Nashville to go and take it. The Nashville bore down on the
Spanish ship and fired a blank shot from the port guns aft. This
did not stop the Spaniard, and, to give a more definite hint, a
solid shot was fired close over its bows. The Spanish ship
immediately hove to and waited to know its fate.

The vessel proved to be the Buena Ventura, with a crew of about
thirty men, bound from Pascagonla to Rotterdam with a cargo of
lumber, cattle and miscellaneous freight. As soon as possible a
boat was lowered from the Nashville and an officer was sent aboard
the Buena Ventura. When the Spanish captain was informed that his
ship could not proceed, he took his capture gracefully, shrugged
his shoulders, and said he supposed it was only the fortune of
war. It was suggested to him that the capture of a ship bearing
that name, which, translated, means "good fortune," as the first
prize of the American fleet in the war, seemed to be a striking
coincidence. A prize crew of marines under Ensign T. P. Magruder
was placed aboard, and, with the Nashville in the lead, both ships
set out for Key West.

Inasmuch as the Buena Ventura was the first capture by the
American navy in the war, it had a more definite interest than a
success of the same sort would have a few months later. The first
shot was fired by Gunner Michael Mallia of the Nashville, who
therefore has the distinction of firing the first shot in the war.
The prize was a rich one, estimated to be worth, including vessel
and cargo, nearly $500,000, and the prize money resulting became a
tempting amount. Captain Washburne Maynard, commander of the
Nashville, who gained the distinction of making the first capture,
is a native of Knoxville, Tenn. He is a son of former United