W'M. MCKIXLEY, rilESIDENT AND COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF OF THE Army and Navy. HISTORY OF THE WAR WITH SPAIN. WITH A COMPLETE RECORD OF ITS CAUSES, WITH INCIDENTS OF THE STRUGGLE FOR SUPREMACY IN THE WESTERN HEMISPHERE. BY JOHN R. MUSICK, Author of "The Columbian Historical Novels," "Hawaii Our New Possessions," "History' Stories of Missouri," "Lights and Shadows of Our War with Spain," etc., etc.. FULLY ILLUSTRATED. (Copyright 1898 bv J. S. Ogilvik Pubushing Co.) NEW YORK : J. S. OGILVIE PUBLISHING COMPANY, 57 Rose Street. 1^789 ^ ' V •-^\~ -^^*%. ^um 1\ s ^ .^ .^ ^ 2nd COPY, 1898. PREFACE. The American people above all others demand a history of any important event which may take place in their country, and for this reason this his- tory has been written, with as much care as was possible to bestow upon it. Our relations with Spain were strained for a great many years and after the blowing up of the Maine war was inevitable. We have endeavored to briefly give the causes, and long series of injuries, that led up to the war. In our humble opinion war should have been declared in 1873, but the punishment Spain then deserved was only deferred twenty-five years. There have been many criticisms on the manner in which the war was conducted, but of these we have nothing to say. It is our duty to give the facts and let the world draw conclusions. The war witli Sj^ain is perhaps the smallest great war ever known. The loss on one side, in one great battle of the Civil AVar, or Franco-Prussian War was many times greater than all killed and wounded on both sides, yet it produced history and geography. IV PREFACE. It changed the whole bent of the American mind. Ten years ago expansionists were unheard of, five years ago there were few, and they were fanatics; to-day expansion is the watchword. The great victories of the war were with the navy. The world awoke to the fact that America had a navy on May 1, 1898, when Dewey met the Spanish Admiral Montejo in Manila Bay. This victory, accentuated by Schley and Sampson at Santiago on Sunday, July 8, 1898, convinced the world that the American navy was invincible. Two of Spain's fleets destroyed, thousands of her officers and sailors killed and wounded, with a loss of only one killed and a few wounded on the American side. Such victories made America king of the sea. The chief campaign of importance was at Santi- ago under Major-General William R. Shafter. This campaign though brilliant has met with criticism. I believe that General Shafter did his duty and did the best he could under the circumstances. He landed his troops, went over the mountains, and assaulted the enemy. Though he lost some men, his losses were not nearly so great as General U. S. Grant's, even in proportion to the forces engaged. Where he lost by tens, Grant lost by thousands, and yet with many. Grant is the ideal military man of America. To the Volunteer soldiers belong much of the credit. A citizen in time of peace, a soldier at his PREFACE. V country's call, he fought side by side Avith those whose profession is war, and performed prodigies. A statue should be erected for the brave Volun- teers of the Hispano- American War. A higher statue should be erected to the countless thousands of brave Americans who were anxious to serve their country, but were compelled to remain at home and read of laurels won. The war has been fought and Spain is to be driven from the Western Hemisphere. America has grown to a giant to whom the world bows in reverence. England, our time-honored enemy, seeks an alliance with us, and the War Lord of Europe, who began to bluster over the Philippines, has gracefully doffed his silver helmet to Uncle Sam, and recommended that he settle the matter as he pleased. The war has demonstrated that no ship or gun is powerful enough to do serious damage to a land battery, and that land battles must be fought on land. It has demonstrated that dynamite is risky and torpedo boats a failure, but that the great per- suading power and highest law is a thirteen-inch gun with men who know how to use it. John K. Musiok, DEDICATION. TO THE THOUSANDS OF BRAVE VOLUNTEERS WHO GAVE Their Services to Their Country, AND THE Countless Thousands of Patriots who were willing to give their services had they been needed. this book is dedicated by the Author. TABLE OF CONTENTS. PAGE. CHAPTER I. Spanish Barbarity— Decay of Spanish Power in the Western Hemisphere, and the Cause 43 CHAPTER II. The Cause of America in the Spanish-American Quarrel 66 CHAPTER III. A Change of Political Parties— Cuba Still Neglected— McKin- ley's Conservative but Eesolute Course— Blowing Up of the Maine 94 CHAPTER IV. The Ultimatum— The Blockade— The First Guns of the War- Bombardment of Matanzas 107 CHAPTER V. Faith in the Asiatic Squadron— Admiral Dewey— His Great Victory at Manila 138 CHAPTER VI. Eepulsed at Cardenas— Ensign Willard's Heroic Act— Bom- bardment of San Juan 159 CHAPTER VII. The Voyage of the Oregon— Organizing the Volunteer Army —Difficulties Met— Spain's Elusive Fleet— Sons of Fathers —Waiting to Start— Leaf from a Soldier's Diary 179 33 34 TABLE OF CONTENTS. FAGE. CHAPTER VIII. Keinforcements Sent to Dewey— Germany's Strange Pro- tests-President's Second Call for 75,000 Men— Blockad- ing Santiago— Hobson's Daring Exploit— Gallant Defense at Guantanamo by Colonel Huntington's Marines 195 CHAPTER IX. The Invading Army Under General Shafter— The Voyage- Landing of Troops 218 CHAPTER X. The Advance— Eough Eiders Entrapped— Skirmish at La Quasina— Desperate Conflicts at San Juan Heights and El Caney— A Daring Attack at Manzanillo 231 CHAPTER XI. Cervera's Desperate Dash— Destruction of the Entire Fleet— Hobson's Exchange— Rumors again of Peace — The Cadiz Fleet Reported to be Returning to Spain— Decision to Send a War Fleet to the Spanish Coast 258 CHAPTER XII. Bombardment and Surrender of Santiago— The Correspon- dence— Shafter's Report— Number of Arms and Prisoners —General Terms 275 CHAPTER XIII. Expeditions Sail for Manila at Last— Dewey's Trouble with German War Vessels— General Merritt and His Young Wife— Capture of the Ladrones— Trouble with Germans— The Insurgents defiant 303 CHAPTER XIV. Conditions About Santiago— Garcia Indignant— His Letter to Shafter— Examination of Forts and Slight Damage —American and Spanish Soldiers Fraternizing 322 CHAPTER XV. The Porto Eican Expedition— General Miles in Command- Selection of Transports— The Expedition Sails 346 TABLE OF CONTENTS, 35 PAOS. CHAPTER XYI. Spain, Through the French Ambassador, Sues for Peace— The President's Reply— Terrible State of Affairs at Santiago- Roosevelt's Letter 365 CHAPTER XVII. Miles Reaches Porto Rico— The First Landing— Skirmish at Guanica— Surrender of Ponce— The Army on the March- Flowers and Flags 384 CHAPTER XYIII. Manila Again— More Trouble with Aguinaldo— General Mer- ritt Arrives— First Land Engagement General Greene's Lines Attacked during a Typhoon— Enemy Repulsed 411 CHAPTER XIX. Miles Continues to Advance— Enemy more Hostile— Skir- mishes Along the Way— Capture of Coama— Halted by Peace 425 CHAPTER XX. The Protocol Signed— Basis of Treaty— Last Shots of the War— Blackade Raised— Entering Havana— Capture of Manila— Germany's Violation of Neutrality— The Peace Commission— Their Work— Conclusion 443 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. THE WAR SHIPS OF THE U. S. NAYY. PAGE. The Cruiser Atlanta 176 The Cruiser Brooklyn 184 The Cruiser Baltimore 192 The Cruiser Columbia 200 The Cruiser Charleston 208 The Torpedo Boat Cushing 216 The Cruiser Chicago 224: The Cruiser Cincinnati 23^ The Battleship Indiana 240 The Cruiser Marblehead 248 The Battleship Massachusetts 264 The Monitor Monterey 280 The Monitor Miantonomoh 296 The Battleship Maine 312 The Cruiser New York 328 The Battleship Oregon 344 The Monitor Puritan 360 The Cruiser Raleigh 368 The Battleship Texas , 37.6 The Dynamite Cruiser Vesuvius 384 PORTRAITS. Wm. McKinley, President, and Commander-in-Chief OF THE Army and Navy Frontispiece Captain-General Blanco, Commander of the Spanish Forces in Cuba 72 36 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 37 PAGE. Major-General Wesley Merritt 80 Captain Robley D. Evans 88 Stewart L. Woodford, U. S. Minister to Spain 96 Rear-Admiral W. T. Sampson , 104 Major-General Nelson A. Miles 112 Major-General Joseph Wheeler 120 Major-General Fitzhugh Lee 128 Lieutenant Richmond P. Hobson 136 Major-General William R. Shafter 144 Commodore Winfield S. Schley 152- Rear-Admiral George Dewey 160^ Captain Charles D. Sigsbee 168 MISCELLANEOUS. A Typical American Soldier 392 At the Hospital 400 Ramming a Charge 400 Firing a Gun 416 Writing a Letter Home 416 A Member of Troop C of Brooklyn, Before and After Enlistment 432 Marching to the Mess Hall at Noon 432 Recruits to be Uniformed 440 Every Soldier His Own Laundryman 440 Building a Torpedo Boat 456 DESCRIPTION OF THE WAR VESSELS OF THE U. S. NAVY. THE CRUISER ATLANTA. Protected cruiser. Single screw. Commissioned July 19, 1886. Length, 271 feet 3 inches ; breadth, 42 feet If inches ; draft, 16 feet 10 inches ; displacement, 3,000 tons ; speed, 15^ knots. Main battery, six 6-inch and two 8-inch breech loading rifles. Secondary battery, two 6-pounder, two 3-pounder and four 1- pounder rapid fire guns, two 47-millimetre Hotchkiss revolving cannon, and two gatlings. Thickness of protective deck, Ij inches on the slope and flat. 19 officers ; 265 men. Contract price, $617,000. THE CRUISER BROOKLYN. Armored cruiser. Twin screw. Commissioned December 1, 1896. Length, 400 feet ; breadth, 64 feet ; draft, 24 feet ; displace- ment, 9,271 tons ; speed, 21.91 knots. Main battery, eight 8-inch breech loading rifles and twelve 5-inch rapid fire guns. Secondary battery, twelve 6-pounder and four 1-pounder rapid fire guns, and four gatlings. 46 officers ; 515 men. Cost, $2,986,000. THE CRUISER BALTIMORE. Protected cruiser. Twin screw. Commissioned January?, 1890. Length, 327 feet 6 inches ; breadth, 48 feet 7^ inches ; draft, 19 feet 6 inches ; displacement, 4,413 tons ; speed, 20 knots. Main battery, four 8-inch and six 6-inch breech loading rifles. Secondary battery, four 6-pounder, two 3-pounder and two 1- pounder rapid fire guns, four 37-millimetre Hotchkiss revolving cannon, and two gatlings. Thickness of protective deck, 4 inches on slope, 2^ on the flat. 36 officers ; 350 men. Contract price, $1,325,000. 38 WAB VESSELS OF THE U. 8. NA VY, 39 THE CRUISER COLUMBIA. Protected cruiser. Triple screw. Commissioned April 3, 1894, Length, 412 feet ; breadth, 58 feet 21 inches ; draft, 22 feet 6| inches : displacement, 7,375 tons ; speed, 22 knots. Main battery, one 8-inch breech loading rifle, two 6-inch and eight 4-inch rapid fire guns. Secondary battery, twelve 6- pounder and four 1-pounder rapid fire guns, and four gatlings. Thickness of protective deck, 4 inches on slopes, 2^ inches on the flat. 35 ofiQcers ; 429 men. Cost, $2,725,000. THE CRUISER CHARLESTON. Protected cruiser. Twin screw. Commissioned December 26, 1889. Length, 312 feet 7 inches; breadth, 46 feet 2 inches; draft, 18 feet 7 inches ; displacement, 3,730 tons ; speed, 18 knots. Main battery, two 8-inch and six 6-inch breech loading rifles. Secondary battery, four 6-pounder, two 3-pounder and two 1- pounder rapid fire guns, four 37-millimetre Hotchkiss revolving cannon, and two gatlings. Thickness of protective deck, 3 inches on the slope, 2 inches on the flat. 20 officers ; 280 men. Contract price, $1,017,500. THE TORPEDO BOAT CUSHING. Steel torpedo boat. Twin screw. Commissioned April 22, 1890. Length, 138 feet 9 inches ; breadth, 14 feet 3 inches ; draft, 4 feet 10 inches ; displacement, 105 tons ; speed, 22| knots. Armament, three 1-pounder rapid fire guns. Torpedo tubes, three 18-inch Whitehead. 3 officers ; 20 men. Cost, $82,750. THE CRUISER CHICAGO. Protected cruiser. Twin screw. Commissioned April 17, 1889. Length, 325 feet; breadth, 48 feet 2 inches; draft, 19 feet; displacement, 4,500 tons ; speed, 15 knots. Main battery, four 8-inch, eight 6-inch and two 5-inch breech loading rifles. Secondary battery, nine 6-pounder and four 1- pounder rapid fire guns, two 37-millimetre Hotchkiss revolving cannon, and two gatlings. Thickness of protective deck, IJ inches on slope and flat. 33 officers ; 376 men. Cost, $889,000. 40 WAR VESSELS OF THE U. S. NA VY. THE CRUISER CINCINNATI. Protected cruiser. Twin screw. Commissioned June 16, 1894, Length, 300 feet ; breadth, 42 feet ; draft, 18 feet ; displace- ment, 3,213 tons ; speed, 19 knots. Main battery, ten 5-inch and one G-inch rapid fire guns. Secondary battery, eight 6-pounder and two 1-pounder rapid fire guns, and two gatlings. Thiclcness of protective deck, 2J inches on slopes, 1 inch on the flat. 20 officers ; 202 men. Cost, $1,100,000. THE BATTLESHIP INDIANA. Battleship. Twin screw. Commissioned November 20, 1895, Length, 348 feet ; breadth, 69 feet 3 inches ; draft, 24 feet ; dis- placement, 10,288 tons ; speed, 16 knots. Main battery, four 13-inch, eight 8-inch and four 6-inch breech loading rifles. Secondary battery, twenty 6-pounder and six 1-pounder rapid fire guns, and four gatlings. Thickness of armor, 18 inches. 36 officers ; 434 men. Cost, $3,020,000. THE CRUISER MARBLEHEAD. Unarmored cruiser. Twin screw. Commissioned April 2, 1894. Length, 257 feet ; breadth, 37 feet ; draft, 14 feet 7 inches ; displacement, 2,089 tons ; speed, 19 knots. Main battery, nine 5-inch rapid fire guns. Secondary battery, six 6-pounder and two 1-pounder rapid fire guns, and two gat- lings. 20 officers ; 254 men. Cost, $674,000. THE BATTLESHIP MASSACHUSETTS. Coast line battleship. Twin screw. Length on water line, 348 feet ; breadth, 69 feet 3 inches ; draft, 24 feet ; displacement, 10,288 tons ; speed, 16,2 knots. Main battery, four 13-inch, eight 8-inch and four 6-inch guns. Secondary battery, four 1-pounder and twenty 6-pounder rapid fire guns, and four gatlings. Armor, 17, 10 and 8 inches over bar- bette, and 17, %\ and 6 inches over turret; other armor, 18, 14 and 5 inches near battery. 37 officers ; 438 men. Cost, $3,020,000. THE MONITOR MONTEREY. Coast defence monitor. Length, 256 feet; breadth, 59 feet; draft, 14 feet ; displacement, 4,084 tons ; speed, 13.6 knots. Main battery, four 10-inch rifles in two turrets. Secondary battery of rapid fire guns. Heavily armored on barbettes and turrets. WAR VESSELS OF THE U. S. NA VY, 41 THE MONITOR MIANTONOMOH. Coast defense monitor. Commissioned Oct. 27, 1891. Length, 259 feet 6 inches ; breadth, 55 feet 10 inches ; draft, 14 feet 6 in- ches ; displacement, 3,990 tons ; speed, 10 knots. Main battery, four 10-inch breech loading rifles. Secondary battery, two 6-pounder, two 3-pounder and two 1-pounder rapid fire guns. Thickness of armor, 7 inches. 13 officers ; 136 men. THE BATTLESHIP MAINE. Battleship. Twin screw. Commissioned September 17, 1895. Length, 318 feet; breadth, 57 feet; draft, 21 feet 6 inches; dis- placement, 6,682 tons ; speed, 17| knots. Main battery, four 10-inch and six 6-inch breech loading rifles. Secondary battery, seven 6-pounder and eight l-pounder rapid fire guns, and four gatlings. Thickness of armor, 12 inches. 34 ofQcers ; 370 men. Contract price, $2,500,000. THE CRUISER NEW YORK. Armored cruiser. Twin screw. Commissioned August 1, 1893. Length, 380 feet 6i inches; breadth, 64 feet 10 inches ; draft, 23 feet 3^ inches ; displacement, 8,200 tons ; speed, 21 knots. Main battery, six 8-inch breech loading rifles and twelve 4- inch rapid fire guns. Secondary battery, eight 6-pounder and four 1-pounder rapid fire guns, and four gatlings. Thickness of armor, 4 inches. 40 officers ; 526 men. Contract price, $2,985,000. THE BATTLESHIP OREGON. Battleship. Twin screw. Commissioned July 15, 1896. Length, 348 feet; breadth, 69 feet 3 inches; draft. 24 feet; dis- placement, 10,288 tons ; speed, 16.79 knots. Main battery, four 13-inch, eight 8-inch and four 6-inch breech loading rifles. Secondary battery, twenty 6 pounder and six 1-pounder rapid fire guns, and four gatlings. Armor on sides, 18 inches thick. 32 officers ; 441 men. Cost, $3,180,000 ; premium earned, $175,000. THE MONITOR PURITAN. Coast defense monitor. Length, 289 feet 6 inches; breadth, 60 feet 1^ inches; draft, 18 feet; displacement, 6,060 tons; speed, 12.4 knots. Main battery, four 10-inch breech loading rifles. Secondary battery,two 6-pounder, two 3-pounder, two 37 millimetre machine guns and two gatlings. Thickness of armor on sides, 12 inches ; turrets and barbettes, 11| inches. Cost, $3,178,046. 42 WAR VESSELS OF TEE U. S. NA VY. THE CRUISER RALEIGH. Protected cruiser. Twin screw. Length, 300 feet ; breadth, 42 feet; draft, 18 feet; displacement, 3,213 tons; speed, 19 knots. Main battery, one 6-inch gun and ten 5-inch rapid fire guns. Secondary battery, eight 6-pounder and four 1-pounder rapid fire guns, and eleven gatlings. Protected steel deck, 2J inches thick. 20 officers ; 293 men. Cost, $1,100,000. THE BATTLESHIP TEXAS. Battleship. Twin screw. Commissioned August 15, 1895. Length, 301 feet 4 inches ; breadth, 64 feet 1 inch ; draft, 22 feet 6 inches; displacement, 6,315 tons; speed, 16 knots. Main battery, two 12-inch and six 6-inch breech loading rifles. Secondary battery, twelve 6-pounder and six 1-pounder rapid fire guns, four 37-millimetre Hotchkiss revolving cannon and two gatlings. Thickness of armor, 12 inches. 30 officers ; 362 men. Contract price, $2,500,000. THE DYNAMITE CRUISER VESUVIUS. Dynamite cruiser. Twin screw. Commissioned June 7, 1890. Length, 252 feet 4 inches ; breadth, 26 feet, 6g inches ; draft, 10 feet 7^ inches ; displacement, 929 tons ; speed, 21| knots. Main battery, three dynamite guns, 15-inch calibre. Second- ary battery, three 3-pounder rapid fire guns. 6 officers ; 64 men. Cost, $350,000. HISTORY OF THE WAR WITH SPAIN. CHAPTER I. SPANISH BARBAEITY — DECAY OF SPANISH POWER IN THE WESTERN HEMISPHERE AND THE CAUSE. To fully understand the cause of the war between the United States of America and Spain some knowledge of the history of the latter country and its policy in regard to its colonies in the New World is essential. To Spain, once one of the great powers of Europe, belongs the honor of the discovery of the New World with all its riches and beauties. But strange to say, scarce had the announcement been made that a new world existed across the ocean than herds of unscrupulous adventurers began to overrun the West Indies, South America and Mexico, in search of riches and honors. Pizarro, Cortez, Balboa, De Soto and Valasquez were really no less than so many legalized bandits sent to plunder, en- slave and murder the wretched inhabitants. They were men of great daring, men who endured wonder- ful hardships, men of perseverance and determina- tion, but their object was blood and plunder, and 44 HISTORY OF THE WAR WITH SPAIN. they are no more entitled to the name of heroes than Black-Beard, Lewis, Kidd, Morgan and the host of buccaneers who followed them centuries later. Not only robbery and enslavement of the natives, but the most inhuman barbarities and torture were per- petrated. Religious fanaticism, cupidity, and avarice have ever marked the Spaniards. They possessed a few good qualities and among them bravery may be counted. They are courteous and even hospitable to-day as they were in the days of chivalry, but with all their pride of ancestry they are licentious, vile, grasping, and unscrupulous. Years ago Buckle spoke of Spain as " a whale stranded on the coast of Europe." To-day the nation is in a state of moral decay and all her possessions in the AVest Indies were long ago touched with the slumber wand of her colonial policy. Nevertheless if Spain is defeated and crushed, she is still proud and reserved in her decay, and crumbles into dissolution with that air of self-respect which might characterize some seedy old gentleman of our aristocracy, fallen into reduced circumstances. Cuba was discovered by Columbus on his first voyage, and twenty years later colonized by the Spaniards from San Domingo. The history of the i«land of Cuba is one long tale of oppression and bloodshed, extending over a period of more than four hundred years. Spanish rule, HISTORY OF THE WAR WITH SPAIN. 45 whether exercised upon the aljorigines, the blacks brought from Africa, or the whites who drove out the original natives, has been despotic and barbar- ous. One by one the vast possessions of Spain in the New World were swept from her, till at last, Cuba, the "ever faithful isle," and Porto Rico were all of importance that remained. It has been truly said that history repeats itself, and a brief review of the affairs of the island of Cuba, fi'om the time of Columbus to the present, shows the repetition to be frequent. The barbarities practiced to-day are only a shade less inhuman than those inflicted upon the natives shortly after the conquest of the island by the Spaniards. Hatuey, a native chief, was burned to death by the orders of Velasquez, one of the earlier governors, because he had taken up arms to preserve the integrity of his little territory. While burning at the stake he was urged by the priests to embrace Christianity, that his soul might find admis- sion into heaven. " Will white men go there ?" he asked. "They will," answered tlie priest. " Then I will not be a Chiistian ; for I would not go to a place where I must find men so cruel." * The island of Cuba, justly called the " Gem of the Antilles," is the largest and most western of the AVest Indies, and compared to the others, has nearly double superficial area. From east to west it is over seven *"S]stevan," Vol. II. Columbian Historical JN'ovels. 46 HISTORY OF THE WAR WITH SPAIN. hundred miles in length, and is twenty-two miles wide at its narrowest part. Its resources are great, its climate most salubrious, and its geogiaphical position made it the richest of all Spanish posses- sions. Its area is variously estimated at from 32,000 to 48,000 square miles. Humboldt puts it at 43,000. Its climate makes it not only a favored resort for invalids, but renders it a most charming home for those in health. There is seldom mist, the atmos- phere is very clear, the sun is seldom obscured, and the appearance of the stars at night so brilliant that Fredericka Bremer, the German writer, says in one of her letters : '' The nights are very dark, but the darkness is as if transparent, the air is not felt. There could not be more beautiful nights in Para- dise." Although somewhat mountainous in the interior, much of the coast line is low, flat, and difficult to approach on account of the numerous reefs and small islands; notwithstanding this feature of the coast, it is said that no other island in the world has so many excellent harbors in comparison to its size. Of these, Havana, Matanzas, Bahia Honda, Mariel, Nuevitas, Nipe, and Cardenas on the north side, and Santiago de Cuba, Trinidad, Guaiitanamo, and Cienfuegos on the south side, are the principal and best known. The island of Cuba was divided into six provinces, the most thickly populated being Havana, and the least Puerto Principe. The total population before HISTORY OF THE WAR WITH SPAIN. 47 the last insurrection was estimated at over 1,600,000 but it is computed that at least half a million since perished in battle, by disease, and by starva- tion. Although there is a large amount of cultivated land, there are no less than 20,000,000 acres of almost impenetrable forests, fully one-half of which has never been disturbed by man. The soil which has been cultivated is marvelously rich and produc- tive, as may be shown by the fact that, notwithstand- ing the hindrances to industrial enterprises through the misrule of Spain, the exports in 1893 were valued at ninety-three millions of Spanish dollars. Notwithstanding the prevalence of yellow fever in the seacoast cities and towns, the greater part of the island is said, under normal conditions, to be very healthy. Although not altogether in the tropics, it has all the characteristics of the torrid region. It has a wet and a dry season, and, excepting in a few spots in the mountains, not even light frosts. The prevailing temperature is not unpleasantly hot, the highest being rarely over eighty-two degrees, while the average is seventy-seven degrees. The chief agricultural products are sugar, coffee, and tobacco, of which the United States takes the greater part. In 1893 there were 815,894 tons of sugar produced, of which 718,204 tons were ex- ported, the United States taking 680,642 tons. Of 227,000 bales of tobacco exported, two-thirds canie 48 HISTORY OF THE WAR WITH SPAIN. to this country, together with more than half the 147,365,000 cigars made. But while the exports reached a total of ninety-three million Spanish dollars and the imports fifty-six millions, the taxation on the people reached nearly twenty-five millions. Of this tremendous burden, which is more than one-sixth the combined value of the imports and exports, less than one-half came from the customs, and one-fourth of the whole is entirely divested from the island to the uses of the Spanish crown. It is supposed that the negro race very nearly predominates in Cuba, but this is not the fact. Just before the rebellion it was estimated that there were less than half a million blacks on the island, opposed to more than a million whites and fifty thousand Chinese. Of the whites, the native born, or Cubans, are by far the best educated, the mass of Spanish residents and the neg;;roes beino; as a rule illiterate. Free from the oppression of Spain, there is no reason why the wealth of the island should not be enormous. Cuba has had many christenings, its first name, and that w liich it now holds, })eing of Indian origin. At the time of the Spanish cou<]uest, in 1511, it was called Juana, in honor of Prince John, the son of Ferdinand and Isabella. At the death of Ferdinand it was called Ferunudina, and later was known by the names of Santiago and Ave Mai'ia, the last in honof of the Virgin Mary. For many generation§ HISTORY OF THE WAR WITH SPAIN. 49 it has been called by the name which first belonged to it. , The first Spanish settlers in Cuba found the island inhabited by a peculiar race, hospitable and timid, with some idea of a Supreme Beiug, governed by kings, whose age gave them precedence, knowing nothing of war, having few weapons of defense, be- ing even ignorant of bows and arrows. They were at once subjugated by the invaders and reduced to slavery. Under the cruel treatment of their tyran- nical taskmasters they all perished in a few years. The home government then permitted the importa- tion of a cargo of negroes from South Africa to serve as tillers of the soil, and to obtain the gold which was thought to exist in the river courses. This was the beginning of the slave trade, and thus another wrong against humanity can be laid at the door of Spain. The abuses practiced by Spain upon the aborigi- nes have been imitated by all the rulers of Cuba since that time. Whenever her attention has been diverted from the colony it has prospered and made rapid advancement, but no sooner has considerable progress been made in civilization and the accumu- lation of wealth than the avaricious hand of Spain has been stretched out, the treasure of the people seized, and murder and robbeiy have ensued. /N. Cuba was at first considered mainly in the light of a military depot, and the headquarters of the Spanish 50 HISTORY OF THE WAR WITH SPAIN. in the West. Cortez marched hence to his conquest of Mexico. The Spaniards early incurred the hatred of the English and French buccaneers of the West Indies, and in 1538 the city of Havana was surprised by a French corsair and reduced to ashes. This drew the attention of De Soto, then governor of the island, to the position and advantages of the port, and he began to fortify it. The capital of the island had been Baracoa, and then Santiago de Cuba; but, after being fortified, Havana increased in population so rapidly that in 1589 it was made the capital. At this time, also, the first captain-general was appointed in the person of Juan de Tejada. The office was maintained up to the war with a long accession of incumbents, but retaining the same functions and the same almost unlimited power. It was the evident object of Spain to derive as much revenue as possible from the island, and, with few exceptions, every captain-general, from Tejada to Weyler, sought to enrich himself. An incumbent could not hope for a long term of office, and hence took no pains to study the good-will or interests of the Cubans. He had to keep the revenue well up to the standard set in the past, and at the same time get rich as speedily as possible. This state of affairs resulted in the greatest amount of corrugation, until there was scarce!}' an official in all the island, from captain-general down to the meanest subaltern, who was not tainted with it. In the days before the HISTORY OF THE WAR WITH SPAIN. 51 abolition of the slave trade, the captains-general con- nived at the illegal importation of slaves, receiving for their silence a large percentage of every one landed on the island. The cheajmess of labor enabled the planters to make great eai-nings, and the home government, which benefited by the revenue, was interestedly blind to the traffic. Even Don Luis de las Gasas, one of the best captain-generals the island has had, encouraged slavery, although he had not originated it. During the administration of this man, whose memory is cherished with fond re- spect by the Cubans, the Patriotic Society of Havana was formed with the idea of diffusing education through the island and introducing a taste for classic literature, the press being established in the capital by his icstrumentality. There have been other noted men holding the office of captain-general, and the present century has seen many of these. Don Alejandro Kamirez, one of the number, labored to regulate the revenues and economical conditions of the country, and called the attention of the government to the improvement of the white population. The most important conces- sion obtained, however, the freedom of commerce, was due to the expeditions of Don Francisco de Ar- ranjo, one of the most illustrious names in Cuban annals, and one who was, says Las Casas, "a jewel of priceless value to the glory of the nation, a protector 52 HISTORY OF THE WAR WITH SPAIN. for Cuba and an accomplished statesman for tbe monarchy." vi This man was born at Havana, May 22, 1765, left an orphan at an early age and managed the estate while still a boy, with rare judgment. He studied law and was admitted to the bar in Spain, where he acted for a long period as the agent for the munici- pality of Havana, succeeding in procuring the ame- lioration of many of the abuses of the colonial system. The revenues greatly increased under his rule, and considerably exceeded tlie expenses of the govern- ment. He \vas opposed to the slave ti'ade, and urged the introduction of white laborers. It was owing to him that the duty on coffee, spirits, and cotton was remitted for ten years, and that machinery was allowed to be imported to the island without the payment of duty. By his efforts the Chamber of Commerce and the Society for Improvement were established. For a long time he was secretary of the chamber, and dis- tinguished himself by his defiance of the infamous Godoy, the queen's minion, who demanded the re- ceipts of the custom house at Havana. Godoy's plans were defeated, and the royal monopoly of tobacco relinquished. In 1813 Cuba became entitled to representation in the General Cortes, and Ari'anjo went to Madrid as a deputy aud there achieved the crowning glory of his life, the opening of the ports pf Cuba to foreign trade. He died in 1837, be- HISTORY OF THE WAR WITH SPAIN. 53 qiieathing large sums for various public purposes and charitable objects in the island. Such a man is an honor to any age or nati(^n, and Cubans, in cher- ishing his memor}^, show that while resenting tyranny, they appreciate true greatness, and remember those who have served them faithfully. Another pi'ominent figure in the history of Cuba is General Don Miguel Tacon, whose administration of justice is proverbial, and who while he ruled with an iron hand, was still just and impartial. To the administration of Tacon the island owes many re- forms ; although his will was stern, he has left his mark upon Cuba, and will not soon be forgotten. He did much to improve its })hysical condition, and many customs introduced by him are still in vogue. Aside from the two just rulers mentioned, Cuba has been the victim of one of the worst despots ever known. It is generally supposed that the rebellion in Cuba is of recent origin, and that previous to the Ten Years' War from 1868 to 1878 the island was at peace. On the contrary, the Cubans have for nearly eighty years been struggling to throw off the Spanish yoke. From 1820 to 1838 there were frequent uprisings, and one of these took place during the rule of Tacon, and required all his efforts to put it down. It was an outcome of the revolution of La Granja, in Spain, and at one time promised to be successful. General Lorenzo, commanding at Santiago de Cuba, pro- 54 HISTORY OF THE WAR WITH SPAIN. claimed the validity of the old Constitution of 1812 as opposed to the new one, and sought to re-establish the militia, the freedom of the press, and all other institutions which had been in vogue in 1823. Tacon was not a friend of liberal institutions, and considered that the proposed state of things would convulse the country. He was well aware that he could not compel General Lorenzo to abrogate the constitution he had proclaimed, but he at once cut off all communication with the Eastern Department, and formed a column to invade it and to restore the old order of things by force. His move was a bad one, but it triumphed. He assembled a column of picked companies, and also worked by secret agents upon the forces at Santiago to bring about a reaction in public sentiment. General Lorenzo allowed his opportunities to slip, and Tacon continued his rule of iron. The following characteristic story is told of Tacon, showing that he sometimes met his match : When Tacon began his administration he found the revenue laws in a bad condition, and determined to reform them. One way to do this was to sup- press smuggling, which was carried on to a large extent. A man named Marti, who was known as the King of the Isle of Pines, where he had his principal ren- dezvous, was the chief offender in this line. Marti sent out his vessels, and operated so successfully that HISTORY OF THE WAR WITH SPAIN. 55 at last Tacon determined to offer a large reward for Lim, dead or alive. One dark and stormy night a man made his way unannounced into the presence of Tacon in the pal- ace and offered to reveal the secrets of Marti, pro- vided he obtained a pardon for himself. This was granted, after some hesitation, and the man pro- claimed himself as Marti. Tacon adhered to his agreement and Marti did the same. He piloted the government officials to his secret hiding-places, and much valuable property was recovered. Tacon gave him his pardon and offered him a large sum of money; but Marti asked instead to have the right to fish in the neighborhood of the city, and to have the trade declared contraband to all except his agents. He agreed to erect a public fishmarket of stone at his own expense, which at the end of a specified number of years should revert to the city, together with all right and title to the fishery. Tacon agreed to the proposition, and the market was erected. It has since reverted to the city, and the monopoly is still vigorously enforced. Marti became rich on his venture, and later on instituted other monopolies, which brought him as much money as his other schemes. A volume on the many insurrections in Cuba would no doubt be more interesting than a novel, but it is not our purpose now to write of them. 56 HISTORY OF THE WAR WITH SPAIN. About 1850 General Lopez, a noted insurrectionist and filibuster, landed a force on the island for the purpose of freeing it from Spanish rule. His force, which came from the United States, consisted of 652 men. In the l)eo^innino; of July the vessels left New Orleans, with orders to anchor at Coutoy, one of the Mugeres Islands, off the coast of Yucatan. General Lopez, after gaining information from ajfisherman he encountered, resolved to land at Cardenas, on the northern coast of the island, 120 miles east of Ha- vana. He calculated that he could surprise and master the garrison before the captain-general could possibly hear of his departure from New Orleans. His plan was to seize the town, capture the authorities, intim- idate the Spaniards, and then, inspired by victory, proceed to Matanzas by rail. Koucali, the captain -general, received news of tlie landing at Coutoy and dispatched several ships in that direction, hoping to capture Lopez. The latter succeeded in landing, however. The garrison rushed to arms, and while a portion of the troops, after a slight loss, retired in good order to the suburbs, an- other intrenched themselves in the government house and gave battle to the invaders. After a short skirmish the building was set on fire and they sur- rendered. The Q-overnor and a fe\v officers were made prisoners, and the soldiei's consented to join the revolution. At the same time the railroad HISTORY OF THE WAR WITH SPAIN. 67 station was seized, and the invaders made ready to proceed to Matanzas. The native population did not respond to the appeal of Lopez, however, and he realized that so soon as the taking of Cardenas was known he would be in a critical position. As a matter of fact, the Governor of Matanzas was then upon the march with 500 men. General Armero also set sail from Havana with 1,000 men, while 2,500 picked troops, under the command of General Count de Mirasal, were sent from Havana by rail. Lopez saw that it would be madness to oppose these formidable reinforcements, and he gave the order to re-embark, without, however, relinquishing the idea of landing on some more favorable part of the island. The part of the garrison which had at first re- treated to the suburbs attempted to cut off the retreat of Lopez, but the latter, in desperate straits, sent in such a deadly fire that the cavalry was deci- mated, and the infantry, dismayed at their loss, took to flight. The steamer left without hindrance, and before the arrival of the government frigate with the men under command of General Armero. The Spanish prisoners were landed at Cayo de Piedras, and then General Lopez, discoveriug the frigate in the distance, made at once for the United States coast, where the steamer was abandoned. Lopez was arrested by the authorities at Savannah, 58 HISTORY OF THE WAR WITH SPAIN. but was soon liberated in deference to public opinion. The steamer was seized, confiscated and sold, and thus ended the expedition. A man less determined than Lopez would have been crushed by the failure of his first attempt, but he firmly believed that the Cubans were ripe for revolt; that public opinion in the United States was stronger than the acts of the government, and that if he could once gain a foothold in the island the Spanish troops would flock to his side in great num- bers, and that before long he would be at the head of a force large enough to insure success. Feeling full confidence, he once more busied himself with unremitting ardor in forming another expedition. The attack upon Cardenas had caused great anxiety to Captain-General Koucali. He had at his disposal a force of more than 20,000 troops, but he was not at all sure of their loyalty, and he therefore determined to raise a local militia. He allowed only Spaniards to join it, however, and speedily aroused the jealousy of native-born Cubans. This, of course, swelled the force of opposition to the government, and it was not long before Lopez was informed of the fact. Roucali was recalled, and Don Jose de la Concha was appointed captain-general in his place. The harshness of his rule recalled the iron reign of Tacon. During his administration Lopez succeeded in making his second landing at Plagitas, sixty miles HISTORY OF THE WAR WITH SPAIN. 59 to the westward of Havana. There had been several minor insurrections previous to this, and Lopez, de- ceived by exaggerated re^^orts, believed that the time had come for successful invasion. He was so confident of the determination and ability of the Cubans alone to secure their independence that at one time he wished to embark without any force and throw himself among them. Having so much confidence, he at last set sail with only 400 poorly armed men, on August 2, 1851. His men consisted mostly of Americans, with about fifty Cubans and several German and Hun- garian oflScers, among the latter General Pragay, one of the heroes of the Hungarian revolt, who was sec- ond in command to General LopeZo The landing was effected, after many delays, on the 12th of August, and the steamer was immediately dispatched to the United States for reinforcements. Leaving the baggage with a guard of 120 men, Lopez pushed on to Las Pozas, a village ten miles distant, whence he could send horses and carts to re- ceive it. Meantime, seven companies of Spanish troops had been landed at Bahia Honda, the force being strengthened by men from the neighborhood. The march of the invaders to Las Pozas was straggling and irregular. The village was found deserted, and a few carts were sent back for the baggage. Lopez learned here of the plan of the troops to attack him. 00 HISTORY OF THE WAR WITH SPAIN. He had no intention of bringing bis men into action with disciplined troops, and he proposed to take up a strong position in the mountains, plant his stand- ard, and await the arrival of the Cubans and the return of the steamer with reinforcements. He sent at once to the officer in charge of the baggage to hasten, but delays prevented the greater part of the men from ever reaching his division. On the following day they were alarmed by the news that the Spanish troops were upon them. They flew to arms at once, and fought so bravely that, although the enemy outnumbered them three to one, they were seized with a panic and fled. General Pragay was wounded, and afterward died in conse- quence. The party in charge of the baggage had attempted to leave the island in launches, but were captured by a Spanish man-of-war, taken to Atares, and shot. About two o'clock on the 14th of August the ex- pedition resumed its march for the interior, leaving behind the wounded, who were afterward mutilated and killed by the Spaniards. The second action with the Spanish troops occurred at the coffee plantation of Las Frias. The invaders were attacked by a force of 1,200 infantry and cavalry. The Sj^anish general opened the attack with his cavalry, but he was met by such a deter- mined opposition that he was completely routed. The panic of the cavalry communicated itself to HISTORY OF THE WAR WITH SPAIN. 61 the infantry, and the result was a disastrous defeat. The Spanish general was carried off the field mor- tally wounded. Lopez was too weak to profit by his desperate successes, and had no means of following up his vic- tories. The expedition plunged into the mountains and wandered about for days, drenched by the rain, destitute of food and proper clothing until the men were at last seized with despair. They separated, only a few of the most steadfast remaining with their leader. In the neighborhood of San Cristoval, Lopez surrendered to a party of his pursuers. He was treated with every indignity, submitting with cour- age and serenity to all. From Mariel he was taken in a steamer to Havana, where he sought an interview with Concha, who had been an old companion-in-arms in Spain. He did not expect a pardon, but he shrank from the ignominy of the garrote, and wished to be shot instead. Both the interview and the indulgence was refused, and he was executed on September 1st, by the mode of pun- ishment most infamous to Spaniards. The remain- der of the piisoners who fell into the hands of the authorities were sent to the Moorish fortress of Ceuta, but Spain seemed to be ashamed of the massacre at A tares, and the men were subsequently pardoned. Concha was succeeded as captain-general by Canedo and Pezulas, but no change for the better took place in the administration of the island. FiU- 62 HISTORY OF THE WAR WITH SPAIN. blistering expeditions were made one after another, and tbe hope of the Cubans for ultimate independ- ence seems never to have died out. There was not another important rising among the Cubans until 1868, although the feeling of revolt was still rife. In 1855, Don Ramon Pindo w^as put to death for being the leader of a conspiracy to ann^x Cuba to the United States. Don Julian Cadalso and Don Nicholas Pinelo, engaged in this same conspiracy, were sentenced to imprisonment for life, and many others were transported from the island. There is never a revolt against a perfect govern- ment. The worst of men prefer peace to war if peace can be obtained honorably, but, on the other hand, the best of men prefer war to peace if tbe lat- ter has to be purchased with slavery and chains. While the Spanish officials were well paid and content, the grinding policy of Spain was ruinous to the common people. It is said by competent travelers and writers in Cuba that everybody and everything on the island is poor save the soil. Nature has never offered so much labor and received so little in return. The finest suo-ar and tobacco lands in the world are on the island, while its mineral resources are said to be wonderful. But taxes had eaten out the heart of the prolific soil. The Cuban farmer was miserably poor ; it is doubtful if the Digger Indian was in a worse condition ; the Cuban tickles his wonderfully HISTORY OF THE WAR WITH SPAIN. 63 fertile earth with the rudest of all agricultural im- plements and it smiles at him with a harvest. Yet of what avail was it to him if he produced pounds or tons, it all went to the coffers of the rich dons and heads of government. Aristocracy and tyranny are twin sisters; where you find one you will find the other. These have a long train of relations, among whom are plutocrats, moneyed barons and those pos- sessing and desiring titles. They despise the poor — to them the toiler is of an inferior race, and the man who labors with hand or brain is little better than the mule that draws the cart. AVe are sorry to say that aristocracy and tyranny are not alone con- fined to Spain. As weeds, thorns and thistles ofttimes take root, grow and thrive in the most fertile soil, so in our blessed republic may be found these enemies of liberty. As the farmer pulls up such weeds from his growing corn, we trust the great dangers to our own beloved land may be uprooted before it becomes so firmly seated as to sap the life of the nation. However, when we come to recall the glaring outrages perpeti'ated by the Spanish aristocracy upon the common people of Cuba, our own wrongs seem to pale into insignificance. The Spaniard pursued in Cuba the old colonial policy," which lost him all the rest of his possessions. He was still a Pizarro in the Queen of the Antilles — did not chan2:e his habits nor his convictions that 64 HISTORY OF THE WAR WITH SPAIN. the Spaniard alone was capable of governing, though he had shown his incapacity in the loss of nearly all his colonies. There had rarely been any law in the island, the administration of justice remaining prac- tically in the hands of the military, the decrees of the governor-general or the governors of the provinces, in their turn, being supreme. The official executive of the governor-general is the police, and all the inhab- itants were under a system of espionage. Personal goings and comings, and changes of residence and business had to be reported to the authorities ; nor was all this materially different in time of peace. Cuba never ceased to have a purely military govern- ment at the hands ©f the Spaniards; and all private affairs were, of course, regulated by government to a degree that would provoke a revolution in despotic Kussia. And it must be remembered that this gov- ernment was foreign, no Cuban being allowed to hold an administrative office. Cuba was a Spanish pos- session, to be mulcted remorselessly ; and no one had a right to a voice in its government who was not in favor of this system of robbery and spoliation. Against this system, every Cuban was a rebel; and a Spaniard born in Cuba was almost invariably a Cuban in aspiration and instinct unless he belonged to the office-holdino: class. There is no more detestable class of people than the latter, as we experience even in America, where sometimes offices are permitted to descend from HISTORY OF THE WAR WITH SPAIN. 65 father to son. How much more detestable the system must be to those who can have no part in making offices and officers. The policy of Spain was foolish, and any wise man must have seen the inevitable result that would follow. In a state of moral decay for centuries, proud, cruel and unforgiving, Spain had sought to replenish her treasury by the oppression of her sub- jects. In order to accomplish her purpose she strove to keep her subjects in ignorance as much as possible, for intelligence is always detrimental to despotism, and her only hope of retaining her hold on Cuba was to keep the people in mental darkness. One by one she lost her Spanish possessions in the Western Hemisphere until Porto Eico and Cuba were all of importance that remained. But Cuba was the richest of all, and this she determined to retain at all costs. Better lose Spain than Cuba. With her infant monarch tottering on his throne and the sun of her destiny seeming about to set, she prepared to strengthen her cause by the course that had always weakened it — oppression. 66 HISTORY OF THE WAR WITH SPAIN. CHAPTER 11. THE CAUSE OF AMERICA IN THE SPANISH AMERICAN QUARREL The close proximity of Cuba to the United States very naturally drew tbat government into the quarrel between Spain and her revolted colonies. The masses of the people in America have always sympathized with the oppressed and downtrodden in the island. American volunteers have always been found ready, like Lafayette, to risk their lives for people struggling for the freedom which they themselves enjoy. Though they have been called filibusters, and may have been executed as such, they are no more outlaws than was General Lafay- ette. There sailed with Lopez in 1851, Colonel W. L. Crittenden, the son of the attorney-general of the United States. He and 100 followers, mostly Americans, were captured on the north part of Cuba and shot. There was some stir and con- siderable indignation at the time, but it passed away without any open i-upture with Spain. No doubt had not the United States been menaced by foreign powers, which seemed to fear there would HISTORY OF THE WAR WITH SPAIN. 67 be an effort to enforce the "Monroe Doctrine," there miglit have been stronger measures taken than were. American blood has been shed again and again by the Spanish soldiery, and for nearly 100 years has cried out from the ground. The tyranny of O'Reilly of Louisiana, the inso- lence of the Spanish Dons in 1808, and later in Florida, has all been stored up in the treasury house of the American memory. Americans had more than the Maine to remember; they had the wrongs and insults of a hundred years. Almost at their very doors the most horrible barbarities were perpetrated. The cries of suffering, helpless women continuously reached their ears. Tliose who had been taujzht Christianity, Patriotism, and Humanity found their blood boiling. " The time will come, wait, wait !" Thousands who in youth found the blood of im- patience racing like maddened steeds through their veins grew old and feeble, grayhaired and died waiting, while countless thousands in Cuba died from want. The long-promised succor from America, the land of the free, the IVIecca of the oppressed, came not. Then came the uprising of October 10, 1868. Charles M. de Cespedes, a lawyer of Bayamo and one of the leaders of the movement in Eastern Cuba, began the revolt at Yara, with not many more than a hundred men, wretchedly armed but thoroughly 68 HISTORY OF THE WAR WITH SPAIN. determined. He received instant support, however, and before long the force had increased to 15,000. A declaration of independence was issued and a constitution framed, providing for a rej)ublican form of government with a chamber of representatives. The constitution was proch^imed in April, 1869, at Guaimaro, where the chamber was organized, and at the same time proceeded to act according to constitutional provision. Cespedes was elected president and Francis V. Aguilera vice- president of the Republic of Cuba. From the outbreak until the close of the year 1870 the fortunes of war favored the Cubans in their struo:2:le for freedom and self-ofovernment. They w^orsted the enemy on almost every field and drove him to his fortified positions on the sea- board and elsewhere, but could not make further headway from want of suflicient war materials. During this period they received from their agents abroad only a few thousand stand of arms, and but a comparatively small supply of ammunition, while the enemy had his numerous troops equipped with the best approved weapons of the United States and kept the island surrounded by many war vessels, of which the most efiicient to prevent any outside help to the struggling Cubans were thirty light draft steam gunboats built in New York expressly for Spain, which kept inshore around Cuba, HISTORY OF THE WAR WITH SPAIN. 69 The insurgents held their own throughout more than half the island, nevertheless, while their force aggregated probably 15,000 able-bodied men. Out of that number, however, hardly one-fifth were properly armed, their arms and munitions having to a great extent been taken from the enemy. Most of those who were operating in the large dis- trict of Camaguey, in Central Cuba, despairing of war materials from abroad, signified to the enemy early in 1871 a readiness to lay down their arms, provided their lives were spared. Being answered that on surrender they should be pardoned, their surrender commenced at once, and soon General Agramonte, who was the Cuban chief commander in Camaguey, was left with thirty-five men, but determined, however, to remain in the field. Being asked upon what he relied to prosecute the campaign, he replied curtly, " On dignity." He was as good as his word, for through unremitting efforts he sue. ceeded in raising a fine body of cavalry which restored Camaguey to the insurrectionists, and which rendered otherwise excellent service, not only under his com- mand, but also under the leadership of his successor. Agramonte fell dead at their head at the very moment of routing the enemy after a protracted engagement in the spring of 1873, While such was the course of affairs in struggling Cuba, where fresh troops from Spain had been tak- ing the field to cover the heavy losses, and where 70 HISTORY OF THE WAR WITH SPAIN. the Cubans Lad in their turn suffered severely, riot- ous and murderous proceedings kept the Western Department wrought up to a high pitch of excite- ment. Indeed, shortly after the breaking out of the insurrection, the old Spanish residents of the towns throughout that department began to organize them- selves into battalions of volunteers, each battalion under the command of a colonel, who in every instance happened to be a wealthy slave trader, for the Havana corps, which mustered about 20,000 men. The volunteers under arms in Western Cuba pre- ferred remaining at home to do garrison duty, how- ever, while their companions of the regular army were gallantly confronting the insurgents in the field. Their first feat of arms at Havana was to fire volley after volley upon the main entrance of a theater and on the people as they came out at the end of a play, performed, it was supposed, for the benefit of the insurgents, the performers being Cubans. Many persons were killed and wounded. Shortly after- ward they fired into a saloon while out on parade, and again killed several persons. Their next exploit was an assault upon the residence of a prominent Cuban gentleman, who haJDpened to be with his family away at the time on one of his sugar estates. But their rich household goods were destroyed by the assailants. Later on they deposed Captain Dulce and con- HISTORY OF THE WAR WITH SPAIN. 71 strained him to return to Spain, smarting under tlie indignity offered him and the home government, which had appointed him only a few months pre- vious to his hiwless deposition. Spain put up with the outrage perpetrated upon him, however, and this simply emboldened the volunteei's, who soon after- ward deposed Brigadier-General Lopez Pinto from the governorship of Matanzas, and began to turn out in force throughout the country, where many harm less people were killed. Hundreds of Cubans were torn from their families and shipped off by the gov- ernment under volunteer escort to distant penal col- onies in Spain. Then ensued a greater outrage. In November, 1871, forty-three medical students of the University of Havana were arrested and subjected to trial by court-martial at the suit of the volunteers. The cause alleged, therefor, was that these boys, while at the general cemetery, had scratched the glass plate of a vault containing the remains of a volunteer. The trial was conducted by an educated officer of the Spanish army, but the volunteers called upon the captain-general for a new trial by court martial, composed of regular army and volunteer officers. He complied once more with their wish by ordering a court of five army and nine volunteer captains, and a major of the army to conduct the prosecution under the presidency of an army colonel. These officers, organized into a court martial, soon condemned eight of the unfortunate students to 72 HISTORY OF THE WAR WITH SPAIN. death, while tlieir remaining companions, with the exception of four, who were condemned to impris- onment for six months, were consigned to hard labor. On the following day, November 27th, fifteen thou- sand volunteers turned out under arms, and the eight boys were shot by a detachment from that force. This heinous deed produced general conster- nation in Western Cuba, and elicited a burst of indignation throughout the United States. Even the Spanish parliament execrated the Havana vol- unteers, but required no atonement for the crime. Although there was an entirely new generation of volunteers in Havana during the last war, the corps seemed animated by the same spirit as that of their predecessors, and the same lawless, tyrannical feeling was rife among tliem. Of all the outrages perpe- trated in Havana during the recent crisis there was not one which could not be directly or indirectly traced to the volunteers. These stay-at-home soldiers possessed all the barbarity of guerrillas, without the bravery or the discipline of the regulars, and every feeling of hatred or revenge toward Americans was fomented by them — every demonstration organized and carried out by them. During the year 1B71 the insurgents received only a scanty supply of arms and ammunition. They then determined to get w^ar materials by assaulting the enemy, whenever such materials could be had. Success crowned their efforts so well that at the apta,x-G™e«al Iir..xco, Commander o. the Sp«-,»n Forces ,x Cy, HISTORY OF THE WAR WITH SPAIN. 73 close of the subsequent year they had a fairly good supply of arms and ammunition for the campaign of 1873, which was the most active of the war, particu- larly in Eastern Cuba, under the able command of General Calixto Garcia, and in Camaguey under the leadership first of the gallant Agramoute, and next of his veteran successor. In the last quarter of the year, however, the Cuban chamber, w^hich had been in recess for a long time, met at Bijagual, in Eastern Cuba, and deposed President Cespedes, who was succeeded ad interim. by the chairman of the body, Salvador Cisneros, better known by his title of Marquis de Santa Lucia. Shortly afterward occurred the incident of the steamer Virginius. The Virginius was a steamer owned by Ameri- cans, which had been engaged by filibusters for the purpose of carrying men, arms, and provisions to the Cuban insurgents. Many of the prominent leaders of the insurrection were on board, and they carried with them 2,000 Remington rifles, a large supply of ammunition, and a large stock of provisions. She had come within eighteen miles of the Cuban coast on October 31, 1873, when she was sighted, six miles away, by the Spanish cruiser Tornado, which immediately gave chase. The Virginius at once changed her course and headed for Jamaica, from which island she was then distant about one hundred miles. Despite the fact that she threw 74 HISTORY OF THE WAR WITH SPAIN. over a great portion of her cargo to lighten her load and draw away from the Spanish vessel, the latter gained on her rapidly, and she was brought up at last by a couple of shots fired through her rigging. The leaders of the revolutionists who were pas- sengers on board the Virginius were General Oscar Varona, a Cuban officer of great courage and consid- erable military skill, and William A. C. Ryan, an ex-captain of the Union army, who had attached himself to the cause of the Cuban insurgents in 1869, and risen to the rank of inspector-general in that service. Ryan was by birth a Canadian, and at the time of the capture of the Virginius he was but thirty years old. He had been educated at Buffalo, N. Y., and the fact that he had been honorably dis- charged from the Federal army with the rank of captain at the close of the War of the Rebellion put his American citizenship beyond question. When Varona realized that capture was inevitable he suggested that the Spaniards be allowed to board the Virginius, and when they took possession he would descend to the powder magazine and blow up the steamer and all on board. To the Americans on the vessel he declared this would be a much better fate than to fall into the hands of the foe, in which case they would assuredly die a cruel death or perish slowly in Spanish prisons. Captain Fry, however, pointed to the stars and stripes, under which he was sailing, and laying stress upon the fact that his HISTORY OF THE WAR WITH SPAIN. 75 papers were correct in every detail, assured those who were with him that there was no cause for seri- ous uneasiness. Although prepared to face any danger, Ryan was not so sanguine, although he united with the commander of the Virginius in opposing the desperate intentions of Varona. Two boats' crews were dispatched from the Tor- nado, and a Spanish officer coming aboard the American steamer ordered the stars and stripes to be run down from the masthead and the Spanish ensign substituted. Captain Fry presented liis papers and challenged the officer to show any flaw in them. The latter acknowledged that they were correct in every particular, then pocketed them and ordered the steamer to be headed for Santiago de Cuba. This port was reached at five o'clock on the evening of November 1st, and proceedings were at once begun against the whole Virginius party as pirates. The United States Vice-Con sul at Santiago j)rotested to no purpose; all were condemned to death, and on November 4th the first four of the party were taken out and shot. A naval court martial was then organized to try Captain Fry and his crew. The trial was short, and the result was never in doubt. On November 7th the captain, the first mate, and thirty-four seamen were shot, the execution being attended by acts of the most revolting inhumanity. It is stated that as the men fell as a result of the awful fusillade, the commander of a company of 76 HISTORY OF THE WAR WITH SPAIN. Spanish cavalry, whicli was drawn up on the square, ordered his men to gallop over the bodies until the faces should be altogether unrecognizable. Upon the receipt of the news of the capture of the Virginius, the Government of the United States had immediately communicated with Madrid, requesting a suspension of action upon the part of the Spanish authorities in Cuba, and orders to this effect were immediately cabled from the Spanish capital to Santiago de Cuba. These orders were totally disre- garded by those in charge at Santiago, and the executions continued. On November 8th eleven more of the so-called expeditionists were shot. Some of the Americans shot may have been fili- busters, but there were certainly two killed who were wholly innocent. One of these lived in Iowa and left a wife and three or four little children. The vessel being properly cleared, he had gone on board as a passenger and innocently met his death. There were numerous scandalous stories afloat at the time. At one time the country was on the verge of war with Spain, but it is hinted that some one high in power and official circles had some great commercial schemes with Spain which blocked the war. One thing is certain, America had a just cause for war; but it was argued by those in power that the loss of a few lives should not weigh in the balance as against the great loss in the event of war. The matter passed over and there was the blood of a few more HISTORY OF THE WAR WITH SPAIN. 77 to cry out for vengeance. Spain at fiist refused to pay an indemnity for the men killed, but at last agreed to do so, and thus the lives of the Americans were sold for a money indemnity and the affair closed. In February, 1874, Cespedes, who, from the time of his deposition had retired to San Lorenzo, in the mountains of Eastern Cuba, was surprised alone by a detachment of the enemy, confronting them manfully until he fell dead. He was a high-minded and stout-hearted man, and had shown remarkable executive abilities during the insurrection, but seldom agreed with the assembly that deposed him. In 1874 fresh troops from Spain took the field by thousands, the Spanish forces having sustained very heavy losses in the preceding year. Toward the close of spring, 1875, owing to further losses in battle, or in hospital from the effects of the climate, the remaining Spanish forces were compelled to fall back upon their fortified positions. A lull ensued in the insurrectionary districts with the exception of Ca- mnguey and Eastern Cuba, where the insurgents every now and then attacked the Spanish columns escorting heavy trains of war materials and provis- ions, which they generally wrested from the latter. Partisan strife had arisen among the Cubans, how- ever, although the campaign was carried vigorously forward with fortunes on both sides until late in the spring of the following year, when the revolutionists. 78 HISTORY OF THE WAR WITH SPAIN. reduced to a force of scarcely five tbousand men, scattered in bands of a few hundred each. Even these scattered forces were enabled by their mighty ally, the climate^ to cause great loss to the Spaniards by steadily harassing them. These losses were, however, fully covered by the arrival from Spain of twenty-five thousand fresh troops during the following autumn, under the able leadership of General Martinez Campos, who had been appointed some time before to the chief command of the Span- ish forces against the Cubans, whose mode of warfare was quite familiar to him, from his having fought them in the earlier years of the insurrection. He deployed his troops as he deemed best for a decided campaign. Seeing them frequently baffled in East- ern Cuba, and constantly harassed in Central Cuba to considerable falling ofl^ in their ranks at the close of the spring in the year 1877, he resorted to nego- tiations with insurgent chieftains to bring the war to an end. Success rewarded him, for early in 1878 an armistice was agreed upon between the belligerents in Caraaguey, where tlie seat of the insurgent gov- ernment was at the time, and where the Cuban chamber of representatives held a session to consider the overtui-es of Marshal Campos for peace. The chamber appointed a committee of nine members to wait on General Vicente Garcia, who had been recently chosen president of the enfeebled republic, to arrange for a meeting which shortly after HISTORY OF THE WAR WITH SPAIN. 79 took place at Zanjon in the district of Camaguey. There appeared on the part of Spain, Campos and a few general officers of his staff, and on the part of Cuba, President Garcia and the committee. At this meeting the remaining insurgent forces capitulated to the restoration of peace throughout the island in February, 1878. ' Spain, adhering to her old policy of distrust, retained a large army in Cuba and a navy round about her shores, the expenses of which caused the budget to amount to $46,594,000 at the time when two-thirds of the island was nothing but a mass of ruins, and when Cuba was beginning to feel the effects of the competitiont with other sugar-produc- ing countries. While the European manufacturers received im- portant bounties, those of Cuba had to pay export duties on their sugar, and the importation of all agricultural and industrial implements was subjected to a tariff almost prohibitive. Two laws were enacted in 1882 to regulate com- merce between Cuba and Spain. By the provisions of these laws the import duties on all Spanish prod- ucts were to be gradually diminished until their importation to Cuba became entirely free, Avhile the Cubans had to pay on their imports to Spain, duties which practically closed the Spanish market to all their products. Spanish goods, as a rule, are much inferior to 80 HISTORY OF THE WAR WITH SPAIN. those of English, French or American manufacture, but the Cuban consumer was forced to buy Spanish goods or pay an exorbitant price for those which he would have preferred to buy at a fair price. An in- stance will suffice to illustrate this: When the war began in 1895 the duty on a hundred kilogrammes of woolen cashmere was fifteen dollars and forty-seven cents if Spanish, three hundred dollars if foreign. These different duties opened a reign of prosperity for industry in Spain, where foreign goods were imported or smuggled, to be later sent to Cuba as Spanish. The injustice of these commercial laws was so evident and so detrimental to the interests of Cuba that in 1894 the Planters' Association, the president of which, the Count de Diana, was a Spaniard, referred to them as "destructive of our public wealth, a source of inextinguishable discontent and the germ of serious dissensions." Tiie insular budget could never be covered, and the result was that the public debt ^vas kept on the increase. The expenditures were classed as follows : For army and navy, 36.59 per cent, of the budget's total; for the debt, 40.89; for justice and govern- ment, 19.77; and for public works, 2.75. No public work of any kind was begun in the seventeen years which intervened between the two wars. The Cuban Treasury, between 1823 and 1864, sent to Spain $82,165,436 in gold. This money Ma.jor-General Wesley Merhitt. HISTORY OF THE WAR WITH SPAIN. 81 entered the Spanish treasury as " Colonial surplus," but as a Spanish writer (Saragoza) says in his book " Las Insurrecciones de Cuba," it was absurd to speak of a surplus when not even the opening of a bad road was undertaken. Politically, the condition of the Cubans after the restoration of peace in 1878 was as bad as it had been before. Laws existed which might lead unob- serving persons to believe that the Cubans enjoyed every liberty ; but as a matter of fact the Cubans were kept under the most unbearable vassalage. The Spaniards in Cuba before the war numbered only 9.30 per cent, of the island's population ; but, availing themselves of a law which gave to them a majority in the electoral census, they were to return twenty-four of the thirty deputies which the island then sent to the Spanish Cortes. So restrictive was the electoral law that only 53,000 men were qualified to vote in the entire island, although its population was 1,762,000. In the municipal district of Guines, with a population of 12,500 Cubans and 500 Spaniards, the electoral census included 400 Spaniards and thirty-two Cubans. This is one among many similar instances. The Board of Aldermen in Havana, the capital city of the island, ^vas for years made up entirely of Spaniards, and the same may be said of Cienfuegos and other important cities. Despite all constitutional provisions the governor- 83 HISTORY OF THE WAR WITH SPAIN. general of the island had the power to deport from the island, without a trial, any person whose pres- ence there he considered dangerous to the security of the state. The island was at peace when Cespedes, Lopez de Brinas, and Marquez Sterling, all journal- ists, were deported. The liberty of the press w^as still a myth. hi Pais, the Autonomist organ, was criminally prosecuted in 1889 because it de- nounced the appointment of one of the sons of the president of the Havana Court of Appeals to a place which he could not lawfully hold. That liberty of association the Cubans enjoyed may be judged from the fact that a delegate of the goyernraent had to be present at their meetings, with power to dissolve them whenever he saw fit to do so. No Cuban was able to obtain a place in the administration unless he was rich enough to go to Madrid and there become acquainted with some influential politician. Even so, Cubans seldom succeeded in being appointed to places of import- ance. Matters went on in this manner until the forma- tion of a Cuban Revolutionary Junta in New York. It w^as formed by Jose Marti, a fearless and tireless organizer, and to his side came flocking veterans of the Ten Years War, Cuban exiles in Key West, Florida, New York, Mexico, the AVest Indies not belonging to Spain, and even as far as Honduras and HISTORY OF THE WAR WITH SPAIN. 83 Venezuela. Long before the close of the year 1894 the Junta had the moral and financial support of| thousands, all working actively in raising a war fund. At the same time the friends of the cause in the island were gathering arras and ammunition, smug- gling them in or purchasing them secretly from the government. In January, 1894, a filibustering ex- pedition, headed by Antonio Maceo and Jose Marti, was discovered and broken up at Fernandina, Florida. In February the leaders were heard from in San Domingo, having gone thither to arrange further measures with their friends in Cuba. Marti found Maximo Gomez, the veteran of a dozen struggles and a brave and able soldier, and offered him the com- mand and organization of the army. Gomez accepted, and began at once to arrange his programme. It was agreed that on February 24, 1895, there should be a rising of the insurgents in all six prov- inces of the island. In only three provinces was the flag of the republic raised, however, and in only one was the aspect at all threatening. Disturbances were reported in Matanzas and Havana, but they were soon put down by the capture of the leaders and the dispersal of the forces. The leader in Ha- vana accepted a pardon from Governor-general Calleja, and went back to his work as editor of a newspaper in Havana. In Santiago, however, which is thinly settled, the 84 HISTORY OF THE WAR WITH SPAIN. movement gained ground steadily. The landing of a party of revolutionists from San Domingo cheered the patriots, who welcomed them warmly, being supplied with reinforcements wherever they appeared. The government professed to be merely annoyed, nothing more, and pretended to look ujion the patriots as mere brigands. Calleja became alarmed at last, when the determination of the insurgents be- came known, and proclaimed martial law in Santiago and Matanzas, and sent forces to both provinces. He could put only 9,000 men in the field, how- ever, and had oulj^ seven gunboats for coast duty at his command. The commissary arrangements were miserable, and frequently caused the interruption of important movements. The insurgents were most ubiquitous, and would appear here and there without the slightest warning, making raids on plantations, which they plundered, and from which they enticed away the laboreis, disappearing in the swamps, where pursuit was impossible, and appearing again in a day or so in some unexpected spot, and repeat- ing the same maneuvers. In this manner they ter- rorized the loyalists, and ruined their prospects of raising a crop, and as many depended solely upon the soil for their living this method of warfare struck them a vital blow. The revolutionists had many drawbacks, however. Many of the original enthusiasts abandoned the cause and accepted amnesty ; the Autonomists hin- HISTORY OF THE WAR WITH SPAIN. 85 dered the movement by their policy of doing nothing and waiting for self-government to come to them, and in many cases mere brigands pushed themselves to the front and displaced creditable leaders, thus giving color to the stories circulated in Havana that the insurrection was nothing but an eruption of brigandage. At the end of March, 1895, Antonio Maceo, with sixteen comrades, sailed from Costa Rica and landed at Baragoa, on the eastern end of the island. They were surprised by Spanish cavalry, but kept up an intermittent fight for several hours, when Maceo managed to elude his enemies and escape. After living in the woods for ten days, making his way westward, he met a party of rebels, was recognized and welcomed with great enthusiasm. He took command of the insurgents in the neighborhood, and began to get recruits rapidly. He engaged in several sharp encounters with the Spanish, and did such effective service that the moral eifect was noticed immediately. He and his brother Jose were made generals. About the middle of April Maximo Gomez and Jose Marti landed from San Domingo at about the same point where the Maceos had landed. For days they were obliged to secrete themselves in a cave on account of the enemy's pickets, but they finally reached an insurgents' camp, and Gomez entered upon his duties as commander-in-chief. The insur- 86 HISTORY OF THE WAR WITH SPAIN. gents now had an experienced leader at their head; reinforcements poured in, and they soon had a force of six thousand men. On the 19th of May Marti left Gomez and started for the coast with the intention of returning to the United States, where he meant to push forward the financial and diplomatic work in behalf of the patriots. He was led into ambush by a treacherous guide and killed. Gomez and his horsemen hurried to the spot, alarmed by the sound of firing, but they arrived too late. Then ensued a furious hand-to-hand struggle for the body of the dead patriot. Gomez received a painful wound and was obliged to retreat. Marti's body was embalmed, taken to the city of Santiago and buried by the Spanish commandant. The loss of Marti was a serious one, as he and his associates were said to have raised one million dol- lars for the Cuban cause. The government had issued new calls for troops, and in April no less than 25,000 men were raised. Martinez Campos came over from Spain, arriving at Santiago on April 16th and went at once to Havana, where he relieved Calleja as captain- general. Campos was a veteran, and expected to crush the insurrection at once, but day by day his task grew more difficult. The Havana officials were at last forced to admit that they were not fighting a mere epidemic of brigandage, but that they were HISTORY OF THE WAR WITH SPAIN. 8t coping against revolution. Sharp fighting at outly- ing points now became of common, almost daily occurrence. The rebels, kept informed of the move- ments of the troops by the friendliness of the masses, were often able to slip away and evade capture, or to attack the opposing columns from an ambush and do great execution. Campos aimed to divide the island into zones by a series of strongly-guarded military lines running north and south, so as to prevent the insurgents from joining forces and finally crowd them off the eastern end of the island. Gomez and Maceo, however, instead of being driven hither and thither, led Campos a dance, and he was prevented from solidifying the two trochag he had formed. Gomez never attempted pitched battles or sieges, but harassed the enemy in every way possible, cutting oft' their convoys, picking them oft in detail, getting up night alarms, and in every way annoying them. His hardened soldiers, espe- cially the negroes, could stand hardships and still keep in good fighting condition, but with the Europeans, between yello^v fever and the constant alarms of war, it was a difterent story. No European soldier could live under the hardships and exposures which seemed to put life into the blacks. By the end of May the rebels had more than 10,000 men, three-quarters of whom were armed with good rifles. The Spaniards had lost 200 88 HISTORY OF THE WAR WITH SPAIN. officers and quite 5,000 men in three montlis, and the expense of the war had been $10,000,000. Gomez put his plans into operation early in June for the invasion of Puerto Principe, and with but slight opposition from the enemy was soon back in the region where he had done such good work during the Ten Years' AYar. Thousands rallied about him, and the old enthusiasm seemed to have revived. About the first of July Maceo, still in the Province of Santiago, concentrated the forces in the Holguin district and moved against Bayamo, capturing one provision train after another that ^vere en route to that place. Campos took 1,500 men with General Santocildes second in command and went to the relief of Bayamo. About the middle of July he was attacked several mile s from Bayamo by Maceo with 2,700 rebels. He and his en- tire staff narrowly escaped capture, and only the bravery of General Santocildes averted this catas- trophe. The brave general lost his life and the Spaniards were forced to fly, after having fought for five hours, surrounded on all sides by the rebels. They finally made their escape to Bayamo, the rear- guard covering their retreat with great difficulty. Only Maceo's lack of artillery saved them. The Spanish loss was seven officers and 119 men killed. The Cuban loss was nearly as great. Maceo had, by a rapid flank movement, how- ever, captured the ammunition train, which was Captain Robley D. Evans. HISTORY OF THE WAR WITH SPAIN. 89 indeed a prize to liim. Campos did not dare leave Bayamo for several days, until reinforcements reached him. In the meantime Maceo brought a force of 10,000 rebels against him, and he retii'ed dur- ing the night and was out of reach. By the first of August the Spanish losses by death had reached 20,000 men, and their expenditures were $21,000,000. The government negotiated a loan of $40,000,000 to carry on the w^ar. In the autumn Campos massed his troops along the line of the trochas and at important points on the raili'oads, the seaports being strongly garrisoned as well as protected by the Spanish war ships. In September the rebels had 30,000 men in the fields. The methods of their generals were peculiar. Avoiding direct attacks, they destroyed railroad trains by dynamite, blew up bridges, cut telegraph wires, and levied on the plantations for supplies. The insurgents would never attack unless the opposing force was very much smaller than their own. They knew their ground, every foot of it; the negroes and very many whites acted as spies for them, and by quick marches they were constantly able to harass and annoy the enemy, always retiring before an effective blow could be struck by them. Their ammunition was supplied by the enemy, for whenever they were short they would swoop down upon some exposed party and get a fresh supply of cartridges. 90 HISTORY OF THE WAR WITH SPAIN. In October there were 25,000 rebels in Santa Clara Province alone, and it was evident that some important step was about to be taken. On November 19th and 20th a conflict took place at Tairuano, which was the severest encounter of the year, Gromez gaining a decided advantage over Valdes, one of the Spanish generals. Before the end of the year Campos' campaign was admitted to be a failure. He could not depart from his humane policy, however, and at the beginning of the year 1896 he returned to Spain. Both sides now had in the field three times as many men as during the Ten Years' War, the insurgents having from 50,000 to 65,000, and the government 200,- 000, including 60,000 volunteers. The campaign of 1896 was one of fii'e. The Cuban leaders laid waste all the plantations in their march, in order to stop pi'oduction and commerce and deprive the crown of revenues. Valeriano Weyler, the new captain -general, was thus welcomed, smoking ruins being seen everywhere, while Gomez's guns gave him a thunderous greeting almost at the gates of Havana. Maceo next burst upon Pinar del Rio, and despite the efforts of the Spanish troops to drive him out, remained in the province and defied all the efforts of the enemy to starve or drive him out. In the latter part of the year, however, he was killed in an ambush, through the treachery of Dr. Zer- tucha. He was succeeded by General Ruiz Rivera. HISTORY OF THE WAR WITH SPAIN. 91 The year 1897 was marked by the cruel policy of Weyler, w^ho had long been known as " the butcher." His treatment of the pacificos was harsh and relent- less to tlie last degree, and many of his orders worked indescribable hardship and sufferincr. Self-a^^o-ran- dizement, which has been a marked characteristic of all captain-generals, was particularly noticeable in his case, and it is said with good authority that during his short administration of the affairs of the island, he acquired a fortune of nearly two millions. There certainly was never known in all modern history a more cruel monster than Weyler. His ancestors who burned poor old Hatuey at the stake were more merciful than he. He feasted and ban- quetted his friends in the midst of starving thousands. The Americans took up the subject and began to demand of their own government some relief for the suffering Cubans. The innocent reconcentrados, not permitted to cultivate the soil to support life, were ^y^^g ^^y tens and hundreds of thousands. The American government was deaf to these appeals for help, but the cries, sobs and tears fell on the hearts of the masses of Americans. The American officials in power and those who have been in power in the past deserve no credit for this war for God and humanity — they were driven to it by an indignant and outraged people. The treachery of Weyler with his foes, his bar- barous treatment of the innocent, and his self-lauda- 93 HISTORY OF THE WAR WITH SPAIN. tion all comported with the character of the cowardly wretch he was. He deceived not only the enemy, but his own government. Being reckless of the truth, he reported his defeats as victories. Scouting parties sent out from the fortified towns were chased back by the insurgents, which episode was reported home as a great victory. Gomez, that noble old hero, the AVashington of Cuba, fought the best equipped, armed and trained troops of Spain with poorly fed, poorly equip23ed and half-naked men and boys. Never since the Revolutionary War has there been such heroism and unselfish devotion to the cause of a country displayed. When AVeyler found himself unable to capture the aged soldier, he sought by every means to bribe him and his officers, but he was mistaken in his men. There are some yet, even of Spanish blood, who love liberty. Gomez and his follo\vers had gone through the fiery furnace of oppression, were purified and beyond bribery. He wept over his dead and fought for his living. His army, half starved, compelled often to seek concealment in the mountains and caverns, always appeared at the opportune moment to strike the enemy hard and fast, and drove them back to their fortified towns. AVhile there was talk of armed intervention on the part of the United States, he only asked for the recognition of his government and the granting of alien belligerent rights. With these privileges he HISTORY OF THE WAR WITH SPAIN. 93 could have secured all tlie volunteers and purchased all the arras and ammunition necessary to conquei' Spain and free his beloved country. Again and again supplications went up from starving, shackle- bound Cuba for recognition — only for recognition — but no heed was given to her cries. Then the brave old heart that bore the brunt of all that struggle grew sad, disappointed but not discouraged. God surely would not permit the wrong to always prevail against the right. He asked only to see Cuba free. 94: HISTORY OF THE WAR WITH SPAIN. CHAPTER HI. A CHANGE OF POLITICAL PARTIES CUBA STILL NEG- LECTED ^['kINLEy's CONSERVATIVE BUT RESO- LUTE COURSE BLOWING UP OF THE MAINE. During the last admiuistratiou of Grover Cleve- laud the Cuban question became prominent among the people, but the President was silent. The American people were beginning to be aroused at the atrocities of the Spaniards, and there were sonie who hoped the President might "do something "for the starving and dying inhabitants of Cuba. This hope was greatly intensified when, late in his admin- istration, he appointed General Fitzhugh Lee Consul- General to Cuba. A more fitting ap23ointment could not have been made. Lee was well known by his political friends and opponents as an earnest, tender- hearted gentleman, wise, patriotic and brave. "While General Lee was not rash, he was not one of those contemptible conservatives who may be relied on to do nothing. That Lee faithfully per- formed his duty and won the respect and admiration of all the American people cannot be doubted. His presence in Havana inspired hope in the breasts of the struggling Cubans. AVhat Lee's cor- HISTORY OF THE WAR WITH SPAIN. 95 respondence with President Cleveland will never be known. He was too wise a diplomat for publication, but such parts of his reports as were made public show he did not whitewash Spanish cruelty. Still the President was naturally wait- ing. Twice Congress passed alien belligerency resolutions, but tbey were never recognized by Mr. Cleveland. It is given as an excuse by the friends of the President that he did not take any steps toward alleviating the suffering in Cuba as his term was so nearly ended he could not have carried out a policy had he formed one. The year 1896 witnessed a great change in the politics of the United States by a new question forcing itself to the front. The silver question, which had long been demanding recognition by some, was adopted by the Democracy in their Chicago platform, with Mr. Bryan for President, while the Republican party at St. Louis declared for the gold standard, and nominated William McKinley, of Ohio, for President. There were desertions from both parties. Senator Teller and other Silver Republi- cans withdrew from the Republican convention, and Senator Hill and many more Democrats withdrew from the Democratic convention. The result was that the Gold Democrats of the east supported Mc- Kinley, and the Silver Republicans of the West sup- ported Bryan. The contest ended in McKinley's election. Suffer- 96 HISTORY OF THE WAR WITH SPAIN. ing Cuba was not forgotten during the campaign. The Republican party in their platform extended sympathy, and held out a promise of acknowledg- ment of the belligerent rights and recognition of their government. The Republican press and Republican oiators held up bleeding, groaning Cuba as an appeal for votes, and it was confidently expected that Mr. McKinley would take action within thirty days after his inau- guration. He was inaugurated President March 4, 1897, while Weyler was in the height of his absolute tyranny, and while thousands of reconcentrados were starving and dying. A special session of Con- gress was called, and there were many who supposed that the time had come to end the sufferins:. But Congress, after several weeks' session, passed a tariff law, and adjourned without Cuba being mentioned. The Democratic press began to twit the Republicans on broken promises. They replied that Cuba would surely receive due attention at the first regular ses- sion of Congress. But from March to December was a long time for people to exist without food, and it was estimated that 200,000 reconcentrados died of starvation in that time. The American press w\as now aflame. Republi- can, Democratic, and Populist periodicals gave forth to the world the awful story of suffering and death, and many wondered why the authorities at Wash- Stewart L. Woodford, U, S. Minister to Spaix. HISTORY OF THE WAR WITH SPAIN. 97 ington did not act. Senator John Sherman resigned his seat in the Senate, and Mr. Hanna was appointed to fill the vacancy, while Mr. Sherman was made Secretary of State. Mr. McKinley strove to avoid hostilities with Spain, and his course was deliberate and conserva- tive, while firm and resolute. He possibly put too much faith in the promises of the Spaniards, and even while he was treating the Spanish Minister with respect, the latter was writing of him as a "low pothouse politician." On this becoming known the minister was of course recalled, and another, Seuor Polo, sent in his place. Meanwhile our government had expressed through official channels its displeasure at the course of General Weyler in Cuba, and he was suj)planted by General Blanco, who came with offers of autonomy to the in- surgents. Spain asked for more time to try her new plan of autonomy, and the United States was given permission to feed the starving reconcentrados. Congress made an appropriation to furnish supplies for the starving, and ships were sent with food for them. It was hoped that the dark cloud of war w^hich had for months been hovering over the country might pass away without an open rupture between the two nations. The press, always sensational and often untruthful, was doing all possible to drive the nation to war, and there were other forces at work to that end which proved invincible. The President 98 HISTORY OF THE WAR WITH SPAIN. long strove to stem the tide, but events on which no one calculated occurred which made peace impossible. It was decided, more to pacify the American people perhaps than for any other reasou, to send an Ameri- can warship to Havana. AVhile friendly visits of war vessels in time of peace between two nations are common, owing, perhaps, to the strained relations between the two countries no American ship had been sent to Havana since the last insurrection began. The Maine, a second-class battleship, commanded by Captain Sigsbee, an excellent seaman and brave commander, was sent on this important mission. General Blanco, who succeeded Weyler, was a much better man than his predecessor. He had every appearance of a gentleman, more humane, was brave and courteous, but intensely loyal and patriotic to his country. No one dreamed that any American warship would suffer while in the harbor. Nor do the American people to this day believe that General Blanco was cognizant, or would have permitted, if in his power to have prevented it, such an act of treach- ery as the blowing up of a ship and sending hun- dreds of men into eternity while on a friendly visit. Captain Sigsbee on his arrival had been visited by Consul-General Lee, in whose company he called upon the captain-general and governor of the island. Havana was quiet and peaceful on the fatal February 15, 1898. The Spanish flagship Alfonso XH. lay near the American battleship, and the Ward HISTORY OF THE WAR WITH SPAIN. 99 Line steamer City of Wasbingtou was but a short distance away. All was quiet on board the Maine. Men and officers, save the captain and those on duty, were below when about twenty minutes to ten there was heard a tremendous explosion, and almost immedi- ately after the sk}'' was illuminated with a lurid glare and the air filled with flame and smoke. It was suspected at once that the Maine had been blown up, but how, could not, of course, be then determined. The explosion shattered windows and electric lights, and flung the city into a tumult of excitement such as it had rarely witnessed before. Crowds that had gathered in public places dispersed in quick order and other knots gathered, to follow a moment later at the hotels some leader who knew no more where he was going than they. Fire engines came bounding down the narrow streets from no one knows where, and going no man knew where. All the populace turned out, and the throngs gradually trended toward the water front, but for half an hour or more no one in the midst of that jostling, pushing, half-crazed crowd knew aught of the awful tragedy that lay just beyond. The report was first that the arsenal had blown up, and then it was said that the Spanish man-of-war had torpedoed the Maine. And this was while the men of the Alfonso XII. w^ere struggling to the work of l-escue, 100 HISTORY OF THE WAR WITH SPAIN. The Ward Line steamer City of Wasliington and the cruiser were the first to reach the scene, and their crews did all that could be done to rescue the drowning. Some of the survivors were brought to the land- ing-place and turned over to the firemen, who carried the wounded on stretchers to hospitals. Others w^ere brought alongside the City of Washington, and still others carried to the Alfonso XII. The wreck took fire and sunk, and soon the harbor was lit by the lurid glare of flames, fed chiefly by the inflammable cellulose contained in the forward and after ends. The wreck burned the long night througli, and when broke the solemn, pitying dawn, dark wreaths of smoke were still curling upward from the sliapeless mass. At sunrise all flags in the harbor were at half-mast. Captain Sigsbee was up nearly all the night look- ing out for the comfort of his men. He took a short rest before early daylight, and soon after he stood on the deck of tlie City of Washington, peering into fallino- mist which was screenins^ the wi'eck of his gallant ship. The City of Washington was under way then shift- ing her berth. She passed close to where the curled and twisted plates of the after superstructure showed all that ^vas left of the Maine, and tears came to Captain Sigsbee's eyes as he looked and thought of the gallant men whose lives had so suddenly gone out, HISTORY OF THE WAR WITH SPAIN. 101 The Maine went down in water deep enougli to submerge all but the after part of her superstructure deck. The whole forward part of the hull was turned completely inside out by the explosion. The officers said that had the explosion taken place in the vessel in deeper water, that first wild lurch of hers would have sent her settling sideways to the bottom. As it was, the vessel sank within three minutes, partly righting as she touched the bottom. Captain Sigsbee, being asked to give his opinion of the cause of the disaster, said to a newspaper correspondent : " There is very little that I can tell you. I was in the cabin at the time. I had just finished a letter to my family when that enormous crash came. The ship lurched heavily to port, and I knew in an in- stant what it all meant — that it meant my ship had been blown up. " All my cabin lights were put out, and as I groped my way out of the apartment I met my orderly running toward me. Reaching the deck, I gave orders to post sentries, keep silence, and to fiood the magazines. The magazines were already flooding themselves. I saw then that the disaster was complete ; in fact, I noticed a few of our men struggling in the w^ater. " Only three boats were left of the number we carried. These, the gig, barge, and second whale- boat, were lowered as quickly as we could get them 102 HISTORY OF THE WAR WITH SPAIN. in the water. There was a big hole knocl-:ed in the side of the barge, and it is a wonder that it did not sink with the few who had climbed into it." Lieutenant John J. Blandin, who was officer of the watch at the time of the explosion, gave this version of his own experience, and of those who carfle under his immediate observations : "I went on watch at six o'clock, relieving Lieu- tenant Blow. At twenty minutes to ten o'clock, while on the port side of the quarter deck, an ex- plosion occurred, seemingly on the port side foward, followed immediately by a second one. I was struck on the head by a flying piece of wreckage, but not stunned. "I climbed on the poop-deck, where I found the captain, executive officers and several others. The barge and gig were lowered and manned, they being the only boats left. We picked up all the wounded that could be found, and put them into the boats. The Spanish flagship, Alfonso XIL, had sent four or five boats very promptly to our aid, and more of our wounded were sent to the Alfonso. " One of our boats pulled around the Maine and picked up several men who had been blown into the water. The executive officer went forward to see if the fire could be put out, and found that it was use- less to try to do anything to save the ship, as she was a total wreck. " The captain then gave the order to abandon the HISTORY OF THE WAR WITH SPAIN. 103 ship, and most of us went in tlie boats of the City of AVashington, of the Ward Line, where we were most cordially received and treated. The captain was the last to leave the ship." The funeral of twenty-seven of the victims whose bodies were recovered took place in Havana on Feb- ruary 17th, and was the most impressive ever seen in the city. Not even in their own country, leaving aside relatives and close friends, would the dead seamen have been accorded more pronounced ex- pressions of sorrow and regret. No expense had been spared in the funeral arrangements. The bodies lay in state in the Municipal Hall, and long before three o'clock the coffins were covered with flowers. Streets were blocked with carriages of the best families, and the government officers, and the army officers, men and officers from the Spanish man-of- war, marched to the palace and awaited the forming of the procession. Officers and men of the Maine took carriages at the consulate and drove to the palace, each carriage conveying a wreath of flowers. Chaplain Chidwick read a few short prayers just after three o'clock. The procession then formed and moved to the cemetery. The local clergy, in- cluding the Bishop of Havana, assisted at the burial services. Each coffin bore a silver cross and plain card with the dead man's name. They were carried to hearses 104 HISTORY OF THE WAR WITH SPAIN. by the local foremen. So great was tlie crowd that it took the procession an hour to get under way. As it passed through the streets the crowds uncovered. Many stores were closed. A court of inquiry was apjDointed, consisting of Captain W. T. Sampson, Captain F. E. Chadwick, Lieutenant-Commander Adolph Maiix and Lieuten- ant-Commander Potter, to investigate the matter, and sessions were at once begun. Work was next started upon removing the debris of the wreck, but after being prosecuted for many weeks, it was fcund impossible to clear it away on account of the depth of mud in which it had sunk. The board of inquiry finished its work in about six weeks, and found that the explosion was from an external cause, but were unable to fix the responsibility for the same. The report also exonerated the officers and crew of the Maine from all blame in the matter, and showed clearly that the catastrophe was not due to any care- lessness on their part, but that, on the contrary, the greatest diligence had been exercised at all times. The report of the board, while not fixing the blame on Spain, made it so apparent that the Maine was destroyed through Spanish agencies that throughout the war the American slogan was " Re- member the Maine." The blowing up of the Maine, it was declared, was a cause for war, and the people determined to have satisfaction. The general belief was that Weyler Rear-Admiral W. T. Sampsox. HISTORY OF THE WAR WITH SPAIN. 105 planted the mine at Buoy No. 4, and one of his emis- saries who remained behind exploded it. Even though Blanco might be held blameless for the blowing up of the Maine, his country must be brought to account at once. On the 18th of April Spain addressed a memo- randum to the Powers, which was in effect an appeal against the United States' assumption and aggres- sion. The President sent a second message to Con- gress, in which he declared that the war in Cuba must end, and peace be compelled. A lively discussion in the Senate followed. Sen- ator Foraker, an eloquent orator and progressive statesman, favored the recognition of the Cuban government before declaring for armed intervention. One reason given by the senator for his views, which he backed up by the best authorities on international law, was that Spain, in order to prosecute the war against the insurgent government, had negotiated a loan on the island of $400,000,000. That the island was mortsras^ed to this amount. If at the time of negotiating the loan Spain had title, any other government set up afterward would be subject to the mortgage. On the other hand, if the existing government of Cuba was recognized, it having been established prior to the loan, would be unincumbered. The President •and his friends firmly opposed these views and urcfed a declaration for intervention O 106 HISTORY OF THE WAR WITH SPAIN. without recognition. Some of the leading news- papers which had been urging recognition of the Cuban government, declaring that if it was only recognized and alien belligerent rights granted it, Cuba would fight her own battles and free herself, now changed completely around and sided with those who insisted on intervention while they re- sisted recoo:nition. It was asserted firmly that President McKinley would veto a measure that recognized the Cuban government. The friends of recognition declared that a war without recognition would be a war of conquest. In his final message, in which the Presi- dent recommended that the war in Cuba must end, and that Spain be given three days to withdraw her land and naval forces from the island, he denied any intention on the part of the United States to acquire the territory. The matter had grown too serious for further disagreement. Thousands of helpless reconcentrados were dying, and relief must be had. All finally united, and on the 19th of April Congress passed the joint resolutions directing the President to intervene in Cuba, and to call out the forces of the army and navy to end the war in that unhappy country. HISTORY OF THE WAR WITH SPAIN. 107 CHAPTER IV. THE ULTIMATUM THE BLOCKADE THE FIRST GUNS OF THE WAR BOMBARDMENT OF MATANZAS. The great crisis was approaching rapidly. To America it was not wholly unexpected and some preparations had been made. A navy that was destined to astound the world seemed to spring into existence at a moment's notice. Admiral Sampson with a considerable fleet rendezvoused at the Dry Tortugas, wdiile Commodore Schley with the Flying Squadron w^as at Hampton Koads. Commodore Dewey of the Asiatic Squadron was at Hong Kong. The Oregon then cruising in the Pacific was ordered to join the fleet of Admiral Sampson. Diplomatic relations between the two nations were strained to the utmost tension, and the friendly cord threatened to snap at any hour. Mr. Woodford, the American minister at Madrid, was the victim of many insults from the rabble, and the Spanish police had to keep a guard around the American legation. Congress having voted an appropriation of $50,000,000 for the army, for coast defenses, and 108 HISTORY OF THE WAR WITH SPAIN. for the purchase of war vessels, negotiations were at once entered into with several foreign powers, and a number of armed cruisers were purchased and transferred to the United States. The ships of several passenger and mail lines were also purchased or leased as auxiliary cruisers, and were at once remanned and put in commission. The most notable examples were the two American-built ships St. Paul and St. Louis of the American Line. Tlie new purchases were fitted for their new uses at once, and the preparations for war went on without delay. Congress at last united upon the following resolutions, which were signed by the President on April 20th : " Joint resolutions for the recognition of the independence of the people of Cuba, demanding that the government of Spain relinquish its authority and government in the island of Cuba, and to withdraw its land and naval forces from Cuba and Cuban waters, and directing the President of the United States to use the laud and naval forces of the United States to carry these resolutions into effect. " Whereas, The abhorrent conditions which have existed for more than three years in the island of Cuba, so near our own borders, have shocked the moral sense of the people of the United States, have been a disgrace to Christian civiliza- tion, culminating as they have, in the destruction of a United States battleship, with two hundred and sixty of its officers and crew, while on a friendly visit in the harbor of Havana, and cannot longer be endured, as has been set forth by the President of the United States in his message to Con- / HISTORY OF THE WAR WITH SPAIN. 109 gress on April 11, 1898, upon which the action of Congress was invited; therefore be it resolved: " First, that the people of Cuba are, and of right ought to be, free and independent. "Second, that it is the duty of the United States to demand,and the government of the United States does hereby demand, that the government of Spain at once relinquish its authority and government in the island of Cuba and with- draw its land and naval forces from Cuba and Cuban waters. " Third, that the President of the United States be, and hereby is, directed and empowered to use the entire land and naval forces of the United States, and to call into actual service of the United States the militia of the several States to such an extent as may be necessary to carry these resolu- tions into effect. " Fourth, that the United States hereby disclaim any dis- position or intention to exercise sovereignty, jurisdiction or control over said island, except for the pacification thereof, and asserts its determination when that is accomplished to leave the government and control of the island to its people." Immediately after signing the resolutions on April 20, 1898, about 11 o'clock a, m. the Depart- ment of State served notice of the purpose of this government by delivering to Minister Polo a copy of the instructions to Minister Woodford and also a copy of the resolutions passed by the Congress of the United States on the day before. After the report of this notice the Spanish minister forwarded to the State Department a recpiest for his passports which were furnished to him. The United States minister at Madrid was at the 110 HISTORY OF THE WAR WITH SPAIN. same time iDstructed to make a like communication to tbe government of Spain. On the morning of the 20th, the department received from General Woodford a telegram, showing that the Spanish government had broken off diplomatic relations with our government, which rendered unnecessary any further diplomatic action on the part of tlie United States. The following is the note sent to Woodford, Minister, Madrid: *' You have been furnished with the text of a joint resohi- tion voted by the Congress of the United States on the 19th instant — approved to-day — in rehition to the pacification of the island of Cuba. In obedience to that act, the Presi- dent directs you to immediately communicate to the govern- ment of Spain said resolution, with the formal demand of the government of the United States that the government of Spain at once relinquish its authority and government in the Island of Cuba and withdraw its land and naval forces from Cuba and Cuban waters. In taking this step the United States hereby disclaims any disposition or intention to exer- cise sovereignty, jurisdiction or control over said island excejjt for the pacification thereof, and asserts its determination when that is accomplished to leave the government and control of the island to its people under such free and independent gov- ernment as they may establish. " If by the hour of noon, on Saturday next, the 23d day of April, instant, there be not communicated to this govern- ment by that of Spain a full and satisfactory response to this demand and resolution whereby the ends of peace in Cuba shall be assured, the President will proceed without further notice to use the power and authority enjoined and conferred HISTORY OF THE WAR WITH SPAIN. Ill upon him by the said joint resohition to sach extent as may be necessary to carry the same into effect. *' Sherman." Woodford having asked for his passports and diplomatic relations being at an end, the business of the ministers and consuls in Spanish ports were turned over to the British consuls. The departure of Mr. Woodford from Spain was attended with great danger. The train on which he left had to be guarded by Spanish soldiers, and at one time his secretary of legation was in imminent peril from the rabble, but they reached Paris in safety. Consul- General Lee and the consuls in Cuba w^ere permitted to take their departure. The press, noted for its false rumors, which ever kept the people in a fever- ish state of excitement, once published the report that the vessel in which he had embarked had been sunk by the guns of Morro Castle. Spain having by its conduct to General Woodford broken off diplomatic relations between the two countries, it was not deemed necessary for the United States to wait until the time set, but that hostilities could be begun at once. The President thereupon issued the following proclamation: " By the President of the United States— A proclamation. "Whereas, By a joint resolution passed by the Congress, and approved April 20, 1898, and communicated to the gov- ernment of Spain, it was demanded that said government at once relinquish its authority and government on the island of 112 HISTORY OF THE WAR WITH SPAIN. Cuba, and withdraw its land and naval forces from Cuba and Cuban waters; and the President of the United States was directed and empowered to use the land and naval forces of the United States, and to call into actual service of the United States the militia of the several States to such extent as might be necessary to carry said resolution into effect, and *' Whereas, In carrying into effect said resolution, the President of the United States deems it necessary to set on foot and maintain a blockade of the north coast of Cuba, including all ports between Cardenas and Bahia Honda and the port of Cienfuegos on the south coast of Cuba. Now, therefore, I, William McKinley, President of the United States, in order to enforce the said resolution, do hereby de- clare and proclaim that the United States of America have instituted and will maintain a blockade of the north coast of Cuba, including ports on the said coast between Cardenas and Bahia Honda and the port of Cienfuegos on the south coast of Cuba aforesaid, in pursuance of the laws of the United States and the laws of nations applicable to such cases. *^An efficient force will be posted so as to prevent the en- trance and exit of vessels from the ports aforesaid. Any neutral vessel approaching any of said ports, or attempting to leave the same without notice or knowledge of the establish- ment of such blockade, will be duly warned by the commander of the blockading forces, who will indorse on her register the fact, and the date of such warning, where such indorse- ment was made, and if the same vessel shall again attempt to enter any blockaded port she will be captured and sent to the nearest convenient port for such proceedings against her and her cargo as prize as may be deemed advisable. ** Neutral vessels lying in any of said ports at the time of the establishment of such blockade will be allowed tliirty days to issue therefrom. In witness whereof, I have hereunto Major-General Nelson A. Miles. HISTORY OF THE WAR WITH SPAIN. 113 set my hand^ and caused the seal of the United States to be affixed. **Done at the City of Washington, this 22d day of April, A. D., 1898, and of the Independence of the United States the one hundred and twenty-second. "William McKinley. "By the President. "John Sherman", Secretary of State." Congress having approved the blockade, the North Atlantic Squadron, under command of Caj^tain Samp- son, sailed at once from Key West to Havana. It consisted of the following vessels : Battleships Iowa and Indiana, armored cruiser New York, the monitors Puritan, Terror, and Amphitrite, the gunboats Nash- ville, Castine, Machias, AVilmington, and Helena, the cruisers Detroit, Cincinnati, and Marblehead, and the torpedo boats Cushing, Ericsson, Dupont, Foote, Wiuslow, Porter, and Mayflower. The arrival of this fleet off Havana is graphically described by a newspaper correspondent in Havana at the time : "Havana, April 22, 8:30 p. m.— At 4:45 o'clock this afternoon the semaphore signaled that a fleet had been sis^hted on the eastern side of the island. It was said to be witlioiit any colors to show its nationality. "From the front of Morro Castle I saw smoke in the distance, and soon afterward made out three vessels on the horizon. At that time La Punta, the 114 HISTORY OF THE WAR WITH SPAIN. fort on the side of the harbor opposite Morro Castle, was crowded with curious people, including many ladies. In addition crowds of people could be seen at various points of vantage, many of them gathering on the roofs of houses. "At 6 P.M. the semaphore signaled that it was the United States fleet which was in sight, and at 6:15 p. m. a red flag was run up at the signal station, warning guns were fired from Morro Castle, and afterward from Cabanas fortress adjoining it. This caused excitement throughout the city, and was the first real note of war. "When the first signal came from the semaphore station a British schooner which was in the harbor put to sea. She was immediately followed by the German steamer Ramus. Some time afterward the American steamer Saratoga put to sea. "The cannon shots from the fortresses stirred up the regular troops and volunteers throughout Havana and its vicinity, and there was a rush to quarters. The signal guns from the fortifications echoed to the palace and throughout the streets, causing people to rush from the houses, with the result that all the thoroughfares were soon crowded with excited in- habitants. " Captain-General Blanco heard the shots while at the palace, to which place the generals and com- manders of the volunteers promptly repaired, full of excitement. Some time afterward the captain- HISTORY OF THE WAR WITH SPAIN. 115 general, accompauiecl by his staff, the generals and others, left the palace and were warmly acclaimed by the soldiers and populace. The general then made a brief, final inspection of the fortifications and went to a spot from which he could see the approach- ing fleet. " There certainly was no sign of alarm anywhere. The Spaniards are confident that Havana is pre- pared for any eventuality, and they have great faith in the strength of their forts, batteries, etc., and in the effectiveness of their heavy artillery. "JAs the time passed, more and more people crowded to the spot from which the fleet could be seen favorably. There was a great movement of the masses through all the streets and on all the squares. Tlie coffee houses and clubs were crowded with excited people, discussing the arrival of the American warships. The Spaniards expressed themselves as anxious to measure arms with the ^ invaders,' and there was no expression of doubt as to the result. Many of the stores are closed, as their owners and employees are volunteers, and have therefore been called to the defense of the city. " As this dispatch is sent, the civil and military authorities of Havana are in consultation at the palace, and every precaution possible to the Span- iards has been taken to guard against surprise and to resist an attack if tlie bombardment is commenced. "When the news of the capture of the Spanish 116 HISTORY OF THE WAR WITH SPAIN. steamer Biiena Ventura by tlie United States gun- boat Nashville, twenty miles off Key West, readied here, Admiral Manterola, the Spanish naval com- mander, wished to prevent the sailing of the Ameri- can steamer Saratoga, but Captain-General Blanco was opposed to this step, and she was allowed to sail. " It was estimated this evening that there were from 45,000 to 50,000 men under arms in Havana proper. The district outside of Havana at the same time was held by the battalions of engi- neers. "Everything breathed war: armed men were to be seen on all sides; the batteries were alive with artillerymen, and carriages and pedestrians were not permitted to pass certain places, and outside of the Vedado district no movement at all was allowed. "Scout boats were sent out from the harbor, always in a straight line, and they were coming and going throughout the night. " Coastinir steamers have been forbidden to leave ports on the north coast of the island. " General Arolas, the military commander of Ha- vana, has issued orders for the establishment of patriotic committees to prevent criminal acts in case of a panic during the siege. The local authorities and the priests have been appointed on those com- mittees, which will liave full power to pass sentence upon lawbreakers and to carry out the sentences imposed. Indeed, the only thing necessary is to HISTORY OF THE WAR WITH SPAIN. 117 notify the interested parties of tlieir crimes and of the sentences imposed upon them. The carrying out of the directions of the patriotic committees will be very prompt. "All doctors, lawyers, and professional men have been compelled to render service to the government under the penalty of being most severely dealt with." At daylight on April 22d the New York, the Iowa, and the Indiana were lying in line in the outer harbor, with the gunboats Nashville and Detroit off to the south on picket duty, and the Castine, the Newport, and a naval tug hovering around near the anchorage. A great deal of signaling had been done since nine o'clock the night before, and just before sunrise the Helena came from the inner harbor, while the torpedo boat Foote came to the flagship just ahead of her. A few minutes later the Detroit left her station and w^ent to the inner harbor, while the Nashville came to the flagship and then headed away to the northward, where the Machias and Castine had been lying. At this the whole squad- ron got under way in two lines — the New York, Iowa, and Indiana in one line at the southward, and the Helena, Machias, Nashville, and Castine in another, while the naval tug and torpedo boat went along in the lee of the flagship. By six o'clock the Newport came to the line from the w^estward and took her place behind the Machias. Meantime, a smoke had appeared on the horizon lis History of the war with spain. away to the westward, and by six o'clock it was plain that this came from a merchantman. By seven o'clock she was seen to be a two-masted black-hulled ship, with white upper works and black smokestack, having the colors of the Spanish flag painted around it. A Si^anish flag w^as flung to the breeze above the taffrail. Up to this time the squadron had been steaming slowly, say six knots, but at seven o'clock the Nash- ville suddenly left the line, and at full speed headed toward the Spaniard. A moment later a gun was fired from the port battery of the Nashville, and the shot struck the water a few hundred yards away. The Spaniard at this time was half a mile from the Nashville, and she held her way, making no sign of having given the shot any attention. For two minutes the Nash- ville held her course in chase and then tried another shot that passed apparently within a rod of tlie Spaniard's bow, and clipped the spray from the crest of the waves for a mile beyond. The ofiicer on the Spaniard's bridge at once reversed her engines, while a man ran ran aft and hastily lowered her flag. At 7:15 o'clock the Nashville brought-to alongside the Spaniard, having every gun, big and little, in the starboard broadside -.pointed at her. Then a whale- boat was lowered, and Ensign Magruder, with a boavd^ing crew of six men, was sent to take charge of the prize. HISTORY OF THE WAR WITH SPAIN. 119 She was found to be the steamship Buena Ven- tura, plying between New York and Havana and West Indian ports. She had a cargo of lumber on deck forward, that was stowed so as to give her a list to port. Meantime, the torpedo boat Foote had run down in the wake of the Nashville, and she brought to beside the Buena Ventura. For the next half-hour there was a good deal of filling and backing by the Nashville and the Foote as they lay about the Spaniard. Ensign Magruder took charge of the Spaniard's papers, and sent a report regarding them to the Nash- ville. The papers were sent thence to the flagship by the Foote. The flagship, with the battleships, had been lying to during this time, and soon after this a number of guns were fired from the New York. However, the torpedo boat, after tarrying briefly at the flagship, returned to the Nashville. She had brought orders that the Buena Ventura was to be held, and a few minutes later the Nashville headed toward Key West and was followed by the Buena Ventura. This was the first actual capture of a vessel of either side in the war, and the honor belonged to the Nashville. The Buena Ventura was taken to Key West and the news of her capture sent to Washing- ton. From this time on the blockading became a series of chases after Spanish merchant vessels. The 120 HISTORY OF THE WAR WITH SPAIN. second to be seized was the Pedro, a Spanish steam- ship, loaded with iron, rice and beer. The vessel was loading in Havana and planned to go to Santiago de Cuba, when her captain, Bonet, heard that the American fleet had been sighted. He feared that Havana was to be bombarded and started out to sea. He was not quick enough. The men on the flagship New York sighted him going at full speed and gave chase. The Spaniard showed no signs of stopping, and the New York sent several shots after her. These were from the ship's lighter guns and were ineffective. Then the New York let go a heavy shot across the bow of the fleeing merchantman, who came to a standstill. The chase had covered ten miles. A prize crew of twelve men from the New York, officered by Lieutenant E. E. Capeheart, Ensign Brumby and Engineer Walter Ball, was put aboard the Pedro, and she then came to Key West under her own steam and without escort. The quarantine flag was soon flying from both the Pedro and the Spanish steamer Buena Ventura, taken the day be- fore which was brought in by the gunboat Nash- ville. United States marines were pacing the decks of both captured steamers, but the Spanish flag still floated from the jackstaif of the Pedro. She entered Key West at 6:30 o'clock at night and was watched by large crowds from the docks as she went to her Major-Gexekal Joseph Wheeler. HISTORY OF THE WAR WITH SPAIN, 121 ancLorage. Captain Bonet was in no mood to talk. He seemed to take the matter philosophically. " These Yankees are getting rather hot, it seems to me," was his caustic comment, as he leaned over the rail and spoke to a newspaj)er correspondent, who ran alongside in a steam launch. The third prize belonged to the Ericsson. It was captured at dawn close to Havana harbor and proved to be a small fishing schooner. Lieutenant Usher, in command of the Ericsson, caught sight of the little vessel trying to beat out of the harbor to the open sea. The Ericsson soon headed her off and not being provided with any spare men to act as a prize crew, Lieutenant Usher simply ordered the schooner to run on ahead of him. In this way he chased her along until he could turn her over to the tender mercies of the cruiser Cincin- nati. The Ericsson's officers then resumed their duties without waiting to learn what disposition was made of their little prize. The prize crew had just been put aboard the Pedro from the flagship when the torpedo boat Foote, which was scouting, ran up and reported that a large steamship had been sighted seven miles away, apparently bound out of Havana and showing no colors. The New York soon overhauled the stranger and boarded her. She was found to be the German steamship Amrum, bound from Havana. Her papers were all right, and she was permitted to 122 HISTORY OF THE WAR WITH SPAIN. go, after being informed tLat Havana was under blockade. Hearing of the arrival of the United States fleet off Havana, Captain Scbmrull, not anxious to be bottled up in the harbor, ran out and was overhauled by our fleet. The Anirum put into Key West early next morning and awaited orders by cable. The Pedro, owned by the Navigation Company of Bilboa, was of 1,628 tons net register, about 330 feet long, and had over thirty-eight feet beam and drew twenty-eight feet of water. She was built at Newcastle in 1883 and had on board a crew of thirty- six men. Speaking of the two prizes at Key West, Lieuten- ant-Commander Lyon of the Dolphin, who was senior oflScer, explained how the Spanish flag still flew from the Pedro, while the Buena Ventura showed no colors. The captain of the Pedro flew his colors during the entire time of his pursuit by the New York and refused to haul them down. Technically, these prizes did not become the prop- erty of our government until a prize commission had passed upon the captures and adjudicated the claims. In the meantime it was customary to permit the flag of the country from which the capture is made to fly as usual. The officers and crew were at liberty to leave the Spanish ships and go ashore, provided they were not stopped by quarantine regulations. They had ex- HISTORY OF THE WAR WITH SPAIN. 123 pressed preference, however, to remain aboard their captured vessels. Captain Bonet and his men of the Pedro evidently thought the Cubans of Key West a very bloodthirsty lot of patriots, and did not care to trust themselves to their tender mercies ashore. While these exciting events were amusing the blockading squadron Washington City was like a seethinir, boiliuo: caldron. The most senseless rumors were put in circulation, and many believed the cities on the Atlantic coast were hourly in dan- ger of bombardment. Before leaving Washington the Spanish minister was met by a newspaper correspondent, and the fol- lowing interview was published : "The action of Congress is a crime," declared Senor Polo, and he gratuitously added that his words were those of another foreign diplomat who had spoken to him recently. He was loyal, how- ever, and did not give his name, else the Spanish minister might have had company on his trip to Canada, as such comment would have been consid- ered sufficiently offensive to cause the talkative minister to be expelled. '' This great nation is about to enter upon a war that will meet only with condemnation in the pages of history," he continued. " Demands upon my country have been made that no self-respecting people will endure. Spain will 124 HISTORY OF THE WAR WITH SPAIN. only abandon Cuba when sbe is compelled to do so by superior force. War between the United States and Spain means that 70,000,000 j^eople are pitted against 18,000,000. The latter will be 3,000 miles from the base of supplies. " This war, T repeat, is a crime." Lieutenant de Carantha, the naval attache, thought Spain would be victorious. " It is no longer a question of retaining Cuba ; the United States has contemptuously ordered Spain to vacate Cuba, and has made the infamous charge that we are responsible for the murder of the poor men of the Maine. These orders and charges are made with a kick of the boot, and against such action Spain will resist to the uttermost. " History has recorded that even the legions of Napoleon, with nearly 400,000 men bearing the tri- umphs of Europe, were halted and retired from Spain after those legions had lost between 200,000 and 300,000 men. "We recognize the gallantry of the American navy, and the notable heroes of its past — Paul Jones, Farragut, Porter — but Spain, too, has her heroes, and their blood is in the veins of those now called upon to defend her honor. "I speak after recently talking with my naval associates, commanders of Spanish ships and of tor- pedo boats, and I know that there is but one senti- ment — namely, that not one Spanish ship shall be HISTORY OF THE WAR WITH SPAIN. 125 taken. Your navy may send some of them to the bottom, superior forces may annihilate them, but not one Spanish ship will surrender to the American navy. With honor at stake that will be the response of the navy of Spain." On the 23d of April, the day after the blockading squadron began to get in its work in front of Havana, the President made his first call for volunteers in the following proclamation : ''Whereas, by an act of Congress entitled: *An act to provide for the increasing of the military establishment of the United States in time of war and for other purposes/ approved April 22, 1898, the President was authorized, in order to raise a volunteer army, to issue his proclamation calling for volunteers to serve in the army of the United States; " Now, therefore, I, William McKinley, President of the United States, by virtue of the power vested in me by the Constitution and laws, and deeming sufficient occasion to exist, have thouj_ht fit to call for and hereby do call for volunteers to the aggregate number of 125,000 in order to carry into effect the purpose of the said resolution, the same to be apportioned as far as practicable among the several States and territories and the District of Columbia accord- ing to population, and to serve for two years, unless sooner discharged. The details for this object will be immediately communicated to proper authorities through the War De- partment. "In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the United States to be affixed. *' Pone at Washington, this 33d day of April, 1898, and of 126 HISTORY OF THE WAR WITH SPAIN. the independence of the United States the one hundred and twenty-second. ''(Seal.) William McKinlet. "By the President. "John Sherman", " Secretary of State." The volunteers were apportioned among the vari- ous States, coming from the National Guard. There was some dissatisfaction as to the manner in which the volunteers were officered. Many political debts remained unpaid, and this was done by the parties having the appointing power in commissions. It has always l)een ai'gued that a volunteer soldier is not like a regular. The regular army soldier is a profes- sional, while the volunteer is a citizen in time of peace, and goes to w^ar only when his country needs his services. It has always been rulable for volun- teer companies to elect their captains and lieutenants from their number, as when a man risks his life for his country he should not be required to relinquish every right as a citizen. The commissioned officers in the regiment usually have the right to elect the line officers of the regiment, all of whom are commissioned. But many governors interfered with the rights of the men whom they were sending forth to battle, causing great dissatisfaction and delay. The 13th New York Res^iment. which had been slated for service at the front, refused to go, and was disbanded for disobedience. HISTORY OF THE WAR WITH SPAIN. 127 On the 24tli of April, the second day after the President's call for 125,00.0 volunteers, Spain issued a decree declaring that a state of war existed by the aggression of the United States. In the decree she reserved the right of granting letters of marque and reprisal to priva- teers. Privateering, though of great advantage to the United States in her second war Avith Great Britain, has of late years come to be looked upon as little better than piracy. John Sherman resigned on the 25th of the month and Mr. Day was promoted to his place on the 26th. There had been no fighting as yet. Occasional rumors of cannonading were heard, but proved to be false. Up to the 26th nothing of a serious nature had occurred off Havana. A peaceable blockade with hostilities prohibited proved a tedious and monoto- nous game. It was varied only by prize chasing, and this often disappointing because of false clews and mistaken identities. The news that two steamers succeeded in sneaking into Havana on Saturday was not at all an indication that the blockade was not thoroughly successful. This was only the second day of operations, and the mosquito craft had not arrived to cover the water close in shore. The blockade runners were only small coasting craft, which gathered sugar from port to port around the island and carried it into Havana, 128 HISTORY OF THE WAR WITH SPAIN. They bugged tlie beach like sticking-plasters, and were not seen by the big blockading ships lying eight and ten miles out at sea beyond the range of the shore batteries, which they had been ordered not to engage. On the afternoon of the 26th the New York and Wilmin