SPANISH-AMERICAN WAR ARCHIVE OF THE U.S.S. DOLPHIN
Fascinating, extensive archive of letters and documents related to the Spanish-American war service of the American presidential yacht USS DOLPHIN, which during that conflict was designated a patrol gunboat, and which took part in several notable engagements in Cuba. The collection opens with a T.L.S., 1p. 4to., Washington, March 16, 1898, from Secretary of the Navy JOHN D. LONG (1838-1902) to Henry W. Lyon, detaching him from duty at the New York Naval Shipyard and assigning him to command the Dolphin. This letter is also endorsed twice on the verso by Rear Admiral FRANCIS M. BUNCE (1836-1901), commandant of the shipyard. The next item is a T.L.S, 1p. 4to., New York, April 9, 1898, from Bunce to Lyon, announcing that the Dolphin has been made ready for sea and is to report to Key West for duty in the North Atlantic Station. This is followed by a third T.L.S., 1p. 4to., Key West, April 21, 1898, from P.J. Harrington, captain of the monitor USS PURITAN, ordering the dolphin to coal and repair, and await further orders. From this point, the remainder of the collection consists primarily of retained copies of reports drafted by Lyon for his superiors, offering much interesting detail of the naval aspect of the Cuban theater. Presented next is a T.L.S, 5pp. 4to., "Off Bahia Honda, Cuba", May 2, 1898, from Lyon to an unnamed doctor, describing the Dolphin''s deployment so far. Lyon laments mechanical troubles with the Dolphin''s engines and boilers, but states that these issues have been resolved and that the ship as become "...an efficient little blockade..." He continues, in part: "...This blockading business keeps quick attention of all those employed in it, but there is a dramatic sight to it, as when the ship is running without sidelights, and with all lights below screened, crawls up on the vessel until within such a distance, that suddenly our private signal of three different colored lights is turned by an electric button... at the same time the flag is hoisted, and a search light put on the supposable prize, [and a blank charge fired]. You can hardly imagine how beautiful the whole effect is..." He continues: "///I am now back at my station, having just spoken a vessel that came out of Havana last night with 180 refugees on board... It was something pitiable and pathetic to hear their cheers as we gave them free passage, after Ensign Cole had been on board and overhauled the ship''s papers. They were such thin little attenuated Spanish cheers. There was nothing of the Anglo-Saxon of the Anglo-Celt about them, but I have no doubt that these poor refugees... finally going down to Mexico were happier than they have been for many years. The officers marvelled at the time that Mr. Cole occupied in making his investigation until by the glasses we discovered some very attractive young women. You may well believe that Cole has not heard the last of it..."He finishes off the letter by describing his retention of a very capable and multi-talented mess steward. This letter is followed by an unsigned typed letter, 3pp. 4to., "Off Santiago de Cuba", June 5, 1898, describing the sinking of the collier MERRIMAC in the approaches to the harbor as a blockship, in part: "...About 3 a.m. that night we saw by the firing from shore that the ''Merrimac'' was making her perhaps notorious passage in through the headlands. The flash of guns inside the Harbor was as quick and constant as the flashing of fire flies at night in the tropics - the sound of them was almost a continuous roar. We, outside in comparative safety, could but imagine what the doomed ''Merrimac'' was subjected to by the enemy..." The account continues with a very interesting unsigned typed document, 8pp. 4to., undated but describing the events of June 5, 1898, and entitled "A Busy Day Off Santiago", Lyon describes his ship coming under fire from Spanish shore batteries at Morro Castle, in part: "... The sixth day of June, 1898, opened with a sky overcast by cumulo-nimbus clouds, some lightning over the land and a smooth sea. Circular orders had come from the flagship the evening before so that we all knew there was to be a chance for our battery to engage in something more important than bringing to, with a blank charge, some vessel which had to explain her presence off the coast. As it became light enough to make out the different vessels of the fleet, it was indeed a most impressive sight. The grim and powerful battleships, the high-sided protected cruisers, other smaller but business-like looking cruisers, auxiliaries, and torpedo boats all in their war paint... were enough to excite the admiration and hope of every one in the fleet. To the Northward lay the coast of Cuba, her higher hills wrapped in clouds and the frowning Morro looking down on us all from the center of the arc of ships... At ten minutes before eight the bombardment of Morro and the batteries began and continued up to ten o''clock, no return fire from the batteries having been observed since a quarter of an hour before that time. For the first half hour of the engagement, the fire of our vessel was directed against a block house flying the Spanish flag about three miles eastward of Morro, after which we were signalledsignaled up nearer the flagship and joined in the bombardment of the batteries to the Eastward of Morro Light. The firing of the fleet was as rapid as was consistent with careful aim, and here the great disadvantage of black and of brown powder used by the fleet was most noticeable... On the cliffs about Morro and on the flanking batteries to the East and West we could see the striking and explosions of our shell, but it was impossible to tell how much damage we were doing... On the other side, the enemy''s shot were occasionally dropping into the water, not only between the shore and the fleet, but beyond, so that it was fair to suppose at the time from our stand point that a certain number were striking the vessels of the fleet. Our ship was not struck, but two shots were noticed striking between us and the flag-ship which was just to the Westward of us. It seemed as if nothing of the forts and batteries could be left under such a terrific and continued fire, but subsequent investigations have shown that the havoc on shore was much less than we supposed at the time. When the engagement began and the roar of the battleships'' 13 and 12 inch guns, the 8 inch guns of the larger cruisers and the sharper, shorter crash of the 6, 5, and 4 inch guns of the other vessels brought a realizing sense of war, actual and relentless war... We thought the best part of the work of the day was over when at half past eleven while we were close in shore a railway train consisting of a locomotive and three open cars was seen coming up from the Eastward with troops for the relief of Santiago. Once satisfied that the occupants were soldiers and armed, we lost no time in opening fire on them, and the train lost no time in coming to a halt inside a tunnel bored through a cliff not more than a mile distant from us... Once the locomotive poked its nose out to the westward, but meeting with a warm reception backed into the tunnel again. If there be anything humorous in war this was certainly such a case of it... Finally this badger''s hole became untenable and the train made a dash out of the tunnel and towards Santiago. By this time the ship had edged further in shore and the range was perfect, so that rapid and well directed shots from the 4-inch, 3-inch (firing shrapnel), 6-pdr., 3-pdr., and the Colt Automatic guns quickly drove the train to another shelter... The locomotive was soon disabled and there was nothing left for the enemy but flight up the thicketed hillside, where all traces of the Spaniards were soon lost..." The Dolphin then is tasked with shelling a derrick which was attempting to make repairs to the Spanish fortifications, but is driven off by accurate mortar fire. Accompanying this report are two additional typed 4to. pages, detailing the Dolphin''s expenditure of ammunition and movements while shelling the train and the derrick. The next item in the collection is an unsigned typed D.S., 11pp. 4to., a report prepared by Lyon and Lt. Thomas Snowden, detailing a collision between the Dolphin and the protected cruiser USS NEWARK, collecting witness statements from six of the Dolphin''s officers and seamen, as well as an accounting of the damage suffered by the ship, which in Lyon''s estimation "... seriously impairs her fighting efficiency, and make it unsafe to expose her to bad weather..." and should require three weeks to a month to repair. The next item, a typed L.S., 1p. 4to., "At Sea", June 30, 1898 to Lyon from the aforementioned Ensign Cole, commends Gunner''s Mate Samuel Chiles for his "very cool, quiet behavior" during minesweeping operations in Guantanamo Bay, and recommending that he be appointed Acting Gunner. This is followed by an unsigned typed document, 8pp. 4to., "Off Havana", July 1, 1898, a report of the Dolphin''s activities for the month of June, giving a summary of her blockade duties, her shelling of the fortifications of Santiago, and her participation in the Battle of Cuzco Well near Guantanamo Bay, where she provided fire support for a battalion of Marines. This is accompanied by an original pencil sketch given to Lyon by Marine commander McCalla. 2pp. 8vo., showing the Marines'' position encampment on the shore of Guantanamo Bay and giving range information so that the Dolphin could provide accurate supporting fire. Despite this communication between the two commanders, the Dolphin was still subject to claims in the press that her fire hindered the Marines'' ability to engage the Spanish forces; this accusation is addressed by a retained copy of an unsigned typed document, 4pp. 4to., Hampton Roads, Aug. 15, 1898, to the Secretary of the Navy, giving Lyon''s own detailed account of the engagement and his assessment of his ship''s actions, in part: "...When the Marines first opened fire, they had left the shore line and ascended a high ridge where they were deployed along the crest with their backs towards the ship, from which, although close in shore, firing was out of the question... by entering the mouth of a little bay near the windmill spoken of, the Dolphin could train her guns up a valley, the Marines being on the crest of the hill on one side, and the enemy being somewhere opposite. An enfilading, but tentative fire was opened with 4inch, six and three pounder guns... It was very difficult to get wig-wag signals from the shore force, as the only flag there was blue, and showed very badly against the dark green chapparal. Two of them, however, were read, the first was to ''shell the valley and the house'', and this I tried to do, taking information from the Cuban pilot for my guidance. The next signal was: ''Shell the other valley'', and this I did with equal vigor... Soon, a lucky shell struck the masked house, the enemy retreated, the Marines had them well in view for the first time, shot them down as they fled up the hill, and the engagement was over... We were all told by the Officers and men of the marines whom we took back, that our shell did the business, and that a Spanish Lieutenant told them his people could stand anything but shell fire from the ship. It certainly struck me that the Dolphin had been a valuable adjunct to the expedition..." This is accompanied by a July 12-dated list of authorized passengers carried by the Dolphin during her deployment, including four Spanish prisoners from a schooner taken as a prize, and Ernesto Castro, president of the Cuban revolutionary junta. The collection is rounded out by two further sets of signed postwar orders, each 1p. 4to., dated Oct. 20 and 21, 1898. The first, sent to Lyon by the Chief of the Bureau of navigation, appoints him a member of an unstated board, while the second, from Rear Admiral Bunce of the New York Naval Shipyard, orders him to Philadelphia to rejoin the Dolphin. The documents presented here show various folds and damp stains, still perfectly legible. Fifteen pieces altogether, representing probably the single most detailed account of the Dolphin''s Spanish-American War experience available. The Dolphin would go on to have a number of other significant accomplishments, including returning the remains of James Smithson to the U.S. for internment in the Smithsonian Institution, ferrying Japanese diplomats to Portsmouth, New Hampshire to negotiate the end of the Russo-Japanese war, and finding herself at the center of the Tampico Affair, which resulted in the American occupation of the Mexican city of Veracruz in early 1914.