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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1898 SPANISH AMERICAN 1898 The Spanish-American War was, in the words of U.S. ambassador to England John Hay, “a splendid lile war.” It lasted less than six months, cost few American lives, and made the United States a world power rather than a hemispheric leader. For half a century, U.S. leaders had viewed Cuba as an area of strategic and economic interest, but being occupied with their own Civil War and Reconstruction, Americans resisted intervention when Cubans revolted against Spain from 1868 to 1875. When revolutionary violence erupted again in 1895 conditions had changed. By then many Americans were looking outward and progressive humanitarianism was on the rise, stoked by militant Cuban exiles living in the United States and by a variety of special interests seeking to unite the nation behind a broad-based policy of expansion. Conditions worsened in Cuba when the Spanish Governor General, Valeriano Weyler y Nicolau, instituted the reconcentrado policy of conning large numbers of Cubans in so-called “concentration camps.” To increase newspaper sales, sensational American “Yellow Journalists” used headlines such as “Spanish Feed Cuban Prisoners to Sharks.” Bombarded with such hyperbolic stories, as well as by accurate accounts of disease and death in the campus, horried Americans demanded an end to the camps. Presidents Grover Cleveland and William McKinley each aempted to mediate a peace, but both sides set such preconditions as to make an agreement impossible. Spanish government ocials proposed that Cubans be granted autonomy in internal maers but that Spain retain control of the CAMPAIGNS There were three campaigns during the Spanish American war in 1898. e Spanish campaign ribbon is yellow with two blue stripes. e color yellow was suggested by the eld of the Spanish ag. e two blue stripes of the streamer refer to the Atlantic Ocean (Caribbean Sea) and the Pacic Ocean (Philippine Sea). e three yellow portions of the ribbon allude to Cuba, Puerto Rico, and the Philippine Islands, the areas of conict. 􀃕 SANTIAGO 1898 􀃕 PUERTO RICO 1898 􀃕􀀃MANILA 1898 BELLIGERENTS 􀃕 United States 􀃕Kingdom 􀃕􀀃Cuba VERSUS of Spain 􀃕 Katipunan 􀃕 Philippines STATISTICS 􀃕􀀃Total Service Members 306,760 􀃕 Bale Deaths 385 􀃕􀀃Other Deaths in Service 2,061 􀃕􀀃Non-Mortal Woundings 1,662 Secretary of the Navy eodore Roosevelt, Commodore George Dewey, commander of the U.S. Asiatic Squadron, departed Hong Kong bound for the Philippines two days aer war was declared. A week later, on 1 May 1898, the Navy destroyed the Spanish eet in the Bale of Manila Bay, opening the way for American conquest of the entire Philippine archipelago as soon as occupation troops could be transported from the United States. Five weeks later, a small force of Marines occupied Guantánamo on the eastern end of Cuba on 10 June. Later that month 16,888 Army troops under the command of Maj. Gen. William R. Shaer landed on the southern coast of Cuba at Daiquirí and Siboney (22-25 June). From there, American soldiers advanced toward Santiago. Outside the city, 1,200 Spaniards dug in in on San Juan Ridge and Kele Hill and 500 defenders at El Caney forced them to halt. Meanwhile, American naval units under the command of Com. William T. Sampson blockaded Spanish Vice Admiral Pascual Cervera y Topete’s squadron in the harbor at Santiago. An impasse developed between the U.S. commanders. Gen. Shaer wanted Adm. Sampson to destroy the Spanish ships in the harbor so they could not re on his soldiers as they aacked the city. Sampson, on the other hand, pressed Shaer to secure control of the forts at the mouth of the harbor to clear the way for his ships to enter its narrow entrance and engage the Spanish warships within. On 1 July, while the two commanders negotiated, Col. eodore Roosevelt’s 1st U.S. Volunteer Cavalry Regiment (popularly known as the “Rough Riders”) and African-American “Bualo Soldiers” from the 9th and 10th Cavalry regiments charged up Kele Hill. Volunteer soldiers of the 71st New York and 1st North Carolina infantry regiments secured the San Juan Heights then drove the Spanish from El Caney. Two days later Admiral Cervera’s ships sortied in single le. Every one of the Spanish warship was sunk and/or forced aground by the American warships, which were arrayed in an arc across the mouth of the harbor. Hundreds of Spanish sailors were killed or wounded while the Americans suered only a single casualty. With the Spanish eet destroyed, Americans advancing on the city from the east and Gen. Calixto Garcia’s Cuban rebels tightening the siege from the west, Gen. Arsenio Linares y Pombo surrendered the 10,000-man Spanish garrison at Santiago. U.S. reinforcements initially bound for Cuba were redirected to another Spanish colony, Puerto Rico. ey landed at Guánica on 25 July. Led by Maj. Gen. Nelson A. Miles, the 5,000-man invasion force crossed Puerto Rico and advanced toward San Juan ghting bales at Yauco, Fajardo, Guayama, and Asomante before the signing of a cease re on 12 August. Meanwhile, in the Pacic, Commodore Dewey ordered Emilio Aguinaldo transported to Manila from his exile in in Hong Kong. Upon arrival, the Philippine rebel leader proclaimed the islands independent (12 June). On 30 June, 10,000 troops under the command of Gen. Wesley Merridisembarked, marched on Manila, and took control of the city on 13 August. When Merridenied Filipino forces a role in the occupation of the capital, tensions between the erstwhile allies led to the Philippine-American War. e Spanish-American War ended with the signing of the Treaty of Paris on 10 December 1898. e Spanish-American War and subsequent campaigns in the Philippines Islands had far-reaching consequences. In addition to Cuban independence, these conicts marked a revolution in American history. Gaining possession of the former Spanish colonies of Guam, Puerto Rico, and the Philippines made the United States a world power. Foreign aairs assumed an important role in American life for the rst time in three-quarters of a century. e U.S. Army and Navy were transformed into modern military forces which would for the rst time be commied to sustained operations outside North America. James C. Bradford , PhD, Texas A&M University island’s foreign aairs, a compromise rejected by rebels in Cuba and opposition leaders in Spain. When the New York Journal published a leer from Enrique Dupuy de Lôme, the Spanish ambassador to the United States, in which the diplomat called McKinley a weak man, one without principles who sought only to curry public favor, an outraged American public ignored de Lôme’s resignation and his government’s apology and demanded war. In January 1898, McKinley dispatched the U.S.S. Maine to Havana, Cuba, with orders to protect American lives and property. On 15 February a mysterious explosion sank the warship taking 253 ocers and men to their deaths. President McKinley called for restraint until the sinking could be investigated, but most Americans blamed the Spanish and demanded retribution. Bowing to the hysteria, McKinley insisted that Spain grant full independence to Cuba and Congress appropriated $50,000,000 for military preparations followed by passing the Teller Amendment which denied any intention of annexing Cuba. ough Spain signaled its acquiesce, Congress declared war on 25 April 1898. e U.S. Army was ill-prepared for combat overseas, but America’s Navy, the h largest in the world, was an eective force. At the outbreak of war, it instituted the rst American oensive, not in Cuba but half way around the world in another Spanish colony, the Philippines, a group of islands few Americans could locate on a map at the time. Alerted of the possibility of war by Assistant “You may re when you are ready, Gridley.” Admiral Dewey to the captain of Dewey’s agship at the Bale of Manila Bay, 1 May 1898. United States 45-star ag Colonel eodore Roosevelt, Library of Congress. President William McKinley 1897 -1901 Portrait by Adolfo Muller-Ury. Bualo soldiers ride, Bualo Soldiers National Museum, Houston, Texas. Artillery regiment with Gatling gun. 􀃕 U.S. Army 10th Infantry uniforms of Spanish-American War, 1899. By H. A. Ogden. 􀃕 􀃕􀃕 Admiral George Dewey at the Bale of Manila Bay, U.S. Naval Historical Center. Bale of Manila Bay, U.S. Naval Historical Center. Krag-Jorgenson bolt-action rie and bayonet. 1898􀃕SPANISH -AMERICAN WA R 􀃕1898 􀃕 􀃕 © 2010 e Memorial for all Veterans of the Brazos Valley, Inc. Le-Write Ink Bualo Soldier by Frederick Remington