“The situation was one which rather left us out of it. We were too far off to shoot, but could see the rest banging away. The last to come were the two torpedo-boat destroyers, so we headed in to cut off any attempt on their part to return to port, and we saw Wainwright in the _Gloucester_ firing at them for all he was worth, and soon one evidently had a hole through her boiler, as there was a great white cloud of steam which shot into the air. We fired two or three 4-inch shots at the other, which was moving back toward the entrance, and then left him to Wainwright’s mercy, as it was a clear case, and stood on; in a few moments we came, first to one and then the other, but a little way apart, the _Infanta Maria Teresa_ and the _Oquendo_ afire and ashore. “As we were going past the torpedo-boats, I ought to have mentioned two men in the water, stripped, to whom we threw life-buoys, with which they expressed themselves satisfied. It is impossible in such a case, with two of the enemy’s ships going ahead of us, to stop. “We had not passed the two ships I mentioned far, until we saw the _Vizcaya_ head in, and soon she was on the beach and aflame, at Ascerraderos, right under the old Cuban camp. “There was still the _Cristobal Colon_, a good way ahead, the newest and fastest and much more powerful. We had passed the _Iowa_ (which we left with the burning _Vizcaya_) and the _Indiana_, which we ordered to return off the harbour, and tailed on to the procession after the _Cristobal Colon_, which consisted of the _Oregon_, the _Brooklyn_, and _Texas_, and the _Vixen_. We got each of our extra boilers into operation until we were going a good fifteen knots, and we were overhauling the advance somewhat. “The _Oregon_ and _Brooklyn_ kept well up, and soon the _Oregon_ began to fire, and we could see the _Cristobal Colon_ gradually edge inshore, so that we knew the game was up and the victory complete; soon she headed in, and went under one of the points which come down from the mountains, which here (some sixty miles west of Santiago) are close at the water’s edge, and are the highest (seventy-eight hundred feet) in Cuba. We hurried forward and soon saw she had hauled her flag down, and was ashore. “The _Brooklyn_ had sent a boat, and Cook, who had gone in it, came alongside on his return, and stated he had received their surrender, stating he was not empowered to make any condition as to personal effects, etc., as to which they seemed anxious. “I then went on board and arranged things, the admiral allowing them, of course, to take with them all their personal belongings, so while we were dividing them up among the ships (525 men) along came the _Resolute_, reporting having been chased by a Spanish armoured ship, so we put all the prisoners in her. This was a long job.