CHAPTER X.
By the last of May there were sixteen thousand men at Tampa under thecommand of General Shafter, but it was not until the 14th of Junethat they set sail for Cuba. On a clear, scorchingly hot morning,June 22d, they landed at Daiquiri, twelve miles east of the entranceto Santiago Bay. From all accounts things seem to have been wofullymismanaged, so that our poor soldiers had no facilities for landing.Those who loaded the ship, it would appear, must have been greatbunglers--either exceedingly ignorant in regard to such work or mostreprehensibly careless. In consequence, scarcely anything could befound when wanted. Medical stores were scattered among twenty vessels;so that when fever broke out in the trenches before Santiago it wasalmost impossible to get the needed remedies; probably--though therewere never enough on the field--some medicines were left on the shipsand carried back to the United States. All this made the work of thephysicians doubly trying. Besides, they were too few in number, thewounded many more than it had been expected they would be, and broughtin faster than they could be attended to; the surgeons worked all nightby the light of spluttering lamps, and there was not enough of evensurgical instruments. But the poor wounded men were wonderfully braveand patient. Harold and Herbert Travilla felt that they had not engagedin a cause which did not need them. After the fighting began theirlabors were exhausting; all the more so because of the drain upon theirsympathies.
On the morning of July 2d our troops were found safely intrenched onthe ridge of the hill above Santiago. The day before had been one ofheavy losses to our army--many officers and men killed and wounded.And now, just as light began to show in the east, the Spaniards openeda heavy fire on our works. Our men made few replies, for ammunitionwas getting scarce; and so anxious for it were the soldiers thatthey hailed an ammunition train with great joy, though they were halfstarved and knew that no provisions could come while the road wascrowded with such trains.
The war artist, Frederic Remington, tells of the delight with which thepoor hungry fellows hailed a pack-train loaded with ammunition, thoughthey knew that no food would be brought them that night. "The woundedgoing to the rear cheered the ammunition, and when it was unpacked atthe front the soldiers seized it like gold. They lifted a box in theair and dropped it on one corner, which smashed it open.
"'Now we can hold San Juan hill against them garlics; hey, son?' yelleda happy cavalryman to a doughboy.
"'You bet! until we starve to death.'
"'Starve nothin'--we'll eat them gun-teams.'"
The soldiers refilled their cartridge belts, then crouched all day intrenches, watching for an assault, and firing just often enough tokeep the enemy from advancing upon them. While doing so they couldhear the thunder of the navy's guns far away in the southwest, whereit was engaging a battery. At the same time, down in the harbor ofSantiago, Cervera was getting ready to make his rush out of the harborthe next day.
The Spaniards made a dash at our men about half-past nine that night,and drove them back for a few minutes from several points on theirline, but they soon returned and drove the Spaniards back with heavyloss.
* * * * *
The next day, July 3d, was Sunday, and on the great ships of theAmerican squadron, floating heavily in a half-circle about the mouthof Santiago harbor, the men were swarming on deck in fresh clean whiteclothes, ready for muster. About nine o'clock the flagship _New York_showed the signal: "Disregard flagship's movements," and steamed awaytoward the east. Admiral Sampson had gone in it for a conference withGeneral Shafter, whose troops were then resting after their dreadfulfight on San Juan hill and El Caney.
Of our ships on watch outside of the harbor, the _Brooklyn_ wasto the southwest, the _Texas_ directly south, while the three bigbattleships, _Indiana_, _Iowa_, and _Oregon_, made a curve inshoreeast of the Morro. The little picket boat _Vixen_ was there also, andthe _Gloucester_ farthest east and nearest inshore. The _New York_,now absent, was the one ship supposed to be able to compete withthe Spaniards in speed, and her departure left a broad gap in theblockading line.
The lookouts on the fleet had reported fires burning on the hills allthe night before, and Commodore Schley, who was in command in AdmiralSampson's absence, signalled to the _Texas_ the query: "What is yourtheory about the burning of the block-houses on the hill last night?"
He sat on the deck waiting for an answer, and at the same time watchinga cloud of smoke rising from the interior of the harbor behind thehills. It did not necessarily mean anything serious, for about thattime in the morning a tug was apt to make a visit to the Estrellabattery. Still, they watched it, and presently the quartermaster on theforward bridge said quietly to the navigating officer, "That smoke'smoving, sir." That officer took a peep himself, and what he saw nearlymade him drop the glass. "Afterbridge there," he called loudly througha megaphone; "tell the commodore the enemy is coming out."
His words were heard all over the ship, and commodore, officers,sailors, powder-boys were all rushing for their station.
The cry rang out, "Clear ship for action," and gongs and bugles whichcall to general quarters clanged and pealed on the quiet air. Therewere echoes of the same sounds from the other ships, and the signals,"The enemy is escaping," ran to the masthead of the _Brooklyn_, the_Texas_, and the _Iowa_ at the same moment; for that suspicious smokehad been watched from all the ships.
It seemed that all the vessels of the blockade had caught the alarmat the same time, and the flagship's signal was quickly changed foranother--"Clear ship for action!"
But it was quite unnecessary. On every ship men were dropping off thewhite clothes which they had donned for general muster, and hurryingto their quarters without waiting for a command. Every wooden thingwas tumbled overboard, water-tight compartments were hastily shut,hose was coupled up and strung along the decks ready to fight fire,battle-hatches were lowered, and in less time than it takes to tellof it all this was accomplished. Then at the sudden blast of a buglethe five hundred and more men to a ship stood at their posts, each onewhere he would be most needed in battle, and all perfectly silent.Doubtless every eye was turned toward Estrella Point, where the Spanishvessels, if indeed coming out, must first show themselves, and therepresently a huge black hull appeared. It came out far enough to show aturret, and from that came a flash, and then the boom of a heavy shot,instantly answered by a six-pounder from the _Iowa_. The battle hadbegun, and "Fighting Bob" Evans had fired the first shot.
That ship just coming out was the _Maria Teresa_, and she was followedby the _Vizcaya_, the _Cristobal Colon_, and the _Almirante Oquendo_.All the American ships were standing in toward the harbor to meetthem, firing rapidly from every gun that could be brought to bear. Itwas uncertain at first which way the Spaniards would turn when theyhad passed the shoals that extend half a mile beyond the mouth of theharbor. If they turned eastward they would have to run into the midstof the most formidable ships of our squadron. If they went directlywest they might outrun the battleships and escape. The _Brooklyn_ wasthe fastest ship on the blockade, and was also in the best positionto head off the Spaniards should they take that course. But it waspossible she might be lost, as she was no match for the number of theenemy that would be in a position to engage her when she came up tothem. Commodore Schley says that the possibility of losing his shipin that way entered very clearly into his calculations, but also thatin sinking the _Brooklyn_ the Spaniards would be delayed long enoughfor the battleships to come up to them and that then there would beno reason to fear their escape. The difficulty was that because the_Brooklyn_ was on a parallel course with the Spaniards, and going in adirectly opposite direction, she would have to make a complete circlein order to chase them; and had they had the speed with which they werecredited, that would have put the _Brooklyn_ out of the fight, oneof her engines being uncoupled, and in consequence her speed greatlyreduced.
But the Spanish vessels fell far behind their estimated speed, so thatthe _Brooklyn_ was able to circle about and still overhaul the fleetestof them,
and the _Texas_, the slowest of our battleships, held its ownin the race.
The _Maria Teresa_ passed the shoals and turned west. The little_Vixen_, lying near the _Brooklyn_, when she saw the _Maria Teresa_turn toward her, fired off her six-pounders, then slipped away, whilethe rest of the American ships came rushing down toward the enemywith their funnels belching black smoke, and turrets, hulls, and topsspurting out red flames and yellow smoke. They steamed toward the foeas fast as possible, at the same time firing fiercely from every gunthat could be brought to bear, and paying no attention to the shorebatteries which were firing upon them. The _Indiana_ was nearest theshore and nearest the _Maria Teresa_, the leading ship of the enemy,when the fight began. It is said that the water fairly boiled with theflood of projectiles from Morro and the broadside with which the _MariaTeresa_ opened battle. As she turned toward the west the shot from the_Indiana_ struck her more than once; but after that the _Indiana_ gaveher attention to the _Vizcaya_.
By this time all the American ships were engaged, but in the densesmoke it was almost impossible to make out how great was the success ofany single one.
But Commodore Eaton, who was watching the fight from the tug_Resolute_, says: "As the _Vizcaya_ came out I distinctly saw one ofthe _Indiana's_ heavy shells strike her abaft the funnels, and theexplosion of this shell was followed by a burst of flame, which fora time obscured the after part of the stricken ship." The _Iowa_ and_Oregon_, belching forth great clouds of smoke until they looked likehuge yellow clouds on the water, steamed straight toward the fleeingenemy. Says Mr. Abbott: "As the battleships closed in on their prey,they overlapped each other, and careless use of the guns or failure tomake out accurately the target might have resulted in one of our shipsfiring into another. But so skilfully were they handled that at no timewere they put in jeopardy from either the guns or the rams of eachother, though at one time the _Oregon_ was firing right across the deckof the _Texas_."
The end of the _Maria Teresa_, the first ship to leave the harbor,came upon her very swiftly, and was frightful. The shells and smallprojectiles searched out every part of her, spreading death and ruin,and soon setting her woodwork ablaze. The scarlet flames like snakes'tongues darted viciously from her sides; but her gunners stood manfullyto their guns. Little smoke hung about her, and her bold black hulkseen against the green background of the hills made her a perfecttarget. A shot from the _Brooklyn_ cut her main water-pipe, and ashell--probably from the _Oregon_--entered her hull and exploded inthe engine room; a six-inch shell from the _Iowa_ exploded in herforward turret, killing or wounding every man at the guns; while thestorm of smaller projectiles swept her decks, and with the noise oftheir bursting made it impossible for the men to hear their officers'commands.
Admiral Cervera was on that vessel. One of his officers, telling of itafterward, said: "He expected to lose most of his ships, but thoughtthe _Cristobal Colon_ might escape; that is why he transferred his flagto the _Maria Teresa_, that he might perish with the less fortunate."And this is the story told an American journalist by another officerwho stood by the admiral's side while that dreadful fight went on.Of a shell from the _Brooklyn_ he said: "It struck us in the bow,ploughing down amidships; then it exploded. It tore down the bulkheads,destroyed stanchions, crippled two rapid-fire guns, and killed fifteenor twenty men." Of a shell from the _Iowa_ he said: "It struck theeleven-inch gun in the forward turret of the cruiser, cutting a furrowas clean as a knife out of the gun. The shell exploded halfway in theturret, making the whole vessel stagger and shake in every plate. Whenthe fumes and smoke had cleared away so that it was possible to enterthe turret, the other gunners were sent there. The survivors tumbledthe bodies which filled the wrecked turret through the ammunition hoistto the lower deck. Even the machinery was clogged with corpses. Allour rapid-fire guns aloft soon became silent, because every gunner hadbeen either killed or crippled at his post and lay on the deck wherehe fell. There were so many wounded that the surgeons ceased trying todress the wounds. Shells had exploded inside the ship, and even thehospital was turned into a furnace. The first wounded who were sentthere had to be abandoned by the surgeons, who fled for their livesfrom the intolerable heat."
The _Teresa_ came under the fire of our guns about 9.35 that morning.Fifteen minutes later smoke was rising from her ports and hatches,showing that she had been set afire by the American shells. The shotfrom the _Brooklyn_ that cut her water-main made it impossible toextinguish the flames, and the fire from the American ships grew moreaccurate and deadly every minute; so she was beached and her flaghauled down in token of surrender.
The men on the _Texas_ raised a shout of joy. But Captain Philip spokefrom the bridge: "Don't cheer, men; those poor fellows are dying."
For less than forty minutes Admiral Cervera had been running a racefor life, and now, clad in underclothes, he tried to escape to theshore on a raft, directed by his son, but was captured and taken to the_Gloucester_, where he was received with the honors due his rank. Hisvoyage from Santiago had been just six miles and a half, but had costthe lives of nearly half his officers and crew.
The _Vizcaya_ had followed the _Teresa_ at a distance of about eighthundred yards in coming out of Santiago harbor. Upon her decks, inHavana harbor, Cuba, Spanish officers had looked down with carelessindifference upon the sunken wreck of our gallant battleship, the_Maine_, and it may be supposed that when she came ploughing out of thebay, Wainwright, late of the _Maine_, now on the little _Gloucester_,aimed some shots at her with a special ill-will. But the _Vizcaya_,under gathered headway, rushed on to the west, passing the heavierbattleships _Iowa_ and _Indiana_, but receiving terrible punishmentfrom their guns. A lieutenant of the _Vizcaya_, taken prisoner to theUnited States, in an interview by a newspaper reporter, told of themurderous effect of the shells from the _Indiana_.
"They appeared to slide along the surface of the water and hunt fora seam in our armor," he said. "Three of those monster projectilespenetrated the hull of the _Vizcaya_, and exploded there before westarted for the shore. The carnage inside the ship was somethinghorrible and beyond description. Fires were started up constantly. Itseemed to me that the iron bulkheads were ablaze. Our organization wasperfect. We acted promptly and mastered all small outbreaks of flame,until the small ammunition magazine was exploded by a shell. From thatmoment the vessel became a furnace of fire. While we were walking thedeck, headed shoreward, we could hear the roar of the flames under ourfeet above the voice of artillery. The _Vizcaya's_ hull bellowed like ablast furnace. Why, men sprang from the red-hot decks straight into themouths of sharks."
But the _Vizcaya_ lasted longer than the _Almirante Oquendo_, whichfollowed her out of the harbor. The _Vizcaya_ turned at the mouth ofthe harbor and went west, the _Brooklyn_, _Oregon_, and _Texas_ in hotpursuit, while the _Indiana_ and _Iowa_ attacked the _Oquendo_. Shehad been credited with as great speed as that of her sister ships, butthis day moved so slowly that she fared worse than any of her comrades.She stood the fire of her foes five minutes longer than had the_Teresa_, then with flames pouring out of every opening in her hull,she ran for the beach, hauling down her flag as she went, in token ofsurrender, while at the same time men were dropping from her red-hotdecks into the water.
Thus, in the first three-quarters of an hour two great Spanish warvessels were destroyed, and the American fleet was concentrating itsfire on the other two.
The fighting men on the vessels were not the only ones who did noblework for their country that day. In the engine rooms and stoke-holesof the men-of-war, on that scorching hot July day, men worked naked infiery heat. They could hear the thunder of the guns above them, andfeel the ship tremble with the shock of the broadsides. How the battlewas going they could not see. Deep in their fiery prison, far below thelapping waves that rushed along the armored hull, they only knew thatif disaster came they would suffer first and most cruelly. A successfultorpedo stroke would mean death to them, every one. The clean blowof an enemy's ram would in all probability drown them like rats in acage
, even if it did not cause them to be parboiled by the explosion oftheir own boilers. A shot in the magazine would be their death warrant.All the perils which menaced the men who were fighting so bravely atthe guns on deck threatened the sooty, sweating fellows who shovelledcoal and fixed fires down in the hold, with the added certainty thatfor them escape was impossible, and the inspiration which comes fromthe very sight of battle was denied them. They did their duty nobly.If we had not the testimony of their commanders to that effect, westill should know it, for they got out of every ship not only thefullest speed with which she was credited under the most favorablecircumstances, but even more--notably in the cases of the _Texas_ and_Oregon_, which, despite bottoms fouled from long service in tropicalwaters, actually exceeded their highest recorded speed in the chase.On the _Oregon_, when she was silently pursuing the _Colon_ at the endof the battle, Lieutenant Milligan, who had gone down into the furnaceroom to work by the side of the men on whom so much depended, came upto the captain to ask that a gun might be fired now and then. "My menwere almost exhausted," said Milligan, "when the last thirteen-inch gunwas fired, and the sound of it restored their energy, and they fell towork with renewed vigor. If you will fire a gun occasionally it willkeep their enthusiasm up." On most of the ships the great value of thework the men in engine rooms were doing was recognized by the captain'ssending down every few minutes to them an account of how the fightprogressed. Each report was received with cheers and redoubled activity.
On the _Brooklyn_, when the _Colon_ was making her final race for life,Commodore Schley sent orderlies down to the stoke-holes and engine roomwith this message: "Now, boys, it all depends on you. Everything issunk except the _Colon_, and she is trying to get away. We don't wanther to, and everything depends on you." The _Colon_ did not get away.
The _Vizcaya_ was still making a gallant running fight, and in somedegree protecting the magnificent _Cristobal Colon_. While thesefled, disaster fell upon the two torpedo-boat destroyers, _Pluton_and _Furor_. Instead of dashing at the nearest American ship--whichwould have been their wisest course--both followed the example of thecruisers, and turned along the shore to the westward. Either of themwould have been more than a match for the little _Gloucester_, but hercommander, Richard Wainwright, sped forward in a cloud of smoke fromher own guns, receiving unnoticed shots from the batteries and thenearer Spanish cruisers, though one six-inch shell would have destroyedher. The batteries of the _Pluton_ and _Furor_ were of twice the powerof the _Gloucester's_, and they had, besides, the engine of destructionwhich they could send out from their torpedo tubes. But in a fewminutes Wainwright was engaged with them both at short range and underthe fire of the Socapa battery. The other American battleships had beenfiring at them, but desisted when they perceived that the _Gloucester_alone was capable of managing them. In a very few minutes they bothbegan to smoke ominously, and their fire became much less rapid. Thenthe _Furor_ moved as if her steering gear had been cut. Wainwright andhis men redoubled their efforts at the guns. Suddenly, on the _Furor_,amidships, there shot up a great cloud of smoke and flame, with adeafening roar and shock that could be felt across the water, evenamid the thunders of the guns. A shell from one of the battleships hadstruck her fairly, and broken her in two, exploding either the magazineor the boilers, or both, and she sank like a stone.
Wainwright pursued the other torpedo boat, the _Pluton_, morevigorously. She was already badly crippled, and tried hard to escape;but at last, fairly shot to pieces, she hauled down her flag, and ranfor the line of breaking surf, where her men leaped overboard toescape the fierce flames that were sweeping relentlessly below from bowto stern.
The sight of their danger and distress changed Wainwright from apitiless foe to a helping friend. He manned his boats and went to therescue of those still alive on the burning ship. Many were saved, andthe Americans had hardly left the smoking ship when it blew up with aresounding roar, and vanished as had its companion. Just forty minutesthey had lasted under the American fire, and without being at any timea serious menace to our ships.
The battle had now lasted for about three-quarters of an hour. The_Infanta Maria Teresa_ and the _Oquendo_ were blazing on the beachwith their colors struck. The battleship _Indiana_ had been signalledto turn in toward the shore and give aid to the survivors on theburning ships. Only two Spanish vessels were left--the _Vizcaya_,running and fighting bravely in a hopeless struggle for life, and the_Cristobal Colon_, which was rushing at great speed down the coast tothe westward. In the chase of these two vessels the _Brooklyn_ heldthe place of honor. Her position on the blockade at the time that theenemy came out was a commanding one, and her speed kept her well tothe front. At the beginning of the fight the _Texas_ was next her. Inthis battle she developed marvellous speed, and fought with recklessgallantry. The _Oregon_ was third at the start, but by a wonderful dashpassed the _Texas_ and actually caught up with the _Brooklyn_, whosetars turned out on deck to cheer her--the wonderful fighter from thePacific coast dockyard. The _Iowa_ was only a short distance in theirrear, and the fire of the four was now concentrated upon the unhappy_Vizcaya_, which had escaped serious injury while the attention of theentire American fleet was given to the _Oquendo_ and the _Teresa_,but now with four of the best fighting machines in the world devotingtheir entire attention to her, she began to go to pieces. The heavyshells and smaller projectiles that struck her made a great clangor,and caused her great frame to quiver. When an hour had passed the_Brooklyn_, _Oregon_, and _Texas_ were the only ones still pursuingher. The _Indiana_ had been left behind, and the _Iowa_ had stopped toaid the burning and drowning men on the blazing warships. The fire ofthe three warships was concentrated on the _Vizcaya_. Word was passedto the turrets and tops of the _Brooklyn_ to aim at the _Vizcaya_ only.They were scarcely more than half a mile from her, and the effect ofthe shots began to tell. One of the _Brooklyn_ gunners reported to thelieutenant who had charge of that turret that he didn't see any of theshots dropping into the water. "Well, that's all right," replied theofficer; "if they don't drop into the water they are hitting." Andso they were. The beautiful woodwork inside of the vessel was all ina blaze. The hull was pierced below the water line, the turrets werefull of dead and wounded men, and the machinery was shattered. CaptainEulate, her commander, was a brave officer and a gentleman, but hefound himself compelled to abandon the fight, so turned his ship's prowtoward that rocky shore on which lay the wrecks of the _Oquendo_, the_Teresa_, and the _Furor_.
As the _Vizcaya_ swung about, a shell from the _Oregon_ struck herfairly in the stern. An enormous mass of steel, charged with explosivesof frightful power, it rushed through the steel framework of theship, shattering everything in its course, crashed into the boiler,and exploded. Words are powerless to describe the ruin that resulted.Men, guns, projectiles, ragged bits of steel and iron, splinters, andindescribable _debris_ were hurled in every direction, while flamesshot up from every part of the ship. A fierce fire raged between herdecks, and those who were gazing at her from the decks of the Americanmen-of-war could see what looked like a white line reaching from herbow to the water, which was in fact the naked men dropping one afteranother over the side to seek the cool relief of the ocean from thefiery torment they were enduring.
The _Colon_ was now left alone, and was doing her utmost to escape.The men on our foremost pursuing ships soon perceived that therecould be no hope of escape for her. Commodore Schley saw it, andbegan to lighten the strain on his men. They were called out on thesuperstructure to see what had been done by the guns of the fleet andto watch the chase. They came pouring out from the turrets, up fromthe engine rooms and magazines--stalwart fellows, smoke-begrimed andsweaty. Almost abeam they saw the _Vizcaya_ with men dropping fromevery port. Far astern were the smoking wrecks of the _Teresa_ and_Oquendo_, ahead on the right was the _Colon_, fleeing for her life,while the _Brooklyn_ rushed after her relentlessly.
As the men crowded on along the decks and on the turret top, theysuddenly and spontaneously sent up a cheer for Admiral Sch
ley. Theadmiral, on the bridge above them, looked down upon them with moistenedeyes. "They are the boys who did it," he said to one who stood besidehim, and he spoke truly.
Then the men cheered the _Oregon_, which was coming up gallantly,and her men returned the cheer. Now all felt that even the last ofCervera's vessels was sure to be soon taken, and signals of a socialand jocular character were exchanged. One from the _Brooklyn_ suggestedto the _Oregon_ that she try one of her thirteen-inch guns on thechase. The great cannon flashed and roared from the forward turret, andthe shell, which rushed past the _Brooklyn_ with a noise like a railwaytrain, fell short. On they rushed, the _Oregon_ visibly gaining on thefastest ship of the Spanish navy; a battleship built for weight andsolidity overhauling a cruiser built for speed! Another shell was sent,and fell so near the _Colon_ that the captain seemed to read in it thedeath-warrant of his ship. He turned her toward the shore and beachedher, hauling down his flag as she struck. Captain Cook went in a boatto take possession of the prize, his crew being ordered not to cheeror exult over the vanquished. The _Colon_ surrendered at 1.10 P.M.,ending a naval battle that lasted less than four hours, and possessedmany extraordinary and unique qualities. It completed the wreck ofSpanish naval power and dealt the decisive stroke that deprived Spainof her last remnant of American colonies. It was of absorbing interestto naval experts in all parts of the world, and it was unique inthat while the defeated fleet lost six ships, more than six hundredmen killed and drowned, and eighteen hundred prisoners, many of themwounded, the victors had but one man killed and one wounded.
No wonder that when the fight was over, the victory won--such a victorytoo--a Christian man, such as Captain Philip of the _Texas_, whose crewwere cheering in a very delirium of joy, should call them about him,and, uncovering his head, say in a reverential tone: "I want to makepublic acknowledgment here that I believe in God the Father. I want youall to lift your hats and from your hearts offer silent thanks to theAlmighty."
And truly they had abundant reason for great thankfulness, havingescaped with so few casualties, while the foe suffered so terribly,scores of them being literally roasted alive, for the whole interiorof the ships, _Vizcaya, Oquendo_, and _Teresa_ became like ironfurnaces at white heat. Even the decks were red hot, and the woundedburned where they lay. So crazed by the sight of the agony of menwounded and held fast by the jamming of gratings, were some of thoseotherwise unhurt, that they could hardly be induced to respond toefforts for their own rescue. They would cling to a ladder or the sideof a scorching hot ship and have to be literally dragged away beforethey would loose their hold and drop into a boat below. Our sailorsworked hard on blistering decks, amid piles of ammunition that werecontinually being exploded by the heat, and under guns that mightat any minute send out a withering blast, risking life and limbs insuccoring their defeated foes; for it is not too much to say that inthat work of mercy the bluejackets encountered dangers quite as deadlyas those they had met in the fury of battle.
The poor marksmanship of the Spaniards saved our ships from being muchdamaged. A good many shots struck: the _Brooklyn_ bore in all someforty scars of the fight, twenty-five of them having been shells; butshe was so slightly injured that she could have begun all over againwhen the _Colon_ turned over on the shore. The _Iowa_ was hit twice,the _Texas_ three times, one shell smashing her chart-house and anothermaking a hole in her smokestack. The injuries to the other ships wereof even less importance.