XXV.-ACTIONS OF THE 2D AND 3D. July 2d. At 5 o'clock gun and musket fire commenced, well sustained in the direction of the land. At 6 the hostile fleet opened fire on the Morro and the Socapa. The greater part of the projectiles fell in the bay and on our fleet. The firing ceased at 8.30. Punta Gorda, which also opened fire, discharged 8 shots. At 8.15 Punta Gorda again opened fire. At the same time the Plutón started up toward the mouth of the harbor. The musket fire ceased. At 9.30 the military governor said by telephone: "I ask your excellency to send a boat, so that by going as close to the coast as possible, the enemy may be checked at San Antonio and Plaza de Toros." At this time the enemy opened musket fire in the same direction. It ceased shortly after. The companies of the fleet embarked again. A pilot was sent to each one of the ships. The body of sailors that disembarked was protected in a line of trenches by Colonel Aldea's column (Asiatic battalion), which withdrew from the coast to the city. At 8 o'clock four wounded from the Socapa were brought to the pier. A shell which exploded on one of the guns killed three men and wounded six, completely disabling the mount of the Hontoria gun, which could no longer be used. Among the wounded was Ensign Fernandez Piña, who was in command of the battery. At 1.30 a slow gun fire was heard in the distance. The French consul, on horseback, with a flag of his nation on a very long pole, left for Cuabitas, followed by many people. During the firing several projectiles of all calibers fell on the city. At 3.15 musket and gun fire was being heard in the direction of Campo de Marte. The line of fire was very extensive and the musket fire intense. At 4 o'clock the musket fire ceased, only the gun fire being heard now. At 4.40 musket fire was again opened; volleys could be heard at intervals. At 6 the firing ceased. At 7 musket fire broke out again; ceasing at 7.30. At 8.30 two blazes could be seen at the top of Monte Real to the west. At 9.45 the enemy opened a violent musket and gun fire from the Plaza de Toros to the Campo de Marte (from east to eastnortheast). To the left (Plaza de Toros) frequent volleys could be heard. At 10.30 the musket and gun fire ceased. The night was extremely dark. From 10 to 11.30 the ships of our fleet spoke by means of the ardois (light signals). The enemy, during the night of the battle of Caney, and after burying the dead, not without paying due honors to General Vara del Rey, commenced work on the trenches, which they never left again, continued to surround our lines with the new reënforcements constantly arriving, and installed modern artillery and machine guns on the heights. The insurgents were covering Čuabitas and adjoining points, although in second line. We were decidedly surrounded and all our communications by land. cut off, as they had been by sea for over a month and a half. Each hour that elapsed the enemy fortified the circle that inclosed us. During the night the enemy kept up most incessantly a violent musket and terrific gun fire which we hardly answered, so as not to waste the little ammunition that we had left, which was, no doubt, what the enemy intended. The Asiatic column (Colonel Aldea) arrived from the coast and occupied in line the post vacated by the companies of the fleet, situated on the road to Caney (in the entrance). In the meantime the fleet was once more bombarding the Morro and the Socapa, where, after killing several men, they finally succeeded in dismounting one of the two Hontoria guns, which they had been constantly antagonizing since the 18th of May. At the same time they were bombarding the city from Aguadores, wounding several persons and ruining several houses. The cruiser Reina Mercedes changed her anchoring place and remained at the head of the bay as much as possible, awaiting orders to open fire on Quintero Hill to check the enemy if he should appear there. The French consul was the first to leave the city, which was abandoned by almost the whole population a few days later. A little before 10 a. m. the enemy, who no doubt intended to surprise us, furiously attacked our lines, and was repulsed with great loss. The events of the second of July may be summed up as follows: Lively bombardment by sea and land, killing several men and disabling one of the only two guns with which we could attack the enemy from the mouth of the harbor; bombarding with impunity the defenseless city; a battle from trenches, the fire of which we hardly answered, and finally a night surprise that resulted in failure. The companies of the fleet embarked rapidly in spite of the prevailing conditions. A pilot was sent to each one of the ships, which latter took in their boats and steam launches and loosened the spring on their cables, and the gunboat Alvarado, which had come out of the slip and was afloat, raised at night the six Bustamente torpedoes that were obstructing the channel to the west. Everything indicated, without leaving room for doubt, that the fleet was about to go out; but when and how? It occurred to me (and nobody could have dissuaded me from it) that a fleet from the Peninsula was on its way to Santiago; that it would pass in sight of the semaphore of Puerto Rico; that consequently Admiral Cervera would know, given the distance and the speed of the former and allowing for the difference in time, when it would reach Santiago; and when fire was opened on the enemy it would leave the mouth free, he would go out and the two fleets combined would defeat the enemy. I remembered everything I had read in newspapers about the purchase of ships, and the date when those building had been launched. Everything became clear to me. We had ships and they were coming. No doubt they were quite near, or perhaps only a few miles distant, but where had the ships come from? I do not know-from heaven, from earth, from the air, from nothing at all-I do not know. But everything appeared possible to me, except that our fleet should go out alone to fight the ships that were assembled at the Morro. The aid of marine, Mr. Dario Leguinia, even more optimistic than I (and that is saying a great deal), could not rest a minute. I shall never forget how during that night of the 2d we were sitting on the doorsteps of the captaincy of the port, making calculations as to the number of ships that might arrive and the |