therefore be held subject to
possible modification, and to that end communication at a half-way
point was imperative. No detention was thereby caused. At 4.30 P.M. of
the 15th the Flying Squadron, which had been somewhat delayed by ten
hours of dense fog, came off Charleston Bar, where a lighthouse
steamer had been waiting since the previous midnight. From the officer
in charge of her the Commodore received his orders, and at 6 P.M. was
again under way for Key West, where he arrived on the 18th,
anticipating by several hours Sampson's arrival in person, and by a
day the coming of the slower ships of the other division.

But if it is desirable to ensure frequent direct communication with
the larger divisions of the fleet, at such a moment, when their
movements must be held subject to sudden change to meet the as yet
uncertain developments of the enemy's strategy, it is still more
essential to keep touch from a central station with the swift single
cruisers, the purveyors of intelligence and distributors of the
information upon which the conduct of the war depends. If the broad
strategic conception of the naval campaign is correct, and the
consequent action consistent, the greater fighting units--squadrons or
fleets--may be well, or better, left to themselves, after the initial
impulse of direction is given, and general instructions have been
issued to their commanders. These greater units, however, cannot
usually be kept at the end of a telegraph cable; yet they must,
through cables, maintain, with their centres of intelligence,
communication so frequent as to be practically constant. The Flying
Squadron when off Cienfuegos, and Admiral Sampson's division at the
time now under consideration, while on its passage from San Juan to
Key West, are instances in point. Conversely, dependence may be placed
upon local agents to report an enemy when he enters port; but when at
sea for an unknown destination, it is necessary, if practicable, to
get and keep touch with him, and to have his movements, actual and
probable, reported. In short, steady communication must be maintained,
as far as possible, between the always fixed points where the cables
end, and the more variable positions where the enemy's squadrons and
our own are, whether for a stay or in transit. This can be done only
through swift despatch vessels; and for these, great as is the need
that no time be wasted in their missions, the homely proverb, "more
haste, less sp