“In an effort to land Companies E and G of the first U. S. Infantry on the shore of Pinar del Rio this afternoon, with five hundred rifles, sixty thousand rounds of ammunition, and some food supplies for the insurgents, the first land fight of the war took place. Each side may claim a victory, for if the Spaniards frustrated the effort to connect with the insurgents, the Americans got decidedly the better of the battle, killing twelve or more of the enemy, and on their own part suffering not a wound. [Illustration: U. S. S. MIANTONOMAH.] “After dark last evening the old-fashioned sidewheel steamer _Gussie_ of the Morgan line, with troops and cargo mentioned, was near the Cuban coast. At sunrise she fell in with the gunboat _Vicksburg_ on the blockade off Havana. Other blockading vessels came up also. The converted revenue cutter _Manning_, Captain Munger, was detailed to convoy the _Gussie_, and, three abreast, the steamers moved along the coast. “The Cuban guides on the _Gussie_ took their machetes to a grindstone on the hurricane-deck. Our soldiers gathered around to see them sharpen their long knives, but only one could be induced to test the edge of these barbarous instruments with his thumb. “By the ruined walls of an old stone house Spanish troops were gathered. Several shots were fired by the gunboat _Manning_, and presently no troops were visible. It had been decided to land near here, but the depth of water was not favourable. “Just west of Port Cabanas Harbour the _Gussie_ anchored, the _Manning_ covering the landing-place with her guns, and the torpedo-boat _Wasp_ came up eager to assist. The first American soldier to step on the Cuban shore from this expedition was Lieutenant Crofton, Captain O’Connor with the first boatload having gone a longer route. A reef near the beach threw the men out, and they stumbled through the water up to their breasts. When they reached dry land they immediately went into the bush to form a picket-line. Two horses had been forced to swim ashore, when suddenly a rifle-shot, followed by continuous sharp firing, warned the men that the enemy had been in waiting. “The captain of the transport signalled the war-ships, and the _Manning_ fired into the woods beyond our picket-line. Shrapnel hissed through the air like hot iron plunged in water. The _Wasp_ opened with her small guns. The cannonade began at 3.15 and lasted a quarter of an hour; then our pickets appeared, the ships circled around, and, being told by Captain O’Connor, who had come from shore with the clothing torn from one leg, where the Spaniards were, a hundred shots more were fired in that direction. “‘Anybody hurt, captain?’ some one asked. “‘None of our men, but we shot twelve Spaniards,’ he shouted back. “The soldiers on board the _Gussie_ heard the news without a word, but learning where the enemy were situated, gathered aft on the upper deck, and sent volleys toward the spot.