Old Glory on Wake Island

*From Twice-A-Week Picayune, New Orleans, May 1899. This article was sent in by Commander Philip Seymour, U. S. Navy.

Commander E. D. Taussig of the United States gunboat Benning­ton describes for the Picayune the ceremony of taking possession of our new Wake Island in the Pacific Ocean. Our flag was hoisted by Ensign Wettengel. With no more noise than that made by twenty-one guns fired in honor of the occasion, there has been added to that portion of the earth’s surface owned by Uncle Sam an uninhabited section of land the Pacific Ocean, known as Wake Island. Our new possession is so far away, and the ceremony of raising the Stars and Gripes there was performed so quietly, that at scarcely more than passing mention was made of the event. It is believed that adding of new territory to our possessions is an incident that should be given all the publicity possible, and the Picayune has secured from Commander Edward D. Taussig, who nailed Old Glory to the mast on Wake Island, the following interesting account of the ceremony. Writing on board the Bennington, the Commander says:

Before leaving Honolulu for the purpose of investigating and taking possession of Wake Island, in the Pacific Ocean, I had been informed by Captain Hooper, of the Avenue Cutter McCulloch, that a passage on the south side of the Island was feasible for boats, and that a boat had been landed there from the steamship China, and that General F. C. Greene had hoisted an American flag on the island at that time. I approached the southern outlet with the Bennington within a quarter of a mile and found no bottom at a hundred fathoms. The breakers extended over the wall of the coral reef that embraced the entrance, and as they receded the edge of the coral rock of the reef was visible for its entire length.

With the navigator at the masthead we then steamed slowly along the eastern and southern sides of the island to examine carefully for signs of habitations, and look­ing but in vain, for an anchorage. A heavy swell from the northwest was running in on the north side of the island and frequent rain squalls passing over. I did not cir­cumnavigate the island, but, after round­ing Heel Point and seeing from the ship that the outlet on the northern side of the island was barred not only by a wall of coral reef, but by a sand pit not shown on the chart, I returned to the lee (southern) side of the island.

At one o’clock, having made the neces­sary preparations, the gig and the whale­boat were lowered and pulled ashore. The landing was made within a hundred yards of the west end of the outlet where the surface was moderate. I then examined the spit and made a selection for the flag­pole. While this was being erected by Mr. Wettengel, in charge of the whaleboat, Past Assistant Paymaster DuBois and Ensign Whitted, as well as I, looked about the spit and along the lagoon to see if there was any sign of human habitation on the island. Besides a few pieces of wreckage, none was seen in this locality. On the eastern side of the island from the ship, imbedded in the sand halfway from Peacock’s Point to Heel Point, an anchor was seen, and also what appeared to be the wreck of a lower mast higher on the beach.

When the flagstaff was in place the men were landed and formed into two ranks, facing seaward and the staff, where, having called all present to witness that the island was not in the possession of any other nation, at 3:22 p.m., I order the flag to be hoisted by Ensign Wettengel. Upon its reaching the truck, the flag was saluted by 21 guns from the Bennington. The position of the flagstaff, as determined by Ensign Campbell from observations from the ship, was latitude 19:17:50 North, longitude 166:31 East.

After the salute was fired the flag was nailed to the masthead with battens, and a brass plate with the following inscription was screwed near the base of the flagstaff:

United States of America William McKinley, President;

John D. Long, Secretary of the Navy.

Commander Edward D. Taussig, U.S.N.,

Commanding U.S.S. Bennington this 17th day of January, 1899, took possession of the Atoll known as Wake Island for the United States of America.

When the crew was called to return, the swell which had been making from the westward had increased materially and the breakers in proportion. The boats returned, however, without any serious damage.

I found the plan of the island, H. O. Chart No. 162, to be nearly correct as far as the limited time we had to examine that locality. The island was more heavily wooded than shown in the chart. Patches of grass were growing on the lagoon side of the western islet and the shrubbery af­forded nesting places for many of the sea fowl. Fish were plentiful in the lagoon and there was a swift current running out of the southern passage. The lagoon on the south side was shoal, but on the north side there was a long strip of blue water extending nearly its whole length. Out' side of the lagoon many shark were seen crowding around our boats and around the ship.

Had I been able to find an anchorage I would have remained in this vicinity two or three days to reconnoiter more thor­oughly the island and to take astronomical and magnetic observations, but having carried out my orders in regard to the island, and deeming it necessary to save as much coal as possible, I took my departure at 5:30 p.m. for Guam.

During the afternoon the navigator Ensign Campbell, was endeavoring to find a possible anchorage on some light patches of water to the westward of the outlet. He found 30 fathoms, coral bot­tom, on one patch about 300 yards from the reef wall, but it looked too close to the breakers to be used. The white bottom could be seen on patches where soundings of 20 fathoms were obtained close in to the breakers.

E. D. Taussig, Commander, U. S. Navy