“Volunteers are surrendering themselves with arms and ammunition. Four-fifths of the people are overjoyed at the arrival of the army. Two thousand from one place have volunteered to serve with it. They are bringing in transportation, beef, and other needed supplies. “The custom-house has already yielded fourteen thousand dollars. As soon as all the troops are disembarked they will be in readiness to move.” Colonel Hulings, with ten companies of the Sixteenth Pennsylvania, occupied Juan Diaz, about eight miles northeast of Ponce, on the road to San Juan. The American flag was raised, and greeted with great enthusiasm by the populace. _August 1._ The American scouts were within six miles of Coamo, and the Spanish rear guard was retiring fast. The Spanish had fled toward Aibonito, thirty miles from Ponce, and the place was being fortified. There the road winds around among the mountains, and the artillery commanding it rendered the position impregnable. Détours were to be made by the Americans from Coamo through Arroyo and Guayamo, thus avoiding the main road, which had been mined for three miles. Captain Confields of the engineers went ahead to kill these mines. The Fifth Signal Corps men in advance of the Sixteenth Pennsylvania sent word to General Stone that it had reconnoitred the road to Adjuntas. A signal-station was established, and the stars and stripes run up at Santa Isabel amid great enthusiasm. Yabricoa, Patillas, Arroyo, Guayanillo, Penuelas, Adjuntas, Guayamo, and Salinas had all surrendered. [Illustration: MAJOR-GENERAL BROOKE.] The Spaniards hurried from these towns towards San Juan before an attack was made. The second fleet of transports arrived safely at Fort Ponce, the _Roumanian_ bringing the cavalry detachment, and the _Indiana_ and _Missouri_ the batteries. Generals Brooke, Schwan, and Haines, with their staffs, were on board. The troops carried included the Thirteenth Illinois, Seventh Ohio, Fourth Pennsylvania, Nineteenth Regulars, and Troops A and C of the New York volunteer cavalry. There were also one thousand animals, thirty days’ rations for thirty thousand men, a signal corps detachment, and an ambulance corps. The whole force, as well as the ammunition and quartermaster’s stores, was landed, and the men were camping on the outskirts of the town. _August 2._ San Juan blockaded by the _New Orleans_, _Puritan_, _Prairie_, _Dixie_, and _Gloucester_, which kept out of range of the masked batteries ashore. The railroad from Ponce to Yauco in possession of U. S. troops. Spanish volunteers continued to come into the American lines and give themselves up. _August 4._ A portion of General Grant’s brigade, on the transport _Hudson_, sailed from Newport News. A correspondent for the Associated Press, with the invading army, thus wrote under date of August 4th: “The Americans have taken peaceful possession of the eastern portion of the island.