Battle Action
On June 30, a Union gunboat came into Tampa Bay, opened her ports, and turned her broadside on the town. The gunboat then launched a dispatch carrying 20 men led by Lieutenant A. J. Drake under a flag of truce demanding the surrender of Tampa. The Confederates refused, and the gunboat opened fire. Drake then informed the Confederates that shelling would commence at 18:00 after allowing time to evacuate non-combatants from the city. Firing continued sporadically into the afternoon of July 1, when the Federal gunboat withdrew.
Read more about this topic: Battle Of Tampa
Famous quotes containing the words battle and/or action:
“In a time of war the nation is always of one mind, eager to hear something good of themselves and ill of the enemy. At this time the task of news-writers is easy, they have nothing to do but to tell that a battle is expected, and afterwards that a battle has been fought, in which we and our friends, whether conquering or conquered, did all, and our enemies did nothing.”
—Samuel Johnson (1709–1784)
“Temperamentally, the writer exists on happenings, on contacts, conflicts, action and reaction, speed, pressure, tension. Were he a contemplative purely, he would not write.”
—Elizabeth Bowen (1899–1973)