The Don Antonia de Ulloa, which was engaged with the Olympia and
the Boston, though riddled with shells and on fire in a dozen places,
refused to surrender. Her gallant commander Robion stuck to his ship to
the very last; then she sank with colors flying, a signal example of
Spanish bravery. Another vessel had hauled down her flag, but when a
boat's crew from the McCulloch approached to take possession of her,
she treacherously fired on them. Suddenly, from every ship in the
American fleet there thundered a swift and awful retribution. There
was darkness around her shivering hull, there was a dull explosion
and a lurid glare; and when the smoke had rolled away nothing but a
few floating fragments were left to indicate the traitor's fate.
Thus ship after ship of the Spanish fleet met a like fate, until
Admiral Montojo, on the deck of the deserted and almost-useless Isla
de Cuba, took down his colors, and, with a few surviving officers,
escaped to the shore.
The Yankees Are Victorious.
But, notwithstanding the destruction and the surrender of the Spanish
fleet, the batteries kept up an incessant fire. The Americans now
turned their attention to these, and speedily silenced them. The
Petrel was left behind to complete the destruction of the smaller
gunboats. This she did most effectually.
As the Cavité Arsenal unfurled the white flag, the command "Cease
firing" was given, and the various American commanders once more
gathered on the flagship, their men cheering themselves hoarse.
A most extraordinary victory, truly! Not one man lost, and only six men
slightly wounded, all on the Baltimore; while the Baltimore, Olympia,
and Raleigh suffered injuries that could be repaired in a few hours.
The Spanish, on the other hand, were almost annihilated, and
lost the following vessels: Sunk: Reina Cristina, Castilla,
Don Antonia de Ulloa. Burnt: Don Juan de Austria, Isla de Luzon,
Isla de Cuba, General Lezo, Marquis del Duero, El Correo, Velasco,
and Isla de Mindanao. Captured: Manila, and several tugs and small
launches. Besides this, the enemy lost more than 600 men.
On the day following the engagement, the squadron returned to
Cavité, where it took up a permanent position until the arrival
of the transports from America. On the third of May the Spanish
evacuated Cavité Arsenal, which was then held by a detachment from the
fleet. The same day the batteries on Corregidor Island surrendered
to the Raleigh and the Baltimore. And thus ended the greatest naval
battle in American history.
THE AMERICAN OCCUPATION.
Merritt, and the Expedition.
The Spanish fleet had been destroyed; Cavité had been taken; and
Admiral Dewey lay in the harbor awaiting the reinforcements that were
on the way.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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