758 



UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 



June 21 the Governor, Juan Moreno, came down to 

 the seaport of Piti, and, after a parley, formally 

 surrendered Guam and all the Ladrone group, with 

 his munitions and troops, which marched down 

 from Agana to Piti for disarmament. The Gov- 

 ernor, who made a formal protest, and the Spanish 

 garrison of 60 soldiers were carried off as prisoners 

 of war on the ships as they continued their voyage 

 to Manila. The 200 native soldiers were released 

 on parole, and a small garrison of American troops 

 was left in occupation. 



The Santiago Campaign. The strategic plan 

 proposed by Gen. Miles was to arm the Cubans, and 

 thus help them to harass the enemy and to fit out 

 an expedition, ostensibly for the invasion of Cuba, 

 but with secret orders to proceed to Puerto Rico 

 and seize that island the gate of the Antilles, and 

 for the Spaniards the key to the military situation. 

 After this was in American possession a large force 

 of cavalry could be landed in the center of Cuba, 

 cutting the Spanish forces in two, sweeping the 

 Spaniards from the provincial towns in co-opera- 

 tion with the Cubans, and at the same time reliev- 

 ing the starving population. After the rainy sea- 

 son was over, a powerful army, well organized, 

 perfected in drill and discipline, seasoned to camp 

 and service, would be able to move westward, and 

 Havana could be reduced by a combined land and 

 sea attack. The bottling up of Cervera's fleet 

 created a new situation, changing all the plans. 

 When it was known that Cervera's ships were 

 sealed up in Santiago harbor, and after Hobson's 

 exploit was supposed to have rendered their escape 

 almost impossible, even though a hurricane should 

 disperse the blockading fleet, this eastern end of 

 Cuba, where the insurgents were in greatest force 

 and the Spaniards weakest and isolated from their 

 base for lack of land communications, was chosen 

 as the field of operations for the first military expe- 

 dition, which could co-operate with the fleet in 

 reducing the city and fortifications, defended by 

 about 6,000 Spanish troops, and in capturing or 

 destroying Cervera's squadron. This being accom- 

 plished, the fleet could operate without danger 

 against any of the coast defenses, or cover a land- 

 ing of troops at any insufficiently fortified point of 

 the Cuban seaboard. Guantanamo Bay was seized 

 for a naval station, a sheltered retreat where the 

 vessels could recoal and a base of supplies, on June 

 10, by Capt. McCalla with the " Marblehead," 

 " Yankee," and " St. Louis." The cables connect- 

 ing Santiago with Mole St. Nicholas were severed. 

 The bay afforded a safe harbor, where the fleet 

 could coal and store ships and torpedo boats could 

 lie in all kinds of weatner, as well as troop trans- 

 ports when they should arrive. The town of Cai- 

 manera, on the inner bay, was garrisoned by 3,000. 

 Spanish troops and protected by a fort and several 

 gunboats. When the " Marblehead " and " Yankee " 

 opened fire at 800 yards, driving the Spaniards out 

 of the blockhouse and village at the mouth of the 

 outer bay, the "Alfonso Pinzon" appeared at the 

 entrance of the inner channel and fired her 5-inch 

 guns with surprising accuracy at a range of 4,000 

 yards. The American boats replied with guns of 

 the same size, and quickly got the range, but the 

 Spanish commander refused to retire until the 

 "Marblehead" made ready to go in after him, 

 when he took position behind the fort and contin- 

 ued firing. Lieut.-Col. R. W. Huntington landed 

 a battalion of marines, 600 strong, from the troop- 

 ship "Panther" and the men-of-war, and encamped 

 on the hill at the entrance of the outer bay. In 

 the evening Spanish infantry, which had fled in 

 such panic to the mountains that the Americans 

 had no thought of their returning, advanced under 

 cover of the thick bush and attacked the pickets. 



In the following night the guerrillas showed them- 

 selves in greater force and charged up to the edge 

 of the camp, killing Surgeon John Blair Gibbs and 

 two marines. The attacks were continued until 

 morning, when the assailants were driven away by 

 12-inch shells from the field guns. The earthworks 

 that the Spaniards had left were strengthened and 

 enlarged during the day. The guerrillas kept up 

 their harassing fire into the camp, now from one 

 direction and now from another, giving the Ameri- 

 cans no rest for one more night ; but on the third 

 their tactics were frustrated by a body of Cubans 

 who had come up with Col. La Borda and were put 

 on skirmish duty. On June 14 a detachment of 

 marines advanced with the Cubans through the 

 hills against the camp of the Spaniards, and with 

 one steady onset put them to flight. The total 

 losses of the Americans from the beginning were 

 6 killed and 3 wounded, while the Spanish dead 

 numbered more than 40. 



The cable communications between Santiago and 

 Havana and between Havana and Europe were not 

 completely severed until Gen. Greely, chief of the 

 Signal Corps of the army, had fitted out a cable 

 ship, on which Lieut.-Col. James Allen and Capt. 

 Martin Hellen grappled and cut the lines at the 

 east end of Cuba and at Guantanamo within the 

 three-mile limit. 



Major-Gen. William R. Shaffer was placed in 

 command of the expedition that was organized at 

 Tampa, consisting of the Fifth Army Corps. lie 

 received instructions to capture the garrison at 

 Santiago and assist the navy in capturing the 

 fleet. The army of invasion sailed from Tampa on 

 June 14 on a fleet of 37 transports convoyed by the 

 'Indiana," " Castine," Helena," "Annapolis," 

 " Bancroft," " Merrill," and " Hornet," joined at 

 Tortugas by the " Dupont," " Manning," " Osceola," 

 " Wasp," " Wampatuck," and " Ericsson," and off 

 Puerto Principe by the " Montgomery " and 

 " Porter." On June 21 the fleet arrived off Santiago. 

 Gen. Shafter and Admiral Sampson went ashore to 

 consult with Gen. Garcia, the Cuban commander, at 

 his camp at Acerradero. The Spanish infantry, 

 cavalry, and guerrilla forces stretched out for 50 

 miles from Guantanamo to Cabafias, ready to con- 

 centrate at the point of attack, but starving and 

 harassed inland by the insurgents. They had a 

 total strength of about 40,000. Garcia raised a 

 force of 3,500 Cubans, ill fed, lacking clothing, and 

 only partly armed, chiefly with the munitions 

 brought by the " Florida," to co-operate with the 

 American troops. There were 1,000 more perform- 

 ing guerrilla service with the marines at Guantan 

 Gen. Shaffer's army numbered 819 officers and 1 

 058 men, to which 8,000 re-enforcements were sen 

 when it was known that Gen. Blanco had ordered 

 the troops of Gen. Pando to re-enforce Gen. Linares 

 at Santiago. The expedition consisted of the First. 

 Second, Third, Sixth, Seventh, Eighth, Ninth. 

 Tenth, Twelfth, Thirteenth, Sixteenth. Seventeenth, 

 Twentieth, Twenty-first, Twenty-second, and Twen- 

 ty-fourth Regular Infantry, the Seventy-first N-w 

 York Volunteers, and the Second Massachuseits; 

 two dismounted squadrons each, of four troops. 

 from the First, Third. Sixth, Ninth, and Teniii 

 Regular Cavalry and two from the First Volunteer 

 Cavalry, known as the Rough Riders; one mounted 

 squadron of the Second Regular Cavalry : two light 

 batteries each from the First and Second Artillery, 

 and two siege batteries of the Fourth ; and t wo com- 

 panies of engineers. Most of the cavalry was dis- 

 mounted because of lack of transportation for the 

 animals and because the country about Santiago was 

 unfavorable for cavalry operations. The expedition 

 was ready to sail on June 7, but, on account of an 

 unfounded rumor of a Spanish war vessel having 



