Cuba.

Fortunately, there were brave commanders in the American army who did
not think as General Shafter did.--They had been doing the fighting,
while he hadn't, and they had no idea of giving up an inch of the
ground they had gained. One of the most prominent of them was General
Joseph Wheeler. He had a splendid record in the Civil War, fighting on
the side of the Confederacy. He was a bold and tireless fighter, and
before he was thirty years old he was the commander of all the
Confederate cavalry. His sabre had flashed in the thickest of many
fights and he had led his splendid horsemen in many a furious charge.

When the war with Spain broke out, General Wheeler offered his
services to the Government and was sent to Cuba, and when there began
to be talk of retreat after those terrible days of fighting before
Santiago, the splendid old Confederate counselled holding the army
where it was, and fighting the Spaniards again, if necessary. He said,
"American prestige would suffer irretrievably if we gave up an inch;
we must stand firm!"

[Illustration: General Joseph Wheeler.]

The message from General Shafter flew through the United States, and
caused great anxiety. It was sad to think that our troops had drawn
near the place they had been striving to reach, had had great labor,
had borne much suffering, and that now, after all, they might have to
retreat because there were not enough of them to finish the work--not
enough to take Santiago.

But that very Sunday something took place that changed the whole color
of the scene.

[Illustration: (U.S. flag flying over building)]

CHAPTER X.

THE SPANISH FLEET LEAVES THE HARBOR.

While our Army had been toiling along narrow roads and through dense
forests, wading the streams and storming the forts, on the way to
Santiago, our Navy had been keeping up its blockade of the harbor.
Perhaps I should explain to you that the Merrimac, sunk by Lieutenant
Hobson, did not really close the channel, because the Merrimac had not
gone down in the right spot on account of the breaking of the rudder.
So our vessels still kept a close blockade.

The Spaniards now felt worried. Our Navy was at one side of Santiago,
and our Army at the other. The Spaniards in the city thought our Army
was larger than it was, and the word passed round that fifty thousand
American soldiers were on the hills. Food was scarce in Santiago;
there would soon be danger of starvation. In this state