3-086-220 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

Rear-Admiral W. T. Sampson, Commander-In-Chief of the North Atlantic Squadron of the United States Navy, 1898. 'The Spanish-American War. Since the swift pounce of the American Eagle by Admiral Dewey's naval squadron upon the remote Spanish port and feeble defences of Manila, in the Philippines,...delays of submarine telegraphing from those islands...have hindered exact knowledge of what was going on there. Uncertainty was also felt through last week concerning the movements of the Spanish squadron in the Atlantic, which left St. Vincent, Cape Verde, at the end of April, for a destination that was kept secret, though it was generally expected to be for an encounter with Admiral Sampson's forces blockading Havana and the western coasts of Cuba, near which, or off those of Hayti or San Domingo, or of Puerto Rico, the second important naval battle seemed likely to be fought. As we go to press, however,...[we learn] that the Cape Verde Squadron of the Spanish Fleet has...returned to Cadiz. The waiting policy thus adopted by Spain has given fresh impetus to the American preparations for an immediate invasion of Cuba, and this Saturday, May 14, is now given out as the probable date for the movement upon Havana'. From "Illustrated London News", 1898.