Show EAR ADMIRAL CHARLES DWIGHT SIGSBEE Is on the retired list and a fine old seaman has a landsman s berth for the rest of his life the name sigsbee Is inseparably connected with the loss of the battleship maine in havana harbor on the night of february 15 it is perhaps not generally appreciated that naval authorities consider that in the writing of his first report of tha disaster to the maine capt sigsbee marked himself as a commander of remarkable coolness and ability the sentence in the report which brought the maine s captain the commendation of his superiors and of all think ing men was public opinion should be suspended until the report maine was sent to havana harbor on a lecul barly delicate mission in reality the vessel was there to protect american residents against the spaniards in the city who were becoming ugly it was necessary how ever that capt sigsbee should make it appear that the 0 the maine was entirely friendly after the maine was destroyed the commander of the ship instead of losing time n attempting to cast the blame for the disaster apon others than himself and instead of follow ing what would seem to be the natural course of mak ing it appear that it was a spanish act of treachery wrote the words which made him famous and gave every chance for the cause of the explosion to be traced to his own negligence or to that of bis officers it such prove to be the case in his efforts to avert war it is always a tremendous misfortune for a naval boffl to lose his ship no matter what the cause there is always a feeling existing regardless of the odds against which a vessel has to contend whether of the fury of the storm or of the overweight of the enemy s shot and shell that it handled by somebody else the vessel might have survived the conflict it undoubtedly was a sad blow to capt sigsbee when war was declared against spain that he was not agven command of a battleship the faial department how ever did the next best thing that it could do for him in ordering him to the deck of the st paul which was a transatlantic liner fast and mounting fairly heavy guns and which had been pressed into the service as a ecott cruiser it fell to capt Sigs bees lot however to command his ship in one of the most notable engagements of the spanish war it is very possible that as much glory came to sigsbee from this encounter as came to the coin mander of any battleship which was engaged in the fight off santiago harbor with cervera s spanish squad ron fhe st paul nad an encounter with the spanish tor boat terror the fight was of tremendous imbor tance and of supreme interest to the naval authorities of the world for it was the first time practically that a torpedo boat of this kind and of which much was ex pecked went into battle against a practically unarmored vessel but a vessel carrying serviceable guns and a crew of expert gunners the st paul was in the vicinity of san juan porto rico june 22 1898 it was there in the hope of dincov ering certain spanish men of war which were thought to be in the vicinity A little past noon on the twenty second patterson of the bt paul saw a cruiser leaving t e harbor of san juan instantly the men of the st laul were called to quarters capt sigsbee tak ing the bridge tho cruiser turned out to be the infanta isabel a spanish man of war the st paul prepared to meet the spaniard but the enemy persisted in keeping under the protection of the shore batteries though S asbee ran his vessel in so close that she was exposed for a long time to the mis alles of the eight and 10 inch guns of the spanish fort if the spaniards had been better it might hive bared til with the st paul but S asbee knew with whom he had to deal and he took chances as does every brave commander while attempting to draw tl e infanta isabel into battle the captain of the american ship saw the torpedo boat desta yer terror me out of the r arbor under full steam and lead for 1 is ship the terror was making a dash tor ane st paul ith the inte t on of sending a torpedo into her and sinking her to keep company with S asbee s last vessel the maine As a naval writer has put it at last the much boasted torpedo boat was upon trial under battle conditions the captain of the st paul held his fire until the rushing enemy presenting only a small target had reached a distance of about 5 yards and then there followed one of the finest exhibitions of american marks manship that naval history shows the distance was great but from be deck of the st paul it would seem that the projectiles were falling close to the supposedly deadly torpedo boat foe capt sigsbee in his official report told the subsequent story thus suddenly the terror headed up into the wind broad side to the st pa il as it injured but kept up a fire from her battery her shot falling short I 1 was looking pt her from ahe upper bridge with binocular glasses of great power and at this time I 1 saw a shell explode apparently against her hull abaft the after smokestack she immediately turned with port helm and stood in for the harbor at considerable speed her behavior div ing evidence of damage instead of standing in through the chinnel close to the morro whence she had issued to begin her attack she fell a long distance to leeward when dov n toward cabras island she rounded to and stood southeastward toward the harbor apparently not under good management the spanish cruiser showed concern by standing in after her the spaniards were compelled to send the terror aground to prevent her from sinking it was found that three shells had struck her killing and wounding many of her crew and effectually putting her it of action the infanta isabel and another spanish cruiser stayed under the protection of the batteries refusing to answer S asbee s challenge to battle it is probable that every american naval officer will admit tl at rear charles edgar dark has hid as varied a career of service as any man who ever trod the quarter deck it seems likely in tact a search of the lecorre shows nothing to the contrary that admiral dark 1 the only sailor of the navy who ever fought north american indians the admiral s masterly gailli g of the oregon around the horn his magnificent handling of the same sl in in tl e battle with the spaniards off santiago and divers other things which the old sailor his done well have so made his latter service to shine that his early elpio ts though bright enough in them selves have apen shadowed by contrast precious Preci ois few people know that when dark was a youngster in the service he was thrown by force of the waves and circumstances into contact with warlike in dian of the northwest coat old settlers who dwell at the end of the lewis and dark trail will tell you today that libit in the trying s tuition of being sur rounded savage each one bent on tak ng his bailor chip conducted himself in a manner worthy of carson badger or ary oti er of the old plainsmen path finders and indian fighters early in july 1868 dark was the fifth officer in rank on board the old warship suwanee a battle scarred vet eran vessel of ohp civil war day the S wanee struck a storm off vancouver island and it was one of the worst storms that the supposedly gentle pacific ever allowed itself to be stirred to everything that seaman ship knew bow to do was done to ave the ship but tl ere are storms that laigh at seamanship seam at the end the suwanee was on the rocks off fie northern end of island I 1 most of the members of the crew were saved when the storm abated it was possible for a large part of the sun ivors to make their tt ay iy to the mainland but it was necessary to leave a contingent of the crew on hope island where they were to await the return of boats for their relief I 1 beut dark was left in command of the camp on the island and of its 33 sailor occupants the men left be hind had precious little to eat the sailor lives on the sea but he does not take kindly to sea food clams inferior oysters and fish of a kind less digestible than the formed the chief of their diet while the shipwrecked ones were doing their best to feht off famine indians fully armed and ready for a massacre appeared in sight of the camp dark took part in the great battle of mobile bay where he had torpedoes unde confederate war vessels all about him and confederate batteries landward he lad shown that he knew what to do under such circum stances but here he was confronted with something en new in the line of war problems he proved equal to the savage occasion however and as the indians swung around his camp in a circle to hem it in he deployed his men so that they were sheltered from arrows and bullets and were prepared to hold off a horde of reds the indians attacked the sa lors and were met with the same kind of reception that they would have met it they were attacking time tried amen accustomed to every cnown method of the reds warfare the suwa nee s shipwrecked ones had little sleep for a day and two nigh s they did not know at wl at ho r during the darkness the indians would close in on them and so they lay awake with straining eyes b t with strength till in resene desp te their diet to feht gamec about an hour after sunrise one morning there was a commotion among thea indians they were looking off toward the mainland the commotion increased pe the minutes vent by and oon the wl ole band scuffled toward the north where supposedly they hail boats for certa n it is that a few 1 u later there was not a trace of i led to be found on the island there was relief in sight tor tha ship wrecked ones nd it was a glimpse of tl e oncoming boats that had sent tl e indians on the back trail trip of tap oregon from san francisco to key west WL the domn and of car clart has an en aurino flare in american naval history illness overtook capt alexander mccormick who was in command 0 the ship and capt dark succeeded him it was an unexpected duty which devolved upon clark but he met it in st way that the world knows all about the oregon arrived at mo de ja april 30 1898 and it was there that the captain received a dispatch from washington stating that war had existed between the united states and spain since the twenty first of the month capt clark mustered his crew and made the war announcement the scene that followed was an inspiring one eberle ol 01 the oregon in an article in the century magazine eight years ago describes it thus all hands were very anxious tor news and memorable were the cheers that greeted the news that war had been declared in a few moments our band was on deck and between the rounds ot cheers the strains of the star spangled banner and hall co lumbia floated over the brazilian fleet and tie crowds that lined the charres stood at at the crew uncovered and during the playing of the na dional anthem and then followed more cheers and the inspiring battle cry remember the maine a watchword often heard about the decks as the men turned to the coal barges and worked as they had never worked before the intense heat and the long trying work ing hours of those days and nights were borne without a murmur it was oue of the oregon s men who wrote we loved our captain and had such faith in him as a gentleman and a scrapper atter air own hearts that we were ready for any kind of a fight with him as a leader rear admiral charles edgar dark went upon the retired list of the navy at an age two years younger than by the requirements of the law an army officer naval law sends the m st leave the ranks why the sailors into retirement while the soldiers of the same age are still on the fighting line no one knows |