been landed. The reply, "No; may I use pontoons?" was answered at
once, "Use pontoons, and get off immediately." On returning to shore
with a party to work the pontoons, the party was stopped in the act of
launching the first boat by Gen. Sumner, and ordered to proceed to the
Cherokee, take her out into the offing, and order another to take her
place to unload. Protesting against this action, and informing Gen.
Sumner of the urgent orders for the Gatling guns to disembark at once,
that officer inquired the opinion of the prematurely graduated
engineer as to the practicability of using the pontoons, and this
experienced young man again expressed the fear that the boats might be
injured in the surf. To the detachment commander's indignant
exclamation, "What the h-- were these boats made for, if they are not
to be used and smashed?" Gen. Sumner responded by a peremptory order
to warp the Cherokee out from the pier and send the other vessels in.
The order was obeyed, and all the circumstances reported to Gen.
Shafter the same evening, with the expression of the opinion that if
the general wanted the Gatling guns landed, he would have to attend to
it personally, because the Gatling gun commander did not have
sufficient rank to accomplish it in the face of all these obstacles.
Early on the morning of June 25th, therefore, Gen. Shafter sent
peremptory orders to the lighter to lay alongside the Cherokee, take
the Gatling guns and detachment on board, and land them on the dock.
The transfer began at 8 o'clock in the morning, Gen. Shafter coming
out in person in his steam launch to see that his order was executed.
By 11 o'clock the guns, carriages, 30,000 rounds of ammunition, four
sets of double harness, and the detachment were on board the lighter.
This had been accomplished a mile outside in the offing, with the
vessel rolling and pitching in the trough of the sea and on the crest
of the gigantic rollers in so violent a manner that it was almost
impossible for men to stand on their feet, much less handle such heavy