By 9.30 the last of the soldiers had left the open railroad tracks, disappearing in the thick brush that covered the eastern side of Aguadores inlet.
The water in the sponge tubes under the breeches of the big guns was growing hot in the burning sun.
Ashore there was no sign of the Spaniards. They were believed to be on the western bluff.
Between the bluffs ran a rocky gully, leading into Santiago City. On the extremity of the western arm was an old castellated fort, from which the Spanish flag was flying, and on the parapet on the eastern hill, commanding the gully, two stretches of red earth could easily be seen against the brush. These were the rifle-pits.
At 10.15 a signal-flag ashore wigwagged to Admiral Sampson to commence firing, and a minute later the _New York's_ guns blazed away at the rifle-pits and at the old fort.
The _Suwanee_ and _Gloucester_ joined in the firing.
Of our troops ashore in the brush nothing could be seen, but the ping, ping, of the small arms of the army floated out to sea during the occasional lull in the firing of the big guns, which peppered the rifle-pits until clouds of red earth rose above them.
An 8-inch shell from the _Newark_ dropped in the massive old fort, and clouds of white dust and huge stones filled the air. When the small shells hit its battlements, almost hidden by green creepers, fragments of masonry came tumbling down. A shot from the _Suwanee_ hit the eastern parapet, and it crumbled away. Amid the smoke and débris, the flagstaff was seen to fall forward.
"The flag has been shot down!" shouted the ship's crew, but, when the smoke cleared away, the emblem of Spain was seen to be still flying and blazing brilliantly in the sun, though the flagstaff was bending toward the earth.
A few more shots from the _Suwanee_ levelled the battlements until the old castle was a pitiful sight.
When the firing ceased, Lieutenant Delehanty of the _Suwanee_ was anxious to finish his work, so he signalled to the _New York_, asking permission to knock down the Spanish flag.
"Yes," replied Admiral Sampson, "if you can do it in three shots."
The _Suwanee_ then lay about sixteen hundred yards from the old fort. She took her time. Lieutenant Blue carefully aimed the 4-inch gun, and the crews of all the ships watched the incident amid intense excitement.