some stirring incidents in recent american naval history.
by franklin matthews.
captain leary at samoa.
no man can deny that there are times when war, with all its horrors, is necessary and honorable. one of these times is when war is waged for the rights of common humanity. some of the most stirring episodes in our history have been associated with this kind of noble effort. many a time have the decks of our men-of-war been cleared for action in such a cause. many a time has some one of our naval officers, thousands of miles away from home, with no means of asking for instructions, taken action which meant warfare, with its loss of life and great expenditure of money, simply because he knew he was doing what was right, and really was acting for the civilized nations of the world. we thundered at the gates of japan. we have fired on and punished pirates. only recently we cleared our ships for action in the harbor of rio de janeiro. more than fifty years ago one of the bravest men that ever wore the naval uniform of the united states defied the power of austria in her own waters because she would not give up an american citizen confined on one of her war-ships, and the roar of "old ingraham," as he ordered his ship cleared for action when he knew that in a fight he would probably be beaten, was heard around the world.
most of these "minor episodes" of our navy have been associated with the misdeeds of half-civilized nations. occasionally one has had to do with a nation of first rank. one of these was the stand of ingraham in austria. i want to tell of another deed which, in my judgment, was as important as that of ingraham, and which came within a hair's-breadth of involving us, in 1889, in war with germany, then, as now, a nation of great military prowess. it is a story the full details of which have never been made known, and one that should make american blood tingle with pride. the story reveals the heroism of one of our naval officers who has always refused to exalt his part of the work, saying he merely did his duty; he did not hesitate, even if war with germany should result, to uphold the honor of our flag, and to protect women and children and the sick and infirm in the name of humanity.
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that man was commander richard p. leary of our navy, and the incidents that led up to his action happened at and near the harbor of apia in the beautiful samoan islands. time and again have i and other writers asked leary to tell about it, and time and again has he resolutely refused, saying that the sense of having done his duty was all the reward he wanted. consequently i have been forced to go to the public records and to some of the men who were in samoa at the time to get the details of a long series of acts which resulted one day in an american man-of-war and a german man-of-war lying side by side a short distance outside of apia harbor, each cleared for action, and war between our country and germany depending upon whether the captain of the german ship should fire upon some native forts on the mainland. such shots would have gone over the deck of the adams, which leary commanded, and he practically, although not literally, sent word to the german commander that the first shot on the native forts would be answered by a broadside from american guns. after almost an entire day of intense excitement on board both ships and on the mainland, the german commander yielded—went back into port—and a grave crisis in our history was safely passed—because of the patriotism and pluck of one of our naval officers who to this day refuses to talk about it.
to understand the story fully we must go into the causes of the trouble. the samoan, or navigator islands, have always been an object of envy by nations which are known as "land-grabbers." the desire of the germans to secure control of those islands had caused most of the troubles of the samoans in recent years. it was the old desire for money and property over again. the united states had long recognized the samoans as a civilized people, and had made a treaty with them. in time germany and england united with us in a joint treaty with the samoans for their protection and development. german residents there wanted control of trade, and stirred up a rebellion against the high chief, or king, malietoa. they took the side of tamasese, a pretender to the throne. on a pretext that property belonging to germans—some pigs and some cocoanuts—had been stolen by malietoa's men, they declared war against him, and finally made him give himself up to them to save his people from slaughter. he was deported to africa, and later to germany. the samoans would not have tamasese for king, and practically the entire nation rallied around mataafa, who succeeded malietoa.
there was now a civil war between the two factions. the americans did not take sides, except to refuse to acknowledge tamasese as king. the germans did take sides, notwithstanding the treaty of neutrality. they bombarded villages on this and that excuse; they fired on unarmed natives in boats; they gave aid openly to tamasese; they assumed an air of possession of the islands. now it must not be supposed that all this was done with the full approval of the german government, because the germans in time brought back malietoa, and since then they have recalled the one man who stirred up most of the trouble. in speaking, therefore, of the matter, let it be understood that we have strict reference to those germans alone who were in samoa.
the german war-ship "adler."
there was constant friction between the americans and germans in apia, and many letters passed between captain leary and the captain of the german war-ship adler, stationed there at the time. this being a story of captain leary's patriotic acts, we need go no further into the details of samoan history. one of the first of leary's notable acts was to send a letter, on september 6, 1888, to the captain of the adler. the adler, on the day before, had gone to the island of manono to burn the houses and villages of the natives who would not support tamasese. the war-ship took some of tamasese's boats in tow, and soon the guns of the war-ship were heard bombarding houses known to have been occupied by defenceless women and children. the adler came back the next day, and at once captain leary sent the german captain a letter of protest. he recited what he knew of the bombardment and what he had been told, and then he added, with a firmness that does one good to read:
"such action, especially after the tamasese party having been represented as a strong government, not needing the armed support of a foreign power, appears to be a violation of the principles of international law as well as a violation of the generally recognized laws of humanity. being the only other representative of a naval power now represented in this harbor, for the sake of humanity i hereby respectfully and solemnly protest in the name of the united states of america and of the civilized world in general against the use of a war-vessel for such service as was yesterday rendered by the german corvette adler."
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the united states war-ship "adams."
this was the first open breach between the commanders of the two war-ships. leary based his action simply on the ground of humanity. one of his next conspicuous acts was to uphold the honor of the american flag. a body of tamasese's men were encamped on mulinuu point, which the germans claimed was under the jurisdiction of their government because germans owned property there. some of these natives saw an american flag floating at the top of a tree not far away. it was placed there by a half-breed who was an american citizen. it floated above his own property. the tamasese men tore it down and into strips. then they partly wrecked his house and threatened to kill him. captain leary soon heard of it, and he sent a letter to the adler's captain asking if the natives were under the protection of the german war-ship. he wanted to fix the responsibility for the insult to the american flag, because, as he said, he was "obliged to furnish necessary protection to americans in jeopardy."
the german captain made a non-committal reply, and the next day leary repeated his request, saying that the question at issue was not one of diplomacy, but of military policy. he then showed his american spirit in these utterances:
"under the shadow of the german fort at mulinuu atrocities have been committed on american property, and the lives of the american owners have been threatened and jeopardized by armed natives, who appear to be sheltered by the naval force belonging to the vessel under your command. my official obligations do not permit me to negotiate with diplomatic or political representatives of foreign powers, but with military or naval commanders interested in official acts; and as the naval commander charged with the protection of american citizens, i again have the honor respectfully to request to be informed 'whether the armed natives at mulinuu point are under the protection of the imperial naval guard belonging to the vessel under your command or are they not under that protection.'"
leary received an evasive reply to this, and the relations between the two commanders became more strained. leary did not stop with this. he sent a letter to tamasese demanding restitution. the germans, who had control of the local post-office, would not forward the letter, and later leary sent another, in which he said:
"i have the honor to inform your highness that the articles forcibly taken from the house of mr. scanlan by your people have not yet been returned, and that they must be restored to mr. scanlan without unnecessary delay, for which purpose i shall wait until sunset, wednesday the 14th, and if it be not reported to me by that time that my demand has been complied with, i shall be at liberty to take such action as will in future enforce a wholesome respect for the american flag and the laws and property under its protection.
"a red flag hoisted at the foremast of an american war-vessel simultaneously with the discharge of a blank charge will be the signal for you to remove from your fort and vicinity to a place of safety all women, children, sick, and wounded, for which purpose a liberal time will be allowed before resorting to more serious measures."
no second notice was required from leary. tamasese restored the property to mr. scanlan, including the american flag, which floated secure from insult on his property afterward.
