was the most obvious point at which to seek it, and thither
Admiral Sampson was permitted to go, regardless of the elementary truth
that in such cases what is obvious to you is also usually obvious to your
enemy. The result was that not only did the Americans fail to get contact,
but they also uncovered their own army's line of passage and paralysed the
initial movement. In the end it was only pure chance that permitted them to
retrieve the mistake they had made. Had the Spanish squadron put into a
Cuban port in railway communication with the main Royalist army, such as
Cienfuegos or Havana, instead of hurrying into Santiago, the whole campaign
must have been lost. "It appears now," wrote Admiral Mahan, in his _Lessons
of the War with Spain_, "not only that the eastward voyage of our Havana
division was unfortunate, but it should have been seen beforehand to be a
mistake, because inconsistent with a well and generally accepted principle
of war, the non-observance of which was not commanded by the conditions.
The principle is that which condemns eccentric movements. 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."

Whether or not we regard Admiral Mahan's exposition of the error as
penetrating to the real principle that was violated, the movement was in
fact not only eccentric, but unnecessary. Had the Americans been content to
keep their fleet concentrated in its true defensive position, not only
would they have covered their army's line of passage and their blockade of
the territorial objective, but they would have had a far better chance of
bringing the Spaniards to action. The Spaniards were bound to come to them
or remain outside the theatre of operations where they could in no way
affect the issue of the war except adversely to themselves by sapping the
spirit of their own Cuban garrison. It is a clear case of the letter
killing the spirit, of an attractive maxim being permitted to shut the door
upon judgment. Strategical offence in this case was not the best defence.
"Seeking out the enemy's fleet" was almost bound to end in a blow in the
air, which not only would fail to gain any offensive result, but would
sacrifice the main defensive plank in the American war plan upon which
their offensive relied for success. To stigmatise such a movement as merely
eccentric is to pass very lenient censure.

In the Russo-Japanese War we hav