338 



McKIXLEY, WILLIAM. 



for Cienfuegos. On the same day the Navy De- 

 partment was informed of Cervera's presence at 

 Santiago, and this information was transmitted 

 to Commodore Schley at Cienfuegos through Ad- 

 miral Sampson. Commodore Schley then pro- 

 ceeded to Santiago. Sampson joined Schley on 

 June 1, and assumed command of the entire fleet. 

 On June 10 GOO marines were landed near the har- 

 bor of Guantanamo. where they successfully re- 

 pelled repeated attacks by the Spaniards. On 

 June 14 Gen. Shatter, with 10,000 men, embarked 

 for Cuba, under escort of 11 war-ships. The 

 troops arrived off Guantanamo Bay on the 20th, 

 and began landing- on the 22d at Daiquiri, 17 miles 

 east of Santiago, the entire army being debarked 

 by the 23d with only 2 casualties. The forward 

 movement was begun at once; after a sharp 

 action near La Quasima on the 24th, in which the 

 Americans under Gen. Wheeler lost 16 killed and 

 52 wounded, on July 1 the heights of El Caney 

 and San Juan near Santiago were stormed. 

 In the two days' righting at this point the loss of 

 the United States troops was 230 killed, 1,284 

 wounded, and 79 missing. On the morning of 

 July 3 Cervera, after peremptory orders from Gen. 

 Blanco, took his fleet to sea from its sheltered 

 position in the harbor. The blockading vessels 

 closed in upon the Spanish ships immediately 

 upon their appearance, following them closely as 

 they turned in flight to the west, and by evening 

 had sunk or disabled every one of them, losing 

 but 1 man killed and 10 wounded, while the 

 enemy lost about 350 killed and 1,670 prisoners. 



After a demand for unconditional surrender of 

 Santiago, which was refused, and a truce of sev- 

 eral days, on the 10th and llth firing was re- 

 sumed from the trenches and the ships, and by 

 evening of the latter day all the Spanish artillery 

 had been silenced. Terms were settled on the 17th, 

 when the United States troops took possession of 

 the city. On the 21st Gen. Miles sailed with an ex- 

 pedition to Porto Rico, where he landed on the 

 25th. His progress through the island met with 

 little resistance, the inhabitants turning out to 

 welcome the invading troops as deliverers. In less 

 than three weeks the forces of the United States 

 rendered untenable every Spanish position outside 

 of San Juan; the Spaniards were defeated in six 

 engagements, with a loss to the invaders of only 

 3 killed and 40 wounded, about one-tenth of the 

 Spanish loss. 



On July 26 Jules Cambon, the French ambassa- 

 dor at Washington, was requested to inquire if 

 peace negotiations might be opened. President 

 McKinley replied on the 30th, stating the prelimi- 

 nary conditions that the United States would in- 

 sist upon as a basis of negotiations. A protocol 

 of agreement was signed on Aug. 12 by Secretary 

 Day and Ambassador Cambon, in which the stipu- 

 lations were embodied in six articles, fixing, be- 

 sides, a term of evacuation for the West Indian 

 islands, and naming Oct. 1 following as the date 

 of meeting of commissioners to settle the terms of 

 peace. 



It now became necessary to withdraw as many 

 of the United States troops as possible from the 

 unhealthful situation in Cuba. A camp was has- 

 tily provided near Montauk Point, Long Island, 

 and hither the troops were hurried from Cuba. 

 Suffering could not be avoided, of course, and 

 there was a cry that the troops were not receiving 

 the careful attention they deserved. President 

 McKinley made a personal visit to Montauk in 

 August to satisfy himself as to the actual state 

 of affairs. In September he appointed a com- 

 mission to investigate the charges of criminal neg- 

 lect of the soldiers in camp, field, hospital, and 



transport, and to examine the administration of 

 the War Department in all its branches. The com- 

 mission met first on Sept. 27. Gen. Miles, in his 

 testimony, described the beef furnished to the 

 troops as " embalmed," and in reply on Jan. 12, 

 1899, Commissary-Gen. Eagan denied the charge, 

 and made such a bitter personal attack upon Gen. 

 Miles that the President ordered his trial by 

 court-martial, w r ith the result that he was found 

 guilty of conduct unbecoming an officer and a 

 gentleman, and sentenced to dismissal from the 

 army. This was commuted by the President to 

 suspension for six years. The commission made 

 its report on Feb. 8, and on Feb. 9 a court of 

 inquiry was appointed by the President to investi- 

 gate the charges of Gen. Miles in relation to the 

 beef supply. The court found that his allega- 

 tions were not sustained. 



On Aug. 26 President McKinley appointed Wil- 

 liam R. Day, Cushman K. Davis, William P. 

 Frye, Whitelaw Reid, and George Gray as peace 

 commissioners. John Bassett Moore was ap- 

 pointed secretary and counsel. The commission- 

 ers met the Spanish commissioners in Paris on 

 Oct. 1. Negotiations continued until Dec. 10,. 

 when the treaty was signed. It provided for the 

 relinquishment by Spain of all claims of sover- 

 eignty over and title to Cuba; the cession of all 

 other Spanish West India islands, and of Guam 

 in the Ladrone group; the cession of the Philip- 

 pines to the United States, and the payment to 

 Spain by the United States of $20,000,000 within 

 three months after the exchange of ratifications of 

 the treaty ; Spanish soldiers were to be repatriated 

 at the expense of the United States. Other details 

 settling property rights were also included. On 

 Jan. 4, 1899, the President transmitted the treaty 

 to the Senate, where it was referred to the Com- 

 mittee on Foreign Relations. In his annual mes- 

 sage, Dec. 5, the President had contented him- 

 self largely with a simple narrative .of events that 

 led up to the war, suggesting his own theory as to 

 its causes, and deferring all discussion of the fu- 

 ture government of the new territories until after 

 the ratification of the treaty of peace. He recom- 

 mended also careful consideration of the provi- 

 sions suggested by Secretary Alger and Mr. Hull, 

 chairman of the House Committee on Military 

 Affairs, for enlargement of the regular army. The 

 President had an opportunity to impress his views 

 upon the country less formally, but none the less 

 effectively, in his speeches and addresses on his 

 trip to the Omaha Exposition in October and his 

 visit to the Atlanta Peace Jubilee in December, 

 1898. There was much opposition to the treaty in 

 the Senate, but finally it was ratified. 



The question of peace with Spain was now set- 

 tled, but an outbreak in the Philippines opened a 

 new problem. The President had appointed, in 

 January, 1899, a commission of five, consisting 

 of Admiral George Dewey, Gen. Elwell S. Otis, 

 President J. G. Schurman, of Cornell, Prof. Dean 

 C. Worcester, of the University of Michigan, and. 

 Col. Charles Denby, for many years United States 

 minister to China, to study the general situation 

 in the Philippines and to act in an advisory ca- 

 pacity. But when hostilities broke out, there w r as 

 left to him but one thing to do : the insurrection 

 must be put down. For this reason he gave Gen. 

 Otis, in his policy of vigorous action, all the sup- 

 port possible. 



Another difficulty arose in the condition of af- 

 fairs in the Samoan Islands. After the death, in 

 1898, of Malietoa, King of Samoa, a struggle for 

 the succession took place in the islands between 

 the followers of Mataafa and those of young 

 Malietoa. For ten years Germany, Great Britain,. 



