there, should be replaced by merchant vessels, in order to deprive the a.s.sistance sent to the reconcentrados of an official character.

Minister Woodford cabled such requests to the government at Washington, to which it replied by refusing to recall General Lee under the present circ.u.mstances, or to countermand the orders for the despatch of war-vessels, making the representation that relief vessels are not fighting ships.

_March 5._ Secretary Long closed a contract for the delivery at Key West, within forty days, of four hundred thousand tons of coal. Work was begun upon the old monitors, which for years had been lying at League Island navy yard, Philadelphia. Orders were sent to the Norfolk navy yard to concentrate all the energies and fidelities of the yard on the cruiser _Newark_, to the end that she might be ready for service within sixty days.

_March 6._ The President made a public statement that under no circ.u.mstances would Consul-General Fitzhugh Lee be recalled at the request of Spain. He had borne himself, so it was stated from the White House, throughout the crisis with judgment, fidelity, and courage, to the President's entire satisfaction. As to supplies for the relief of the Cuban people, all arrangements had been made to carry consignments at once from Key West by one of the naval vessels, whichever might be best adapted and most available for the purpose, to Matanzas and Sagua.

_March 6._ Chairman Cannon of the House appropriations committee introduced a resolution that fifty millions of dollars be appropriated for the national defence. It was pa.s.sed almost immediately, without a single negative vote.