l Byng, when he
retired from Minorca; a weakness not unparalleled in later times, but
which, whatever the indulgence accorded to the offender, is a military
sin that should for itself receive no condonement of judgment. As
instances of the former, both Nelson and Napoleon admitted, to quote
the latter's words: "I have been so often mistaken that I no longer
blush for it." My wish is to illustrate, by a recent particular
instance, a lesson professionally useful to the future,--the value of
rules. By the disregard of rule in this case we uncovered both Havana
and Cienfuegos, which it was our object to close to the enemy's
division. Had the latter been more efficient, he could have reached
one or the other before we regained the centre. Our movement was
contrary to rule; and while the inferences upon which it was based
were plausible, they were not, in the writer's judgment, adequate to
constitute the exception.

FOOTNOTES:

[3] The distance from Hampton Roads to Key West is increased, owing to
the adverse current of the Gulf Stream through much of the route.

V

THE GUARD SET OVER CERVERA.--INFLUENCE OF INADEQUATE
NUMBERS UPON THE CONDUCT OF NAVAL AND MILITARY
OPERATIONS.--CAMARA'S RUSH THROUGH THE MEDITERRANEAN,
AND CONSEQUENT MEASURES TAKEN BY THE UNITED STATES.

The result of the various movements so far narrated was to leave the
Flying Squadron May 22nd, off Cienfuegos, and Admiral Sampson's
division off Havana, on the 21st. The latter was seriously diminished
in mobile combatant force by the removal of the _Iowa_, detached to
the south of the island to join the ships under Schley. It was
confidently expected that there, rather than at any northern port,
the enemy would make his first appearance; and for that reason the
Flying Squadron was strengthened by, and that off Havana deprived of,
a vessel whose qualities would tell heavily in conflict with an active
antagonist, such as a body of armored cruisers ought to be. Only by
great good fortune could it be expected that the monitors, upon which
Sampson for the moment had largely to depend, could impose an
engagement upon Cervera's division if the latter sought to enter
Havana by a dash. By taking from the Admiral his most powerful vessel,
he was exposed to the mortification of seeing the enemy slip by and
show his heels to our sluggish, low-freeboard, turreted vessels; but
the solution was the best that could be reached under