Show STORY S T ORY OF 0 F THE CAPTURE OF VER A a 5 des description crip of battle that resulted in capture of 00 first mexican port pod 11 vera cruz april 25 american talling ore mid mat marine have wain again proved their valor in the face of A forel foreign agn toe foe und and have at the same time given the native natives of this town torna a 1 new idea of the of Ame american troop troops while the battle that resulted rea lilted in ane taking of vera crux cruz was not ft a severe one ai via battles of the past have been boon counted lu it w alis of a character to teat test the courage cou ragi of men W 11 who were called upon to face ace the deteel jacketed bullets walla walls and on of flamen hidden behind houge housetops tops and before it was over 12 american sailors had paid for or the victory with their aves and another 30 were seriously wounded while the mexican mexicans suffered more severely the number of their casualties has not been ascertained but the beet best estimate estimates obtained by capt william R ruh rush of 0 the battleship florida indicate that in the engagements engage mente of tuesday anti wednesday their dead amounted to about ISO no person per eon knows bow how many mexicans tell fell wounded as a large part of them are taken away and bidden hidden by friends tri ende dead lay in street streets in the streets abndt the plaza thursday lav lay fifteen or twenty bodies a majority of them attired in citizens clothing somo of the men evidently had been dead since the engagement of tuesday and the tropical heat made their immediate disposal imperative pera tive one of the first orders given after the town had been captured wae was to bury the mexican dead in a trench at the sea end and of the streets leading from the plaza when the city was taken the order was given to advance carefully and bearch every building for men bearing arms scores of prisoners were taken m moat ost of them protesting volubly man many hysterically that they were not guilty of any unfriendliness whatsoever haty oever toward the americans expected to be executed accustomed as the mexicans are to their own contending forces scooting immediately all prisoners taken the captured men could not but believe that they would receive no less drastic treatment ment at the hands bands of the americans the guns found in houses were thrown by the marines and bluejacket eta from the upper balconies of the houses to the pavement below the most spirited action of wednesday was the taking of the de naval academy aside from thac fight there was no definite organized opposition encountered by the americana Annert cans american americans under hot not fire A hot fire was poured into the ad lanng ing americans from the naval college which tor for a time held them back but a f few atar well directed shots from the cruisers chester san francisco and prairie tore gaping holes in the stone stono walls and silenced the rifle fire of df the mexicans inside the blue jackets eto then were enabled to proceed with the task they had in band hand A squad of soldier soldiers despite the shelling it had received tuesday continued to give considerable trouble to the americans from uie oe benito juarez tower after they had been silenced and removed from the tower it was discovered that the soldiers had continued fighting for lack of ability to do anything else the shells from the worships tuesday had torn away stairway in the tower and the men had bad been bemi compelled to remain in it mexican mexicans evacuate hotel it wag we not until late tuesday that the lat last of general maas men on top of the hotel received written orders from tram outride the city to evacuate their position the order waa was obeyed by a po portion tion of the men who wore were occupying the root and vantage points in the interior but a mall small portion of the band determined to disobey the orders of their superiors and fight to the laet last these men however surrendered wednesday morning A lieutenant who wae waa in command of the mexicans wae was lea led out a prisoner and although he had fought desperately he trembled and turned pale pate in the belief that be he would be summarily executed none of the kwe bie rican women were mistreated by the mexicans during their occupation of the building A few of the women assisted the itlen s cans lo 10 caring for their wounded oun ded old tower held in the fluting in the center of the inner harbor san juan de ulua an ancient stone fortress flew the mexican flag flat throughout the attack the commandant and 60 armed men and workmen in the navy yard red ered from the embrasures at the prairie lying yards away aad and the other ships shelling hg the naval tx ademy jn in the me dungeon remained prisoners th of tag U fwu on the hip reaching them through gli le 16 toot atoa OIL wall cartain car tain stickney ot of the prairie through the fortia es se several dy days I 1 and found some heavy tune guns fly flys tar redoes end ad torpedo tube la in i a corn corra 1 fated gated iron abed sited outside the th wilim wall at tf 10 the fortress when the landing ot at th americans Ameri cane wae wits ordered captain stick I 1 ney nor sent word to the commandant ot at tl san juan fl d ulua that he would ba blo him to piece places with the prairies prairie i o 0 if he opened ili fl al alnet the tile amri cane cans but that otherwise hit h would not bo disturbed dia the commandant re r plied piled that ho he would answer with his hi cannons if fired on but that he would not commence hostilities when th the engagement ashore the corn com mandant hoisted a new lean ican flag which flew all 1 day ion americana americans in possession Poi elon at ten wednesday morning the americans were in undisputed posses of all the city except the southwest quarter quarton in which the bar are situated and a few outlying districts at noon they had taken the barracks when the city prison which faces the main plaza of the city was lieutenant con com mande mauder buchanan of the florida made an inspection tour through it there wae was great surprise among the mexicans who had bad gathered there that the prisoners were not released thy had been to seeing qa th victor always release prisoners and then impress them into his army chief of police antonio villa vicen do clo was taken prisoner by the ameri cans shortly atty they had occupied the main plaza of the city it ras was suggested to him that he continue la in his official capacity to direct the city protective system ho ile took the matter under advisement hal the frightened mayor made up his 1118 mind to accede to admiral fletch ers suggestion which was made through consul canada the mexicans might have been spared the humiliation of being forced from their positions and undoubtedly a number ot 0 lives liven would not have been sacrificed coincident with the orders for the general advance of the americans ani ana aged white harred mexican carrying the white flag of truce came down a street from the center of the city he carried a letter to the chief of police the only aul authority bority he hoped to reach and desired consul canada to read it IL old man makes appeal A it was an urgent appeal to the chief of police to call off the snipers and prevent the bombardment he believed would follow if they continued their execution even before the messenger had climbed the stairs into the con office captain rush was informed of the contents of the note he bore and immediately sounded cease firing and halt but it was too late the action had b an begun all along the line and it was not considered wise to attempt further measures to stop it the cola manders ordered their men forward at the double quick which they carr carried led out with a vigor that afterward gave them the city blood bespattered ulde walks broken windows and bullet scarred walls gave the plaza a fearful aspect within the hotel there were 40 american americans most of them women who had been there since the commencement of hostilities when the square was taken they were immediately that they might go to other places if they so desired but that they probably would incur no further danger by remaining in the hotel |