Spanish-American War
In the late 1890s, the US was just beginning to establish themselves as a world power. In April of 1898 the congress had begun to demand for Cuban independence from Spain. The Americans had begun to become upset with Spain after the Battleship Maine was sunk in the Havana Harbor on February 15, 1898. Although unclear whether or not the Spaniards actually sunk the ship, the yellow journalists of the time used propaganda to make it look as if the Spanish sunk the ship, and caused the general American public to want a war. The Spaniards had murdered and tortured thousands of Cubans in order to maintain power and control on the island. On April 11, President William McKinley asked Congress if they could use force to intervene in Cuba with their desire for independence and Spain's reluctance in the issue.1 On April 19, Congress declared Cuba free and independent, and insisted on Spain's removing of their forces from Cuba. Two days later, Spain ended all diplomatic relations with the United States, which resulted in Congress declaring a state of war four days following that event on April 25. The Spanish-American War had started, which would cause the United States to emerge as a world power.
The Spanish officer in charge in the Santiago province was Lieutenant General Arsenio Linares who had 36,000 troops at his disposal in his area but perhaps made a poor decision in withdrawing his troops from Daiquiri, in anticipation of a major battle defense around Santiago. This allowed the Americans to land around 20,000 men in Cuba without a shot being fired to drive them away. The only loss was five horses that drowned. The Americans set up a base at Siboney, and the first land battle of the short war was fought at Las Guasimas where 2,000 Spanish soldiers had been stationed to delay the Americans. The battle was lead by Brigadier General Joseph Wheeler for the Americans, a confederate army veteran, who led the Yanks to a somewhat victory, in which the Americans had more casualties, but the Spanish were the ones who retreated, allowing the Americans to now hold Siboney as their base and Las Guasimas as a good setup position on the road to Santiago. Following the acquisition of San Juan Hill on July 1, the Americans went on to struggle a little before winning the war. Due to the loss of over 1,000 troops who were injured in the battle of San Juan, the Americans were left with a rather thin line of troops. The Navy then got involved, which was another major event in the war. The Spanish Armada tried to escape from the Bay, even with the American Navy waiting. On July 3, 1898, the American Navy destroyed the rest of the Spanish fleet in the Cuban area, which allowed for an easy takeover of Santiago. Once the Spanish fleet was destroyed, the American Navy directed their attention to the city of Santiago, and began to bombard them. With this bombardment, the American army started to bomb Santiago as well with their artillery. The bombardment started on July 10, and by July 17 the Spanish garrison at Santiago had surrendered to the Americans.11 This surrender ended the Cuban campaign, and began the Spanish plea for peace. Even though the Americans destroyed the Spanish fleet in the Pacific Ocean, they had a much stronger Navy in the Atlantic, with the majority located in the Cape Verde Islands. This fleet set sail for Cuba once the Americans set up their blockade, and the Spanish wanted to break up this blockade by sending Admiral Cervera with an armada of four cruisers and three torpedo boats. Rear Admiral William Sampson was the American Naval Blockade commander with three battleships, two cruisers, and many smaller ships. A fourth battleship would arrive later on in the war.6 At El Caney, the Spaniards put up and incredibly strong fight, led by Spanish General Joaquin del Rey, firing against the Americans with more advanced rifles, and causing the Americans to take much longer to capture the little town, which stalled the assault on San Juan Hill. The town of El Caney was not captured until late in the day, when the blockhouse was finally captured, and later on General del Rey was shot down.9 The town's capture now allowed the Americans to began the assault on San Juan. There was an open plain which led to San Juan Hill, which was guarded well by the Spanish, and there was little effort to storm the fort until Lieutenant John Parker led a batter of three Gatling machine guns which slowly began to drive the Spaniards off their spots in the trenches of San Juan Hill. Eventually the Americans climbed the cliff, and were it not for the Spaniards misfiring there may have been many American casualties, but nevertheless the Americans reached the top and the Spaniards fled. The United States army now controlled all of San Juan Hill, which signified an open road to Santiago. The army
Some common words found in the essay are:
American Navy, Juan Hill, San Juan, Bay3 Spanish, Cuba Americans, Arsenio Linares, McKinley Congress, Washington DC, Navy Atlantic, Harbor February, san juan, juan hill, san juan hill, american navy, el caney, spanish fleet, rough riders, battle san, battle san juan, capture san juan, john parker, puerto rico, cuba americans, san juan heights, caney san juan,
Approximate Word count = 2454
Approximate Pages = 10 (250 words per page double spaced)
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