Prescott Holmes - Young Peoples\' History of the War with Spain

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YOUNG PEOPLES' HISTORY
OF THE
WAR WITH SPAIN

BY
PRESCOTT HOLMES

WITH EIGHTY-SIX ILLUSTRATIONS

ALTEMUS' YOUNG PEOPLE'S LIBRARY

Copyright 1900 by Henry Altemus Company

PHILADELPHIA
HENRY ALTEMUS COMPANY

[Illustration: (Decorative Frame)]

[Illustration: BATTLE OF MANILA FROM THE DECK OF THE PETREL.]

INTRODUCTORY.

[Illustration: (Battle at sea)]

The brief war between the United States and Spain was the outgrowth of
the humanity of the American people and their love of fair play. They
did not stand idly by when Spain was literally starving the people of
Cuba into subjection to her will, but freely and generously sent food,
medicine and clothing to the sufferers.

When Spain's cruelty to the Cubans became intolerable to the civilized
world, the United States intervened in the name of humanity and right,
and demanded that the oppression should cease. Spain resented this,
and the war followed.

Much has been said and written regarding our conduct of the war, and
the grave scandals that arose from it; but it is not the purpose of
this volume to discuss these other than to say that, the work of the
navy was clean and beyond question, while it is clear to every one
that there was gross mismanagement on the part of army officials.

The army performed as splendid achievements as the navy, but did it
under much greater difficulties. Regulars and volunteers fought side
by side, and equally deserve our praise; but they were corralled in
filthy camps, stowed between the dirty decks of crowded transports,
and despatched to Cuba in a manner of which a cattle shipper would be
ashamed. They were flung against the ingenious defences of the
Spaniards, cold, wet and hungry, and to their indomitable spirit alone
we owe the victories in Cuba.

The boys and girls of America cannot fail to be deeply interested in
the story of the splendid deeds of our army and navy in the year of
our Lord 1898, and it is for them that this history has been prepared.

[Illustration: (Soldiers encampment)]

YOUNG PEOPLES' HISTORY OF THE WAR WITH SPAIN.

CHAPTER I.

THE CAUSE OF THE WAR.

[Illustration: (Battle at sea)]

On April 21st, 1898, a war began between the United States and Spain.
All the other countries of the world felt an interest in it, but did
not take any part in it. They were what we call "neutral"--that is,
they did not help either side.

As soon as the war was proclaimed a great wave of excitement swept
through the United States, from shore to shore. Flags were hung out in
every city and town; thousands of men offered to serve in the
army--volunteers they were called; and many persons offered to help in
other ways. The people were not glad that war had begun, but they felt
that their country was doing right, and that they ought to support her
efforts.

And what was the cause of the war? Spain, a large country across the
Atlantic Ocean, in the southwestern part of Europe, owned some of the
islands, called "West Indies," near the United States. Spain had been
unjust and cruel to the people living in one of these islands, for
many years. Several times the unhappy islanders tried to drive the
Spanish from the island, and set up a government of their own, but
Spain sent so many soldiers there that they could not get their
freedom. They fought bravely, however, but matters kept getting worse
and worse, and at last Spain sent a very cruel general to take charge
of affairs in the island. His name was Weyler, and he determined to
conquer the islanders. After a while he found he could not do it by
fighting them, so he sent his soldiers to drive those who were not
fighting away from their homes and farms and make them live in or near
the large cities. When he had done this, the people had no way to earn
money to buy food for themselves and their families, and soon they
began to get sick and to die of starvation. The cruel Weyler would not
give them anything to eat, and so they died by thousands.

[Illustration: Cuban Flag.]

When this dreadful state of affairs became known in the United
States, kind people sent several ship-loads of food and medicines and
clothing to the sufferers. This did a great deal of good, but all the
poor people could not be reached and they continued to die. Finally,
the United States told Spain that she ought not to have such a cruel
man at the head of affairs, and after a while Spain sent another
general to take his place. This new governor's name was Blanco, and he
really tried to help the poor people, but Spain had very little money
to send him to buy food for them, and so they went on dying. The
soldiers, too, were in a very bad condition; they had not been paid
for a great many months; they did not have enough to eat, and so they
too sickened and died by thousands. You can see that unless something
was done to help the poor people, they would all die and their
beautiful island would become a wilderness.

Besides being very proud, Spain was very poor. She had spent millions
of dollars trying to conquer the islanders, and had no money to buy
food for the sufferers that she had driven from their homes and
huddled like cattle in yards and gloomy inclosures. So she asked the
United States to help feed them, and the Red Cross Society, of which I
will tell you later, sent hundreds of tons of food, medicines and
clothing to them. These supplies were distributed by competent
persons, and the relief was very great, but very soon some of the
Spaniards began to say that the United States had no business to
interfere in the affairs of the island, and to stir up the people.
The feeling became so strong that our representative, Consul-General
Lee, notified the authorities in the United States that, the lives and
property of American citizens living in the island were not safe. It
was for this reason that the battleship Maine was sent to Havana, the
chief city of the island. I will tell you about this ship later.

[Illustration: President McKinley.]

Well, in spite of all that the United States had done to help Spain,
matters grew worse, and finally the United States was obliged to tell
Spain that, unless she took her soldiers away from the island and let
the people govern themselves, she would help them to become a free and
independent nation. When Spain received this message, she regarded it
as a declaration of war, and both sides prepared for the conflict.

But before telling you about the war, shall I tell you something about
the island and the group to which it belongs?

[Illustration: Map of the West Indies.]

The island is called Cuba. It belongs to a large group of islands
known as the West Indies; a changed form of the old name, West Indias,
given by Christopher Columbus, who thought that by sailing westward he
had reached islands off the shore of India. If you look on a map of
the Western Hemisphere, you will find the West Indies between the
Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean.

Most of these islands are high and rocky, seeming like a chain of
mountains in the ocean, with their tops above the waves. They are in
the tropical regions, and the climate is very hot in the lowlands and
on the coasts, but is delightful in the high parts all the year round.
There are only two seasons--wet and dry. The rainy season begins in
the spring or early summer, and lasts about six months.

What grows in these islands? Delicious fruits: mangoes, oranges,
cocoanuts, limes, pineapples, and bananas; many other valuable crops:
coffee, tobacco, maize, rice, sugar-cane, and cotton; immense forests
of mahogany and other valuable trees. This beautiful vegetation makes
these lands fair to look upon. Then, too, there are many birds with
gorgeous plumage. The islands have gold, silver, copper, and iron
mines; there are quarries of marble; and some kinds of precious stones
are found.

But this region is not a paradise. Snakes and other horrid things
crawl among the beautiful trees and foliage, and poisonous insects
swarm in every place. Earthquake shocks are often felt, and fearful
hurricanes sweep over the islands nearly every year, doing much
damage.

A gentle race of Indians dwelt in these islands at the time of their
discovery, but the Spanish settlers treated the natives so cruelly
that after a few years they had ceased to exist. Many of the Indians
were sent to Spain and other countries and sold as slaves; the rest
were made to work in the mines, and as the Indians had never been used
to such work, they died from the hard labor. In later times some of
the islands were bought from Spain, others were captured, others were
gained by treaty, by the nations to whom they now belong.

At the beginning of the war between the United States and Spain, in
1898, Cuba, as I have already said, belonged to Spain. Spain owned
another large island, Puerto Rico, which we call Porto Rico, a name
meaning "rich port." But I need not say anything more about Porto Rico
at present.

[Illustration: King Alfonso.]

Cuba is the largest and most valuable of the West India Islands. It
was discovered by Columbus about two weeks after his first landing at
San Salvador. According to his custom, he gave it a Spanish name, but
somehow the old name clung to it, and to-day the whole world knows the
island by its native Indian name, Cuba. On account of its position, it
is often called the "Key to the Gulf of Mexico;" and Havana, the
capital, has a key upon its coat of arms. Cuba looks very small upon
our maps, yet it contains nearly as much land as the State of
Pennsylvania.

[Illustration: Queen Regent of Spain.]

Perhaps I should tell you just here that Spain is a kingdom. Its
ruler, King Alfonso XII., died in 1885. His widow, Queen Christina,
has ruled since then, but her son will be crowned king as soon as he
is old enough. The "little king," as he is often called, was twelve
years old when this war began. Christina is a good and noble woman,
and it is not her fault that the people in distant islands have been
badly treated.

CHAPTER II.

THE "MAINE."

Before the United States joined in the war, the Cubans had succeeded
in driving the Spaniards out of many places in the eastern part of the
island, but could not get possession of the western part and the chief
harbors. We have seen that the war between the United States and Spain
began in April, 1898. But, two months before that time something
happened in the harbor of Havana, the capital of Cuba, which caused
terrible excitement in our country. You must understand that many
persons belonging to the United States have business in Cuba, own
property there, and even live there. Though these Americans did not
take part with the Cubans against Spain, yet it seemed sometimes as if
they were in danger on account of the disturbance in the island. So
our country decided to send one of our battleships--a man-of-war--to
stay awhile in the chief harbor of Cuba, so that the Americans might
feel safer by having such a ship to help them if they should need
help, as I have told you. Spain made no objections to this plan, and
said she would send a ship in return to visit New York. The ship
chosen from our navy was the Maine, commanded by Captain Sigsbee. On
January 25th, early in the morning of a bright warm day, the Maine,
with all her colors flying, and with all her men dressed in their best
clothes, drew near the harbor of Havana. A Spanish pilot went out to
meet her, took her carefully through the narrow entrance to the fine
harbor, and anchored her near some other ships. Though the entrance is
narrow, yet the harbor itself is large enough to accommodate a
thousand ships. The entrance is guarded by several fortresses, one of
which, called "Morro Castle," is nearly three hundred years old. It
stands on a high point of land, and for this reason is called "Morro,"
a name that means in Spanish, headland, or promontory.

[Illustration: U.S. Battleship "Maine."]

[Illustration: Morro Castle, Havana.]

No doubt the place seemed very attractive to the men on board the
Maine that bright sunny morning. The new part of Havana is pretty, the
old part is quaint and interesting. There are a number of famous
buildings, one of which is the Cathedral, where the remains of
Columbus were treasured at that time, but they have since been removed
to Spain. All the buildings are low, for low buildings are the fashion
in countries that are subject to earthquakes; they are built of
stone, and generally adorned with bright colors. There are wide
avenues, and large parks and gardens.

If you should visit Havana, you would see many curious sights. All the
houses, hotels and stores have iron-barred windows, which gives one
the impression that the inmates are confined there. Many houses have
large gates which open into beautiful gardens and court yards. Some of
the streets have very funny names, such as "Ladies' Delight," and "Fat
Stick," when the Spanish names are translated into our language; and
they have bright-colored awnings stretched across, from side to side.

The fish market is one of the most noted buildings in the city. It has
one long marble table running the entire length of the building, which
has one end open to the harbor. Poultry and fruits are brought to the
doors of the houses in baskets which are carried on donkeys or the
little horses of the country. Often you can see what looks like a
large bunch of grass, slowly moving over the pavements, but as it gets
nearer you will see the head of a donkey sticking out of one side,
while his tail alone is visible on the other side. This is the way
that food for horses and mules is brought into the city; no hay is
used, only green feed. The milkman does not call at the house, as with
us, but instead drives his cow up to the door and supplies you direct
from her with as much milk as you wish to buy. Charcoal is almost the
only fuel used in cooking, and the ranges look like benches placed
against the walls with holes in the tops of them. But we must return
to the battleship Maine.

[Illustration: Columbus Chapel, Havana.]

There was no special work for the Maine to do; she was simply to stay
in the harbor till further orders. The Spanish officers called on
Captain Sigsbee, and he returned their visits, according to the rules
that naval officers of all countries are bound to observe. Yet it was
easy for the men of the Maine to see that they were not welcome
guests. The Maine had twenty-six officers, and a crew of three hundred
and twenty-eight men. With her guns, ammunition, and other valuable
stores, she was worth $5,000,000. She had been three years in service,
having left the Brooklyn navy-yard in November, 1895.

The evening of February 10th, 1898, was dark and sultry. At eight
o'clock Captain Sigsbee received the reports from the different
officers of the ship that every thing was secure for the night. At ten
minutes after nine the bugler sounded "taps," the signal for "turning
in," and soon the ship was quiet. At forty minutes after nine a sharp
explosion was heard, then a loud, long, roaring sound, mingled with
the noise of falling timbers; the electric lights went out, the ship
was lifted up, and then she began to sink. The Captain and some of the
other officers groped their way to the deck, hardly knowing what had
happened. They could do nothing; the ship was sinking fast, and was on
fire in several places.

The force of the explosion was so great that it threw Captain Sigsbee
out of his cabin, where he sat writing a letter, and against William
Anthony, a marine who was on duty as a sentry. As coolly as though
nothing had happened, Anthony saluted the Captain and then said:

"Sir, I have the honor to inform you that the ship has been blown up
and is sinking."

[Illustration: Captain Charles D. Sigsbee.]

Small boats came out from the other ships, and rescued many men from
the Maine. The Spaniards helped the sufferers in every possible way,
taking them to the hospitals in Havana, where they received the best
care that the hospitals could give.

In that awful destruction of the Maine, two officers and two hundred
and fifty-four of the crew were lost. Several of those who were
rescued, died afterward.

The next day divers went down into the water to see what they could
find in the wreck, and nineteen dead bodies were brought up. The
Spanish officers of Havana asked Captain Sigsbee to permit the city to
give the a public funeral; and a plot of ground in Colon Cemetery,
outside the city, was given to the United States free of expense
forever. The day of the funeral all the flags were put at "half mast,"
as a sign of mourning, and the stores were closed. Crowds of people
joined the long funeral procession.

In the latter part of the year 1899, however, the Maine dead were
brought from Havana by the battleship Texas, then commanded by Captain
Sigsbee, formerly of the Maine. They were laid away in Arlington
Cemetery, near Washington, on December 28th, with simple religious
services and the honors of war, in the presence of the President of
the United States and his Cabinet, officers of the army and navy, and
many other spectators.

Besides Captain Sigsbee and Father Chidwick, who was chaplain of the
Maine at the time she was blown up, three others who lived through
that awful night were present. They were Lieutenant Commander
Wainwright, who was the executive officer of the Maine and who
afterwards sank the Furor and Pluton at Santiago; Lieutenant F.C.
Bowers, formerly assistant engineer of the Maine; and Jeremiah Shea, a
fireman of the Maine, who was blown out of the stoke-hole of the ship
through the wreckage.

[Illustration: Wreck of the "Maine."]

After three volleys had been fired over the dead, and the bugles had
rung out the soldiers' and sailors' last good night, Captain Sigsbee
introduced Shea to President McKinley. Being asked for an explanation
of his escape, he responded, as he had done to Father Chidwick when
he visited him in the hospital in Havana, where he lay covered with
wounds and bruises, and with nearly every bone in his body broken:

"I don't know how I got through. I was blown out. I guess I must have
been an armor-piercing projectile!"

The work of saving the guns and other valuable things on the Maine was
carried on for some time. Among other things that the divers recovered
was a splendid silver service that had been presented to the ship by
the state of Maine. The keys to the magazines were found in their
proper places in the captain's cabin, and his money and papers were
also recovered. Finally, it was found that the hull of the great ship
could not be raised, and in April the United States flag, that had
been kept flying above the wreck since the night of the fatal
explosion, was hauled down and the ship formally declared out of
commission.

Of course, the awful disaster caused deep sorrow in the United States.
There was great excitement also, for many persons thought that some of
the Spaniards had wrecked the Maine on purpose. The harbor was full of
"mines" or immense iron shells filled with stuff that will explode.
All countries at war protect their harbors in this way.

President McKinley appointed men to examine the wreck and find out all
they could about the explosion. They found that the ship was destroyed
by a "mine," but could not prove that the Spaniards had purposely
caused the "mine" to explode.

[Illustration: Captain-General's Palace, Havana.]

So there will always be a mystery connected with the horrible
destruction of the Maine.

On April 10th, Consul-General Lee and such Americans as wished to do
so, left Havana and returned to the United States. From that time on,
it seemed to the people of the United States that war with Spain was
inevitable, and preparations for it were carried on rapidly. On April
19th--which, by the way, was the anniversary of the first battle of
the war of the Revolution and also of the Civil War--Congress declared
that the United States must interfere in the affairs of Cuba and help
the Cubans to become a free and prosperous people. This declaration
was signed by President McKinley on the following day, and then our
minister to Spain, Mr. Woodford, was instructed to tell the Spanish
government what had been done, and also what would be done, if Spain
did not promise before the 23d to withdraw her soldiers from Cuba and
give up the island to the Cubans.

The message was sent by one of the submarine cables which connects
America with Europe, and the operator who received it told the Spanish
officials about it before sending it to its destination. So, before
Mr. Woodford could deliver his message, the Spanish government sent
him his passports, which was a polite hint to leave the country, and
he did so, at once. This action on the part of Spain was virtually a
declaration of war, and was so regarded by the President and the
people of this country. On the 22d, a blockade of Cuban ports was
established by the navy, and a Spanish ship was captured.

CHAPTER III.

THE BLOCKADE.

I have already told you that the Cubans, in their rebellion, had
driven the Spaniards out of many places in Cuba, but had not been able
to get possession of the chief harbors. So now it was thought best
that our ships should blockade the large harbors of Cuba. Do you know
what blockade means? It means to surround a place held by the enemy,
and stay there, doing any damage that can be done, cutting the enemy
off from outside help, and so, in time, if he is not strong enough to
break the blockade, he must surrender, as his supply of food will give
out.

[Illustration: Rear-Admiral Sampson.]

On the morning of April 22d, a squadron under the command of Acting
Rear-Admiral Sampson sailed from Key West to establish a blockade of
the most important Cuban ports. The ships which were to be stationed
off Havana reached that port on the same day; others were sent to
different ports along the coast, and so the blockade was begun.

All kinds of vessels were employed in this blockading service. There
were huge battleships, splendid cruisers, and gunboats that could go
into shallower waters than the large ships. There were also
monitors--immense fighting machines with decks but a little height
above the water and big guns in circular turrets. Then there were
torpedo boats--very swift vessels armed with deadly torpedoes, any one
of which could sink the largest ship afloat.

Some of our large passenger steamships had been appropriated by the
Government for war service, and did good work for the blockade, as
they can move very fast. They flew about from place to place as
"scouts" or "spies"; they carried messages; they cut the Spanish
cables under water, and were useful in other ways.

The gunboat Nashville sailed from Key West with the squadron, and
before the sun had fairly risen she saw the smoke of a steamer away
off to the westward. She gave chase at once, and, as the vessels drew
near, the stranger was flying the flag of Spain. The Nashville fired a
shot across her bows, and this was the first shot in the war between
the United States and Spain. The Spaniard was not inclined to stop,
and it required another shot before she would stop her engines. The
Nashville sent an officer in a boat to inform the steamer that she was
a prize to the United States. She was found to be a Spanish
merchantman, the Buena Ventura, and was sent in charge of a prize-crew
to Key West. During the next thirty days, many other Spanish ships,
with cargoes worth millions of dollars, were captured by different
vessels of the navy. A few were released, but the larger part were
condemned by a prize-court and sold.

The first action of the war was a small affair, but I shall mention
it, as it was much talked about at the time. It took place on April
27th, a few days after our ships had begun the blockade. The Spaniards
were building new forts at Matanzas, a port about sixty miles east of
Havana. With the exception of Havana, Matanzas has the finest harbor
on the northern coast of Cuba. The city itself lies between two small
rivers and contains many beautiful homes. The houses are often
decorated with colored tiles, and with their luxuriant gardens make a
charming picture against the background of hills that rise beyond the
beautiful valley of the Yumurri, which is one of the loveliest spots
in Cuba. In times of peace the exports of sugar and molasses from
Matanzas have been very large, but the Cuban army burned many of the
finest plantations in the district.

The ships that engaged the new forts that the Spaniards were adding to
the castle of San Severino and other defences of Matanzas, were the
flagship New York, the monitor Puritan, and the cruiser Cincinnati.
The Spaniards fired the first gun, and then the New York took up a
position between two batteries and delivered broadsides right and
left. Then the Puritan's big guns came into play, and then the
Cincinnati poured a stream of shells into the forts. It did not take
long to knock the Spanish defences into sand-heaps--only about half an
hour--and then the American ships stood out to sea. As they were doing
so, the Spaniards fired one more shot. The Puritan had the range and
sent a twelve-inch shell in reply. It was one of the best shots of the
war. It struck the Spanish gun fairly, dismounted it, and then burst,
throwing the sand high in the air. The Spanish account of the
engagement stated that no damage whatever was done, except the killing
of one mule!

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