In the pre-dawn darkness of the 28th of June of 1898 an American warship, the U.S.S. Yossemite, lay in wait off the coast of San Juan, Puerto Rico. Although commissioned as a cruiser, she was not originally built for battle. Until recently, she was El Sud, a 6,000-ton cargo ship owned by the Morgan Steamship Company and converted from freighter to fighter, at the outset of the Spanish American War. Three-inch thick steel plates were mounted athwart her engines and a ten-foot berm of coal formed a dubious barrier of protection around her boilers. A pair of five-inch, guns were placed on her forward and aft decks. Her other armaments included a set of three six-pounders on both the port and starboard decks and another set of three rapid-fire cannons in hull ports on the broadsides, below. In all, she carried sixteen guns and to complete her vestment as a warship she was painted "fighting gray".

 

The U.S.S. Yossemite

But the most curious aspect of her transformation was the composition of the crew. With the exception of four regular navy officers, the rest of the crew were volunteer sailors from the State of Michigan, most of who had never been on the open seas. Further many of these men were students, alumni and faculty of the University of Michigan. Other crewmen came from the ranks of the socially elite Detroit Club and so many of that organization´s board of directors served on the ship that no important club business could be conducted back home.

Out on the aquamarine Atlantic that morning a Spanish vessel , veered toward the port of San Juan, Puerto Rico. Its cargo was arms, ammunition and other war materiel needed by Spanish troops to defend the island, then under naval blockade by ships of the United States Navy.

Captain of Artillery Angel Rivero Méndez

Reveille resounded from the ancient ramparts of San Felipe del Morro and San Cristobal as Angel Rivero Méndez, a Puerto Rican serving as captain of artillery in the Spanish Army scanned the horizon with powerful binoculars. However, it was his second in command Lt. Enrique Botella who first saw the ship silhouetted against the rising sun. "Steamer to the East" he advised. All eyes turned eastward. The vapor of the steamship stood against lingering clouds of an early morning storm and it was difficult to see clearly but to the captain and his cohorts, there was no doubt that this was the ship they had been anxiously waiting for. Talk of the impending arrival of the Antonio Lopez a 6,400 ton unarmed steamer, and the flagship of the "Compañia Transatlántica Española", had been circulating through San Juan´s legendary rumor mill ever since she left Cadiz, Spain on the 16th of June. What was supposed to be a "military secret" was the talk of the town.

On the bridge of the Antonio López, and a mile or so from shore captain, Ginés Carreras, continued his course and completely missed the entrance to the port of San Juan. Even in the semi-dark dawn this was a hard thing to do since the entrance to the port was guarded as it is today, by San Felipe del Morro a massive fortress built atop a prominent headland in the 17th century. It was one of the key defensive points of a fortified wall that completely encircled the City of San Juan, founded by the Spanish in 1517.

In fairness to Captain Carreras, Puerto Rico´s Spanish military governor, Don Manuel Macías y Casado, had ordered a blackout of the city and of the lighthouse perched on El Morro. In any event, when he was about six miles past the harbor entrance Captain Carreras realized his error and came about toward the port and as fate and the misfortunes of war would have it, the Antonio López´s way was now blocked by the U.S.S Yossemite.

 

The Antonio López

Down in the American ship´s engine room Chief Engineer Mortimer E. Cooley, received orders from his captain, Commander William H. Emory, to increase speed so as to intercept, stop and board the Spanish ship. Cooley, a professor of the UM´s faculty, relayed the order to his men, some of who until recently were seniors at the university´s School of Engineering and Architecture. A graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy, Class of 1878, he had come to Ann Arbor in 1880 shortly after Congress passed a law that allowed military officers to teach at private universities. The University applied to the Secretary of the Navy for the appointment of a naval officer to teach in its engineering program and Cooley´s name was forwarded to the University. In 1885, he resigned his regular naval commission, and was appointed to the faculty. Cooley was by all accounts a popular figure in Ann Arbor and quickly gained entrance into its social and civic life. He was president of Ann Arbor´s Board of Fire Commissioners from 1888 to 1890, and President of the city´s Common Council from 1890 to 1893. When war with Spain seemed imminent in early 1898, Cooley joined the Michigan Naval Brigade and was appointed to the rank of Chief Engineer.

Chief Engineer

Mortimer E. Cooley

The odyssey that brought Cooley and his Michigan comrades to Puerto Rico seemingly began when a mysterious explosion sunk the U.S.S. Maine in Havana, Cuba on the 15th of February of 1898. In the months that followed, relations between the United States and Spain worsened and on April 24th Spain, refusing to accede to American demands that she relinquish her sovereignty over Cuba, declared war.

Actually the conflict between Spain and the United States had been smoldering long before the explosion and as far back as the early 1800s Cuban revolutionaries as well as American adventurers and politicians had plotted and acted on schemes to wrest Cuba from Spain. In the late 1890s Cuban dissidents residing in New York City and various American newspaper magnates fanned the embers of anti Spanish sentiment. As the crisis over Cuba deepened in late 1897 and early 1898, Congress appropriated some $50 million for the impending war and all across America men began to join the National Guard and volunteer army and naval units of their respective states and territories.

The pugnacious Theodore Roosevelt Under Secretary of the Navy, who abandoned his office to form the 1st United States Volunteer Cavalry, and publisher William Randolph Hearst, were just two of the better known Americans pressuring President William MacKinley to take military action against Spain in order to have the United States acquire overseas colonies. The sinking of the U.S.S. Maine was simply the excuse these men needed to prod MacKinley into a war neither he nor Maria Cristina, Queen Regent of Spain, wanted.

Michigan politician, Russell Alexander Alger, was another of the leaders of this claque urging President MacKinley to declare war against Spain. Alger had a long association with military matters and political affairs in Michigan. During the Civil War, he helped raise the state´s 2nd Michigan Volunteer Cavalry Regiment. Later in the war he commanded the 5th Michigan Volunteer Cavalry Regiment. By the close of the war he was a brevet brigadier general and major general of volunteers. Like many other Civil War veterans, he became actively involved in politics and founded the Michigan Division of the Grand Army of the Republic (GAR) a Civil War veteran´s organization, and went on to become Michigan´s Governor from 1885 to 1887. He was Michigan´s choice for the US Presidency in 1888 and in 1889, became national commander of the GAR. When McKinley ran for president in 1895, Alger organized his election campaign in the state. A grateful MacKinley then appointed him to the cabinet post of Secretary of War. Despite his past military and political credentials, Alger proved to be inept in this post and was later dismissed from it by MacKinley.

Another presidential appointee with Michigan connections was William Rufus Day who served as Secretary of State from April to September of 1898. After the war, Day served as head of the US delegation which negotiated, and indeed dictated, the terms of the peace treaty with Spain. Day graduated from the University of Michigan in 1870.

In any case, Alger, who was clamoring for war against Spain, was active in recruiting Michigan volunteers for the war. As it happened, the state was one of fourteen that had a naval militia and he made certain that the Michigan Naval Brigade would have a role in the war he was in charge of conducting. Theodore Roosevelt also called the Governor of Michigan, Hazen S. Pringee, to urge him to release state command of the Michigan Naval Brigade to the federal government. It seems that TR in his capacity as Under Secretary of the Navy, became aware of the Michigan Naval Brigade during a tour of the Great Lakes in April of 1897 to review the various state naval militias there and was impressed by their performance. He also took advantage of the visit to conduct research for a history he was writing on the Battle of Lake Eire during the War of 1812.

In addition to its naval militia, Michigan also contributed its 33rd and 34th Infantry Regiments to the Spanish American War. These regiments served in the Cuban campaign. In fact, patriotic fervor whipped up by Hearst and other newspaper publishers created no shortage of volunteers, in Michigan and everywhere else in the nation.

It was the war nobody wanted to miss, and in contrast to the Civil War where the wealthy were allowed to pay others to serve in their place, the Spanish American War saw the wealthy pay others to allow them to serve in it. Many socialites, such as Hamilton Fish, William Tiffany, and others joined Theodore Roosevelt´s "Rough Riders." Those who could not find places in this regiment raised or joined other volunteer regiments. It was reported that one such fellow offered the 1st Montana Infantry $100,000 for the privilege of going with them to the Philippines.

Similarly, war fever infected the nation´s college campuses in early 1898. In stark contrast to the campus anti-war movement of the Vietnam War era when doves ruled the roost, the nation's campuses were veritable nests of hawks. The University of Michigan was no exception and 576 men with U-M ties (students, faculty, staff and alumni) served in the war 514 in the army, 61 in the navy, and one in the U.S. Marine Corps. A record of their names and military histories resides in the archives of the University of Michigan. Of these, eight lost their lives. One such casualty was Oliver B. Norton, class of ´91 who, as a member of the "Rough Riders", was killed by a shell burst at San Juan Hill. Two other Michigan University men served in this regiment and four others with the 2nd U.S. Volunteer Regiment, "Torrey´s Rough Riders."

The war mood in Ann Arbor after the sinking of the U.S.S Maine was palpable. There were several pro-war rallies and parades and on the last Saturday in March, a large body of students marched down to the telegraph office and sent a wire to President MacKinley boasting; "Two thousand students of the University of Michigan heartily endorse the policy of the administration and tender service for a regiment in the event of war." That number never materialized. Four weeks later only one company of Ann Arbor´s local National Guard marched out of town to the cheers of 10,000 residents who turned out to see them go.

Meanwhile, other students, faculty and alumni rushed to join other Michigan military units including its Naval Brigade, which already had several Michiganders besides Professor Mortimer Cooley on its roster. Those joining included such men as Gilbert Wilkes, another Michigan University instructor with an Annapolis degree. He held the rank of Lt. Commander. Walter R. Parker, class of ´88 and an M.D. (Pennsylvania, ´91) was a professor of Ophthalmology and was Yossemite´s Watch & Division Officer with the rank of ensign. From the ranks of the alumni came such men as Edwin Denby class of ´96. He had gained fame as center of the University´s football team and held the rank of gunner´s mate, 3rd class.

When Spain declared war on the 24th of April, 1898, there were rumors that her navy was going to bombard Boston, New York, Philadelphia and other East Coast cities. The U.S. Navy was certain that there would be no such attacks, but in response to political pressure hastily assembled the so-called "Mosquito Fleet", the unofficial name for the United States Auxiliary Naval Forces. Formerly known as El Sud, Yossemite was purchased by the Navy on April 6, 1898 from the Morgan Steamship company for $575,000. She was just one of a flotilla of one hundred and twenty-six borrowed, leased and purchased ships intended to protect U.S coastal cities from a supposed attack by the Spanish fleet commanded by Admiral Pasqual Cervera y Topete. This attack of course never materialized and many of the ships of the "Mosquito Fleet" were given other assignments.

On leaving Ann Arbor in late April the Michigan University naval volunteers traveled north for brief training at the headquarters of the Michigan Naval Brigade established in Saginaw in 1897. Then they proceeded to Detroit to join other members of their brigade from that city, Benton Harbor and other Michigan communities. On the 7th of May the entire Michigan Naval Brigade entrained to Norfolk, Virginia. On arrival, they were assigned to the Yossemite, incorporated into the Navy´s Eastern Squadron, commanded by Acting Rear Admiral William Sampson. By May 17th they had weighed anchor and headed toward their first port of call, Key West.

In the interim, false information leaked by Secretary of the Navy, John D. Long, to the press, convinced the Spanish high command that the Eastern Squadron was destined to bombard their coastal cities. This ruse forced Spain to order Admiral Manuel de la Cámara, then maneuvering his fleet toward the Philippines to attack Admiral Dewey and to relieve the Spanish garrison there, to turn back home. On this return voyage to Spain, Cámara was also delayed by the diplomatic intervention of Michigan University´s president, James B. Angell. On leave from the University and serving as a special U.S Envoy to Turkey, he persuaded the British colonial government in Egypt to slow down the loading of coal onto Spanish warships transiting through the Suez Canal. As a result of Long´s ploy and Angell´s diplomacy, Cámara´s fleet was neutralized and Admiral Sampson´s force was then left free to pursue and ultimately destroy Admiral Pascual Cervera y Topete´s ships at Santiago, Cuba on the 3rd of July.

Sailing out of Key West on the 30th of May, Yossemite´s first mission was to serve as escort for the transport U.S.S Panther bound for Guantanamo, Cuba with eight hundred U.S. Marines. After safely escorting the Marines there on the 7th of June, boats from the ship landed the Marines and crew members helped to capture a small Spanish field artillery piece on Guantanamo where the first land battle of the Spanish American War was fought. Yossemite then continued to assist the successful Marine invasion by clearing mines in the upper reaches of Guantanamo Bay. While on duty there, she received orders from Admiral Sampson to intercept a Spanish ship that was re-supplying in Kingston, Jamaica.

Purísima Concepción was a Spanish troop-ship bound for Cuba and rumored to be carrying $100,000 in gold. Around five o´clock in the morning of the 16th of June, Yossemite came upon her as she was leaving neutral Jamaican waters. Immediately on spotting her, Lt. Gilbert Wilkes relayed the message to Commander William H. Emory who was in his cabin immediately below the bridge.

Surprised that there was no response he sent another message. Still there was no answer and Wilkes sent him a third and final message. Again, the captain failed to acknowledge it or order for the crew to take action. Purísima Concepción passed by Yossemite without so much as a hail.

Henry B. Joy was Yossemite´s chief boatswain´s mate and a witness to that morning´s events. He wrote in his privately published memoir (The USS Yossemite and the Purísima Concepción Incident) "that the facts of that unhappy morning were known to many of the crew of Yossemite and reflect no discredit on Lt. Gilbert Wilkes, the officer on watch. The only person upon whom the facts do denigrate is the captain of our ship, Commander William H. Emory." Apparently, Wilkes was blamed for the failure to confront the Purísima Concepción and that did not set well with his fellow Michigan reservists.

After the debacle in Jamaica, Yossemite was dispatched to Puerto Rican waters to serve as a picket ship in the blockade of San Juan, Puerto Rico and arrived there on the 27th of June to relieve the USS St. Paul. A few days earlier on the 22nd of June, the USS St. Paul, under the command of Captain Charles D. Sigsbee who had commanded the U.S.S. Maine when she exploded in Havana, had engaged several Spanish ships and disabled the Terror. Now it was Yossemite´s turn to stop any Spanish ships attempting to break the American blockade of Puerto Rico.

It wasn´t long before Yossemite and her crew of professors, students and other non-professional sailors would find out whether or not they were prepared for the ultimate test in a sea battle.

When the USS St. Paul departed on its way to New York, Yossemite lay in wait beyond range of the Spanish coastal guns at San Juan. However, a crewman spotted flag signals from the fortress of San Cristobal and William H. Emory, the Yossemite´s commanding officer, rightly assumed that the signals concerned a Spanish ship, which he could not see from his position.

At that very moment, Captain Angel Rivero Méndez (commanding San Cristóbal fortress) had signaled Spanish authorities in the city below that a Spanish ship was approaching the harbor. On seeing these signals, Emory decided to investigate and ordered Chief Engineer Cooley to increase engine speed to see if he could spot the presumed ship from another location and he soon did.

Coincidentally, a Spanish cruiser, the Isabel II, which during the night was anchored in the channel entrance leading into San Juan´s harbor to protect it, was now leaving her position and moving toward the interior of the port. Rivero Méndez looked in disbelief as he saw the Yossemite heading rapidly toward the unarmed Antonio López and Isabel II slowly moving away from a position where she could have intercepted Yossemite and possibly saved the Antonio López. Desperately, Rivero Méndez and his counterpart at El Morro, Captain Ramón Acha, attempted to signal the Isabel II to come about to the rescue of the Antonio López but to no avail.

Spanish cruiser Isabel II

The crew of the Isabel II apparently saw none of these signals and continued her slow speed toward her berthing place at the far end of the bay. Since the signals to the Isabel II were unseen by her crew, Rivero Méndez telephoned the Spanish Navy commander at dockside and he sent a launch to order her back toward the sea.

This consumed another quarter of an hour and by then Yossemite was closing fast on the hopeless Antonio López. Now coming within range, Yossemite opened fire with her two 5-inch cannons mounted on her prow and while on the move, fired numerous times hitting the Antonio López at least a half a dozen times.

At this point, Captain Carreras, a seasoned merchant mariner, decided that enough was enough and turned the prow of his ship toward a beach called Ensenada Honda and at full-speed ran his ship aground in fifteen feet of water. Ordering "abandon ship", he and most of the crew quickly made the shore, some in the lifeboats but others just swam for it. Much later Carreras was roundly criticized for abandoning ship while eight of his sailors and a priest remained on board. He defended his actions by stating that any prudent man would have left a ship that was carrying fifty tons of gunpowder and was under enemy fire.

Now, directly behind the Isabel II and heading out to meet the Yossemite were two other Spanish ships, the cruiser General Concha, and the gunboat Ponce de León. As soon as they were clear of the harbor, they opened fire; the Ponce de León with her two rapid firing Nordenfeld pieces. Yossemite also came under fire from the 9.2 Hontoria cannon of El Morro.

Spanish Cruiser General Concha

In the exchange of fire, Yossemite´s gunners fired over two hundred rounds and the Spanish defenders about forty-six. Although many of the Spanish rounds came close to the Yossemite, none hit. They simply struck the surface of the sea, making huge geysers that splashed on to her decks and into open portholes, soaking Yossemite´s crew.

While none of the Spanish shells found their target, Captain Emory felt they were close enough.

Drawing out of combat to give the crew some rest and to reassess the situation, he called his officers together on the bridge, including Chief Engineer Cooley. Captain Emory revealed that he had orders from Admiral Sampson not to expose Yossemite to any great risk since the ship had no real protection. Her .40 caliber, 5-inch guns and other smaller cannon only had an effective range of four or five miles at the most and would not be able to finish off the Antonio López without getting closer, seriously risking the ship and crew. While this discussion was in progress, cannon fire from El Morro traversed just over the bridge and everyone hit the deck. As Cooley later described it in a letter written to Angel Rivero Méndez some years after the war, "we looked like Muslims praying to the East." Just then, Cooley noticed heliograph signals flashing from various points along the coast and was certain that they were signaling the Yossemite´s range. He also counted the time from the moment he saw smoke emanating from the shore batteries until the shells splashed in the water as being thirty-five seconds and deduced that the shells had traveled some six or seven miles. The Spanish shells were high arching and coming straight down and Cooley was convinced that if any one of these hit Yossemite, it would doubtless burrow straight down to the hull bottom and sink her.

Spanish gunboat Ponce de León

The Spanish now had Yossemite bracketed and each shot was falling just ahead or behind her. Taking white-knuckle evasive action Yossemite tacked furiously to avoid the incoming Spanish shells. Although she was within range of the batteries of El Morro, and of the three Spanish ships for approximately 30 minutes, she was never hit. However, the closeness and steep angle of the incoming shells convinced Captain Emory to move his ship still further from shore. Under cover of an intense tropical rainstorm that suddenly blew over and obscured them from the Spanish gunners at El Morro, he did. At that time, numerous vessels of every description came out of the port and began heading toward the Antonio López to salvage its war cargo.

The salvage operation was completed in three days and nights. All fifty tons of gunpowder and many modern artillery pieces other war material was saved. However, this quixotic Spanish effort carried out in pounding and treacherous surf, made no difference in the outcome of the war. Puerto Rico was invaded on the 25th of July by American troops and by mid August the hostilities were over.

On the 16th of July, the hopless Antonio López was dealt its final blow by the USS New Orleans, which had come to relieve the Yossemite. Firing more than twenty shells from its 6-inch, 50 caliber guns, the New Orleans incinerated the Antonio López. Three days later, relentless waves broke apart what was left of the hull and the Antonio López disappeared beneath the waves.

The USS New Orleans

Although Yossemite did not sustain any damage from Spanish guns during the three-hour encounter, it soon became clear to Captain Emory that his ship was in no condition to press the attack. Yossemite´s munitions were seriously deficient. Many of the projectiles fired at the Spanish exploded as soon as they left the cannon and one burst in the mouth of the gun. Further, concussions caused by the exploding shells damaged the ship´s wooden interior, causing cabin doors and walls to splinter. These concussions also caused the ship´s metal water cooler to break away from the deck and smash the interior of the galley.

As if that were not enough, after the combat, a fire started in the coal that had been made into a berm to protect the boilers. This fire was very difficult to quench, as the water that was sprayed on it would not penetrate more than two inches beyond the surface. Gases from the flames threatened to asphyxiate the firefighters. Finally, a length of pipe was introduced into the piled up coal and water was pumped into its base, putting out the fire. During the entire cruise, there were some twenty such fires on Yossemite.

Had the New Orleans arrived to relieve Yossemite on June 29 instead of mid July, Captain Emory would have taken his ship to St. Thomas as planned to receive updated orders at the telegraph station, but by the time he got there those orders were very stale. They said "return at once to Santiago." Much to the chagrin of her crew, Yossemite missed being part of the action at the Battle of Santiago on July 3rd.

In any case, on arrival in St. Thomas, Captain Emory telegraphed U.S. Naval headquarters an account of the battle of June 28th. However, he neglected to send a copy of this report to his immediate superior, Admiral Sampson, and absent this knowledge, Sampson did not include the June 28th battle in the reports the Navy Department released to the press. Thus, for many months afterward there was no official or public acknowledgement of the Yossemite´s participation in the destruction of the Antonio López. The press in Puerto Rico did not help matters when it mistook Yossemite for St. Paul, and credited the latter with the destruction of the Antonio López.

Yossemite´s crew was discharged from federal service on the 22nd of August, 1898 and returned home to resume their studies and careers. The ship remained in government service, stationed in Guam. In 1900, she was damaged in a typhoon and scuttled. Gilbert Wilkes died in 1901 at the age of forty-one. Perhaps he could not bear the burden of being made the scapegoat of the Purísima Concepción incident. Two years later, thanks to the efforts of Truman H. Newberry (the first of two crewmen who would go on to become Secretary of the Navy); Yossemite´s crew was awarded the Congressional Medal not to be confused with the Congressional Medal of Honor. The crew also received the Admiral Sampson Medal. While still in federal service, each member had received a cash award of three months pay. This was the first and only time any participant in the Spanish-American War, or of any U.S war since, was given a lump-sum prize for combat service.

Newberry was later a United States Senator. Edwin Denby also pursued a political calling and was a Congressman. During WWI, he resigned, entered the U.S. Marine Corps as a private, and was discharged with the rank of General. Later, he became Secretary of the Navy in President Warren Harding´s administration. In 1903, Professor Mortimer Cooley became Dean of the Faculty of the University´s School of Engineering & Architecture. He continued in this post until his retirement in 1927, but remained a force in the life of the campus until his death in 1947.

Henry B. Joy, Chief Boatswain´s Mate and one of the original founders of the Michigan Naval Brigade, went on to organize the Packard Motor Car Company. Ordinary Seaman J. Walter Drake, a well-known Detroit lawyer, also became an automobile magnate, serving for many years as President of the Hupp Motor Car Company.

Albert Henry Stanley (who is listed in the ship´s roster as a "landsman") was a transportation expert. In civilian life, he was an executive with the Detroit United Railway and with the New Jersey Public Service Commission. Later he reorganized the famous London subway system for the Grand Omnibus Company and was knighted by King George V, becoming Sir Albert. George A. Ewing, Fireman 2nd Class, and Charles Fredrick Hammond, Chief Master-at-Arms, were among other wealthy merchants and businessmen who comprised this remarkable crew.

According to a list compiled by Seaman Perry Cook (Class of 1877), of three hundred and twenty-five officers and enlisted men, forty-six (15%) were graduates, matriculates or faculty of the University of Michigan. Seventy-eight others represented other colleges and universities. Detroit High School had thirty-one crewmembers and approximately one hundred and thirty others were from other high schools.

No other ship in the U.S. Navy had so many prominent and well-educated sailors as the Yossemite. In addition to the crewmen cited above, many others went on to distinguish themselves in public service, the professions, and in business. The Yossemite Room in the Naval Reserve Armory in Detroit (corner of Hastings & Jefferson) contains many photographs, trophies and other momentos of the ship and its crew. Today, the Yossemite and its crew of scholar-sailors and the other Michigan men who fought or otherwise participated in the Spanish-American war are all but forgotten. Nevertheless, the effects of that brief, little remembered war, were far-reaching and are still with us. The turn of the century seizure of Puerto Rico, Cuba, the Philippines, Guam and Hawaii made the United States a world power and it dramatically altered the economic, social, and cultural world of the former Iberian possessions. Four hundred years of Spanish dominance was suddenly ended and Anglo-Saxon laws, customs and mores were abruptly imposed. The legacy of the Spanish-American War extends to and deeply affects the United States' contemporary relationships with Latin-America. To a greater or lesser degree, Cuba, Haiti and the Dominican Republic continue to be a problem for the U.S, and Puerto Rico, "the oldest colony in the world" remains as a thorny vestige of the time when almost no one questioned America´s "manifest destiny."