Destruction of the Maine, 1898.
Cuban independence recognized.
473. The Declaration of War, 1898.--On January 5, 1898, the American battleship Maine anchored in Havana harbor. On February 15 she was destroyed by an explosion and sank with two hundred and fifty-three of her crew. A most competent Court of Inquiry was appointed. It reported that the Maine had been blown up from the outside. The report of the Court of Inquiry was communicated to the Spanish government in the hope that some kind of apology and reparation might be made. But all the Spanish government did was to propose that the matter should be referred to arbitration. The condition of the Cubans was now dreadful. Several Senators and Representatives visited Cuba. They reported that the condition of the Cubans was shocking. The President laid the whole matter before Congress for its determination. On April 19, 1898, Congress recognized the independence of the Cuban people and demanded the withdrawal of the Spaniards from the island. Congress also authorized the President to compel Spain's withdrawal and stated that the United States did not intend to annex Cuba, but to leave the government of the island to its inhabitants. Before these terms could be formally laid before the Spanish government, it ordered the American minister to leave Spain.
[Illustration: THE "OLYMPIA." From a photograph by Irving Underhill.]
Battle of Manila Bay, May 1, 1898.
474. The Destruction of the Spanish Pacific Fleet.--Admiral Dewey, commanding the American squadron on the Asiatic station, had concentrated all his vessels at Hong Kong, in the belief that war was at hand. Of course he could not stay at Hong Kong after the declaration of war. The only thing that he could do was to destroy the Spanish fleet and use Spanish ports as a naval base. The Spanish fleet was in Manila Bay. Thither sailed Dewey. In the darkness of the early morning of May 1, Dewey passed the Spanish forts at the entrance of the bay. The fleet was at anchor near the naval arsenal, a few miles from the city of Manila. As soon as it was light Dewey opened fire on the Spaniards. Soon one Spanish ship caught fire, then another, and another. Dewey drew off out of range for a time while his men rested and ate their breakfasts. He then steamed in again and completed the destruction of the enemy's fleet. Not an American ship was seriously injured. Not one American sailor was killed. This victory gave the Americans the control of the Pacific Ocean and the Asiatic waters, as far as Spain was concerned. It relieved the Pacific seacoast of the United States of all fear of attack. It made it possible to send soldiers and supplies to Manila, without fear of attack while on the way. And it was necessary to send soldiers because Dewey, while he was supreme on the water and could easily compel the surrender of Manila, could not properly police the town after its capture.
Defense of the Atlantic seaboard.
Blockade of Cuba.
475. The Atlantic Seacoast and the Blockade.--No sooner did war seem probable than the people on the Atlantic seacoast were seized with an unreasoning fear of the Spanish fleets. For the Spaniards had a few new fast ships. The mouths of the principal harbors were blocked with mines and torpedoes. The government bought merchant vessels of all kinds and established a patrol along the coast. It also blockaded the more important Cuban seaports. But the Cuban coast was so long that it was impossible to blockade it all. As it was, great suffering was inflicted on the principal Spanish armies in Cuba.
The Spanish-Atlantic fleet.
The American fleet.
476. The Atlantic Fleets.--Before long a Spanish fleet of four new, fast armored cruisers and three large sea-going torpedo-boat destroyers appeared in the West Indies. The Spanish admiral did not seem to know exactly where to go. But after sailing around the Caribbean Sea for a time, he anchored in Santiago harbor--on the southern coast of Cuba. In the American navy there were only two fast armored cruisers, the New York and the Brooklyn. These with five battleships--the Oregon, Iowa, Indiana, Massachusetts, and Texas--and a number of smaller vessels were placed under the command of Admiral Sampson and sent to Santiago. Another fleet of sea-going monitors and unarmored cruisers maintained the Cuban blockade.
The Oregon's voyage.