Guantanamo Bay,
A harbor lying 38 miles east of Santiago, Cuba; one of the best on the southern coast of the island. The town and fort of the same name are located about 5 miles back of the bay. To the left of the entrance is a strip of low, swampy land, while at the right there is a line of steep, rocky hills, which extend from the shore inland for a mile. Just outside of this bay United States warships made an attempt in the early days of the war of 1898 to cut the very important cables which ran from Santiago to Guantanamo and thence to Spain. Had this attempt succeeded Cuba would have been entirely isolated from the mother-country. On May 18, the St. Louis and the tug Wampatuck approached the mouth of the harbor, but the heavy fire from the Spanish batteries and the gunboat in the bay forced the Wampatuck to retire after grappling one of the cables within 800 yards of the shore. On the hills before mentioned the Spaniards had constructed earthworks and rifle-pits commanding the entrance of the bay. On June 10, 1898, the United States cruiser Marblehead was sent to shell the bluffs. Captain McCalla found this task easy, two dozen shells sufficing to drive the enemy away. On the following day the transport Panther landed 600 marines at Caimanera (q. v.).
