Spanish Government and a consultation with the Captain of the
German cruiser Geier, then at Havana, to order the Spanish
squadron to attempt an escape from Santiago harbor. Cervera's
sailors had hitherto been employed in the defense of the city,
but with the arrival of the reinforcements under Escario he found
it possible to reman his fleet. An attempt to escape in the dark
seemed impossible because of the unremitting glare of the
searchlights of the American vessels. Cervera determined upon the
desperate expedient of steaming out in broad daylight and making
for Cienfuegos.

The blockade systematically planned by Admiral Sampson was
conducted with a high degree of efficiency. Each American ship
had its definite place and its particular duty. When vessels were
obliged to coal at Guantanamo, forty miles distant, the next in
line covered the cruising interval. The American combined
squadron was about double Cervera's in strength; his ships,
however, were supposed to have the advantage in speed, and it was
conceivable that, by turning sharply to the one side or the
other, they might elude the blockading force. On the very day
that Cervera made his desperate dash out of the harbor, as it
happened, the New York, Admiral Sampson's flagship, was out of
line, taking the Admiral to a conference with General Shafter at
Siboney, a few miles to the eastward. The absence of the
flagship, however, in no way weakened the blockade, for, if
Cervera turned westward he would find the squadron of Schley and
the other vessels designated to prevent his escape in that
direction, while if he turned eastward he would almost at once be
engaged with the New York, which would then be in an advantageous
position ahead of the chase.