were stripped for action, boats
covered with canvas, nettings spread to prevent splinters from flying,
partitions removed, and ammunition hoists and bullet shields put up.
At midnight the entrance to the harbor began, the ships steaming in
single column at about six knots an hour, with the "Olympia" leading.
Strangely enough not a single torpedo or mine in the channel was
exploded, though the Spaniards discovered the advance of the ships and
opened fire from the forts. The first shot in answer was fired by a
gunner on the "Boston," without orders. He saw the flash of a gun on a
shore battery and instantly fired his piece without altering its
elevation. That dismantled a gun in the Spanish works and killed
thirty men.

For a few hours after passing the forts the wearied blue-jackets slept
at their guns. With the approach of day came the signal from the
flagship to prepare for action. In the gray dawn the Spanish fleet
could be seen about two miles distant, at such a point that their fire
could be re-enforced by the guns of the forts. A most graphic story of
the action that followed, as seen from the view-point of "the man
behind the gun," whom Captain Mahan eulogizes, is told by Chief Gunner
Evans of the "Boston," from whose narrative I quote the following
paragraphs:

[Illustration: Dewey at Manila.]

"We were steaming very slowly, but increasing speed as the dawn
increased. In the gray daylight we could make out a line of ships
anchored in front of the city. Then we steamed ahead faster. The
ships ahead proved to be merchantmen, and at daylight we could
discern the Spanish fleet further down the bay, and then it was
'Full ahead!' The Spanish fleet did not advance to meet us, and
apparently made no move on the defensive. Possibly our audacity
had for the moment paralyzed them. But it was not for long. In
twenty minutes or so they opened a terrific cannonading at long
range. The batteries and forts around Manila opened fire at
the same time. Every man on the ship was now wide awake and at
his post. I knew that it would not be long before there would be
some hot work, and I served my men with a cup of coffee and a
piece of hardtack, and a little later gave them each a drink of
whisky and water.

"According to orders, we did not respond to the Spanish guns
until our ships came into position. Then the flagship opened
fire, and th