Young Peoples History of the War with Spain | Page 6

waters than the large ships. There were also
monitors--immense fighting machines with decks but a little height
above the water and big guns in circular turrets. Then there were
torpedo boats--very swift vessels armed with deadly torpedoes, any one
of which could sink the largest ship afloat.
Some of our large passenger steamships had been appropriated by the
Government for war service, and did good work for the blockade, as
they can move very fast. They flew about from place to place as
"scouts" or "spies"; they carried messages; they cut the Spanish cables
under water, and were useful in other ways.
The gunboat Nashville sailed from Key West with the squadron, and
before the sun had fairly risen she saw the smoke of a steamer away off
to the westward. She gave chase at once, and, as the vessels drew near,
the stranger was flying the flag of Spain. The Nashville fired a shot
across her bows, and this was the first shot in the war between the
United States and Spain. The Spaniard was not inclined to stop, and it
required another shot before she would stop her engines. The Nashville
sent an officer in a boat to inform the steamer that she was a prize to
the United States. She was found to be a Spanish merchantman, the
Buena Ventura, and was sent in charge of a prize-crew to Key West.
During the next thirty days, many other Spanish ships, with cargoes
worth millions of dollars, were captured by different vessels of the
navy. A few were released, but the larger part were condemned by a
prize-court and sold.
The first action of the war was a small affair, but I shall mention it, as it
was much talked about at the time. It took place on April 27th, a few
days after our ships had begun the blockade. The Spaniards were
building new forts at Matanzas, a port about sixty miles east of Havana.
With the exception of Havana, Matanzas has the finest harbor on the
northern coast of Cuba. The city itself lies between two small rivers

and contains many beautiful homes. The houses are often decorated
with colored tiles, and with their luxuriant gardens make a charming
picture against the background of hills that rise beyond the beautiful
valley of the Yumurri, which is one of the loveliest spots in Cuba. In
times of peace the exports of sugar and molasses from Matanzas have
been very large, but the Cuban army burned many of the finest
plantations in the district.
The ships that engaged the new forts that the Spaniards were adding to
the castle of San Severino and other defences of Matanzas, were the
flagship New York, the monitor Puritan, and the cruiser Cincinnati.
The Spaniards fired the first gun, and then the New York took up a
position between two batteries and delivered broadsides right and left.
Then the Puritan's big guns came into play, and then the Cincinnati
poured a stream of shells into the forts. It did not take long to knock the
Spanish defences into sand-heaps--only about half an hour--and then
the American ships stood out to sea. As they were doing so, the
Spaniards fired one more shot. The Puritan had the range and sent a
twelve-inch shell in reply. It was one of the best shots of the war. It
struck the Spanish gun fairly, dismounted it, and then burst, throwing
the sand high in the air. The Spanish account of the engagement stated
that no damage whatever was done, except the killing of one mule!
Great excitement and great anxiety were caused by the news that a
large and powerful fleet was coming from Spain. Our Government
could not tell whether these ships would come to a Spanish port in the
West Indies, or whether they would attack one of our large cities on the
Atlantic coast. We had not ships enough to protect all our ports as well
as to blockade Cuba, so much care was needed to make good plans, and
our naval officers were kept busy. It was most important to watch for
the Spanish ships.
[Illustration: The "Cape Verde" Fleet.]
The "Cape Verde" fleet, as the Spanish ships were called, troubled the
Navy Department of the United States day and night. They knew that it
sailed from the Cape Verde Islands in the latter part of April, but that
was about all they did know regarding it. At last it was seen off the

Island of Martinique and then it was lost again. It was next heard from
at Curacoa, an island in the Caribbean Sea, off the north coast of
Venezuela, but before the American ships could reach it, the Spanish
admiral had coaled and provisioned his ships at Willemstad, the chief
city