The American Military - A Narrative History

by Brad D. Lookingbill

  Though Cleveland withdrew a treaty that annexed Hawaii, the next president, William McKinley, contemplated territorial expansion beyond the continental U.S. The last Civil War veteran to occupy the White House, the commander-in-chief appraised the value of the Pacific Ocean for national security. “We need Hawaii,” he observed, “just as much and a good deal more than we did California.” Japan dispatched warships to the Pacific islands the next year, which prompted McKinley to offer another treaty for annexation. Unable to find the votes in the Senate, he obtained a joint resolution to achieve his aims in 1898. “It is Manifest Destiny,” concluded the president with satisfaction.

  Remember the Maine

  Over the course of the nineteenth century, the Cuban struggle for independence attracted American attention. While an expatriate living in New York, José Martí became a symbol of the movement to free Cuba from Spanish dominion. He organized the Junta to coordinate a campaign under the banner of Cuba Libre. Recruiting revolutionaries from Key West to Santo Domingo, he joined filibustering expeditions to liberate what the Spanish called the “ever faithful isle.” After landing in Cuba, he died in his first battle on May 19, 1895.

  The insurrection of 1895 spurred the governor general, Valeriano Weyler, to institute punitive measures against the civilian population of Cuba. While rebels struck plantations and trains, Spanish soldiers assaulted villages in retaliation. To suppress the widespread unrest, the reconcentrado policy involved the herding of men, women, and children to areas controlled by the Spanish Army. As a result of the devastation, disease, and starvation, thousands perished in the Cuban countryside. The “yellow journalists” of the U.S. circulated sensational stories about the military atrocities, denouncing the Spanish commander in Cuba as a “butcher.”

  With Cuba only 90 miles off the coast of Florida, pressure for the U.S. to stop the mayhem continued to mount. American “jingoists” called upon the federal government to safeguard national interests with military action. In 1897, John D. Long, the Secretary of the Navy, directed senior officers to develop a war plan based upon the previous work of the Naval War College and the Office of Naval Intelligence. Their planning drew from a key document by Lieutenant William W. Kimball, which he titled “War with Spain.” Acknowledging the fact that American trade with Cubans actually surpassed Spanish commerce with them, a congressional resolution recognized the rebel cause. Unable to crush the rebellion against the empire, the Spanish government eventually replaced the “butcher” with the more humane General Ramón Blanco. Spain offered autonomy to the island but refused to grant independence.

  The McKinley administration expressed no animosity toward Spain, although the Republican platform in the presidential election of 1896 included a plank on behalf of Cuban independence. When anti-American riots erupted in Havana, he ordered the U.S.S Maine to the harbor in early 1898 as a sign of resolve. Spanish ambassador Dupuy de Lôme made disparaging remarks about the U.S. president in a letter reprinted in the New York Journal, which editorialized that it amounted to the “worst insult to the United States in its history.” Having seen “the dead pile up” as a private during the American Civil War, McKinley remained reluctant to push for war against Spain.

  While anchored in Havana, the presence of the Maine troubled Spain but sparked no immediate reaction from officials. Captain Charles D. Sigsbee, the commander of the U.S. battleship, went ashore with the American consul, Fitzhugh Lee. Taking precautions against “injury or treachery,” he stationed the marines on guard while ordering the sailors to remain on board. He attended a bullfight at Regla without incident.

  Figure 9.2 Ship's company, U.S.S. Maine, 1896. Prints and Photographs Division, Library of Congress

  At 9:40 p.m. on February 15, 1898, Sigsbee sat in his cabin while writing a letter home. Several officers gathered by the port-side turret to enjoy excellent cigars. Most of the crew climbed into their bunks. A marine bugler played taps, which reverberated in the night air. Suddenly, the captain heard what sounded like a rifle shot. A tremendous “bursting, rending, and crashing” separated the forecastle from the rest of the vessel and bent the keel upward through the armored deck. As the smoke rose into the heavens, the wreck sank to the harbor bottom. Of the 355 men on board, 255 died immediately. Another eight perished from their injuries. Only 16 escaped without any harm, including Sigsbee. Noting that Spanish officials expressed sympathy, he cabled the Navy Department: “Public opinion should be suspended until further report.”

  “Remember the Maine! To Hell with Spain!” screamed the headlines of U.S. newspapers in the immediate aftermath. A naval court of inquiry reported that “a submarine mine” set off the explosion in the munitions magazine. However, subsequent investigations determined that an internal fire in the coal bunker triggered it. Most Americans drew hasty conclusions, although no evidence was ever found that linked Spanish actions directly to the incident.

  Given American outrage at the time, Congress voted unanimously to approve $50 million in appropriations “for national defense and for each and every purpose connected therewith.” Moreover, McKinley demanded that the Spanish government indemnify the U.S. for the Maine and grant independence to Cuba. In response to his demands, Spain consented to arbitration for the former but refused to concede the latter. On April 11, the commander-in-chief asked Congress to “authorize and empower” him to expel Spanish forces from the island. Read by clerks from the well of the House of Representatives, his “war message” anticipated the use of the “military and naval forces of the United States” in the righteous effort. He also issued an official ultimatum to Spain and announced a naval blockade of Santiago. A congressional joint resolution supported his request, although the Teller Amendment prohibited the annexation of Cuba. Consequently, Spain reacted by declaring war on the U.S. Spain's belligerent actions, said McKinley with indignation, demonstrated “an existent state of war.” Both houses of Congress quickly approved a declaration of war on April 25.

  Even if unprepared to wage war, Secretary of War Russell Alger wanted to deploy 100,000 soldiers to occupy Cuba. With only 27,000 men on active duty, the federal government called upon the states to raise volunteer regiments from existing militia units. Despite the reluctance of some governors to send the National Guard overseas, rapid mobilization brought the number of effectives to 182,687. Scores of troops readied for action without blue uniforms, because federal stockpiles proved insufficient. Regulars often carried Krag-Jørgensen rifles that fired smokeless powder cartridges, but states armed National Guardsmen with older Springfield rifles that fired only black powder ammunition. Regardless of the logistical mess, General Nelson A. Miles, the Commanding General of the Army, assumed responsibility for assembling, training, and equipping the Army.

  While the Army remained in the continental U.S., the Surgeon General's Office established a Nurse Corps Division for coordinating medical care. More than 1,700 women volunteered to toil as nurses aboard medical ships as well as at military camps, aid stations, and field hospitals. In addition, female physicians and staff prepared to accompany the Army.

  The McKinley administration prodded the Army to campaign in Cuba but expected the Navy to triumph over Spain. Before the war began, Assistant Secretary of the Navy Roosevelt sent orders to the European and Asiatic Squadrons to prepare for military action. The 39-year-old suddenly resigned his naval post in order to go “to the front,” while Secretary Long established a three-man Naval War Board that included Mahan. Under the command of Rear Admiral William T. Sampson, the North Atlantic Squadron imposed an effective blockade of Cuba that April. A “war room” soon appeared in the White House, which included large-scale maps with colored flags to indicate the location of U.S. warships around the world.

  Splendid Little War

  “War has commenced between the United States and Spain,” stated a telegram from Long to Commodore George Dewey, the commander of the Asiatic Squadron. Sent on the same day that Congress declared war, it directed Dewey to “procee
d at once to Philippine Islands” and to “capture or destroy” the Spanish fleet. Before American vessels departed from Hong Kong in China, Emilio Aguinaldo, an exiled leader of Filipino rebels, offered to organize an insurrection against the Spanish garrisons. Dewey agreed to aid the rebels, but his flagship cruiser, the U.S.S. Olympia, steamed ahead without waiting for them to come aboard.

  Dewey intended to cut off the Philippine archipelago from Spain, thereby giving the U.S. an upper hand in bargaining to end the contest. With a force of seven steel-hulled warships, his squadron entered Manila Bay on May 1. At 5:22 a.m., he barked a command through a speaking tube to the skipper, Captain Charles V. Gridley: “You may fire when you are ready, Gridley.” They hurled shells at seven wooden vessels anchored at Cavite, a fortified point directly across from the city of Manila. Without losing a single American life, they sank or disabled the entire Spanish fleet by the end of the day. Promoted to rear admiral a few days later, Dewey became a national hero after the Battle of Manila Bay.

  The decisive victory gave Dewey control of the waters around the Philippines, though he paused before making his next move. His guns had silenced the coastal artillery defending the bay, yet the Spanish garrison in the city of Manila refused to capitulate. He held the Cavite Navy Yard but needed “the man with a rifle” to occupy the colony. With barely enough sailors and marines to maintain the Asiatic Squadron, he awaited the arrival of ground troops from the U.S. Aguinaldo arrived aboard the U.S.S. McCulloch on May 19, when he took charge of the Filipino insurrectos. He claimed that Dewey promised independence for the Philippines, although the naval officer lacked the authority to do so. After issuing a series of proclamations, anti-Spanish forces controlled most of the archipelago by the time U.S. volunteers crossed the Pacific.

  Elsewhere in the Pacific, Captain Henry Glass steered the U.S.S. Charleston along with three steamers toward the Spanish colony of Guam. On June 20, Glass entered Apra Harbor and fired a challenge shot at Fort Santa Cruz. After learning that a state of war existed, Spanish authorities surrendered the island the next day. With the small garrison secured on behalf of the U.S., the Charleston steamed toward the Philippines to join the Asiatic Squadron.

  The U.S. strategy for liberating Cuba consisted of maintaining a naval blockade while encouraging rebels to harass Spanish troops on the island. Spain's principal battle fleet crossed the Atlantic under the command of Admiral Pascual Cervera, who reached the Caribbean that May. Maneuvering past Sampson's North Atlantic Squadron near Puerto Rico, the Spanish fleet took refuge in the bay of Santiago, the key city on the southeastern shore of Cuba. Santiago's mines and batteries gave protection to Cervera's warships. Nevertheless, Sampson tightened the blockade while operating beyond the range of the big guns. Given the impasse on the waters, the Navy needed the Army to go ashore.

  The Army tarried at military camps inside the U.S. during Cuba's rainy months, which Alger called the “sickly” season. As Miles readied a “reconnaissance in force” to launch that fall, he ordered General William R. Shafter to assemble V Corps at Tampa Bay, Florida. Captain John J. Pershing of the 10th Cavalry noted that the port “had not been at all prepared to handle the amount of property or the numbers of men and animals that were concentrated there.” Close to one-fourth of the regulars and volunteers were African Americans, including the “Buffalo Soldiers” redeploying from the Trans-Mississippi West. With the public demanding a fast and furious end to the Spanish–American War, the McKinley administration ordered the Army to invade Cuba as soon as possible. Numbering close to 17,000, the anxious men of V Corps boarded transports in early June and steamed toward Santiago.

  Nearly 40 miles east of Santiago, Sampson secured a forward repair and coaling station known as Guantánamo Bay. On June 10, a battalion of marines disembarked from the U.S.S. Panther on the eastern side of the harbor. Commanded by Colonel Robert Huntington, they overcame enemy resistance to secure the base in a few days.

  Shafter chose to land V Corps closer to Santiago at Daiquirí and Siboney, where American troops went ashore after June 21. He ignored the plans of the Navy regarding a quick strike against the harbor defenses, deciding instead to march inland along a muddy road. In spite of insufficient horses, General Henry W. Lawton commanded the vanguard of the advancing columns. General Joseph Wheeler, an ex-Confederate officer, urged his dismounted cavalry forward, as he put it, against “the Yankees – dammit, I mean the Spaniards!” He directed a pedestrian drive to Las Guásimas, where U.S. forces pressured the Spanish lines to break.

  U.S. forces paused near the San Juan Heights east of Santiago. On July 1, Shafter dispatched Lawton with 6,500 soldiers to attack El Caney to the northeast. Instead of a brief skirmish, the Battle of El Caney lasted over 12 hours. Spanish soldiers made a last stand at a blockhouse, while hundreds perished in the trenches nearby. Though eventually victorious in combat, the Americans counted 81 dead and 360 wounded.

  Americans attacked the San Juan Heights on the same day, although the corpulent Shafter became too ill from gout to participate. As the thin blue line advanced through the San Juan River, a U.S. Signal Corps' observation balloon permitted Spanish gunners to locate their movements. Furthermore, the black powder smoke from American firearms allowed Spanish riflemen to spot their targets in the tall grass. U.S. soldiers were pinned down until midday, when Gatling guns began clearing San Juan Hill on the left and Kettle Hill on the right.

  Suddenly, the 1st U.S. Volunteer Cavalry – popularly known as the “Rough Riders” – charged into a hailstorm of bullets on foot. Commanded by Colonel Leonard Wood, the unit included cowboys, Indians, and Ivy Leaguers as well as Lieutenant Colonel Roosevelt. During what he called a “crowded hour,” they joined with several regiments of “Buffalo Soldiers” at the top of Kettle Hill. General Jacob F. Kent's division pressed San Juan Hill to the left, while Roosevelt scrambled down Kettle Hill and into the valley that separated them. After sprinting to the summit of San Juan Hill, he and his men swung their hats in the air and cheered their moment of triumph. He later received the Medal of Honor for his actions. Labeled the Battle of San Juan Hill by war correspondents, the fighting at the heights took 205 American lives and wounded another 1,180.

  As the day of battle ended, the Spaniards retreated to a defensive line around Santiago. Admiral Sampson went ashore to meet with Shafter, while Admiral Cervera attempted to steer the Spanish vessels out of Santiago Bay. Commodore Winfield S. Schley, Sampson's second in command, directed six warships in the Battle of Santiago Bay on July 3. “Fire steady, boys,” he shouted to his crew, “and give it to them.” With the loss of only one American sailor, he ran three enemy warships aground while sinking and damaging five more. A short bombardment of the city followed. Even though Shafter continued to flounder on the island, the arrival of reinforcements from the U.S. convinced the Spanish garrison to surrender two weeks later. In a humanitarian gesture, the bluecoats shared canned meat, hardtack, beans, bread, and coffee with their captives. Consequently, the Navy transported thousands back to Spain.

  Thanks to the Navy's control of the waters, the American Red Cross entered Cuba. At the age of 77, Clara Barton led nurses and doctors to the Army camps outside Santiago. She described “a few little dog tents” at the V Corps Hospital, where the bloodied men huddled together in misery. Many rested motionless on the wet ground under the starry night. “The operating tables were full of the wounded,” she lamented. The nurses toiled for hours to keep the life in each body “that seemed fast oozing out.” The Army's disarray that summer turned scores of civilian volunteers into lifesavers.

  With Spain reeling from the Army's blows, Miles directly entered the fray in the Caribbean. After landing at Siboney, he organized U.S. forces for an operation to seize Puerto Rico. More than 3,000 soldiers sailed from Guantánamo on July 21 and arrived at Guánica a few days later. After securing the highway and railroad at Yauco, the Americans took the city of Ponce without a fight. In less than a week, almost 12,000 troops controlled the
southern rim of the island. Miles issued a terse proclamation, promising that his men would bear “the banner of freedom, inspired by a noble purpose to seek the enemies of our country and yours, and to destroy or capture all who are in armed resistance.” Four columns drove toward San Juan but encountered only light resistance, which resulted in four U.S. fatalities and 40 wounded. Because the Puerto Ricans generally welcomed the Americans, hostilities on the island ended in mid-August.

  Meanwhile, the McKinley administration ordered nearly 15,000 soldiers to the Philippines that summer. General Wesley Merritt assumed command of VIII Corps while preparing to assail the city of Manila. “I do not yet know whether it is your desire to subdue and hold all of the Spanish territory in the islands,” he wrote to the commander-in-chief, “or merely seize and hold the capital.” However, Dewey and Spanish officials agreed to a “sham” battle that kept the Filipino insurrectos on the sidelines. Supported by U.S. warships, Merritt's attack began on August 13. With token opposition from 13,000 Spaniards, the Battle of Manila cost the Americans six killed in action and 105 wounded.

  “It has been a splendid little war,” wrote John Hay, the American ambassador to Great Britain. After he became the Secretary of State, he negotiated a formal end to the Spanish–American War. With France acting as an intermediary, the U.S. and Spain agreed to an armistice in August but haggled over terms until December. According to the Treaty of Paris, the U.S. acquired the Philippines, Puerto Rico, and Guam. Furthermore, Cuba was promised independence. Madrid received $20 million from Washington D.C. in compensation for the loss of the Philippine islands. The Stars and Stripes flew over Wake Island as well. Hence, the outcome of the war greatly expanded the global reach of the U.S.