On July 13 General Miles arrived at the front and assumed personal command of the army around Santiago. Negotiations for the peaceful surrender of the city had been going on for several days between General Shafter, commander of the American forces, and General Toral of the Spanish army, but it was not until the 16th that a final agreement was reached. On this date conditions of surrender were offered, the principal articles of which were as follows:
First, that all hostilities shall cease pending the agreement of final capitulation.
Second, that the capitulation includes all the Spanish forces and the surrender of all war material within the prescribed limits.
Third, that the transportation of the troops to Spain shall be furnished at the earliest possible moment, each force to be embarked at the nearest port.
Fourth, that the Spanish officers shall retain their side arms and the enlisted men their personal property.
Fifth, that after the final capitulation the Spanish forces shall assist in the removal of all obstructions to navigation in Santiago harbor.
Sixth, that after the final capitulation the commanding officers shall furnish a complete inventory of all arms and munitions of war and a roster of all soldiers in the district.
Seventh, that the Spanish general shall be permitted to take the military archives and records with him.
Eighth, that all guerrillas and Spanish irregulars shall be permitted to remain in Cuba, giving a parole that they will not again take up arms against the United States unless properly released from parole.
Ninth, that the Spanish forces shall be permitted to march out with all the honors of war, depositing their arms to be disposed of by the United States in the future, the American commissioners to recommend to their Government that the arms of the soldiers be returned to those "who so bravely defended them."