Admiral Cervera and a large number of his officers and men were received on board the Iowa, but all these as well as those on board the Resolute from the Colon were transferred to the Harvard and Saint Louis later; 1,615 men were taken to Portsmouth, N. H., and interned; the larger number of officers were cared for at Annapolis. The total Spanish loss was 353 killed or drowned and 151 wounded. The American loss was one man killed aboard the Brooklyn. There was the same disparity of damage as at Manila, in no wise to be accounted for by disparity of force. The Spanish were greatly outmatched in heavy guns, having but 6 11-inch against the 14 12 and 13-inch and 38 8-inch of the Americans; but in rapid fire of lesser calibre, which should have done some damage against unarmored parts, they were practically equal, having 10 6-inch, 30 5-inch and 6 4.7-inch against the American 14 6-inch, 12 5-inch and 18 4-inch.
The next evening, 4 July, at midnight the searchlights showed a large ship in the entrance to Santiago Harbor. This, as known later, was the cruiser Reina Mercedes sent down to block the channel. She was sunk by the gunfire of the Texas and Massachusetts and later raised and sent to the United States. The destruction of this squadron was virtually the end of the war.
The firing on shore had been renewed the morning of the 3d, but at 8.30 A.M. General Shafter sent a letter to the Spanish comman der saying that unless he should surrender he would be obliged to shell the city and allowing until 10 next morning for women and children to leave. At 6.30 P.M. a letter was received de clining surrender, but Shafter on reouest of the various consuls delayed further action until the 5th. On 6 July Sampson's chief of staff visited General Shafter with reference to further ac tion, and the result of the conference was that a letter was sent the Spanish commander drafted by Captain Chadwick and signed by General Shafter giving the facts of the destruc-• tion of the Spanish ships and the ability of the squadron to shell his position with 8- and 13 inch shell; it urged surrender, suggesting a ref erence of the situation to his government, in the meantime the cessation of hostilities to continue. On 8 July the Spanish general offered to leave Santiago with arms and baggage provided he should not be molested before reaching Holguin. This was referred to Washington and was de clined. At 4 P.M. 10 July the truce was ended, and firing began on both sides, the heavy shells of the navy during this and the next day fall ing in the town and destroying 57 houses. At
2 P.M. the 11th the firing ceased and was not renewed. General Toral was informed of the heavy American reinforcements, and surrender was again demanded, the government of the United States offering to transport the entire Spanish command to Spain. A surrender was agreed upon 14 July, this to include not only the troops in Santiago but all those of the depart ment, a total of about 24,000. The city was de livered to the Americans 17 July. The result was fortunate for the American force in view of the sickness which had rapidly developed through the constant rains, bad shelter and in sufficient food in the earlier days of the invest ment. The situation became such that the gen eral officers united in advising the removal of the army from Cuba. On the other hand the marines at Guantanamo, under the excellent conditions of shelter and food and water supply which they had been able to keep, up, were re markably healthy, the sick list not rising above that which was usual at home ports; the same can be said of the fleet, which kept its normal health. General Miles had arrived off Santiago 11 July in the Yale with 1,500 troops, As soon as the surrender of Santiago was determined an expedition to Porto Rico under his command was organized, which sailed 21 July with 2,000 additional men. The battleship Massachusetts and 13 other naval vessels were detailed for service with the expedition.
There were in Porto Rico 8,223 regular Spanish troops and 9,107 volunteers. The de stroyer Terror and small cruiser Isabel II were at San Juan, the former badly injured in an ac tion with the Saint Paul 22 June. She had been struck by two five-inch shells, had three men killed and her machinery so damaged that she returned to port with difficulty. The Gloucester seized Port Guanica 25 July and Ponce surren dered to the Dixie 28 July, in each case without appreciable resistance. Both places were occu pied byAmerican troops. Reinforcements were rapidly arriving, there being available by the end of july a force of 9,461 officers and men (rising by the end of August to 16,973). Ad vance was made from Guanica, Ponce and Arroyo. Several skirmishes ensued, in which three enlisted men were killed and four officers and 36 men wounded. The cessation of hostili ties 12 August prevented the more serious work which would probably have been met in carry ing the Spanish intrenched positions in the ad vance to San Juan.