The moment Lieutenant Colonel Pickett and his Kentuckians were clear of the vessel, General Lopez and his staff, and Colonel O'Hara, with the remainder of the Kentucky regiment, disembarked, and with great ceremony, for the first time, the flag of Cuba Libre was unfurled on Cuban soil. General Lopez remained with his ship, to oversee the landing of the remainder of his little army, while Colonel O'Hara, under orders, advanced to take the barracks where four hundred Spanish troops were garrisoned. The Kentuckians under Colonel O'Hara numbered one hundred and eighty, and in addition he was reinforced by the Louisiana regiment of one hundred and thirty, and the Mississippi regiment of one hundred and forty-five, so that he had in all, for the business in hand, four hundred and fifty-five men, thus outnumbering the Spanish force which they were to oppose, by about fifty-five men. They advanced rapidly and charged the garrison, which promptly opened fire, and Colonel O'Hara was wounded, not seriously, but sufficiently so that he was obliged to surrender his command to Major Hawkins. The engagement was resumed, but only for a short time, when General Lopez came up and at once directed the firing to cease. He then proceeded to do a thing which plainly showed the spirit of the man, his resourcefulness and his undaunted courage. He marched up to the barracks and demanded its unconditional surrender. The Spanish soldiers evidently were not altogether whole hearted in their defence, but their leaders were crafty. A long parley ensued, during which the Spanish troops were hastily and quietly withdrawn through a side door, with the intention of making their escape to the Governor's palace. When the barracks had been in this manner all but abandoned, the Spanish commander agreed to surrender, and it can be imagined that he enjoyed the chagrin of Lopez when he discovered that his prize was an almost empty building. But the Spanish troops were not destined to escape so easily. Colonel Wheat, with the Louisiana regiment, had been the last to leave the _Creole_. As he approached the barracks he heard the firing, but supposing that Lopez had only to put in an appearance to be greeted with loud acclaim as a deliverer, he decided that the Spanish troops had laid down their arms to join the revolutionists and that the sound of guns marked a salute to Lopez. He went around the barracks, toward the square, and was just in time to intercept the flying Spaniards. Instantly he grasped the situation, and a skirmish ensued. The Spaniards at length made good their retreat to the Governor's palace, but not without leaving some dead and wounded behind them.