Utter indifference was shown for the enemy’s fire.  The wounded were quickly attended, the blood was washed away, and everything proceeded like target practice.

Morro battery, on the eastward arm of the harbor, was the principal point of attack.  Bear Admiral Sampson and Captain Evans were on the lower bridge of the Iowa and had a narrow escape from flying splinters, which injured three men.  The Iowa was hit eight times, but the shells made no impression on its armor.  The weather was fine, but the heavy swells made accurate aim difficult.

The broadsides from the Iowa and Indiana rumbled in the hills ashore for five minutes after they were delivered.  Clouds of dust showed where the shells struck, but the smoke hung over everything.  The shells screeching overhead and dropping around showed that the Spaniards still stuck to their guns.

The enemy’s firing was heavy, but wild, and the Iowa and New York were the only ships hit.  They went right up under the guns in column, delivering broadsides, and then returned.  The after-turret of the Amphitrite got out of order temporarily during the engagement, but it banged away with its forward guns.  After the first passage before the forts, the Detroit and the Montgomery retired, their guns being too small to do much damage.  The Porter and Wampatuck also stayed out of range.  The smoke hung over everything, spoiling the aim of the gunners and making it impossible to tell where our shots struck.  The officers and men of all the ships behaved with coolness and bravery.  The shots flew thick and fast over all our ships.

The men of the Iowa who were hurt during the action were injured by splinters thrown by an eight-inch shell, which came through a boat into the superstructure, and scattered fragments in all directions.  The shot’s course was finally ended on an iron plate an inch thick.

At 7:45 a. m.  Admiral Sampson signaled “Cease firing.”  “Retire” was sounded on the Iowa, and it headed from the shore.

After the battle was over Admiral Sampson said: 

“I am satisfied with the morning’s work.  I could have taken San
Juan, but had no force to hold it.  I merely wished to punish the
Spaniards, and render the port unavailable as a refuge for the
Spanish fleet.  I came to destroy that fleet and not to take San
Juan.”

The man killed by the fire from the forts was Frank Widemark, a seaman on the flagship New York.  A gunner’s mate on the Amphitrite died during the action from prostration caused by the extreme heat and excitement.

The Iowa, Indiana, New York, Terror, and Amphitrite went close under the fortifications after the armed tug Wampatuck had piloted the way and made soundings.

The Detroit and Montgomery soon drew out of the line of battle, their guns being too small for effective work against fortifications.

Three times the great fighting ships swung past Morro and the batteries, roaring out a continuous fire.  Whenever the dense smoke would lift, great gaps could be seen in the gray walls of Morro, while from the batteries men could be seen scurrying in haste.