On June 10, a detachment of marines from the Oregon landed, and soon afterwards six hundred more were landed from the troop-ship Panther. They found plenty of evidence that the Marblehead's shells had induced the Spaniards to depart in a hurry. Watches, hammocks, two field guns, and a lot of ammunition, were lying around. There were a few buildings left, but the marines soon set fire to them. They then drove off a few Spaniards who were about, and then pitched their tents. Pretty soon they were attacked by a large body of Spaniards, but they drove them off after having several men killed and quite a number wounded. The place of encampment was named Camp McCalla, in honor of the gallant commander of the Marblehead.
Before the marines were reinforced they were fighting nearly all the time. It was the first time that most of them had been in battle, but they fought like veterans. The Spaniards were very cunning and constantly planned surprises for them, but the marines finally drove them away and held their position until reinforcements came. One of the marines, in writing home, said:
"They fight Indian fashion, and the guerillas strip off all their clothing and dress themselves with leaves and crawl along the ground like snakes, and at night it is very hard to see or hear them. Then, again, they dig holes in the ground and cover them over with brush and conceal themselves there until their prey comes along. Their signals are very hard to understand, and they sound like birds and are very deceiving.
A Spanish Guerilla.
"We have to carry our rifles and ammunition with us wherever we go. Yesterday morning, while we were eating our breakfast, they fired upon us, and we immediately pursued them. We had quite a battle and came out victorious by a big score. We killed sixty and left about fifteen or twenty badly wounded. We had a lucky escape, only two men being wounded. We stayed out all night, and were relieved by another company this morning, and we had nothing to eat for forty-eight hours; but this is not the first time that we have missed our meals—it is an every-day occurrence. We had four hardtacks, a little piece of butter and a cup of coffee.
"We were reinforced by sixty Cuban insurgents last night. They were fitted out with uniforms and rifles by the Marblehead, and they all carry that deadly-looking weapon, the machete."
The machete is the national weapon of Cuba. It looks somewhat like a sword, but instead of being pointed like that weapon, it is broader at the part farthest from the hilt. A strong man can strike a terrible blow with it. It is used all over the island as an agricultural tool as well, for it serves the purpose of a scythe or an axe.