The Admiral, General
Paredes and all others who escaped alive are now prisoners
on board the Harvard and St. Louis, and the latter ship, in
which are the Admiral, General Paredes and the surviving
captains (all except the captain of the Almirante Oquendo,
who was slain) has already sailed for the United States. If
desired by you, this may be confirmed by your Excellency
sending an officer under a flag of truce to Admiral Sampson,
and he can arrange to visit the Harvard, which will not sail
until to-morrow, and obtain the details from Spanish
officers and men on board that ship.
Our fleet is now perfectly free to act, and I have the honor
to state that unless a surrender be arranged by noon of the
9th instant, a bombardment will be begun and continued by
the heavy guns of our ships. The city is within easy range
of these guns, the eight-inch being capable of firing 9,500
yards, the thirteen-inch, of course, much farther. The ships
can so lie that with a range of 8,000 yards they can reach
the centre of the city.
I make this suggestion of a surrender purely in a
humanitarian spirit. I do not wish to cause the slaughter of
any more men, either of your Excellency's forces or my own,
the final result, under circumstances so disadvantageous to
your Excellency being a foregone conclusion.
Pages:
439
440
441
442
443
444
445
446
447
448
449
450
451
452
453
454
455
456
457
458
459
460
461
462
463