UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 



also fortified, and at Teneriffe 7,000 troops worked 

 for weeks throwing up bastions and breastworks. 

 The military expedition to be convoyed by the fleet 

 to the Philippines numbered 11,000 "men. Toward 

 the end of June Admiral Camera set out on the 

 voyage for the Philippines. Whether with his de- 

 fective ships he could make the cruise, whether his 

 setting out was only a feint, was known only to the 

 Spanish authorities. Orders were published in the 

 United States for Commodore John C. Watson to 

 proceed in all haste with a division of the fleet to 

 harass the coast of Spain. This was indeed a ruse 

 to procure the recall of Camera's ships, for not one 

 of Admiral Sampson's seven armored vessels could 

 be spared from the more important service of keep- 

 ing Admiral Cervera's division confined in Santiago 

 harbor. The monitors " Monterey " and " Monad- 

 nock," however, were dispatched across the Pacific, 

 so that if Admiral Dewey were compelled to leave 

 Manila Bay on Camera's approach he could join 

 the monitors, return later, and effectually give bat- 

 tle to the Spanish armored fleet, thus restoring 

 the previous conditions. Admiral Camera's ves- 

 sels reached the Suez Canal in very poor condi- 

 tion, and, after a controversy with the Egyptian 

 Government, which refused to let them take on coal 

 for hostile purposes in violation of the neutrality 

 laws, took their laboring course back to Spain. 



Operations in Puerto Rico. The conquest of 

 Puerto Rico was undertaken by Major-Gen. Nelson 

 A. Miles, commanding general of the army, who 

 had a complete plan of campaign ready, but could 

 not carry it out until the fall of Santiago set free 

 some of the seasoned troops. He set out from 

 Guantanamo Bay on July 20 with the advanced 

 guard of 3,415 officers and men, consisting of the 

 re-enforcements that he had brought to Gen. Shaf- 

 ter's army at Santiago. The primary objective was 

 Ponce, on the opposite side of the island from San 

 Juan, the principal stronghold where the Spanish 

 forces were massed. He did not, however, venture 

 an immediate descent upon the fortified and pre- 

 sumably well-defended southern port. The navy 

 made a feint of attacking it, and another demon- 

 stration at San Juan, and the Spaniards were in- 

 duced to guard Fajardo and other supposed points 

 of debarkation, while the troops were landed on 

 July 25 in the neighborhood of Ponce at Guanica, 

 opposed only by a small force in a blockhouse. On 

 the following day they advanced to Yauco, and 

 after a sharp encounter seized the railroad running 

 into Ponce. On July 28 the " Dixie," " Annapolis," 

 " Wasp," and " Gloucester " arrived with transports 

 off Ponce, which was surrendered without a struggle, 

 the Spanish garrison and officials retiring toward 

 San Juan, while the people of the town welcomed 

 the Americans. If the Puerto Ricans had not been 

 disappointed and deceived by the Spanish Govern- 

 ment like the Cubans, exasperated by false and illu- 

 sive promises of reform and home rule, the difficul- 

 ties of the expedition would have been greater. As 

 it was. Gen. Miles had to plan the conquest from a 

 sea base of a country in the possession of an enemy 

 having at first superior forces, 8,233 Spanish regu- 

 lars and 9,107 volunteers, and for the success of his 

 operations he was obliged to depend mainly, not on 

 the skillful and fearless soldiers of the regular army 

 who broke through the defenses at Santiago, but 

 upon inexperienced volunteers. The fresh detach- 

 ment of troops was landed at Ponce on July 29, and 

 while a column proceeded toward the important 

 inland town of Guayama the third and last section 

 of the invading army debarked on Aug. 2 at the 

 neighboring seaport of Arroyo, which had surren- 

 dered to the navy on the preceding day. The ent i;v 

 expedition consisted of the Eleventh and Nineteen! h 

 Regular Infantry, Second and Third Wisconsin, 



Sixth Massachusetts, Third and Sixth Illinois. Fourth 

 and Sixteenth Pennsylvania, Fourth Ohio, First 

 Kentucky, two companies of the Twenty-seventh 

 Indiana, one troop from the Second and one from 

 the Sixth United States Cavalry, two militia tr<*,ji- 

 from New York and one from Philadelphia, four 

 batteries of the Fourth, two of the Third, two of 

 the Fifth, and two of the Seventh Artillery, one 

 company of the Signal Corps and two companies 

 of L nited States Engineers. The total strength 

 was 16,973 officers and men. With this force Gen. 

 Miles planned to occupy the remaining ports and 

 the highways and towns of the interior, driving the 

 Spanish troops back upon San Juan, which was 

 closely blockaded by the fleet. From Ponce and 

 Guanica, around by the west coast, were the ports 

 of Mayaguez and Aguadilla, the two connected by 

 a railroad, and on the north coast Arecibo, whence 

 a railroad leads to San Juan. From Guayama the 

 way to San Juan was northward across the island. 

 Major-Gen. John R. Brooke, commanding at Arroyo, 

 sent Brig.-Gen. Peter C. Hains with two regiments 

 of volunteers to occupy Guayama, which was accom- 

 plished with slight opposition on Aug. 5. The 

 enemy had taken up a strong position 3 miles be- 

 yond on the road to Cayey, and was found in too 

 great force to warrant an attack by the advance 

 guard, which intrenched itself at Guayama until 

 Gen. Brooke could bring up the main body of his 

 division. 



A column under Brig.-Gen. Theodore Schwan 

 made a rapid advance from Yauco in the direction 

 of Mayaguez and Aguadilla with a column consist- 

 ing of the Eleventh Infantry, a troop of the Fifth 

 Cavalry, and batteries of the Third and Fifth Ar- 

 tillery. Setting out on Aug. 8, he occupied Sabana 

 la Grande and San German on Aug. 10, and pro- 

 ceeded to attack the enemy in the hills near Hormi- 

 gueros. With a swift charge under heavy fire, the 

 Americans carried the strong position with a loss 

 of only 1 killed and 15 wounded, putting to flight 

 1,200 Spaniards, who lost 4 officers and 20 men 

 killed and 50 wounded. Gen; Schwan marched 

 into Mayaguez, which was undefended, the next 

 morning, and immediately moved on toward Agua- 

 dilla. On Aug. 13 he repelled an attack by 1,500 

 of the enemy near Rio Canas, suffering no losses. 

 Operations then ceased, as he was able to inform 

 the Spanish commander on the following day that 

 an armistice had been concluded between the two 

 nations. 



Major-Gen. James H. Wilson commanded the 

 second division, with headquarters at Ponce. Brig.- 

 Gen. Roy Stone set out on Aug. 1 with a company 

 of the Second Wisconsin Volunteers and a detail 

 from the Signal Corps, for the purpose of recon- 

 noitering the route to be followed by the brigade of 

 Gen. Guy B. Henry, who was instructed to clear the 

 road across the island to Arecibo and there effect a 

 junction with Gen. Schwan, so that the united 

 forces could execute a flank movement on San Juan 

 and menace the rear of the Spanish forces contesting 

 Gen. Wilson's advance along the main military road 

 through the hills about Aybonito, cutting off their 

 retreat and compelling them to surrender if they 

 should not hastily abandon their positions of strength 

 and fall back on San Juan. When Gen. Stone's 

 little party approached Adjuntas. a town in the 

 hills where the roads from Ponce and Yauco unite 

 in a single road leading down to Anvibo. the gar- 

 rison of 400 Spanish regulars retired northward, 

 leaving 100 volunteers in the place, who promptly 

 surrendered to the Americans. The enemy con- 

 tinued to retreat before him, as Gen. Siono pushed 

 oil to Utuado and beyond, accepting the surrender 

 of the villages through which he jwssed, until he 

 finally found himself in front of Arecibo. In re- 



