Thus prepared, both on board the ships and on shore, the morning of the 22nd dawned to witness the beginning of mighty operations. The war vessels, drawn up in proper order, early began to hurl shot and shell upon the towns, forts, blockhouses and clumps of trees that could be discovered along the shore. The cannonading lasted between two and three hours and was furious throughout. Meanwhile General Lawton's Division began the work of going ashore. The sea was rough and the passage to the shore was made in small boats furnished from the transports and from the naval vessels, towed by steam launches belonging to the navy. The larger of the boats were capable of carrying ten or twelve men each, while the smaller ones could carry but six or seven. During the passage to the shore several of the men who had escaped thus far, were taken with seasickness, greatly to the amusement of their more hardy companions. The landing was made at a pier which had been used formerly as a railroad pier, but was now abandoned and somewhat dilapidated. To get from the boats to the pier in this rough sea was the most perilous part of the whole trip from Tampa to Cuba. As the boats would rise on the waves almost level with the landing place it was necessary to leap quickly from the boat to the shore. In this way two cavalrymen of the Tenth lost their lives, falling into the sea with their equipments on and sinking before help could reach them. Some of the boats were rowed ashore and made a landing on the beach some distance from the pier. By this method some men of the Twenty-fifth tried to be the first to land, but failed, that regiment landing, however, in the first body of troops to go ashore, and being the second in order, in the invasion of the island. By night of the 22nd more than one-third of the troops were on shore, and by the evening of the 24th the whole army was disembarked according to the program announced at the beginning, the squadron of cavalry coming in at the close of the march to the shore.