Puerto Rico campaign

In 1890, Captain Alfred Thayer Mahan, a member of the Navy War Board and leading U.S. strategic thinker, wrote a book titled The Influence of Sea Power upon History in which he argued for the creation of a large and powerful navy modeled after the Royal Navy. Part of his strategy called for the acquisition of colonies in the Caribbean Sea that would serve as coaling and naval stations, being strategic points of defense upon the construction of an isthmusian canal. This idea was not new; William H. Seward, a former Secretary of State for various Presidents, among them Abraham Lincoln and Ulysses Grant, had strongly advocated that a canal be built either in Honduras, Nicaragua or Panama, and that the United States annex the Dominican Republic and purchase Puerto Rico and Cuba. The idea of annexing the Dominican Republic failed to receive the approval of the U.S. Senate, and Spain did not accept the 160 million dollars which the U.S. offered for Puerto Rico and Cuba. Since 1894, the Naval War College had been formulating plans for war with Spain. By 1896, the Office of Naval Intelligence had prepared a plan which included military operations in Puerto Rican waters. Not only was Puerto Rico considered valuable as a naval station, Puerto Rico and Cuba were also abundant in a valuable commercial commodity which the United States lacked: cane sugar. On February 15, 1898 USS Maine exploded and sank in Havana Harbor, Cuba. According to the Navy's leading weapons expert, Philip Alger, the explosion was due to a coal fire igniting a reserve magazine of six tons of gunpowder, much of which was already degrading due to the humid climate. However, the United States forwarded an ultimatum to Spain to withdraw from Cuba following the sinking of Maine. In response, Spain broke off diplomatic relations with the United States, and on April 23, 1898, Spain declared war. On April 25, the U.S. Congress declared that a state of war between the United States and Spain had existed since April 20. One of the United States' principal objectives in the Spanish–American War was to take control of Spanish possessions in the Atlantic—Puerto Rico and Cuba—and their possessions in the Pacific—the Philippines and Guam. On April 27, U.S. ships, the monitor , and the armored cruisers , and , bombarded the Spanish fortifications at Matanzas Bay in Cuba. By July 16, an armistice was signed at the Arbol de La Paz (a large ceiba tree) in Santiago de Cuba by U.S. and Spanish forces ending hostilities in Cuba and its waters. The United States then directed its undivided military resources to Puerto Rico. Two leaders of the Puerto Rican section of the Cuban Revolutionary Party, Julio J. Henna and Roberto H. Todd, had written to U.S. President McKinley asking that Puerto Rico be included in whatever intervention was planned for Cuba as early as March 10. They even provided the U.S. government with information about the Spanish military presence on the island. On May 24, 1898, in a letter to Theodore Roosevelt, Henry Cabot Lodge wrote, "Porto Rico is not forgotten and we mean to have it". Spanish preparations On April 21, 1898, the Gaceta de Puerto Rico published a decree of the Spanish-appointed governor of Puerto Rico, Manuel Macías y Casado, which proclaimed martial law for the island, suspending all constitutional rights in preparation for war., declared martial law, resolving to resist the American forces. Casado declared that "Providence will not permit that in these countries which were discovered by the Spanish nation the echo of our language should ever cease to be heard, nor that our flag should disappear before the eyes. ... Long live Puerto Rico, always Spanish. Long live Spain." Casado hoped that a grant of autonomy would ensure that Puerto Ricans would remain loyal to the Spanish Crown. American preparations and given to Edwin Emerson Jr. In the months leading up to the Puerto Rico campaign of the Spanish–American War, the Spanish Crown remained largely unaware that the United States had already begun covert preparations on the island. American military intelligence had successfully inserted a network of spies to gather information on key ports, coastal defenses, and local terrain. Among these operatives were Henry Howard Whitney, Henry Ward, George Bronson Brea, William Freeman, James Dewel, Frederick Ober, and Edwin Emerson, Jr.. Their intelligence would play a crucial role in shaping the U.S. invasion strategy. One particularly notable episode involved Emerson Jr., who, according to an article in Century magazine in September 1898, assumed the guise of a German journalist to gain access to sensitive information. Posing as a reporter, he approached the German consul in St. Thomas and requested the names of Puerto Ricans of German descent whom he could interview. Among the names provided was the Riefkohl family of Maunabo. Upon arriving in Maunabo, Emerson met 14-year-old Rudolph W. Riefkohl and inquired, in German, whether he possessed a map of Puerto Rico, claiming that he had lost his own. Young Riefkohl confirmed that he had a map, though it was too large for Emerson's use. Unaware of Emerson's true purpose, Riefkohl returned home and quickly produced a new, smaller map highlighting the major ports and harbors of the island. This map was then handed to Emerson, who used it to assist U.S. military planning. It is believed by some historians that Emerson later provided the map to the U.S. Army commanding general, Nelson A. Miles, potentially influencing the selection of landing points for the invasion. The significance of this act was later documented when a photostatic copy of Riefkohl's map appeared in the Century article, providing one of the earliest visual records of the intelligence work carried out by American spies in Puerto Rico. This careful blend of espionage, local cooperation, and strategic reconnaissance ensured that when U.S. forces, including the 6th Illinois Volunteer Infantry, departed Camp Alger to join General Miles in Puerto Rico, they did so with an unprecedented level of intelligence about the island's geography and defensive positions. == Naval campaign in Puerto Rico (May 8–August 13) ==

First actions The first engagement between the belligerents occurred on May 8, 1898, when the converted liner captured a Spanish freighter, Rita, in San Juan Bay. On May 9, Yale fought a brief battle with Alfonso XIII, a Spanish auxiliary cruiser, resulting in a Spanish victory. Around this time, Captain Ángel Rivero Méndez was assigned the command of the Spanish forces at the Fortress of San Cristóbal in San Juan. On May 10, when Yale returned to San Juan Bay, Rivero-Méndez ordered his men to open fire on the steamer with an Ordoñez 15-centimeter cannon, the first combat in Puerto Rico of the Spanish–American War. Bombardment of San Juan during the Spanish–American War The Bombardment of San Juan, or the First Battle of San Juan (not to be confused with the Battle of San Juan Hill or the Battle for the Río San Juan de Nicaragua), refers to the first American naval attack on the fortifications of San Juan, during the Spanish–American War. The American naval commanders believed the bulk of the Spanish fleet under Admiral Pascual Cervera y Topete was steaming from the Cape Verde Islands to the Antilles, and ultimately to Puerto Rico. With this understanding, Rear Admiral William T. Sampson and a squadron of ten American warships, the battleships , , , cruisers and , monitors and , torpedo boat , two unidentified auxiliary cruisers, and an unarmed collier had stood out from Havana at noon on May 2 bound for Puerto Rico. Sampson intended to intercept and destroy the Spanish squadron and then move on to attack secondary shore targets: San Juan's castles, forts and batteries. He was unaware that Topete had already eluded them and slipped his squadron into the Bay of Santiago. On May 12, Sampson's squadron arrived at San Juan, finding an empty harbor. Making the best of the situation and as an exercise for his untested gunners, Sampson ordered the bombardment of the city's citadels. Captains Ramón Acha Caamaño and José Antonio Iriarte were among those who defended the city from Castillo San Felipe del Morro. They had three batteries under their command, which were armed with at least three 15 cm Ordóñez cannons. The battle lasted three hours and resulted in the death of Justo Esquivies, the first Puerto Rican soldier to die in the Puerto Rico campaign. Caamaño was awarded the Cruz de la Orden de Merito Militar (the Cross of the Order of the Military Merit) first class for his actions. After causing much damage to the Spanish defenses and receiving minor damage, low on coal and ammunition, Sampson ordered a cease fire and returned to Havana, Cuba, and then on to Key West, Florida, for repairs and supplies. Second Battle of San Juan On June 22, 1898, under the command of Captain Charles Sigsbee arrived at San Juan Bay from Cuba and joined the blockade. Shortly after midday the old Spanish cruiser set off from San Juan to engage Saint Paul with support from shore batteries. Isabel II opened fire on Saint Paul at long range without success in an attempt to break the blockade. , a Spanish destroyer docked in San Juan for repairs, attempted to cover the cruiser's escape with a torpedo attack but was thwarted when her rudder was damaged by a direct hit from Saint Paul. Losing steerage, Terror inadvertently turned broadside, allowing Saint Paul to score direct hits near Terrors waterline, disabling one of her engines and causing her to list. Terror abandoned the attack and returned to port, followed by Isabel II. On June 26, USS Saint Paul was relieved by , which continued the blockade of San Juan Bay. Third Battle of San Juan On June 28, 1898, the American auxiliary cruiser fought with a squadron of Spanish warships. This squadron consisted of one cruiser, two gunboats, and one blockade runner. During the engagement, SS Antonio López, a transoceanic steamer belonging to the Compañía Transatlántica Española carrying a cargo of needed military supplies, was pursued by Yosemite until the Spanish freighter ran aground at Ensenada Honda, Puerto Rico, with her valuable cargo. Captain Caamaño was in charge of retrieving the ship's cargo and the men under his command quickly removed as much of it as possible. The desperate efforts proved fruitful, and nearly the entire cargo was salvaged from the hulk with only minor articles and a cannon that had fallen overboard during salvage attempts being lost. On 15 July, the cruiser arrived to relieve Yosemite, and then quickly finished off Antonio Lopez the next day by firing twenty incendiary shells into the vessel and sinking her off the coast of Dorado. Though Antonio Lopez had been sunk, her cargo was successfully delivered and ensured that any American assault on San Juan would be met with stronger resistance. Caamaño was awarded the Cruz de la Orden de Merito Naval by the Spanish government. The residents of San Juan were furious with Captain Rivero-Méndez and blamed him for the destruction wreaked on their city by American bombardments. Nothing came of those recriminations and Captain Rivero-Méndez was ordered to turn over the keys of all the military installations in San Juan to Captain Henry A. Reed of the U.S. Army after the Treaty of Paris of 1898 was signed. == Land campaign in Puerto Rico (July 25 – August 13) ==

Landing in Guánica The Spanish forces expected the Americans to attack the northern region of the island and concentrated their defenses around San Juan and Arecibo. The Spanish government was also aware of a planned landing by the Americans at Fajardo, located on the east coast and had that town fortified. However, the southern and western regions of Puerto Rico were left with little or no defenses at all. After Cuba was taken, President William McKinley approved the land invasion of Puerto Rico by way of Fajardo, taking into consideration that the Spaniards had fortified San Juan, where they expected the initial attack. A convoy of ships left Tampa, Florida, and on July 21 another convoy, which included USS Yale, USS Massachusetts, USS Gloucester and USS Dixie, departed from Guantánamo for a four-day journey to Puerto Rico. house c.1893 On July 25, General Miles, 1,300 infantry soldiers of the 3,300 total that were assigned for the initial invasion and a convoy of ships, under the command of naval captain Francis J. Higginson of arrived at Guánica Bay. The following Navy ships and Army troopships were part of the convoy: USS Yale with Generals Miles and George A. Garretson embarked, carrying General Guy V. Henry, , , , and the U.S. Army transports Lampasas, Unionist, Stillwater and Specialist. Two captured Spanish ships, Nueces and Rita that had been confiscated by USS Yale as war prizes were also used. "Spanish troops are retreating from southern part of Puerto Rico. This is a prosperous and beautiful country. The Army will soon be in mountain region. Weather delightful; troops in the best of health and spirit. Anticipate no insurmountable obstacles in future results. Results thus far have been accomplished without loss of a single life. In the meantime, Garretson set out of Guánica with his men towards Yauco with the intention of capturing the Yauco rail terminus that ran between that town and the city of Ponce, the largest in the southern region of the island. Miles, upon learning about the lack of discipline of the 6th Massachusetts during the battle, ordered an investigation. The 6th Massachusetts was sent on a hard march from Guánica to Ponce as punishment and the regimental commander, a lieutenant colonel, a major, and a captain resigned upon request. The 25-man Spanish garrison stationed in Fajardo was alerted to the American presence and ordered to withdraw after notifying their superiors in San Juan. When Santiago Veve Calzada, a Fajardo native, realized that the garrison was abandoned and his town defenseless against the Americans, he implored the Spanish authorities in San Juan to dispatch troops to defend Fajardo. Miles then ordered Brigadier General Peter G. Hains and the men of the 3rd Illinois, 4th Ohio and 4th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry Regiments to take Arroyo, a small port east of Ponce that served the larger nearby coastal town of Guayama. Spanish forces were entrenched on the crest of two small hills, between which the road from Arroyo to Guayama ran. The Americans had crossed a stream in front of the hills when suddenly the Spanish opened fire. The Americans protected their position by the stream and increased their firepower as more reinforcements arrived. Traveling by foot, the journey would last two days. The group decided to spend one night in the hot springs resort in the municipality of Coamo known as the Baños de Coamo before continuing their march in the morning. Martínez Illescas immediately ordered the construction of several trenches; while building these, the soldiers were ambushed by an anti-Spanish guerilla force, led by Pedro María Descartes, who managed to kill a member of the Civil Guard. The Americans intended to encircle and defeat the defenses in the city. A group of soldiers entered the city from the backside, having advanced through a river nearby. The rear assault was reinforced by Wilson's army under General Ernst, attempting to trap the allied soldiers in a crossfire, employing a tactic known as the pincer movement. Martínez Illescas was surprised by the attack and led an improvised attack, but he was killed in the crossfire along with his second-in-command, leaving Captain Hita in charge; he ordered his men to surrender. Half of the allied troops ignored the order and continued the attack, Troop C galloped at top speed north from the Baños de Coamo, after finding the resort abandoned by the Spanish. Battle of Asomante The American cavalry pursued the soldiers that had retreated from Coamo, but were not able to reach them until the units had entered Aibonito Pass, a mountain pass more commonly known as Asomante. The region had been prepared by allied Puerto Rican and Spanish troops, who had built a trench and placed soldiers and equipment around the foliage. As soon as the soldiers noticed the presence of the invading unit they opened cannon fire. The cavalry received infantry reinforcements, which were received by battery fire. Six American soldiers were injured in the crossfire, prompting a retreat order. While inactive, the Puerto Rican soldiers deployed in Asomante completed rounds every two hours, working four hours daily. They mostly ate beans, some rice and meat, while conserving several cracker packs for Spanish reinforcements that were supposed to arrive. They slept in improvised huts that did not protect them from the rain. At 10:30 a.m. Captain Ramsay D. Potts led part of the 3rd Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry Regiment through the central highway to Aibonito. Lieutenants Bliss and O'Hern led two units with similar equipment. At 1:00 p.m. the allied troops opened cannon fire as the Americans entered their range. Potts ordered the deployment of two batteries while O'Hern received orders from Commander Landcaster to set a cannon at a distance of a 100 yards to the vanguard's right. Landcaster believed that the opposition had been annihilated, ordered an advance. However, the allied fire was renewed, this time supported by Mauser rifle fire. The sudden attack caused confusion among some soldiers, who reported seeing a second Spanish unit nearby. Fearing that the allied units could capture the American equipment, Landcaster ordered a retreat. Lieutenant Hains was gravely injured by a Mauser bullet, being replaced by Sergeant John Long. Meanwhile, most of Potts' men fled the battlefield. In the crossfire the allied forces overpowered the American infantry, using Mauser fire to disorganize their artillery, during which time four American officials were gravely injured including Long, Lieutenant Harris, Captain E.T. Lee and Corporal Oscar Swanson. Private Frederick Yough, Corporal August Yank, George J. Bruce and Private Sices also received injuries, with Yough subsequently dying. Harris' position was filled by O'Hern, while Swanson was fatally shot while trying to support the artillery. In total the allied units had only an injured artillery man, while the American side had two dead and five injured. Wilson's camp was the first to receive a telegram from General Miles notifying him that the war had ended. The Americans sent Bliss to Asomante, but Nouvilas refused to suspend the hostilities after receiving a telegram from Macías denying any peace treaty. All military actions in Puerto Rico were supposed to be suspended on August 13, after President William McKinley and French Ambassador Jules Cambon, acting on behalf of the Spanish government, signed an armistice whereby Spain relinquished its sovereignty over the territory of Puerto Rico. == Aftermath ==

Treaty of Paris of 1898 , San Juan, October 18, 1898 The Puerto Rico campaign, which began with Yaless capture of Rita on May 8, and ended on December 10, after the Treaty of Paris was signed, was short compared to the other campaigns in the Spanish–American War, because an armistice stopped the hostilities between Spain and the United States on August 12. As a result, the campaign came to an end before its military objective in Puerto Rico was completed, which was to reach and take the capital city of San Juan. Among the factors which benefited the invaders in the short campaign was that the Puerto Ricans who resided in the southern and western towns and villages resented Spanish rule and tended to view the Americans as their liberators. and in the case of Rosendo Matienzo Cintrón and the committee which he headed, greeted General Miles and the invaders in Ponce with banquets. Believing that Puerto Rico would gain its independence, a group of men staged an uprising in Ciales on August 13, 1898, which became known as El Levantamiento de Ciales or the "Ciales Uprising" and proclaimed Puerto Rico a republic. The Spanish authorities who were unaware that the cease fire had been signed brutally suppressed the uprising. Another reason which can explain why the campaign was short and not as violent as the others is that the 1st, 2nd and 3rd Puerto Rican provisional battalions were in Cuba defending that island against the American invaders. The Puerto Rican Battalion suffered a total of 70 casualties which included their dead, wounded, MIAs and prisoners. A group of angry San Juan locals agreed to challenge Cervera to a duel if the commander did not retract his pamphlet. The men drew lots for this honor; it fell to José Janer y Soler and was seconded by Cayetano Coll y Toste y Leonidas Villalón. Cervera's seconds were Colonel Pedro del Pino and Captain Emilio Barrera. The duel never took place, as Cervera explained his intentions in writing the pamphlet, and all parties were satisfied. Under the terms of the Treaty of Paris of 1898, ratified on April 11, 1899, Puerto Rico was ceded to the United States. Spain had lost its last colony in the Western Hemisphere and the United States gained imperial strength and global presence. The United States established a military government and appointed Miles the first head of the military government established on the island, acting as both head of the army of occupation and administrator of civil affairs. Members of the Spanish forces and civilians who were loyal to the Spanish Crown were allowed to return to Spain. By October 18, the Spanish withdrawal from Puerto Rico was completed as the final troops left San Juan for Spain. and others, such as Captain Angel Rivero Méndez, declined the offer and retired from the military. "Americanization" of Puerto Rico '' depicting the people of Puerto Rico, as well as those of the new possessions of the United States, as black savage children (1866–1905), showing Uncle Sam harshly lecturing four black children labelled Philippines, Hawaii, Puerto Rico and Cuba From 1898 to 1900, Puerto Rico was governed by four military officers, commanding general Miles, Major General John R. Brooke (1898–1898), Major General Guy Vernon Henry (1898–1899) and Major General George Whitefield Davis (1899–1900). Miles, Brooke and Henry were experienced veterans of the Indian Wars and, even though they were accustomed to the pacification and administration of the Native Americans, the U.S. Army had no previous experience in the administration of overseas territories. Henry stated: "It was an entirely new duty for American Army officers. There was no precedent in the experience of these so suddenly placed in charge of this our first real colony, upon which their policy could be based." In 1899, U.S. Senator George Frisbie Hoar described Puerto Ricans as "uneducated, simple-minded and harmless people who were only interested in wine, women, music and dancing" and recommended that Spanish should be abolished in the island's schools and only English should be taught. Schools became the primary vehicle of Americanization, and initially all classes were taught in English, which also made for a large dropout rate. The United States exerted its control over the economy of the island by prohibiting Puerto Rico from negotiating commercial treaties with other nations, from determining tariffs, and from shipping goods to the mainland on other than U.S. carriers. The state of civil disorder came to a halt on the island after the military government began to rebuild Puerto Rico's infrastructure, thereby providing employment for many of the discontented and unemployed population, and when the volunteer troops were replaced by the regular army. 54 years after the end of the Puerto Rico campaign In 1947, the U.S. granted Puerto Ricans the right to democratically elect their own governor, which they first exercised in 1948. The Constitution of Puerto Rico was approved by a Constitutional Convention on February 6, 1952, ratified by the U.S. Congress, and approved by President Harry S. Truman on July 3 of that year. Puerto Rico adopted the name of Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico (which translates as "Free Associated State of Puerto Rico"), today officially translated into English as Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, for its body politic. == Markers, monuments and tombstones ==

In Puerto Rico there are no officially-established or built monuments to commemorate the Spanish–American War. There are however various markers where some of the historical events took place and some tombstones which honor both the American invaders and the joint Spanish and Puerto Rican defenders of the island. The National Register of Historic Places also lists various structures and sites in direct reference to the Spanish–American War such as the S.S. Antonio Lopez Shipwreck site in Dorado, the Guánica and Fajardo lighthouses, the Silva Bridge in Hormigueros, and the Yauco Battle Site (and Hacienda Desideria, today known as Hacienda Santa Rita) in Guánica. Some of these sites were also listed as part of a multiple property submission under the title "Spanish American War in Puerto Rico" in 1992. La Piedra de Guánica and other landmarks marking where Major General Nelson A. Miles and his men landed The municipality of Guánica is home to a landmark rock that contains an inscription indicating the place where Major General Nelson A. Miles and his men landed in September 1898. There is also a monument in the town dedicated to the veterans of the Spanish–American War, though the monument does not specify to which veterans it is dedicated, the Americans or the Spanish/Puerto Ricans. Nearby, in Yauco, there is a monumental tombstone dedicated to an unknown Spanish soldier who had fallen in combat and was left there on that very spot. In Coamo there are two markers that indicate the place where Rafael Martínez Illescas and Frutos López died. López's tomb is located in the old cemetery of Coamo next to that of the tomb of the three unknown Puerto Rican soldiers who perished in that conflict. Martínez Illescas' body was transferred in 1916 to his hometown of Cartagena in Spain, where he is buried now. The municipality of Guayama, however, has recently dedicated a monument dedicated to the members of the 4th Ohio Infantry. In Asomante, there is a marker which indicates the place where the "Battle of Asomante" took place. == See also ==