“It is unfair to blame the enemy for possessing forces superior to ours; but what is worthy of being blamed with all possible vehemence is this infamous government, which allowed our inferiority without neutralising it by means of preparations. This is the truth. Our sailors have been basely delivered over to the grape-shot of the Yankees, a fate nobler and more worthy of respect than those baneful ministers, who brought about the first victory and its victims.” _El Heraldo de Madrid_ said: “It was no caprice of the fortunes of war. From the very first cannon-shot our fragile ships were at the mercy of the formidable hostile squadron. They were condemned to fall one after another under the fire of the American batteries, powerless to strike, and were defended only by the valour in the breasts of their sailors. “What has been gained by the illusion that Manila was fortified? What has been gained by the intimation that the broad and beautiful bay on whose bosom the Spanish fleet perished yesterday had been rendered inaccessible? What use was made of the famous island of Corregidor? What was done with its guns? Where were the torpedoes? Where were those defensive preparations concerning which we were requested to keep silence?” _May 2._ Late in the afternoon the _Wilmington_ destroyed a Spanish fort on the island of Cuba, near Cojimar. The government tug _Leyden_ left Key West, towing a Cuban expedition under government auspices to establish communication with the Cuban forces in Havana province. The expedition was accompanied by Lieutenant-Colonel Acosta. Under him were five other Cubans. Colonel Acosta formerly commanded a cavalry troop in Havana province. _May 4._ A telegram from Key West gave the following information: “Acting Rear-Admiral Sampson sailed this morning with all the big vessels of his blockading squadron on some mysterious mission. “In the fleet were the flag-ship _New York_, the battle-ships _Iowa_ and _Indiana_, the cruisers _Detroit_, _Marblehead_, and _Cincinnati_, the monitor _Puritan_, and the torpedo-gunboat _Mayflower_. “The war-ships are coaled to the full capacity of their bunkers, and all available places on the decks are piled high with coal.” On the same day the Norwegian steamer _Condor_ arrived with twelve American refugees and their immediate relatives from Cienfuegos, Cuba. Dr. Herman Mazarredo, a dentist, who had been practising his profession in Cienfuegos for eight months, after six years’ study in the United States, was one of the passengers. He gave the following account of himself: “Because the Spaniards hated me as intensely as if I had been born in America, I was obliged to flee for my life. I left my mother, six sisters, and five brothers in Cienfuegos. I consider that their lives are in danger. May heaven protect them! What was I to do?