THE BOMBARDMENT. 371 guns. There were 300 more rifles further back and firing at longrange.

Newarkopenedsire on the Spanish fort and the trenches on theriver bank. The flagstaff of the fort was shot down, but the garrison seems to have been withdrawn before that happened. Along the river bank the Michigan men were firing at the trenches,which were raked by the guns of the fleet. Sampson after about an hour signalled that the Spaniards had abandoned the trenches, but Duffield, whose men were still falling under the Mauser bullets, replied that they had not been all driven from the river bank. The bombardment went on till nearly twelve. Then Duffield decided that he could not force the river, andretired along therailway towardsSiboney.

The men who actually held the hill lost heavily, probably abouthalf their numberbeing killed and wounded during the defence, which lasted between four and five hours. Baquero was killed, and about half-past eleven Linares was severely wounded by a bullet in the shoulder, and was carried back into the city.

Colonel Ordonez was also badly wounded while workinghisguns, beingshot through both legs. The guns were withdrawn successfully, the Talavera companies advancingpluckily to cover theirretreat and that of theircomrades whohad beendriven from the hill. After this there was desultory fighting all the afternoon,the Americans holding the trenches and the blockhouse they had won, keeping up a sharp fire on the nearest defences of the town, and forcing the Spaniards to evacuate the outlying works between San Juan and the suburbs of Santiago. Old General Wheeler had come up to the top of the hill to take a close look at the Spaniards. Some en the officers spoke of the difficulty of holding a position so near the enemy's works, but theold General promptly replied that they must not give up whathad cost so heavya price, and told them to get picks and spades and set to work to entrench the ground, for stick to it they must.

Sampson then turned the guns of the New York, the Oregon, and some other of the heavier vessels, on Santiago, firing over the hills at a high elevation, which he calculatedwould drop theprojectiles in the streets and harbour of the city,whichwas,of course,invisibletothegunners. How far this indirect fire at all helped the attack is not clear, butit causedconsiderable alarmand some damage in Santiago. Consul Ramsden thus describes the effect of the bombardment, which he notes began about eleven. All the morning there had been firing towards Caney andnearer in front of San Juan,but it wasnot till alter eleven that thebig shells began toburst in the city. "The first fell in the Barracones Street ;the next wentinto the CarmenChurch in St. Thomas Street. After breakfast (lunch) they began to get hotter, and it seemed to me that this house was just in the line of fire, especially when one fell and burst not 150 yards from this house. Ithought then 1wouldsend the women and children down t<> the store as being safer, but Mason telephoned to me that shells werealso fallingin that neighbourhood...

The fight for San Juan had not been the engagementon the Americanleft. Further away,near the city GeneralDuffield's brigade of northern volunteers had advanced against the Spanish positions at the mouthof the San Juan river. The Spaniards had blownup the railway bridgenear the sea, andhad abandoned the old castle of Aguadores on the east bank, but they had a battery lookingout seaward on the right or west bank of the river, and had dug shelter trenches and rifle-pits to command every point of crosso thereis not much choice ol a situation. Isent for the other consuls,and we had a meeting as to protestingtoAdmiralSampsonagainst his throwing shells in this wayen defenceless folk without a wordofprevious advice,and wesigned a letter which willgo out to him to-morrow morning, if the Governor allows a flag of truce to go out, whichIdoubt. Several more shells have fallen in different houses andstreets of the town."

The volunteers movedup along the coast railway fromSiboney. Their only chance of forcing '-sage of the river lay in the co-operation of the fleet, which was to bombard the Spanish ions. The volunteers,accompaniedby some Cuban scouts, were brought by train to a point about a mile eas: of Aguadores. The 33rd Michigan were the first to arrive. They were accompanied by General Duffield, and his signallers put him in communication with the flag-hip New York. At a quarter-past ten Duffield -ignalled that he was ready,and the New York, the Gloucester, the Suwancc, and the Ramsdenestimated the forcein the town and its neighbourhood, including the sea sorts and outlying garrisons in the villages, at only 6,000 effective men— namely, 4,000 soldiers,1,000 men from the fleet,and 1,000 volunteers. Thesailors werein good condition, but the soldiers" halfstarved, sick, and dispirited." This makes the