the town.

The _Gloucester_ then hove to within about six hundred yards of the shore,
and lowered a launch, having on board a colt rapid-fire gun and thirty
men, under the command of Lieutenant Huse. She was sent ashore without
encountering any opposition.

Quartermaster Beck thereupon told Yeoman Lacey to haul down the Spanish
flag, which was done, and then they raised the first United States flag to
float over Porto Rican soil.

Suddenly about thirty Spaniards opened fire with Mauser rifles upon the
American party. Lieutenant Huse and his men responded with great
gallantry, the Colt gun doing effective work.

Norman, who received Admiral Cervera's surrender, and Wood, a volunteer
lieutenant, shared the honours with Lieutenant Huse.

Almost immediately after the Spaniards fired on the Americans, the
_Gloucester_ opened fire on the enemy with all her 3 and 6-pounders which
could be brought to bear, shelling the town and also dropping shells into
the hills to the west of Guanica, where a number of Spanish cavalry were
to be seen hastening toward the spot where the Americans had landed.

Lieutenant Huse then threw up a little fort, which he named Fort
Wainwright, and laid barbed wire in the street in front of it in order to
repel the expected cavalry attack. The lieutenant also mounted the Colt
gun and signalled for reinforcements, which were sent from the
_Gloucester_.

Presently a few of the Spanish cavalry joined those who were fighting in
the streets of Guanica, but the Colt barked to a purpose, killing four of
them.

Soon afterward white-coated galloping cavalrymen were seen climbing the
hills to the westward, and the foot-soldiers were scurrying along the
fences from the town.

By 9.45, with the exception of a few guerrilla shots, the town was won,
and the enemy driven out of the neighbourhood.

The troops from the transports were landed before nightfall.

_July 26._ Near Yauco, while the Americans were pushing toward the
mountains, the Spaniards ambushed eight companies of the Sixth
Massachusetts and Sixth Illinois regiments, but the enemy was repulsed and
driven back a mile to a ridge, where the Spanish cavalry charged and were
routed by our infantry.

General Garretson led the fight with the men from Illinois and
Massachusetts, and the enemy retreated to Yauco, leaving three dead on the
field and thirteen wounded. None of our men were killed, and only three
were slightly wounded.

_June 27._ The