In addition to Sampson’s command, a squadron made up of the Brooklyn, Massachusetts, and Texas was stationed at Hampton Roads under Commodore Schley; and several others, among them the fast Columbia and Minneapolis and the cruiser San Francisco, were kept north to meet the clamor of the seacoast in general for protection. The public could not understand that the only real protection was concentration against, and the destruction of, the enemy’s fleet.

As the joint resolution of Congress of April 20th declared the aim of the United States to be relinquishment of Spanish authority in the island of Cuba, our main sphere of action was naturally the Caribbean. As soon as Spain should have yielded the island, the war would naturally end unless Spain should choose to continue it. There were in the island, by official statement, 159,297 regular troops and 119,160 volunteers. The American regular army, distributed from Maine to Alaska, was but 28,183. Of course it was necessary to call for a large number of volunteers.

To preserve Cuba it was necessary for Spain to preserve communication with the island. This could be done only by obtaining and keeping command of the Atlantic. To do this she had an effective force of only four armored cruisers: the Infanta Maria Teresa, Almirante Oquendo, Vizcaya (Biscay), and Cristóbal Colón, each of about 7,000 tons. A battleship, the Pelayo, and a large armored cruiser, the Carlos V, were not yet ready for service. This was of course a hopeless disparity of fighting force as compared with Admiral Sampson’s fleet of five powerful battleships and two armored cruisers. Admiral Cervera, who had been placed in command of the Spanish squadron, saw this clearly and protested, without avail, against sending it across the Atlantic. On April 29, 1898, he left the Cape Verde Islands with the four armored cruisers first mentioned and with three torpedo-boat destroyers, with orders to go to San Juan, Puerto Rico.

Commodore George Dewey, commanding our naval forces in Asia, had, under the orders of the department, collected his whole force at Hong Kong in anticipation of the war, and had made ready for the eventuality. The Baltimore, a large cruiser for the period, had fortunately reached him in time with a precious supply of extra ammunition. The British Declaration of Neutrality had obliged him to withdraw on April 24th his force consisting of the Olympia, Baltimore, Boston, Raleigh, Concord, Petrel, and the revenue cutter McCulloch, from Hong Kong to Mirs Bay, thirty miles away on the China coast. Here, on April 26th, he received a telegram informing him officially of the declaration of war and adding: “Commence operations at once, particularly against the Spanish fleet. You must capture vessels or destroy. Use utmost endeavors.” The last three words were certainly unnecessary. He left as soon as possible, this being the afternoon of May 27th. It was 620 miles to Manila.

It must be confessed that the outlook for the Spanish at Manila was not cheerful. They had but two vessels of any considerable size, the Reina Cristina and the Castilla, of 3,100 and 3,300 tons, and the latter, which had been in use as a receiving ship, had no motive power. In addition there were available two small cruisers of 1,152 tons, two of 1,040, and a gunboat of 500. Three other small vessels, one the Velasco, of 1,139 tons, were under repairs, with some of their guns in the batteries at the entrance of the bay, twenty-five miles away. Dewey had the Olympia, of 5,870 tons; Baltimore, 4,413; Raleigh, 3,183; Boston, 3,000; Concord, 1,710; and Petrel, 892. The guns, besides a number of 3 and 6 pounders, were:

AMERICAN SPANISH
Ten 8-inch Seven 6.3-inch
Twenty-three 6-inch Four 5.9-inch
Twenty 5-inch Twenty 4.7-inch
Eleven 3.4-inch
2.24-inch

The complements of the two squadrons were: American, 1,707 men; Spanish, 1,664.

It was a ten-mile stretch across the entrance to the bay, divided into two deep channels by islands upon which had been hastily established batteries mounted with seventeen guns varying in calibre from 7 to 4.3 inch; nine of these were muzzle-loaders and thus could not be fired nearly so rapidly as the 4.3-inch, which were quick-firers. At Manila were mounted 226 guns of all kinds, most of which were inefficient; but there were twelve good breech-loaders of from 9.45-inch to 4.7-inch, with much less range, however, than the modern 8-inch carried by the Olympia. The Manila defences, however, were such that it would have been much wiser for Montojo to have anchored close as possible to the fortifications and thus obtain such support as was available. As it was, he was out of their protection, supported by only eight guns, mostly ineffective weapons, in battery at Sangley Point and Cavite; three of these, two 6.3-inch and one 4.7-inch, were of value.

Dewey was off Subig Bay on Saturday, April 30th. After examining the bay for the Spanish ships he stood for Manila, fifty-seven miles away. At midnight he passed the rock El Fraile in Boca Grande, the battery on which fired upon the squadron, which answered with a few shots. At five o’clock the squadron was near the mouth of the river, on both sides of which Manila is built, when the Spanish squadron was sighted at anchor off Cavite, six miles to the southward, and our ships at once turned in that direction. Fire was opened at 5:41 by the Olympia. The American squadron stood down slowly to the westward, turned and turned again, passing thus five times before the anchored Spanish ships, thrice to the west, twice to the east. After an action of two hours, on a report of shortness of ammunition (which proved incorrect) the squadron hauled off for a count of its supply and to give the men breakfast, the captains being called aboard to report damages. None of these were serious, and no men had been killed, though several were wounded. During this time the Spanish squadron was seen to be in flames, and the American squadron then stood in and completed its work. The victory was complete. The Americans had fired in all 5,859 shots, 1,414 of which were 5, 6, and 8 inch; there remained 2,861 of the heavier shell and over 30,000 of the 6, 3, and 1 pounders.