Already there was a film of smoke over the land batteries and along the line of Spanish ships inshore. The roar of their guns came across the water. Our fleet paid no attention. The Olympia, in the lead, counted ten Spanish warships, formed in a semi-circle in front of the rounding peninsula of Cavite, so that they were both backed and flanked by the land batteries. The ten vessels which made the fighting line were the flagships Reina Christina, the Castilla, the Antonio de Ulloa, the Isla de Cuba, the Isla de Luzon, the El Correo, the Marquis del Duero, the Velasco, the Gen. Lezo and the Mindanao, the latter being a mail steamer which the Spaniards had hastily fitted with guns. The Castilla was moored head and stern, evidently to give the fleet a fixed spot from which to maneuver, but the other boats were under steam and prepared to move. The Olympia opened fire for the American fleet when two miles away from the enemy. She began blazing away with her four eight-inch turret guns. The thunders of sound came rolling across the water and the flagships were almost hidden in smoke. Now our ships circled to the north and east in the general direction of the city of Manila. That is, the American fleet circling toward the northeast and further in toward shore all the time, turned and came back in a southwesterly direction, passing in parade line directly in front of the Spanish fleet and batteries, so that the first general broadside was from the port side, or the left of the ships as one stands on the stern and faces the bow. The McCulloch had taken its position so that the fleet, in delivering this first broadside, passed between it and the enemy. The McCulloch and the Nanshan and Zafiro played in behind the heavy line like the backs of a football team. Having delivered the port broadside, the American fleet turned, heading toward the shore, and moved back toward the northeast, delivering the starboard broadside. As our ships passed to and fro, the stars and stripes could be seen whirling out from the clouds of smoke, and as the line passed the second and third times without a sign of any ship being injured, the sailors began to feel that the Spaniards were not so formidable after all. Their shots went tearing away over our ships or splashed the water farther in shore. Some of the men who fought at the guns said that after the first general broadside, the sailors laughed at the wild shots, and exposed themselves recklessly, feeling that they were in no particular danger.