“We did this at the request of the army, as a demonstration while they attacked. They did not, however, make the attack, as it turned out.
“These bombardments are very unsatisfactory; one reads lurid accounts of them in the papers, but nothing really is gained unless we strike the guns themselves, and this we have not done.
“As we steamed by to-day in close range, our friends of the western battery, who paid a great deal of attention to us yesterday, banged away at us in fine style, and a number of shells burst around us. Finally, when [pg 289]I had them entirely off my mind and was paying attention only to the torpedo-boat destroyers, came a tremendous screech, and everybody on the forecastle dodged. It was their last; it fell about two hundred yards to our right. We did not reply as we came along. I thought it a waste of material, and thought they might have their amusement so long as they did no damage.
“There—the engines have stopped and we are back at Santiago; it is 4.30, and I shall turn in again for a final nap. The captain of the Colon is occupying my room; very nice fellow, about fifty-six, indeed, as are most Spanish naval officers, who, as a Cuban officer said to me, are the flower of the Spanish blood.
“We also have a general and his aid-de-camp, whom we took in the Colon, a nice old boy and very chirpy. The captain, of course, takes the loss of his ship to heart very much, but the general and his aid seem as cheerful as possible. I suppose they think ‘it’s none of their funeral.’
“I stored the general in Staunton’s room, Staunton going to Santiago in a torpedo-boat to send the news.
“We have got off our Spanish friends, and are now loafing. It is a great relief to feel that there is nothing to look after to-night.
“This goes in the St. Louis, so I hope you will have it before many days, and I hope, too, it won’t be long before I get to see you. I think this terrific defeat must go far toward ending things.”