and the
mines operated from the blockhouse and signal station on Diana Cay.
This place was shelled, and, under cover of this fire, a boat's crew
of nineteen sailors and marines, under my command, made a landing on
the opposite side of the Cay.

"The Spanish hastily left the place, disappearing completely. A
Spanish flag, signal flags, etc., and a quantity of ammunition, were
captured, and the United States flag raised. Then search was made for
mines and the channel dragged for two hours. Before leaving,
everything at the station was burned or destroyed, including nine
large row-boats. For the raising of this flag I was later awarded,
through the New York 'Herald,' a prize of one hundred dollars, which
was divided pro rata by me among the men who accompanied me on the
expedition."

Early in June, brave work was done by our sailors at Guantanamo, a
short distance east of Santiago. They took the harbor and destroyed
the forts there, in order that our ships might have a place where they
could get coal without going far from Santiago. The coal steamers
could not supply the whole fleet, so our vessels had been going for
coal all the way back to Key West, south of Florida. It was a great
help to have a coaling place at Guantanamo, but our sailors had much
hard work to take the place. Now I will tell you about some of this
hard work, and something about two men who made it possible to land
the marines and establish a coaling station in Guantanamo Bay. The men
were Commander McCalla, of the Marblehead, and Captain Brownson, of
the Yankee.

[Illustration: Commander B.H. McCalla.]

Long before the Spanish fleet put into the harbor of Santiago, the
Marblehead was along the southern coast of Cuba, poking her nose into
every inlet, cutting cables, and communicating with the Cubans.
McCalla had her stripped of everything but her guns and her steering
gear, and everywhere she went she became a terror to the Spaniards.
She dared to go anywhere and do anything. Every man on the ship was
devoted to McCalla, and every gunner on board was a crack shot,
because they were kept shooting at something all the time. If they
couldn't find a Spanish gunboat to shoot at, they fired at floating
targets.

When it was decided to clear everything Spanish out of the bay, so our
ships could use it, McCalla and Brownson were sent down there to do
the work; but first I will tell you a story about Brownson, so you can
see that he was just the right