• ,-cSr^v ..' ■A . ,• ° " ° e . 'M t • o. 0*0 ^5- ^"^•^c^. • I v yCv "^ v> 7. cv / /'% ' .<^ '^J ^O r>^ . « • • ^ \/^ SIGSBEE LEAVING THE MAINE. (" I suggested the propriety of my being the last to leave.") (See page 34.) i Till' STORY OF OUR WAR WITH SPAIN PY ELBRIDGE S. BROOKS AUTHOR OK "HISTORIC BOYS," "THE TRUE STORY OK THE UNITED STATES," "THE CENTURY HOOK KOR YOUNG AMERICANS," "CHILDREN'S LIVES OF GREAT MEN," ETC., ETC. ILLUSTRATED BOSTON LOTHROP PUBLISHING COMPANY L • 29574 Copyright, iSgg, BY LOTHROP PUBLISHING COMPANY. TWOCui-u. ,,^^^, V£0. NortaooH ^rcss J. S. Cushing & Co. — Btrwkk & Smith Norwood Mass. U.S.A. PREFACE I\ this story of our war witli Spain no attempt has been made to enter upon a discussion of methods or an elaborate plan of campaign. The author's design has been to give simply, concisely, and connectedly the complete story of what President McKinley calls "our extraordinary war with Spain," so that readers, young and old, who have neither time nor inclination for the study of operations in too great detail may obtain, as it were, a bird's-eye view of the war from the insistent causes to the final triumphal close. Besides Mr. Emerson's spirited drawings, the publishers were able to procure from one of the "boys" actually at the front "snap shots" of promi- nent scenes and places that add a distinctive value to the story, and make privation, action, and envi- ronment even more real than could a mere " hear- say" sketch. Thanks also are due to Mr. Wendell Phillips Thore for assistance and suggestion. E. S. B. Boston, March 17, 1899. CONTENTS CHAPTER I. II. III. IV. V. \\. VII. VIII. IX. X. XI. XII. Xlil. XI\'. XV. XVI. XVII. Wli)- the Mijiiic was in Havana Harl:)or . Wliy Congress gave the President Fifty Millions . How the War began How Admiral Dewey spent his May-day Why the United States Navy y .yed at Hide-and-seek How thev bottled up the Spanish Fleet at Santiago How the Marines held the Beach at Guantanamo . Why the Boys cheered at Daiquiri .... How they cleared the Jungle at Guasimas How they broke the Line at El Cancy and stormed the Hill of San Juan How they surprised the Governor of Guam How the Spanish Admiral made a Dash for Liberty Why they cheered in the Trenches How the Flag floated over Porto Rico . Why General Merritt played Jackson at .Manila The Things that helped .... How the War ended The Story of our War with Spain chronologically told FACE 9 27 49 66 90 1 1 1 130 150 165 181 201 245 262 280 296 il7 v» LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS Sigsbee leaving the Maine . A Bit of Old Havana . The Landing-place of Columbus Arms of the Conquistadores On the Plaza de Armas, Havana The Wall at Santiago . The Morro. Havana . President McKinley . The U.S. Battleship A/aifie A Cuban Farm-house . Spanish Troopers The Home of a Sugar Planter Near Matanzas . A Cuban Soldier A Typical Farm-house View from the Yuniuri Valley, near Matanzas Admiral Dewey . On Corregidor Island . Dewey at Manila Rear Admiral Sampson The Transports en route to Cuba The City of Cadiz in Spain The Diamond Rock, off Martinique The Harbor of San Juan in Porto Rico The New York Frontispiece 9 1 1 14 17 20 27 3' 36 41 44 5' 59 61 64 66 69 79 90 92 95 loi 105 107 IX LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS Lieutenant Hobson In the Harbor of Santiago Cabanas Hobson on the Bridge of the Merriinac Where the Merriinac lies . Hobson's Interpreter . The Marines at Guantanamo Morro Castle, Santiago General Shafter . At the Dock at Tampa The Heights of Jibara Baracoa, near Cape Maisi Colonel Roosevelt Spanish "Fortine," or Fort No. The Jungle Path at Guasimas Camp of the Rough Riders . The Road to El Caney Where the Right Wing marched '• Capron's Pet " . After the Battle . The San Juan River . The Charge up San Juan Hill The Reserves waiting for Orders Where Guam is . "The Silent Gun"' The U.S. Cruiser Charleston In Philippine Waters . Admiral Schley . Trench-making before Santiago Camp of the American Advance The Inner Harbor of Santiago Where Cervera ran out , outside of Santiago PAGE 1 1 1 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS XI Wainwright on the Gloiici-stiT U.S. Cruiser Brooklyn Bamboo Bridge over the San Juan River In the Trenches .... .\ Silk-cotton Tree .... Mule Train on the Way to relieve the Santia The Church at El Caney Railway Station on the Road from El Caney " No Cheering ! " General Miles ..... A Bullock Cart in Porto Rico The Casa Blanca .... A Porto Rican Garden A Mountain Battery .... *' Cease firing ! Peace has been declared ! " The Approach to Manila A Street in Manila .... ''Capron's Pet" A Noble Helper The St. Paul and The Terror •'Taking his Quinine" Supplies for the Camp Santiago Harbor and the Morro . Bridge on the El Caney Road In Santiago ..... At Montauk ..... go Refugees to Santia Jio PACE 241 246 248 251 252 256 259 262 264 267 271 274 285 291 298 302 305 3'o 315 3«8 321 324 327 THE STORY OF OUR WAR WITH SPAIN IN 1898 THE STORY OF OUR WAR WITH SPAIN CHAPTER I WHY THE MAINE WAS IX HAVANA HARBOR Ar midday on Tuesday, the twenty-fifth of January, 189S, the United States battleship Maine steamed into the harbor of Havana, the chief city of the Spanish island of Cuba. Spotless and speckless from keel to fighting-top, with the Stars and Stripes at the peak and the Jack at the foremast head, the great white cruiser, guided by a Spanish pilot, threaded the narrow entrance to the harbor, and just abreast the Admirals Palace, on the water-front of the Cuban metropolis, ran out her chains and niade fast to the mooring-buoy selected by the Spanish pilot. Then her guns thundered their salute to A lUT OF OLD HAVANA. 10 OUR WAR WITH SPAIN the Spanish flag, the naval cadet reported to the American consul, and Yankee commander and Spanish admiral exchanged visits of courtesy. At forty minutes past nine on the night of Friday, the fifteenth of February, 189S, without warning and apparently without reason, while lying peacefully in the same mooring-berth to which the Spanish pilot had conducted her, the United States battleship Maine blew up with a bursting, rend- ing, crashing roar, and two hundred and fifty-four Yankee blue-jackets went down in the blackness and smoke of the ruined battleship to swift and sudden death in the harbor of Havana. " Well, what business had she there, anyhow ? " certain faultfinding and unpatriotic Americans demanded, when the world fell to discussing this bafiling and awful disaster. What business had that armed battleship of the United States in the unfriendly but not openly hostile waters of Havana? Let us first discover this before we chronicle the results of that terrible catastrophe which precipitated a peaceful, home- loving people into a foreign and aggressive war, and wrung from American lips, from ocean to ocean and from Lakes to Gulf, the stern and deter- mined watchword : " Remember the Maine ! " WHV nil; MAINE WAS IN HAVANA IlAKliOR 1 1 The reason for llie presence of the Maine in Span- isli waters dates far back in the history of America. I'^roni the clays of Columbus, tlie admiral, who first planted upon American st)il the \ellow banner of Spain, that emblem of discovery, occupation, THE LA.\I>I.\(;-|'LACE OF COLUMIJUS. (At the north end of Watling's Island, one of the Bahama group.) colonization, and conquest had been also the symbol of inhumanity, selfishness, and orced. 1 here had been notable exceiitions to this record of tyranny, from the noble Las Casas, " protector of the Indians," to the gentle Fray 12 OUR WAR WITH SPAIN jiinipcro Serro, friend of tlie California tribes ; but the exceptions only helped to prove the rule. The methods of Spain in America were those of medi- aeval times, and the customs of Spain in her colonies were, in 1800, not a day advanced beyond the Middle Aoes — the times of Alva and the Inquisition, of Pizarro and Cortes and De Soto. From the very beginning of Spanish occupation, therefore, the hand of Spain lay heavy upon the vast American empire that Columbus and his successors had delivered into her keeping. This " empire " embraced the greater part of Central and South America, the fertile islands known as the West Indies, and all that section of what is now the United States of America lying west of the Mississippi. This portion of North America, of especial interest to us, Spain took to herself through those unjust and unwritten laws of discovery, exploration, and conquest that were a part of the law of nations four centuries ago, as they are to- day to an only slightly modified extent. By the right of discovery and exploration Spain claimed North as well as South America. For her ships and sailors had carried into northern as well as southern waters the proud banner of \\ll\ llli; MAIM-: WAS IN HAVANA llARHOR 13 Castile; it liad floated on tlic St. Lawrence and tlic IIirIm)!!, in the harbor of I'l)nioulli aiul aljo\c the loiiLT reaches of Chesapeake Ha\-. while traces of Sjjanish occupancy exist in iMarxland and Vireinia and reach far into the interior of New N'ork state. De Soto and his men zigzagged across the Southern states from Pensacola in T'lorida to New Orleans, now wandering as far north as the James River and now as far south as Mobile Bay, ending finally at Vicksburg, from which they drifted dismally down the Mississippi to disaster and death. Coronado and his glittering train of armored men wandered from Mexico to Kansas, and, on a fruitless hunt for storied cities, walled in gold and gems, doomed to disappointment, left their traces in the conquered pueblo of Santa Fe in New Mexico, which divides with St. Augustine in Florida (both Spanish settlements) the honor of beini^ the oldest cit\- in the Cnitecl States. Hv virtue of vSpanish discoveries before the davs ()f Sebastian Cabot, .Spain disj^uted with Fngland the right of possession, and that dis- pute, inherited b\- the United States from I'^ng- land, has rankled and ^mouldered through all the years since first I^ngiand and .Spain struggled for the mastery of the western world. 14 OUR WAR WITH SPAIN The Spaniards, to be sure, never extended their encroachments or actual demands north of Dela- ware Bay; but, from the first presence of English- man and Spaniard upon the waters and within the limits of the New W^orld, this strife for posses- sion was sure to come. Indeed, in the settlement of America, the newly found lands fell largely to Spain and England, and as the Anglo-Saxon race spread itself along new lines of occupation and conquest, the Spaniards in North America found themselves confined to the banks of the Mis- sissippi and the shores of the Gulf of Mexico. ARMS OF THE CONQUISTADORES. y[^^\ ^\\ Spaulsh gOVCm- (Toledo blades and Spanish cutlass, i .i i •}•, ,.„„,.,.„, ., ors possessed the ability used in the colonization ot the r -' West Indies. From San Domingo.) of GalvCZ Or tllC COUragC of young Louis Grandpre, whose story all Ameri- can boys should read, the records of the struggle with Spain would have been quite different from WIW THF MAINK WAS I\ HAVANA HARBOR 15 what they arc, altliough the result would have been the same; for the American race of Anelo- Saxon strain would at last have i)ossessed itself of the whole southern and western countrv, thou^di forty times the strength of Spain barred the path to progress and expansion. Theodore Roosevelt makes the three great stages in the advance of the Anglo-Saxon race j the conquest of Britain, the defeat of the Span- ish Armada, and the establishment of the United States. In the last two of these three stagres. Spain was a leading factor; for the West, though won from England, was equally won from Si)ain. The continued and overmastering pressure of the American frontiersman, pioneer, and colonist could not be withstood by the less aggressive and more dilatory Spanish officials in the south and southwest. But, now and then, a flash of the old- time Spanish valor lights up the story, as when the intrepid Galvez, a youthful and brilliant soldier, swept the Mississippi of British and .Vmericans, and laid successful siege to Mobile and Pensacola ; or as when the Spanish captain Pierro led a suc- cessful invasion and foray from St. Louis to the Lakes and })lanted the banner of Spain in the heart of what is to-day the city of Chicago. 1 6 OUR WAR WITH SPAIN These were but flashes of spirit, however, which flickered and died out before the resistless ad- vance of the hardy American borderers, and when Thomas Amis with his flatboat tried to force the Spanish lines at Natches, and George Rogers Clark in 1786 raided the Spanish merchants at Vincennes, it was the entering wedge that led at last to the giving up by Spain of the vast region beyond the Mississippi, the stern " clearing up " by Jackson in Florida, and the final with- drawal of the Spaniard from the land above which from the days of De Soto and Coronado the yel- low standard of Spain had floated in possession, and in which she had won and lost an empire. The story of Spanish intrigue for power and possession in North America played a more im- portant part in the greater story of the United States than our histories admit ; it has, indeed, no small bearing upon our long and unsettled relations with Spain. That nation never had sym- pathy or affection for the United States. Her apparent willingness to help the colonies in their struggle for independence was altogether selfish and by no means real. It was because she hated England, an old-time foe, not because she loved America, her would-be ally; and, all through the wn\ nil: MAIM-: was in Havana iiAKnoR 17 American Revolution and the unsettled days that iolk)\\ed, Spain's relations with the United States were marked h\' insincerity and double-dealinround beneath the double burdens of Spanish taxes and Spanish t\ranny; as victims of the latter were numerous naturalized citizens of the United States, against whose arrest and })unishment the Consul-General vigorously protested; he found the "home-rule" reforms of the Spaniards little more than a farce, while the pitiable condition of the unfortunate " reconcen- trados " was only very slightly relieved by the help sent in money and supplies from the Ihiited States; he found that the rebels ot the island were proof against the briberv and the questionable truce or armistice proffered by the Spanish Governor-Gen- eral, while the officials and arm\- ofiFicers of Spain were abetting the riotous and unsettled conditions ol I Li\ana, to the great danger and positi\e threat- ening of the American residents. It was clear to General Lee that some demon- stration of interest in behalf of these endangered 26 OUR WAR WITH SPAIN Americans was necessary on the part of the United States, especially as it appeared as if Governor- General Blanco might not be able to " control the situation," as he expressed it. He therefore suggested that a naval vessel of the United States be made ready to "move promptly in case American interests in Cuba suffered because of our open sympathy with the starvinor Cubans"; and for that reason the battle- ship Maine was ordered to Havana; for this reason on the fifteenth of February the Maine lay at her moorino;s in Havana harbor. CHAPTER II \\\\\ CONGRESS CAVK THE rKESIDEXT I II l^' MFII.IONS THE appearance of the battleship Maine in Havana harbor did not please the Spaniards of Cuba. Naturally they could not, in their excited condi- tion, look upon the coming of such a warship at such a time ' as altogether the "fricndlv naval visit" it was announced to be. Indeed, Consul-General Eee himself, in view of the unfriendly and hostile feeling that had increased toward Americans during the days of the disturbed and riotous condition of Havana, felt that it would l)e well to postpone the visit a few davs and mve the excitement time to disappear. His telcirram of advice, however, came too late; fur the Secretary of State advised him that the PRESIDENT McKIXLKV. 28 OUR WAR W^IH SPAIN Maine had already been ordered to proceed to Havana, and the very next morning the big white battleship sailed into Havana harbor, and pro- ceeded to the mooring-berth assigned her by the harbor master. For three weeks she lay thus at anchor. Her officers received and returned the official visits that are the rule in all ports entered by warships in time of peace, but Captain Sigsbee of the Maine was convinced and, in fact, was made to feel that there was no real friendliness on the Spanish side in this exchange of courtesies. Under all the pleasant speeches there was, he saw, a spirit of resentment and unfriendliness toward Americans. Anxious to avoid any opportunity for disturbance, the captain kept his crew on board, not granting them the " shore leave " customary when vessels are in port. He put them through all the regular ship drills, excepting " night quarters " and" " clear- ing for action," but he was careful to avoid every- thing that might be misrepresented or misjudged. While the Maine floated thus at her moorino-- berth at Havana, a foolish piece of work on the part of the Spanish minister was performed at Washington. This careless official, whose duty it w^as to be very particular in his actions, w'rote a WHY CONGRESS CAVi: IIFTY MIIJ.TOXS 29 letter to a friend in wliieli lie went out of bis way to n-iisjudge, belittle, and in>ult President McKinley. A Cuban si)y whose chief aim was to embroil S})ain and the United States obtained possession of this letter, and placed it in the hands of the Cuban Agents, or " junta," in New York, who, in turn, gave it to a New York newspaper anxious for sensations. The letter was published and did create a sensation. It made Americans indienant, caused the immediate resio-nation of the Spanish minister, and still further complicated mat- ters already unsettled because of the Cuban trouble. It was while this bit of comedy was being played that the chief tragedy of the war was enacted in Havana harbor. It was on the evening of the fifteenth of February. The Spanish minister had resigned and left the country; the American people were divided between amusement and indignation ; the Spaniards in Cuba were infuriated over the fact that the minister had been found out, and, in their amrer at the Americans — "the Yankee pigs," as they loved to call us — and at the presence of an American warship in Havana harbor, they had taken to sendin-- threateninor letters and circulars to the cool Consul-General Lee and the equally cool Captain Sigsbee ; and the tenor of these 30 OUR WAR WITH SPAIN letters was " the moment of action has arrived. Death to the Americans ! " It was past nine o'clock; the Maine was swing- ing at her mooring-buoy ; the captain was writing in his cabin ; the bugler was sounding taps : — " turn in and keep quiet ; " the cabin mess-attend- ant had taken up his banjo after looking after the captain's wants, and the big ship was just settling itself for the night, heading north and west in the windless current exactly in position to rake the shore fortifications had she been on a warlike mission and "cleared for action." The night was dark and overcast, hot and sultr)'; the steam launch was riding at the starboard boom ; the crew had turned in ; the quarter-watch was on duty; the officers were in their mess-room, and everything, apparently, was quiet and peaceful on ship and shore. Suddenly, into the sultry night, boomed a dull, mufiled explosion, as if smothered by water; then came a bursting, rending crash followed by a dull red glare. It splintered, ripped, and tore; the air was filled with missiles and flying timbers ; the electric lights went out ; the great vessel trembled, lurched, and listed to port ; then the bow, raised above the waves a moment, went down head first ; WHY CONGRESS GAVE FIFrV MILLIONS 31 ^ ^ m •x**! TIIK U.S. BATTLESHIP MAINE. the water rushed in throuoli the 2:reat holes torn in the shattered liull ; and two hundred and fifty- four men — for tlie most part sleeping sailors in their quarters on the berth-deck — were carried down to death in the torn and shapeless wreck of the splendid battleship Maine — once the pride of the noble White Squadron of the American navy. Offers of help and ready assistance came at once from the Spanish war-vessels and other ships in the harbor. Regrets and sympathy with assurances of the absolute ignorance on their part of the cause of the terrible disaster came from Spanish officials ^2 OUR WAR WITH SPAIN J on ship and shore. But the fact remained that the Maine had been blown up while moored by a Span- ish pilot to a Spanish buoy in a Spanish harbor; and to this day, though the cause of the explosion remains a mystery, the combination of suspicious circumstances has impressed upon the American people that their splendid warship was deliberately destroyed for hostile reasons by the hostile people who resented its presence in a Spanish port. The total death roll of that night of horror (in- cluding the injured who died on shore) was two hundred and sixty-four men and two officers ; and for that sacrifice Spain has been held to strict account and has paid for it dearly in blood and land and treasure. For, argue it as we may, if the Maine had not been blown up in Havana harbor, the war with Spain might, for a time at least, have been averted. But even the terrible tragedy of the Maine did not at once " let slip the dogs of war," as Shake- speare puts it. The great good sense of the American people, which can always be relied upon in critical moments, again asserted itself in spite of the demands for vengeance that came from over- excitable citizens and sensation-seeking newspa- pers. With a marvellous patience and a splendid WHY c()N(;ri:ss gave fifty mii.liOiNs 33 restraint tlic AiiKiican i)c(»plc awaited the verdict of the Naval Court of Inquiry whicli was at once apjKMntcd by the President to investigate and report upon the cause of the destruction of the ]\Iainc. This example of restraint was set by those officials upon whom action depended. In the midst of sorrow, loss, wrath, and wreck Captain Siiisbee of the foundered Maine, realizino^ that the patience of the people was well-nigh exhausted and that unwise words might lead to regrettable results, sank his own feelings and suspicions and, in telegraphing to Washington the tidings of the fearful disaster, made no charsfes, but beo^s^ed that " public opinion should be suspended until further report." To one who calmly reads those words to-day, apart from the terrible strain under which they were written, tlieir full significance can scarcely be appreciated. The last man to leave the cruel wreck of his noble ship. Captain Sigsbee could still repress his wrath and command his sorrow even though he felt certain as to the cause of the disaster and the responsibility for the murder of his men. " It was a hard blow to be oblii^ed to leave the Maine',' he says, " and we waited until we were D 34 OUR WAR WITH SPAIN satisfied that she rested on the bottom of the harbor. Lieutenant-commander Wainwright then directed everybody to get into the boats — an easy operation ; one had only to step directly from the deck into the boat. I suggested the propriety of my being the last to leave and requested my officers to precede me, which they did." Fifteen minutes after his sad leave-taking of the stranded Maine, in which had gone to death, as Captain Sigsbee bears witness, "as worthy and true patriots as those we have lost in battle,' but whose fate was an even sadder one," the com- mander of the Maine had sent his famous despatch, which announced the disaster and restrained the hot wrath of a nation. The attitude of President McKinley, also, — cool, calm, and deliberate, peace-loving, but loving justice more than all — strengthened what the President himself characterized as "the sturdy good sense of the national character" as well as its own "instinct of justice," and held it curbed and silent until the Board of Inquiry made public its decision. This decision came after the deliberations of the commission or Board of Inquiry, which had been in session for twenty-three days in Havana harbor and at Key West. It was the result of a careful WHY CONGRESS GAVE FIFTY MILLIONS 35 and complete examination, in whic'li, however, it must be said Spain had no opiDortunity to present lier side of the case. llie finding of the Board declared that the Maine was ex})loded by a sub- marine mine; but how this was done, Ijy whom placed and when, by whom set off and how, the Hoard could not decide through lack of positive testimony, and the mystery of the Maine is still an unexplained and unfathomed jiroblem. But by the people of the Ignited States the responsibility for the traoedv which slaughtered two hundred and sixty-four American blue-jackets in the harbor of Havana was sternly and righteously placed upon the nation which should have been a orenerous host rather than a diabolical destroyer, and u})on Spain, and Spain alone, rests the responsibility for the terrible cry, "Remember the Mainc^ which, more than philanthropy, more than humanity, more than love of liberty even, drove a peaceful nation into war and brought a proud kingdom to disaster, dismemberment, and loss. But it was not alone this fierce and bitter cry for justice that drove the republic into war. While the loss of the Maine touched the great heart of the people even more than the woes of reconcentrados and the struggle of patriots, the claims of humanity 36 OUR WAR WITH SPAIN and protection joined hands with impatience and commercial interest, and set afoot a widespread pub- He demand for some immediate and definite action. It filled the press with clamor, captured the Con- gress by its persistency, and bore with tremendous force upon the President, to whom the will of the people must be the supreme law. 1 ^. 'V^. ^ g ^___Ljm«ilfr -g HkikSjl i^inim ^■*i^ """ '"' ■ * .m 3 "J^^fl^HTT^nHli^ 1 "^ f-- ■ ^B^^^^^^^^H^LxT si m^ • .-«!«». .-*^J m Hi HKsi ^2d( 'T.I..-J^^v?^:"i3g'^g' M ■ A CUBAN FAK!VI-HOUSE. ('riie home of the reconcentrados.) William McKinley saw that a crisis was at hand; he knew that war was inevitable ; but he knew, too, that to precipitate the country, unprepared for hos- tilities, into the unknown disturbances and possi- bilities of a foreign war, might be fraught with the gravest dangers to the republic. But the President WIIV CONC^.RESS GAVri Fim' MILLIONS 37 was by nature shrewd as well as sagacious, politic as well as jjatriotic, deliberate as well as deter- mined. l)ef()rc the loss of the Maine he had felt that actual hostilities niiirht be averted and that the calm methods ot diplomacy might secure the ends he had in view. Hut the destruction of the Maine chamied this. It shut all the avenues of action save one — and that one was war. Bui William McKinley had been a soldier him- self in the irrealest of all American contiict.^. lie knew what war meant ; he knew, too. what an unreadiness for war meant to a nation, which, at peace for thirty-three years, rushed into strife with- out forethought and marched to battle without preparation. Hotheaded and unreasoning men who developed a sudden and feverish patriotism united with news- papers as choleric and overheated, and charged the President with hesitancy and indecision, because he did not at once fill Cuba with soldiers he did not have and invade S})ani.^h territory with ships and sailors that must W rubbed into existence as .suddenly and miraculously as with Aladdin's lamp. War was inevitable, but delay was preparation. A vast seacoabt lay almost totally undefended 38 OUR WAR WITH SPAIN against the invasion of a foreign power; the regu- lar fighting force of the United States Army was far below the smallest limit, and the militia was by no means on a war footing. So, while saying in his message to Congress which, on the twenty-eighth day of March made public the finding of the Board of Inquiry, " I do not permit myself to doubt that the sense of justice of the Spanish nation will dictate a course of action suggested by honor and the friendly relations of the two governments," President McKinley himself determined to forestall that course of action by making ready for whatever might happen, remem- bering the words of Washington : " To be prepared for war is one of the most effectual means of pre- serving peace." It is well that the boys and girls of America who, later, must study and take to heart the events that made the year 1898 historic should consider the task which had fallen to William McKinley as the chief executive — the responsible head of the republic. He must not only ignore politics and keep the nation from being divided in opinion, but he must at the same time put on foot preparations for an unknown and possibly wide-reaching war demanding the services of hun- WHY CONGRESS GAVE FIFTY MILLIONS 39 drcds of thousands of fiohtins: men ; he must not only prevent EurojDcan interference and meddling, perhaps open hostility, but he must delay the aetual shock of war until the American Army and Navy, recruited from an unwarlike people, could be put into some sort of readiness and dis- cipline, and he must, above all, so hold and handle the Cono;ress that it should neither force an unwise recognition of the shadowy Cuban republic, a sud- den and unsupported declaration of war, nor a hopeless division of action by the lack of executive decision and will. All of these mighty "musts" the President of the United States did perform, and he performed them so calmly, so deliberately, so sagaciously, and yet so quietly but firmly, that the spectacle was presented to the world of an absolutely united and patriotic Congress, composed of varying and even antagonistic political elements, responding, without a word of objection, to the President's suggestion of his needs, and placing in his hands by the magnificent vote of 311 to o in the House of Representatives and also by a unanimous vote in the Senate the sum of fiftv millions of dollars "for the national defence and for each and every pur- pose connected therewith, to be expended at the dis- 40 OUR WAR WITH SPAIN cretion of the President." It was a superb recogni- tion of the republic's trust in the man within whose hands it had placed the direction of its affairs. The President was overjoyed at this mark of confidence, but he appreciated the fact that this act of providing for possibilities came none too soon. " Our coasts," he has since explained, " were practically undefended ; our navy needed large pro- vision for increased ammunition and supplies and even numbers to cope with any sudden attack from the navy of Spain, which comprised modern ves- sels of the highest type of continental perfection ; our army also required enlargement of men and munitions." We are too apt to think that Spain was a foe- man scarce worthy of our steel ; but this is neither just nor true. Spain had been a fighting nation for a thousand years ; she was on a continual " war footing," always ready for assaults, rebellions, or defence ; had she taken advantage of her possi- bilities, she might have made a sudden and disas- trous descent upon our defenceless coasts, for her navy, as the President declares, comprised some most formidable fighting ships, and she had in the islands of Cuba and Porto Rico nearly two hun- dred thousand armed and disciplined soldiers. WIIV CONGRESS fl.WF V]V\\ Ml 1,1, ION'S 41 Acfainst this force the United States liad a re<>u- lar arniv of less tliaii twenty-five thousand men, wliilc the militia of the several states thouoh con- siderable in numbers was ill-prepared for the actual state of war ; the navy, too, needed strengthening alike in ships and men, although the remarkable discipline of years of peace, thanks to a wise super- SPANISH TKOOPEKS. (As seen in the streets of Santiago.) intendence of naval affairs, had brouQ:ht its marines and blue-jackets to a surprising scale of precision and perfection. So, with fifty millions of dollars at his command, the President, as executive head of the government, and as commander-in-chief of its armv and navy, rested neither night nor day, in his preparation for 42 OUR WAR WITH SPAIN equipment and defence. But at the same time, he Hnked with preparation for war endeavors toward continued peace. To the foreign nations who urged him to a peaceful solution of the matter, President Mc- Kinley returned a courteous but non-committal answer, declaring to the envoys of the Powers that he shared their hope that peace might be pre- served, that the injurious and menacing condition of disturbance in Cuba might be terminated, but adding that, while appreciating " the humanitarian and disinterested character of the communication they had presented on behalf of the Powers," he was still confident that the United States with earnest and unselfish endeavor would fulfil the " duty to humanity by ending a situation the indefinite prolongation of which had become insuf- ferable." All of which was a polite, courteous, and what is called diplomatic way of requesting the Powers of Europe to mind their own business and allow us to take care of our own. That the condition of affairs in Cuba grew more and more "insufferable" the slow action of the ex- pected " reforms " by Spain amply proved. Madrid promised; but Havana did not perform. The so- called Parliament of Cuba established by Spain for WHY COxXGRESS GAVE FIFTY MILLIONS 43 a pretended self-L^overnnienl could neitlier govern nor stand alone. It was supported by the bayonets of Spain rather than by the will of the Cubans, and death and destruction still wasted the beautiful island. Then it was that the President of the United States determined no longer to resist the demands of the republic. On the eleventh of .April, 1898, he sent a message to Congress in which he re- viewed the whole sorry situation of the distressed and fettered island of Cuba and declared that the hour had arrived for America to act. He explained that the existing rebellion in Cuba was but one in a continuous series of insurrections against Spain which, for more than fifty years, had kept that fair land in disturbance and unrest ; which had threatened the security, comfort, com- merce, and self-control of the United States, while the barbarities of the present government, like those of its predecessors, had "shocked the sensi- bilities and offended the humane sympathies " of the American people. Neutrality, he declared, was ruinous to Cuba's prosperity and expensive to America; this loss and risk had, he said, "so sorely tried the temper and forbearance of our people as to beget a peril- 44 OUR WAR WITH SPAIN ous unrest " openly expressed by the people in their newspapers and through their chosen state and national representatives. His efforts toward friendly mediation and help, he declared, had been refused by Spain. The only result of the existing conflict between Spaniard THE HOME OF A SUGAR PLANTER. (On one of the plantations near Santiago.) and Cuban must, he felt certain, be subjugation or extermination stretched through a long period of years — "a contingency hardly to be contemplated with equanimity by the civilized world," he de- clared, "and least of all by the United States, affected and injured, deeply and intimately, by its very existence." If Spain would not give way either to Cuban WHY CONGRESS GAVE FIFTV MILLIONS 45 revolution or to AuKTican mediation ; if it were iin\\i>c to recognize the belligerent right> or inde- pendence of Cuba as a free republic. — as, under the circumstances, did appear most unwise; if. as the destruction of the Maine in Havana harbor proved, there was neither safety nor security for an American warshij), rightfully sent to Cuban waters on a mission of peace; if, finally, there was no wav but one to determine or soke this unbeara- ble problem at our doors, — then, declared Presi- dent INIcKinley, that one wav must be taken. What that one wav w^as all men knew, — armed intervention ; notice to Spain to quit. " The Ions: trial." wrote the President to Con- gress, " has proved that the object for which Spain has w-aoed war cannot be attained. The fire of insurrection may flame or may smoulder with \arvinir seasons, but it has not been and it is plain that it cannot be extinguished by present methods. The only hope of relief and repose from a condition which can no longer be endured is the enforced pacification of Cuba. In the name of humanity, in the name of civilization, in behalf of endangered American interests which give us the right and the duty to speak and to act, the war in Cuba must stop." 46 OUR WAR WITH SPAIN These strong and commanding words, deliber- ately determined upon and calmly proclaimed, found an echo in every true American heart, though the hot-headed still declared that the Presi- dent had not gone far enough, and the peace-at- any-price people declared he had gone too far. But that " sturdy good sense of the American people," upon which President McKinley always relied, and which can ever be depended upon for decision, justice, and action, again asserted itself, and upheld the President in his firm and final stand. On the thirteenth of April, Senator Davis of the Committee on Foreign Affairs introduced a report upon the condition of affairs in Cuba and the responsibility of Spain, w^iich closed with a reso- lution declaring that " the people of Cuba are and of right ought to be free and independent ; " that it was the duty of the United States to demand, "and the government of the United States does hereby demand," that Spain relinquish its authority over Cuba and withdraw its forces from the island, and 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 the actual service of the United wiiv coxGRFSs r.Avr: fifty mh.ftons 47 States tlic niilitia of the several States to such an extent as may be necessary to carry tliese resolu- tions into effect.'' For a week this resolution was debated in Con- gress by those who wished to uj)hold and those who wished to forge far ahead of the President. I'^inally it was jiassed unanimously by both houses with this significant announcement: "Resolved, that the United States hci-cl)\' disclaims any dis- position or intention to exercise sovereignty, juris- diction, 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." At noon, on the twentieth of April, President McKinley, in the presence of his Cabinet, signed this joint resolution, and the United States of America was committed to its policy of armed interference in the affairs of Spain and Cuba. Events followed rapidly. The new Spanish nn'nis- terat Washington, ui)on being officially informed of what Congress and the President had decided, at once withdrew from Washington ; the Queen Re- gent of Spain, in presence of the Cortes or Parlia- ment of Spain, called upon " the sons of Spain " to repel this "outrage" by America; the United 48 OUR WAR WITH SPAIN States minister at Madrid withdrew from Spain ; and this " breaking of diplomatic relations," as it is called, was considered an act of war alike by America and the civilized world; so that war between the United States and Spain is definitely decided to have been actually declared on the twenty-first of April, 1898, when Spain, having refused to accede to the demands of the United States and relinquish its authority in Cuba, withdrew her representative from Washington, dismissed the United States minister from Madrid, and declared her intention to resist and punish the interference of America. At once, word that war had been virtually de- clared was telegraphed from Washington to the admiral commanding the United States naval fleet at Key West, and on the twenty-third of April President McKinley issued a proclamation calling for one hundred and twenty-five thousand volun- teers to enlist in the war against Spain. CHAPTER III now TIIK WAR REGAN WAR is a terrible necessity. Some eminent and noble nien have denied tliat it is a necessity and boldly maintained that " there is no such thinij: as an honorable war or a dishonor- able peace." The world s successful fighters have detested it. " \\ ar is the trade of barbarians," ex- claimed Napoleon, the conqueror of Europe. Washington abhorred it; Lincoln fought against it ; and drant, America's greatest soldier, hated and despised it. " Let us ha\e peace " was the great general's most famous declaration ; but war as a means of peace was his acceptance of the necessity of war. In this light the war with Spain was a necessity. It became the one and only way of securing the pacification of Cuba, and the ending of those gen- erations of horror and injustice which, for four hundred years, had marked Spain's government in America. E 49 50 OUR WAR WITH SPAIN " Occasional war and, therefore, constant pre- paredness for war," says President Eliot of Har- vard, " are still necessary to national security, just as police and courts and prisons are still indispen- sable to social order and individual freedom in the most civilized and peaceful states." So the repub- lic of the United States declared itself the police- man of America, and set out to arrest and punish the chief disturber of the peace and security of America — Spain in Cuba. To accomplish this it had an army and navy of unknown possibilities and uncertain strength. Its regular army numbered, as I have told you, some- what less than twenty-five thousand men ; its vol- unteer militia or national guard, organized by the forty-five states of the Union, amounted to about one hundred and fifteen thousand men, some of them better equipped for war than at any other national crisis, and yet none of them really pre- pared for actual war. The navy of the United States, remodelled and strengthened during thirty years of peace, had powerful fighting ships and well- drilled seamen, and comprised a fleet of thirty war- ships large and small, and fifteen thousand marines and sailors. There was also in certain of the states a sort of sea-militia, known as the Naval HOW THE WAR REGAN 51 NEAR MATANZAS. (A volante, or Cuban carriage, the principal vehicle of Matanzas.) Reserve, of whose ability little was known thouirh nuich was hoped. This Naval Reserve amounted to less than four thousand men. But behind regulars, jackies, militia-men, and naval reserves there were fully six millions of Amer- ican citizens of fiorhtin