Our War With Spain For Cuba\'s Freedom

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PICTORIAL HISTORY OF OUR WAR WITH SPAIN

A THRILLING ACCOUNT OF THE LAND AND NAVAL OPERATIONS OF AMERICAN
SOLDIERS AND SAILORS IN OUR WAR WITH SPAIN, AND THE HEROIC
STRUGGLES OF CUBAN PATRIOTS AGAINST SPANISH TYRANNY.

INCLUDING A DESCRIPTION AND HISTORY OF CUBA, SPAIN, PHILIPPINE
ISLANDS, OUR ARMY AND NAVY, FIGHTING STRENGTH, COAST DEFENSES, AND
OUR RELATIONS WITH OTHER NATIONS, ETC., ETC.

BY TRUMBULL WHITE,

THE WELL KNOWN AND POPULAR AUTHOR, HISTORIAN AND WAR
CORRESPONDENT.

ELABORATELY ILLUSTRATED WITH PHOTOGRAPHS AND DRAWINGS OF BATTLES,
ON SEA AND LAND, WAR SHIPS, ETC., FROM LIFE.

FREEDOM PUBLISHING CO.

Dedicated To Our American Volunteers

PREFACE.

Information concerning the island of Cuba has been of an
exceedingly unsatisfactory character until the search-light of
American inquiry was thrown upon it from the beginning of the war
for Cuban liberty early in 1895. Although our next-door neighbor
to the south, with a perfect winter climate and a host of
interesting and picturesque attractions for travelers, tourists
had been comparatively few, measured by the numbers that might
have been expected. All of the reasons for this were those which
naturally followed the characteristic Spanish rule of the island.
Publicity was not welcomed, inquiry was not welcomed, travelers
were not welcomed. The cities and the accommodations they offered
were in many ways far behind those of like age and size in the
other countries of the globe. Railway construction and the making
of highways had lagged disgracefully, because the exorbitant taxes
collected were looted by the officers of the government as their
own spoils. No other country so near to the highways of ocean
commerce and so accessible from the United States was so little
known.

A few travelers had journeyed to Cuba and had written books
descriptive of their experiences, which were read with interest by
those who had access to them. But these books were usually simply
descriptive of the people, the manner of life, the scenery, and
the things of surface interest. It is proverbial that Spanish rule
conceals the resources of a country instead of exploiting them.
The person of inquiring mind had no way in Cuba to obtain prompt
information concerning the material facts of the island's wealth
of resource, because the Spanish authorities themselves knew
nothing about it. Spanish statistics are notoriously unreliable
and incomplete. No census of Cuba worthy the name ever has been
taken, and there are few schools and few sources of accurate
information. With all this handicap it was a foregone conclusion
that the casual traveler should confine himself to the things that
were visible and that were near to the usual paths of travelers.
So until the beginning of the Cuban war for liberty no books could
be obtained which told the things which one really cares to know.
Picturesque descriptions there were, more than one, of
considerable interest, but the information was scattered.

Demand always creates supply, even if material is scant. When the
war began, the people of the United States wanted to know
something of the people who were striving for their freedom, of
their characteristics, their conditions and their personality.
Moreover, it was an immediate necessity to know the geography of
Cuba, its history, its natural conditions, its material resources,
and a host of things that unite to make a comprehensive knowledge
of any country. There were men who knew Cuba from years of
residence there in industrial and commercial enterprises. They
were drawn upon for their knowledge. Then the newspapers of the
United States gave another demonstration of their unvarying
enterprise and covered the points of interest in the insurrection
most exhaustively. Their correspondents shared the camps of
insurgent chiefs, witnessed the daring machete charges of the
Cubans, saw every detail of armed life in the field. Others kept
close watch of the movements of the Spanish forces in Havana and
the fortified towns, as well as in the field. One was shot in
action. Another was macheted to death after his capture, by a
Spanish officer who waited only to be sure that the prisoner was
an American before ordering him to death. Others were incarcerated
in Morro and Cabanas fortresses and in the other Spanish prisons
in Cuba because they insisted on telling the truth to America and
the world. They were the ones who told of the horrors of
reconcentration under that infamous order of Captain General
Weyler. They have been the real historians of Cuba.

It is to all of these sources and others that the information
contained in the present volume is owed. The writer takes pleasure
in acknowledging the courteous permission to use salient facts
contained in some volumes of merit published prior to this time.
But more than all the obligation is to the newspaper
correspondents who worked with him in Cuba in the days when the
war was but an insurrection and afterward when the insurrection
became our own war against Spain for the liberty of Cuba. They are
the ones who have gathered the most exhaustive information on the
whole subject of Cuban affairs. They have been able by virtue of
their intimate knowledge of Cuba and the Cubans to be of
invaluable assistance to the commanders of army and navy alike,
not only in advice as to the forming of plans, but in executing
them. One who has seen the things knows that to exaggerate the
horrors of Spanish cruelty and the oppression of Spanish rule in
Cuba is an impossibility. No newspaper could have printed the
plain truth of a score of shocking affairs, simply because the
public prints are no place for the exploiting of such tales of
vicious crime against humanity as have been perpetrated. The most
sensational tales have never reached the limits of the truth.

It is hoped that the reader will find in this volume not only a
comprehensive current history of our war with Spain for Cuba's
freedom, but also much of the other matter that will be of
interest and value in considering the future of the liberated
island. Its history, its people, its resources and other salient
subjects are included, with certain matter on Spain and her own
affairs, with Puerto Rico and the Philippine islands, which
chapters serve to make the volume a work for general reference and
reading on the whole subject of the war.

TABLE OF CONTENTS.

I. A War for Liberty and Humanity
II. How Columbus Found the "Pearl of the Antilles"
III. Spain's Black Historical Record
IV. Buccaneering in the Spanish Main
V. Commercial Development of Cuba
VI. Beauties of a Tropical Island
VII. Wealth from Nature's Store in the Forest and Fields of Cuba
VIII. The Cubans and How They Live
IX. Havana, the Island Metropolis
X. The Cities of Cuba
XI. Mutterings of Insurrection
XII. Outbreak of the Ten Years' War
XIII. Massacre of the Virginius Officers and Crew
XIV. Operations of the Ten Years' War
XV. The Peace of Zanjon and Its Violated Pledges
XVI. Preparations for Another Rebellion
XVII. The Cuban Junta and Its Work
XVIII. Key West and the Cubans
XIX. Another Stroke for Freedom
XX. Jose Marti and Other Cuban Heroes
XXI. Desperate Battles with Machete and Rifle
XXII. Filibusters from Florida
XXIII. Weyler the Butcher
XXIV. Cuba Under the Scourge
XXV. Fitzhugh Lee to the Front
XXVI. Americans in Spanish Dungeons
XXVII. Maceo Dead by Treachery
XXVIII. Weyler's Reconcentration Policy and Its Horrors
XXIX. American Indignation Growing
XXX. Outrages on Americans in Cuba
XXXI. McKinley Succeeds Cleveland
XXXII. The Case of Evangelina Cisneros
XXXIII. Work of Clara Barton and the Red Cross
XXXIV. The Catastrophe to the Maine
XXXV. Patience at the Vanishing Point
XXXVI. Events in the American Congress
XXXVII. President McKinley Acts
XXXVIII. Strength of the Opposing Squadron and Armies
XXXIX. Battleships and Troops Begin to Move
XL. Diplomatic Relations Terminate
XLI. First Guns and First Prizes of the War
XLII. Declaration of War
XLIII. Call for the National Guard, Our Citizen Soldiery
XLIV. Blockade of Cuban Ports
XLV. Spanish Dissensions at Home
XLVI. The Philippines, Puerto Rico, and Other Colonies of Spain
XLVII. Progress of Hostilities
XLVIII. Sea Fight off Manila, Americans Victorious
XLIX. Hawaii, and Our Annexation Policy
L. Continued Success for American Soldiers and Sailors
LI. The Invasion of Puerto Rico
LII. The Surrender of Manila
LIII. Victorious Close of the War
LIV. Personal Reminiscences

INTRODUCTION.

When, on the 22d day of April, 1898, Michael Mallia, gun-captain
of the United States cruiser Nashville, sent a shell across the
bows of the Spanish ship Buena Ventura, he gave the signal shot
that ushered in a war for liberty for the slaves of Spain.

The world has never seen a contest like it. Nations have fought
for territory and for gold, but they have not fought for the
happiness of others. Nations have resisted the encroachments of
barbarism, but until the nineteenth century they have not fought
to uproot barbarism and cast it out of its established place.
Nations have fought to preserve the integrity of their own empire,
but they have not fought a foreign foe to set others free. Men
have gone on crusades to fight for holy tombs and symbols, but
armies have not been put in motion to overthrow vicious political
systems and regenerate iniquitous governments for other peoples.

For more than four centuries Spain has held the island of Cuba as
her chattel, and there she has revelled in corruption, and
wantoned in luxury wrung from slaves with the cruel hand of
unchecked power. She has been the unjust and merciless court of
last resort. From her malignant verdict there has been no possible
appeal, no power to which her victims could turn for help.

But the end has come at last. The woe, the grief, the humiliation,
the agony, the despair that Spain has heaped upon the helpless,
and multiplied in the world until the world is sickened with it,
will be piled in one avalanche on her own head.

Liberty has grown slowly. Civilization has been on the defensive.
Now liberty fights for liberty, and civilization takes the
aggressive in the holiest war the world has even known.

Never was there a war before in which so many stimulating deeds of
bravery were done in such a short time, and this in spite of the
fact that the public has been restless for more action. It is
almost worth a war to have inscribed such a deed of cool,
intelligent heroism as that of Hobson and his men with the
Merrimac, in the entrance to the harbor of Santiago de Cuba. That
is an event in world history, one never to be forgotten, and in
the countries of Europe quite as generously recognized as by our
own people. There is a word to say for the Spanish admiral. In his
chivalry after that act of heroism, Cervera proved himself a
worthy adversary, who could realize and admire bravery in a foe,
even when it had been directed against himself with such signal
success. Not every commander would be great enough in that
circumstance to send a flag of truce to the opposing admiral, in
order to inform him that his brave men were safe and that they
were honored as brave men by their captors.

Of another sort was the bravery of Dewey at Manila, more notable
in its results but in no other way surpassing that of Hobson and
his men. Dewey went forward in spite of unknown dangers of
torpedoes, to engage an enemy in the place it had selected as most
favorable for Spanish arms, an enemy with more ships, more men,
more guns than had the American. A day later the nation was at the
feet of Dewey and the United States had taken a position among the
powers of the world never before admitted by them. In larger
degree than ever before, from that moment the United States became
a factor in the international history of the world. At this
writing one cannot tell what will be the end of the relations of
the United States to the Philippines and the Orient, but the
solution cannot fail to be of profit to this nation. This was a
holy war for the liberty of Cuba, but like many another good deed
it is bringing its additional rewards. Cuba, Puerto Rico, the
Philippines and the Caroline islands are to be liberated, four
colonies of Spain instead of one, and the direct and indirect
profit, looked at from a purely commercial basis, will be far more
than enough to compensate the United States for the cost of the
war. The annexation of the Hawaiian islands as a war measure must
be credited to the same cause, for the success of that effort
under any other circumstances was problematical.

Yet another sort of bravery was that in the harbor of Cardenas
when the little torpedo boat Winslow lay a helpless hulk under the
rain of fire from the shore batteries, without rudder or engine to
serve, and the Hudson, a mere tugboat with a few little guns on
deck, stood by for forty minutes to pass a hawser and tow the
disabled vessel out of range. Both were riddled, the Winslow had
half her total complement of men killed and wounded by a single
shell, but there was no faltering, and they all worked away as
coolly as if nothing were happening.

If one started to catalogue the instances of personal bravery that
the war brought out in its first few months, the list would be a
cumbersome one. It is enough here to say that there have been a
hundred times when personal courage was needed to be shown, and
never a moment's hesitancy on the part of any man to whom the call
came. Furthermore, in every case in which a particularly hazardous
undertaking was contemplated, and volunteers were called for, the
number offering has been in every instance far more than was
needed. This was eminently notable on the occasion of Hobson's
sinking of the Merrimac, when more than a thousand in the fleet
volunteered for a service requiring but six, and from which it
seemed impossible that any could come out alive.

The public must know all about the war, and the only avenue of
information is the press. Never before has any war been covered as
to its news features with the accuracy and energy which have
characterized this. American journalism has outstripped the world.
The expense of a news service for this war is something enormous,
with little return compensation. Yet the work is done,
metropolitan papers have from ten to twenty correspondents in the
field, and the public has the benefit. Dispatch boats follow the
fleets and are present at every battle. They must be near enough
to see, which means that they are in as much danger at times as
are the ships of the fighting squadron, far more if one remembers
that the former are in no way protected. Some of them are heavy
sea-going tugs and others are yachts. The expense of charter,
insurance and running cost amounts to from $200 to $400 a day
each, and yet some metropolitan newspapers have fleets of these
boats to the number of six.

All the foregoing facts are related in detail in the volume which
these paragraphs introduce. The only object in reiterating them
here is that they are entitled to emphasis for their prominence,
and it is desired to call special attention to them and their
accompanying matter when the book itself shall be read. The number
of those who believe we are engaged in a righteous war is
overwhelming. The records of the brave deeds of our men afloat and
ashore will inspire Americans to be better citizens as long as
time shall last. The country has proven its faith in the cause by
giving to the needs of war hundreds of thousands of young men to
fight for the liberty of others. From every corner of the land
regiments of volunteer soldiers have sprung in an instant at the
call of the President, while as many more are waiting for another
call to include those for whom there was not room the first time.
The country which can show such an inspiring movement has little
to fear in the race of progress among the nations of the world.

OUR WAR WITH SPAIN.

CHAPTER I.

A WAR FOR LIBERTY AND HUMANITY.

Again at War with a Foreign Power--Spain's Significant Flag--
Three Years Without an American Flag in Cuban Waters--Visit of the
Maine to Havana Harbor--The Maine Blown Up by Submerged Mine--
Action of President and Congress--Spain Defies America--Martial
Spirit Spreading--First Guns Are Fired--Cuban Ports Blockaded--
Many Spanish Ships Captured--Excitement in Havana--Spain and the
United States Both Declare War--Internal Dissension Threatens
Spain--President McKinley Calls a Volunteer Army.

Civilization against barbarism, freedom against oppression,
education against ignorance, progress against retrogression, the
West against the East, the United States against Spain. In this
cause the flag of freedom was again unfurled in the face of a
foreign foe, and our nation entered war against the people of
another land, carrying the star spangled banner through successive
victories in the name of liberty and humanity.

It is a proud banner, which stands the whole world over for
freedom and right, with few stains of defeat or injustice upon its
folds. The great heart of the nation swelled with pride at the
righteousness of the cause, with an assurance that eternal history
would praise America for the unselfish work. On land and sea the
boys in blue gave new fame to the flag, and their proud record in
the past was more than justified by the honors that they won.

Two wars with Great Britain and one with Mexico were the more
notable predecessors of this conflict with Spain. If to these
should be added the hostilities between the United States and the
Barbary pirates of Algiers, Morocco and Tripoli, and the scattered
brushes with two or three Oriental and South American countries,
the list might be extended. But those affairs are not remembered
as wars in the true sense of the word.

Except for protection against Indian outbreaks, the United States
had been at peace for thirty years, when the war cloud began to
loom in the horizon. It was with a full realization of the
blessings of peace that the American people yielded to the
demands, of humanity and righteous justice, to take up arms again
in the cause of liberty. There was no haste, no lack of caution,
no excited plunge into hostilities without proper grounds. The
nation made sure that it was right. An intolerable condition of
affairs resulting from years of agony in a neighbor island, with
half a dozen immediate reasons, any one sufficient, was the
absolute justification for this holy war.

Spain is the Turk of the West. Spain is an obsolete nation. Living
in the past, and lacking cause for pride to-day, she gloats over
her glorious explorations and her intellectual prowess of the
middle ages when much of Europe was in darkness. Then Spain's flag
led pioneers throughout the world. But her pride was based on
achievements, many of which, to the people of any other nation,
would have been the disgrace of its history. No indictment of
Spain can ever be more severe, more scathing, if its true
significance be considered, than the famous phrase which one of
her proudest poets created to characterize her flag of red and
yellow.

"Sangre y oro," he said, "blood and gold--a stream of gold between
two rivers of blood."

It is almost a sufficient characterization to indicate the whole
national spirit of Spain, to recall that this phrase is the proud
expression used by the Spanish people to glorify their own flag.
That sentiment is in no stronger contrast to the American phrase,
"the star-spangled banner," than are the people of Spain to the
people of the United States.

"REMEMBER THE MAINE."

From the day of the outbreak of the Cuban revolution, early in
1895, until nearly the end of January, 1898, there had been no
flag of the United States seen in any harbor of Cuba except upon
merchant vessels. Always before, it had been the policy of our
government to have ships of war make friendly calls in the harbors
of all countries of the world at frequent intervals, and Cuban
waters had shared these courtesies.

So careful were the officers of the Cleveland administration to
avoid the appearance of offense or threat against the authority of
Spain, with which we were living in amity, that immediately upon
the outbreak of hostilities in Cuba this practice was suspended,
so far as it applied to that island. Our ships cruised through the
oceans of the world and called at all ports where they were not
needed, but the waters of Havana harbor for three years were never
disturbed by an American keel.

Out of deference to the expressed wishes of the local Spanish
authorities in Havana, Dr. Burgess, the splendid surgeon of the
United States Marine Hospital service in Havana, who for thirty
years has guarded our southern ports from the epidemics of yellow
fever and smallpox, which would invade us annually as a result of
Spanish misgovernment in Cuba, except for his watchfulness, ceased
flying the American flag on his steam launch, by means of which he
carried out his official duties in those foul waters. The American
flag was a disturbing influence upon the minds of the Cubans who
might see it flashing in the clear sunlight of the tropic sky,
suggested the Captain General.

It must have been the language of diplomacy that was in mind, when
the satirist explained that "language was intended as a medium for
concealing thought." President McKinley, in his message to
Congress transmitting the report of the naval board concerning the
catastrophe to the Maine, explained that for some time prior to
the visit of the battle-ship to Havana harbor, it had been
considered a proper change in the policy, in order to accustom the
people to the presence of our flag as a symbol of good will. The
decision to send the vessel to that harbor was reached, it was
explained, after conference with the Spanish minister, and,
through our diplomats, with the Spanish authorities at Madrid and
Havana. It was declared that this intention was received by the
Spanish government with high appreciation of the courtesy
intended, which it was offered to return by sending Spanish ships
to the principal ports of the United States.

We are bound to accept this expression from the officials on both
sides as frankly indicative of their feelings. But it is just as
necessary to recognize that to the mass of the people in both
countries, the significance of the Maine's courtesy call was very
different. Americans believed that it indicated a changed policy
on the part of the national government at Washington which would
be more strenuous and more prompt in resenting outrages against
the life and property of American citizens in Cuba. The people of
the Cuban republic believed that the change meant an expression of
sympathy and friendship for their cause, with probable
interference in their behalf, and took courage from that sign.
Finally, the people of Spain resented the appearance of the Maine
in the harbor of Havana as an affront, and a direct threat against
them and in favor of the insurgents. If the policy of making
frequent calls in warships had never been interrupted, they would
not have had this sentiment in the matter, but the resumption of
the practice after three years' cessation, carried a threat with
it in their minds.

TREACHEROUS DESTRUCTION OF THE MAINE.

The Maine entered the harbor of Havana at sunrise on the 25th of
January and was anchored at a place indicated by the harbor-
master. Her arrival was marked with no special incident, except
the exchange of customary salutes and ceremonial visits. Three
weeks from that night, at forty minutes past nine o'clock in the
evening of the 15th of February, the Maine was destroyed by an
explosion, by which the entire forward part of the ship was
wrecked. In this frightful catastrophe 264 of her crew and two
officers perished, those who were not killed outright by the
explosion being penned between decks by the tangle of wreckage and
drowned by the immediate sinking of her hull.

In spite of the fact that the American public was urged to suspend
judgment as to the causes of this disaster, and that the Spanish
authorities in Havana and in Madrid expressed grief and sympathy,
it, was impossible to subdue a general belief that in some way
Spanish treachery was responsible for the calamity. With the
history of Spanish cruelty in Cuba before them, and the memory of
Spanish barbarities through all their existence as a nation, the
people could mot disabuse their minds of this suspicion.

One month later this popular judgment was verified by the finding
of the naval court of inquiry which had made an exhaustive
examination of the wreck, and had taken testimony from every
available source. With this confirmation and the aroused sentiment
of the country concerning conditions in Cuba, the logic of events
was irresistibly drawing the country toward war with Spain, and
all efforts of diplomacy and expressions of polite regard
exchanged between the governments of the two nations were unable
to avert it.