Bay reached this country on the evening of July 3, and never was there a greater or more glorious Fourth of July than that which followed. Cannons boomed as never before, parades were had everywhere, and bonfires and fireworks lasted far into the night. Of our ships, although struck many times, not one was seriously injured, while but one man had been killed and only half a dozen hurt.
President McKinley had worked hard to bring the campaign against Santiago to a speedy and victorious conclusion. He had urged all in command to hurry matters as much as possible, and the result proved the wisdom of his course. In less than ninety days after war became a certainty he had the army and navy on a proper war footing and Spain was given two blows on the sea and one blow on land from which recovery was well-nigh impossible. It was the President himself who dictated the message to Dewey which resulted in the victory of Manila Bay, and this message was sent after a number of his advisers had protested, on the ground that we were hardly prepared to meet the enemy. It was the
