The result of this action decided the fate of the Morro.  The work of sapping went on.  Reinforcements arrived from New York; and on the 30th a practicable breach was made.  Lord Albemarle had previously summoned Don Luis de Velasco to surrender, in the most complimentary terms; but the gallant Spaniard declined to abandon his duty, preferring death to dishonor.  On the afternoon of the 30th, the English storming-party, headed by Lieutenant Forbes, of the Royals, mounted the breach, taking the defenders by surprise, and dispersing them.  Don Luis disdained to fly, and was mortally wounded.  He lived until the afternoon of the 31st, receiving every possible attention from the victors, who sent him over to the Havana, where he was buried with military honors.  His son was created Vizconde del Morro, and it was ordered that in the Spanish navy there should always be a ship named Velasco.

The storming of the castle cost the English but two officers and thirty men.  The Spaniards lost five hundred and thirty men, besides those who were drowned in seeking to reach the town.  During the siege the Spanish loss exceeded a thousand men.  The conquerors found a large number of cannon, mortars, muskets, and hand-grenades, and great quantities of powder and ball, and fixed ammunition, in the castle.

As soon as the fortress had fallen, the Spaniards opened fire on it, which was directed principally against the water-tank.  The English carried on their works on both sides of the city, and on the 10th of August Lord Albemarle summoned the Governor to capitulate.  After a long detention, the flag was sent back without an answer.  It was not until the forenoon of the 11th that the English opened fire upon the city, their batteries containing forty-five guns.  That regard for “unoffending inhabitants” with which the English of 1847 were afflicted, when American guns fired on Vera Cruz, was not felt by their ancestors of 1762.  Judging from the language of English writers, we should infer that England has a vested right to pound and pulverize all places that refuse to acknowledge her supremacy but that such conduct as distinguished her troops at Copenhagen and elsewhere is wanton butchery when imitated by the military of other nations.  Be that as it may, it is a fact that the British batteries pounded the Havana savagely on the 11th of August, one hundred and one years ago, without causing any alarm to either Lord Albemarle or his army as to the opinion of their countrymen; and the pounding-match was so pronouncedly in favor of the English, that by two o’clock in the afternoon the Spaniards offered to surrender.  A suspension of hostilities followed, and the negotiations ended in the capitulation of the place on the 13th of August.  At ten o’clock on the 14th, the Punta was taken possession of by General Keppel; and two hours later, the city gate and battery of that name.  The landward gate was held by Colonel Howe, the Sir William Howe of our Revolutionary War.  The number of regular troops who became prisoners was nine hundred and ninety-three, without counting the sick or wounded, and including both men and officers.  They were sent on board the English ships.