This week we Americans will be celebrating the anniversary
of the day the Continental Congress ratified the Declaration of Independence.
Between picnics and fireworks many will also be remembering the terrible and
costly battles that occurred over a three-day stretch in 1863 at Gettysburg .
A significant turn in another lesser known war took place
between July 1 and 4 in 1898.
The Spanish-American War of 1898 is occurring as a
background to my novel, Sooner Than Gold. Though the characters are not
directly involved in the war it does affect their lives and intrude on their
thoughts.
For this reason, I took a closer look than I ever had in the
past at this conflict. It was another of those politically- and
industrially-motivated wars which could have been avoided. The fact we entered
it because of propaganda spouted by some with selfish and/or profit motivations
does not diminish the bravery and patriotism of men (and women) willing to
sacrifice all for their country. In all wars it is most often the bravest and
most honorable who decline to speak later of their experiences.
What Teddy Roosevelt dubbed a “splendid little war” was
promoted initially as a means of supporting the Cuban struggle for independence
from Spain .
Joseph Pulitzer and William Randolph Hearst drummed up public support for
intervention. While their motives may have been sincere it didn’t hurt that the
public clamor for information spurred newspaper sales as nothing had in the
preceding months. It’s also worth noting the U.S.
had important economic interests made uncertain by continued conflict between Spain and Cuba .
President William McKinley sought to broker a peaceful
settlement. That effort was scuttled when an explosion rocked the USS Maine in Havana Harbor ,
killing 266 U.S.
sailors. Though the exact cause of the explosion has never been determined, Spain
was held to blame and the nation went to war.
On July 1, 1898 a combined American force of 15,000 infantry
and cavalry troops launched an offensive that, along with a naval operation by
the U.S. fleet, effectively
doomed Spain ’s
hope of holding onto its colonies. There were setbacks, including a crippling
outbreak of Yellow Fever, but the war was over by August 12, 1898.
A highlight of that July offensive was the taking of San Juan Hill by Roosevelt and his Rough Riders. Credit
is due Teddy and his bully boys. What isn’t acknowledged often enough is that
they might not have made the crest had they not had the support of all four of
the U.S. Army’s “colored” regiments and a force of rebel Cubans.
As to the aftermath of the war, the U.S. Congress promised Cuba Cuba U.S.
also annexed the Spanish colonies of Puerto Rico, the Philippines and Guam .
For the first time in history, the United States
