CHAPTER VII.

FROM ALL QUARTERS.

_May 11._ A state of siege proclaimed throughout Spain. In a dozen cities
or more continued rioting and sacking of warehouses. The seacoast between
Cadiz and Malaga no longer lighted. The second division of the Spanish
navy, consisting of the battle-ship _Pelayo_, the armoured cruiser _Carlos
V._, the protected cruiser _Alphonso XIII._, the converted cruisers
_Rapido_ and _Patria_, and several torpedo-boats, remain in Cadiz Harbour.

_May 12._ The story of an attempt to land American troops in Cuba is thus
told by one of the officers of the steamer _Gussie_, which vessel left
Tampa on the tenth.

"In an effort to land Companies E and G of the first U. S. Infantry on the
shore of Pinar del Rio this afternoon, with five hundred rifles, sixty
thousand rounds of ammunition, and some food supplies for the insurgents,
the first land fight of the war took place. Each side may claim a victory,
for if the Spaniards frustrated the effort to connect with the insurgents,
the Americans got decidedly the better of the battle, killing twelve or
more of the enemy, and on their own part suffering not a wound.

[Illustration: U. S. S. MIANTONOMAH.]

"After dark last evening the old-fashioned sidewheel steamer _Gussie_ of
the Morgan line, with troops and cargo mentioned, was near the Cuban
coast. At sunrise she fell in with the gunboat _Vicksburg_ on the blockade
off Havana. Other blockading vessels came up also. The converted revenue
cutter _Manning_, Captain Munger, was detailed to convoy the _Gussie_,
and, three abreast, the steamers moved along the coast.

"The Cuban guides on the _Gussie_ took their machetes to a grindstone on
the hurricane-deck. Our soldiers gathered around to see them sharpen their
long knives, but only one could be induced to test the edge of these
barbarous instruments with his thumb.

"By the ruined walls of an old stone house Spanish troops were gathered.
Several shots were fired by the gunboat _Manning_, and presently no troops
were visible. It had been decided to land near here, but the depth of
water was not favourable.

"Just west of Port Cabanas Harbour the _Gussie_ anchored, the _Manning_
covering the landing-place with her guns, and the torpedo-boat _Wasp_ came
up eager to assist. The first American soldier to step on the Cuban shore
from this expedition was Lieutenant Crofton, Captain O'Connor with the