CUBABAHAMA
ISLANDSJAMAICA PUERTORICOFLORIDAUS
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eSee Inset
Sam
psonJune^1Spanish fleetdestroyed,
July 3, 1898San Juan Heights,July 1,1898San Juan Hill,July 1,1898
Kettle Hill,July 1,1898
June 24,1898DOMINICAN
REPUBLICHAITITampaMiami
Key WestHavanaSanto
DomingoSan Juan
Major battle ́Spanish territory ceded to United StatesUS forces
Spanish forcesSantiagoDaiquiriSantiagoPort-au-PrinceCaribbean
SeaGulf of
MexicoATLANTIC OCEANSantiago
BayCaribbean Sea594 Chapter 22 From Isolation to Empire
Cervera at Santiago harbor, on the eastern end of
Cuba, and established a blockade. In June a 17,000-
man expeditionary force commanded by General
William Shafter landed at Daiquiri, east of Santiago,
and pressed quickly toward the city, handicapped
more by its own bad staff work than by the enemy,
though the Spanish troops resisted bravely. The
Americans sweated through Cuba’s torrid summer in
heavy wool winter uniforms, ate “embalmed beef”
out of cans, and fought mostly with old-fashioned
rifles using black powder cartridges that marked the
position of each soldier with a puff of smoke when-
ever he pulled the trigger. On July 1 they broke
through undermanned Spanish defenses and stormed
San Juan Hill, the intrepid Roosevelt in the van.
(“Are you afraid to stand up while I am on horse-
back?” Roosevelt demanded of one soldier.)
With Santiago harbor in range of American
artillery, Admiral Cervera had to run the blockade. On
July 3 his black-hulled ships, flags proudly flying,
steamed forth from the harbor and fled westward
along the coast. Like hounds after rabbits, five
American battleships and two cruisers, commanded by
Rear Admiral William T. Sampson and Commodore
Winfield Scott Schley, ran them down. In four hours
the entire Spanish force was destroyed by a hail of
eight-inch and thirteen-inch projectiles (the size of
artillery shells refers to their diameter). Damage to the
American ships was superficial; only one American sea-
man lost his life in the engagement.
The end then came abruptly. Santiago surren-
dered on July 17. A few days later, other U.S. troops
completed the occupation of Puerto Rico. On
August 12, one day before the fall of Manila, Spain
agreed to get out of Cuba and to cede Puerto Rico
and an island in the Marianas (Guam) to the United
States. The future of the Philippines was to be set-
tled at a formal peace conference, convening in Paris
on October 1.
Roosevelt’s Rough Ridersat
http://www.myhistorylab.comDeveloping a Colonial Policy
Although the Spanish resisted surrendering the
Philippines at Paris, they had been so thoroughly
defeated that they had no choice. The decision hung
rather on the outcome of a conflict over policy withinWatchtheVideoSpanish-American War: Caribbean Theater, 1898After boarding in Tampa, American soldiers landed near Santiago, Cuba. They
swiftly overran Spanish fortifications on the heights to the east of the city. When U.S. troops came within artillery range of Santiago Bay,
the Spanish fleet fled. Soon the Spanish ships were intercepted and destroyed by the American navy.