etext. At any rate
the refusal of it was the signal for immediate attack. From noon to
night of May 2nd the battle raged, the Spaniards, only a handful of men,
displaying invincible valor in circumstances of desperate difficulty.
The leader of the defense was a parish priest who was badly wounded by
one of his own men. One other Spaniard was killed by the explosion of a
wretched little cannon which had been pressed into service, all good
guns having been taken to Havana. But these were the only Spanish
losses. On the other hand, one of the French ships, going aground, was
almost destroyed by the Spanish fire before her consort could pull her
off. And the two riddled with shot were at last glad to make their
escape in flight, throwing overboard as they sailed away more than a
score of bodies of men killed by the Spanish musketeers. It was too much
to hope, however, that this repulse of the French would prove final. It
would almost certainly be followed with a stronger attack for vengeance,
and Santiago made what scanty preparations it could to meet the coming
storm.

Gomez de Rojas, a member of the illustrious family whose members played
so great a part in early Cuban history, was at that time the deputy of
the Governor in that part of the Island, making his headquarters at
Bayamo. A few days before this attack on Santiago he and his men had
killed seven Frenchmen and captured ten more under the lead of a
notorious freebooter. The heads of the seven he displayed on pikes at
Bayamo, and on the very day when the two French vessels reached Santiago
he hanged eight of the ten prisoners. It is recorded that the trial of
these men was not yet concluded. But Rojas grimly observed that the
trial could be finished after the hanging just as well as before, as
there could be no doubt as to what the verdict and the sentence would
be. For this ruthless proceeding the Bishop, Salcedo, reprimanded and
indeed excommunicated Rojas, and there was danger that thus disastrous
dissension would arise among the Spaniards. But Rojas, who seems to have
been a diplomat as well as a soldier and administrator, contrived to
make peace with the Bishop, and all was well.

Of such unity there was sore need. For a few days later a squadron of
seven French ships, carrying 800 soldiers, appeared off Santiago. To
meet them Santiago, with all possible aid from Bayamo and the country
around could number less than 100 men, some say not more than 70,
indiffe