The Siege of the Polite Governor --- On June 21, 1898, during the Spanish-American War, the USS Charleston arrived at the island of Guam and fired 13 shells at Fort Santa Cruz to initiate its capture. Instead of a counter-attack, the Spanish authorities did something completely unexpected: they rowed out to the American ship to say 'thank you.' The Twist: The Spanish garrison on the island hadn't received mail in months and had no idea a war had even started. They genuinely believed the American cannon fire was a friendly salute and were deeply embarrassed because they didn't have any gunpowder left to fire back a proper greeting! Once Captain Henry Glass explained that they were actually being invaded, the Spanish governor, Juan Marina, realized he had no ammo and no instructions, so he simply surrendered. It remains one of the few 'battles' in history where the enemy apologized for being too broke to participate in the fireworks.
