CHAPTER XXVIII

MATANZAS, CARDENAS, CIENFUEGOS

Not all the time was spent by Admiral Sampson's fleet in the pursuit of blockade runners and the guarding of ports. On the day that Admiral Dewey's ships started for Manila, three of the vessels of the blockading squadron engaged some Spanish land batteries at Matanzas, on the north coast of Cuba, fifty-two miles from Havana. New fortifications were being erected there, and the torpedo boat "Foote" had twice been fired on. Admiral Sampson felt that it was time he took some action.

Blanco's
Mule

The cruiser "New York," the flagship, led the way into the bay, followed by the monitor Puritan" and the cruiser "Cincinnati,” which had been doing blockade duty at the port. In eighteen minutes the American vessels discharged eighty-six shots, killing several Spaniards and damaging the earthworks considerably. The Spanish forts fired about twenty-five shots, but not one of the American ships was hit. In spite of the

fact that the Spaniards had several killed and wounded, Captain-General Blanco, in his official report of the engagement to Madrid, gravely stated that all the damage done by the Americans was one mule killed.”

On May 11 vessels of Admiral Sampson's fleet had brief engagements with Spanish batteries on both the north and the south coasts of Cuba. The gunboat "Wilmington," the converted revenue cutter "Hudson," and the torpedo boat "Winslow" were making a reconnoissance of the harbor of Cardenas when batteries of which the Americans were ignorant opened fire. The torpedo boat's engines were disabled, her executive officer and four of her crew killed, and her commander and several others badly wounded. At Cienfuegos, at the south coast, one seaman was killed and several others wounded in a cable-cutting expedition in which the cruiser "Montgomery," the gunboat "Nashville," and the auxiliary cruiser "Windom" participated.

The Cardenas expedition was in charge of Commander Todd of the "Wilmington." He Battle of sent the "Winslow" along the eastern Cardenas shore of the bay while the "Hudson" took the western shore in search of small

Spanish vessels believed to have taken refuge there. Two deserted barks were anchored in the bay and the converging courses of the "Winslow" and "Hudson" close together near the barks.

brought them These barks it

was afterward learned had been placed there to mark the range. Spanish gunners in a masked battery were quick to seize the opportunity. A shell struck the "Winslow" on the starboard beam, and exploding in the engine-room disabled the starboard boiler and engine. The steering gear was carried away a minute later, and within five minutes the torpedo boat had been hit in twenty places.

mate.

Lieutenant Bernadou, commander of the "Winslow," bleeding from a wound in the thigh, signalled to the "Hudson" for assistance. With shells striking all around her, the little revenue cutter headed for her crippled As the cutter neared the torpedo boat, Lieutenant Scott, commanding the after sixpounder of the "Hudson," ordered his men to cease firing and had one of them stand by with a heaving line for the "Winslow." Several of the "Winslow's crew were clustered about the midship gun.

"Look out for the line," shouted Lieuten

ant Scott. And, as one of the men on the "Winslow" turned to catch the coil, a shell cut through the after smokestack and exploded where the group stood, killing three men outright and wounding several others, two of them so badly that they died within half an hour.

Ensign Worth Bagley, the executive officer of the " Winslow," had his face blown off. Death of The windpipe of John Van Veres, an Bagley oiler, was severed by a fragment of shell, and two firemen and the cabin cook received fatal wounds. Lieutenant Bernadou dragged himself along the deck of the "Winslow," encouraging his men and giving orders as to the handling of the boat. A line was finally got aboard the torpedo boat, but as soon as the "Hudson" started to tow her out, the line parted. A second line was made fast, and the cutter headed seaward, dragging her damaged consort out of the danger circle.

The "Marblehead," "Nashville," and "Windom," early on the morning of May 11, Engage- steamed up to the harbor of Cienment at fuegos. The commanders of the Cienfuegos "Marblehead " and "Nashville " called for volunteers to man four small boats

to cut the cable, and the men responded with a jump. The war-ships shelled the shores surrounding the harbor, remaining about one thousand yards off shore, and the launches put in closer to shore and began grappling for the cables. The cables lay deep in the harbor, and the launches were some time in finding them. One of the relays had just been located and cut, when Spanish troops in rifle-pits along the shore opened fire on the launches. The marines in the boats at once replied, a machine gun in the forward launch sending out a stream of bullets. The war-ships also began shelling the shores, and the Spanish riflemen were driven from their pits to a lighthouse, which had been fortified.

Spanish bullets were falling all around the launches, but the men went bravely on with their work. A seaman in one of the boats was killed and several others were wounded, but the work went on until a second relay of the cable had been picked up and cut, when the men returned to their ships.

The fire of the American ships was concentrated on a lighthouse garrisoned by Spaniards, the "Marblehead" and "Nashville" using their heaviest guns, as well as their smaller