made for the 'Isla de Cuba,' where he
again hoisted his flag.

"After we had circled five times, we withdrew. The smoke was so
dense that we could hardly distinguish friend from foe. Our men
had worked three long hours with scarcely a mouthful of food. I
had, however, kept my men well supplied with whisky and water. I
gave each a small drink about every twenty minutes.

"After we had withdrawn, and the clouds of smoke had lifted
enough so that we could see, Admiral Dewey signaled the ships to
report the number of killed and wounded. It would have done your
heart good to have heard the shouts and cheers that went up as
ship after ship ran up the signal to indicate that she had no
killed and none wounded worth reporting. It was one of the most
thrilling moments of the entire battle.

"It was a wise move on Admiral Dewey's part in withdrawing at
that moment, for our men were rapidly becoming exhausted. For my
own part I do not think I could have held out another half hour,
and neither could my men. We were not only wearied physically,
but the nervous strain was something awful. I called my men into
the gunroom and served each with a good stiff drink of whisky and
told them to take all the rest they could get. I went into the
chartroom, as it was about the coolest place on the ship, and
threw myself on the chart table. I was too nervous to sleep and
too exhausted to move. I just lay there sort of dazed.

"Soon after ten o'clock we advanced again, and the 'Baltimore'
opened the fight. As many of the Spanish ships had been disabled,
what we most feared now was the forts. The 'Baltimore' sailed
right into the very teeth of the guns, any one of which could
have annihilated her, and only bad marksmanship of the Spanish
gunners saved her from destruction, and she did not retreat until
she had practically silenced the fort.

"My ship, the 'Boston,' was perhaps struck oftener during the
battle than any of the American ships, but in every instance it
was small shot or shell, making a glancing blow that did no
particular harm. After the first hour or so of the battle, if we
had received a damaging shot, the chances are that we would have
all gone down, for out of all the ship's boats, only two were of
any value, the others having been shattered to