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were left as a guard to see that this injunction was enforced. Three days later, the commandant
again visited the ship, received his pay for the supplies, and wished his visitors
a prosperous voyage.
The Yankee crew, in the meantime, had been ashore, visited the fort at Ballast
Point, and made the acquaintance of the corporal in charge of the battery, José Velasquez.
Thus they learned that the commandant had on hand something like a thousand
confiscated otter skins--which he would not sell. The corporal hinted, however, that
he might be able to deliver some of the forbidden goods, obtained from other sources.
Captain Cleveland was ready for the trade and sent a boat ashore that night for the
skins. The first trip was successful, but a second boat failed to return. When morning
came, the Yankee captain decided on vigorous action. He disarmed the Spanish guards
who had been left on his ship, sent them below, and went ashore with four armed men.
It was found that the crew of the second boat, which had failed to return the previous
night, had been captured by a party of mounted soldiers, headed by the commandant
himself. They had been bound hand and foot and compelled to lie on the shore, where
they were captured, all night under guard.
In his account of the affair Captain Cleveland says: "On landing, we ran up to the
guard, and, presenting our pistols,
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ordered them instantly to release our men from their ligatures....This order was readily
complied with by the three soldiers who had been guarding them; and, to prevent mischief,
we took away their arms, dipped them in water, and left them on the beach."
It was now necessary for the Americans to make their escape as quickly as possible.
The men were full of fight, but their situation seemed desperate. There were only
fifteen men, all told, in the crew, and the armament consisted of six three-pounders.
Their inspection of Fort Guijarros had shown that it contained a battery of six ninepounders,
with an abundant supply of powder and ball. The force was probably sufficient
to work the guns, although Cleveland is doubtless mistaken in thinking the ship
opposed by at least a hundred men. He remarks that while the preparations for flight
were making on board ship, all was bustle and animation on shore, and that both horse
and foot were flocking to the fort; and it is a fair inference that most of this crowd were
mere spectators.
The difficulties in the situation of the Americans were much increased by various
circumstances. It took time to hoist the anchor and get up sail. There was only a slight
land breeze blowing, and the Spaniards were able to fire two shots at the ship, one a
blank shot and the second a solid one, before they began to move. They were under fire
fully three-quarters of an hour before arriving near enough to reach the fort with their
small guns. In the hope of restraining the Spanish fire, the guard were placed in the
most exposed and conspicuous stations in the ship. Here they stood and frantically
pleaded with their countrymen to cease firing, but without avail. At every discharge they
fell upon their faces and showed themselves, naturally enough, in a state of collapse. As
soon as they came within range, the Americans discharged a broadside at the fort from
their six small guns, and at once saw numbers of the garrison scrambling out of the
back of the fort and running away up the hill. A second broadside was discharged, and
after that no one could be seen at the fort except one man who stood upon the ramparts
and waved his hat.