Commodore Winfield S. Schley, Commander, Flying Squadron, to Rear Admiral William T. Sampson, Commander, North Atlantic Fleet
FLYING SQUADRON.
Off Cienfuegos, Cuba,
U.S.Flagship Brooklyn,
May 24, 1898.
S i r :-
1. The MARBLEHEAD, VIXEN and EAGLE arrived this morning and I sent Commander McCalla1 about fifteen miles to the westward to deliver ammunition for the insurgents and dynamite for them to operate against the railroad. At the time of sending this dispatch, about six P.M., the steamer ADULA, permitted to enter the port, has not been sighted coming out.
2. I enclose to you a copy of a telegram which I have sent to Commodore2 to put in cipher and send to the Secretary of the Navy.3 It relates to coaling and the absolute necessity for more than one steam collier, equipped with hoisting gear, buckets, etc., for quick dispatch on the good days when coaling is practicable and possible.
3. I send this dispatch by the DUPONT and will retain the VIXEN and EAGLE for similar duty whenever it may be necessary.
4. The Iowa took in a quantity of coal yesterday, and today the Massachusetts and Castine are coaling.
5. I beg to enclose a copy of Commander McCalla’s dispatch containing information received from the British Steamer Specialist spoken off Cape San Antonio.4
6. There is a Sun Press5 boat here which I may utilize to send despatches to you via Jamaica, as I assume there is no interdiction of cipher telegrams from English ports.
7. I shall move eastward tomorrow as is indicated in the copy of the telegram to Commodore Remey for the Secretary of the Navy, so that you will know my movements and whereabouts during the next week.
Very respectfully,
W.S. Schley
Commodore, U.S.Navy,
Commander-in-Chief Flying Squadron.
Source Note: CbCy, DNA, RG 313, Entry 68, p. 367. Addressed below close: “The Commander-in-Chief,/U.S.Naval Force on North Atlantic Station.” Document reference: “M45.”
Footnote 1: Cmdr. Bowman H. McCalla.
Footnote 2: Commo. George C. Remey, Commandant, Key West Naval Base.
Footnote 3: Secretary of the Navy John D. Long.
Footnote 4: Document was not attached to this copy and has not been found.
Footnote 5: The New York Sun.
