_Chief of Bureau_.
EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, April 25, 1898_.
_To the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of
America_:
I transmit to the Congress, for its consideration and appropriate
action, copies of correspondence recently had with the representative of
Spain in the United States, with the United States minister at Madrid,
and through the latter with the Government of Spain, showing the action
taken under the joint resolution approved April 20, 1898, "for the
recognition of the independence of the people of Cuba, demanding that
the Government of Spain relinquish its authority and government in the
island of Cuba and to withdraw its land and naval forces from Cuba and
Cuban waters, and directing the President of the United States to use
the land and naval forces of the United States to carry these
resolutions in to effect."[7]
Upon communicating to the Spanish minister in Washington the demand
which it became the duty of the Executive to address to the Government
of Spain in obedience to said resolution, the minister asked for his
passports and withdrew. The United States minister at Madrid was in turn
notified by the Spanish minister for foreign affairs that the withdrawal
of the Spanish representative from the United States had terminated
diplomatic relations between the two countries, and that all official
communications between their respective representatives ceased
therewith.
I commend to your especial attention the note addressed to the United
States minister at Madrid by the Spanish minister for foreign affairs
on the 21st instant, whereby the foregoing notification was conveyed.
It will be perceived therefrom that the Government of Spain, having
cognizance of the joint resolution of the United States Congress,
and in view of the things which the President is thereby required and
authorized to do, responds by treating the reasonable demands of this
Government as measures of hostility, following with that instant and
complete severance of relations by its action which by the usage of
nations accompanies an existent state of war between sovereign powers.
The position of Spain being thus made known and the demands of the
United States being denied, with a complete rupture of intercourse,
by the act of Spain, I have been constrained, in exercise of the power
and authority conferred upon me by the joint resolution aforesaid, to
proclaim, under date of April 22, 1898,[8] a blockade of certain ports
of the north coast of Cuba lying between Cardenas and Bahia Honda, and
of the port of Cienfuegos, on the south coast of Cuba, and further in
exercise of my constitutional powers and using the authority conferred
upon me by the act of Congress approved April 22, 1898, to issue my
proclamation dated April 23, 1898,[9] calling forth volunteers in order
to carry into effect the said resolution of April 20, 1898. Copies of
these proclamations are hereto appended.
In view of the measures so taken, and with a view to the adoption of
such other measures as may be necessary to enable me to carry out the
expressed will of the Congress of the United States in the premises, I
now recommend to your honorable body the adoption of a joint resolution
declaring that a state of war exists between the United States of
America and the Kingdom of Spain, and I urge speedy action thereon, to
the end that the definition of the international status of the United
States as a belligerent power may be made known and the assertion of all
its rights and the maintenance of all its duties in the conduct of a
public war may be assured.[10]
WILLIAM McKINLEY.
[Footnote 7: See p. 155.]
[Footnote 8: See pp. 202-203.]
[Footnote 9: See pp. 203-204.]
[Footnote 10: See p. 201.]
JOINT RESOLUTION for the recognition of the independence of the people
of Cuba, demanding that the Government of Spain relinquish its authority
and government in the island of Cuba and to withdraw its land and naval
forces from Cuba and Cuban waters, and directing the President of the
United States to use the land and naval forces of the United States to
carry these resolutions into effect.
Whereas the abhorrent conditions which have existed for more than three
years in the island of Cuba, so near our own borders, have shocked the
moral sense of the people of the United States, have been a disgrace to
Christian civilization, culminating, as they have, in the destruction of
a United States battle ship, with 266 of its officers and crew, while on
a friendly visit in the harbor of Havana, and can not longer be endured,
as has been set forth by the President of the United States in his
message to Congress of April 11, 1898,[11] upon which the action of
Congress was invited: Therefore,
_Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United
States of America in Congress assembled_, First. That the people of
the island of Cuba are and of right ought to be free and independent.
Second. That it is the duty of the United States to demand, and the
Government of the United States does hereby demand, that the Government
of Spain at once relinquish its authority and government in the island
of Cuba and withdraw its land and naval forces from Cuba and Cuban
waters.
Third. That the President of the United States be, and he hereby is,
directed and empowered to use the entire land and naval forces of the
United States and to call into the actual service of the United States
the militia of the several States to such extent as may be necessary to
carry these resolutions into effect.
Fourth. That the United States hereby disclaims any disposition or
intention to exercise sovereignty, jurisdiction, or control over
said island except for the pacification thereof, and asserts its
determination, when that is accomplished, to leave the government
and control of the island to its people.
Approved, April 20, 1898.
[Footnote 11: See pp. 139-150.]
EXECUTIVE MANSION, _May 9, 1898_.
_To the Congress of the United States:_
On the 24th of April I directed the Secretary of the Navy to telegraph
orders to Commodore George Dewey, of the United States Navy, commanding
the Asiatic Squadron, then lying in the port of Hongkong, to proceed
forthwith to the Philippine Islands, there-to commence operations and
engage the assembled Spanish fleet.
Promptly obeying that order, the United States squadron, consisting of
the flagship _Olympia_, _Baltimore_, _Raleigh_, _Boston_, _Concord_, and
_Petrel_, with the revenue cutter _McCulloch_ as an auxiliary dispatch
boat, entered the harbor of Manila at daybreak on the 1st of May and
immediately engaged the entire Spanish fleet of eleven ships, which were
under the protection of the fire of the land forts. After a stubborn
fight, in which the enemy suffered great loss, these vessels were
destroyed or completely disabled and the water battery at Cavite
silenced. Of our brave officers and men not one was lost and only eight
injured, and those slightly. All of our ships escaped any serious
damage.
By the 4th of May Commodore Dewey had taken possession of the naval
station at Cavite, destroying the fortifications there and at the
entrance of the bay and paroling their garrisons. The waters of the bay
are under his complete control. He has established hospitals within the
American lines, where 250 of the Spanish sick and wounded are assisted
and protected.
The magnitude of this victory can hardly be measured by the ordinary
standard of naval warfare. Outweighing any material advantage is the
moral effect of this initial success. At this unsurpassed achievement
the great heart of our nation throbs, not with boasting or with greed of
conquest, but with deep gratitude that this triumph has come in a just
cause and that by the grace of God an effective step has thus been taken
toward the attainment of the wished-for peace. To those whose skill,
courage, and devotion have won the fight, to the gallant commander and
the brave officers and men who aided him, our country owes an
incalculable debt.
Feeling as our people feel, and speaking in their name, I at once sent
a message to Commodore Dewey thanking him and his officers and men for
their splendid achievement and overwhelming victory and informing him
that I had appointed him an acting rear-admiral.
I now recommend that, following our national precedents and expressing
the fervent gratitude of every patriotic heart, the thanks of Congress
be given Acting Rear-Admiral George Dewey, of the United States Navy,
for highly distinguished conduct in conflict with the enemy, and to
the officers and men under his command for their gallantry in the
destruction of the enemy's fleet and the capture of the enemy's
fortifications in the bay of Manila.
WILLIAM McKINLEY.
EXECUTIVE MANSION, _June 1, 1898_.
_To the Congress of the United States:_
The resolution of Congress passed May 9, 1898, tendering to Commodore
George Dewey, United States Navy, commander in chief of the United
States naval force on the Asiatic station, the thanks of Congress and of
the American people for highly distinguished conduct in conflict with
the enemy, as displayed by him in the destruction of the Spanish fleet
and batteries in the harbor of Manila, Philippine Islands, May 1, 1898,
and through him extending the thanks of Congress and of the American
people to the officers and men under his command for gallantry and
skill exhibited by them on that occasion, required the President to
communicate the same to Commodore Dewey, and through him to the officers
and men under his command. This having been done, through the Secretary
of the Navy, on the 15th of May, 1898, the following response has been
received and is hereby transmitted to the Congress:
I desire to express to the Department, and to request that it will be
transmitted to the President and to Congress, my most sincere thanks for
the great compliment paid to me.
WILLIAM McKINLEY.
JOINT RESOLUTION tendering the thanks of Congress to Commodore George
Dewey, United States Navy, and to the officers and men of the squadron
under his command.
_Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United
States of America in Congress assembled_, That, in pursuance of the
recommendation of the President, made in accordance with the provisions
of section 1508 of the Revised Statutes, the thanks of Congress and
of the American people are hereby tendered to Commodore George Dewey,
United States Navy, commander in chief of the United States naval force
on the Asiatic station, for highly distinguished conduct in conflict
with the enemy, as displayed by him in the destruction of the Spanish
fleet and batteries in the harbor of Manila, Philippine Islands, May 1,
1898.
SEC. 2. That the thanks of Congress and the American people are hereby
extended through Commodore Dewey to the officers and men under his
command for the gallantry and skill exhibited by them on that occasion.
SEC. 3. _Be it further resolved_, That the President of the United
States be requested to cause this resolution to be communicated to
Commodore Dewey, and through him to the officers and men under his
command.
Approved, May 10, 1898.
JOINT RESOLUTION authorizing the Secretary of the Navy to present a
sword of honor to Commodore George Dewey, and to cause to be struck
bronze medals commemorating the battle of Manila Bay, and to distribute
such medals to the officers and men of the ships of the Asiatic Squadron
of the United States.
_Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United
States of America in Congress assembled_, That the Secretary of the
Navy be, and he hereby is, authorized to present a sword of honor to
Commodore George Dewey, and to cause to be struck bronze medals
commemorating the battle of Manila Bay, and to distribute such medals to
the officers and men of the ships of the Asiatic Squadron of the United
States under command of Commodore George Dewey on May 1, 1898; and that
to enable the Secretary to carry out this resolution the sum of $10,000,
or so much thereof as may be necessary, is hereby appropriated out of
any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated.
Approved, June 3, 1898.
EXECUTIVE MANSION, _June 27, 1898_.
_To the Congress of the United States:_
On the 11th of May, 1898, there occurred a conflict in the bay of
Cardenas, Cuba, in which the naval torpedo boat _Winslow_ was
disabled, her commander wounded, and one of her officers and a part
of her crew killed by the enemy's fire.
In the face of a most galling fire from the enemy's guns the revenue
cutter _Hudson_, commanded by First Lieutenant Frank H. Newcomb,
United States Revenue-Cutter Service, rescued the disabled
_Winslow_, her wounded commander and remaining crew. The commander
of the _Hudson_ kept his vessel in the very hottest fire of the
action, although in constant danger of going ashore on account of the
shallow water, until he finally got a line made fast to the
_Winslow_ and towed that vessel out of range of the enemy's guns--a
deed of special gallantry.
I recommend that in recognition of the signal act of heroism of First
Lieutenant Frank H. Newcomb, United States Revenue-Cutter Service, above
set forth, the thanks of Congress be extended to him and to his officers
and men of the _Hudson_, and that a gold medal of honor be
presented to Lieutenant Newcomb, a silver medal of honor to each of his
officers, and a bronze medal of honor to each member of his crew who
served with him at Cardenas.
It will be remembered that Congress by appropriate action recognized the
several commanders of ships of war for their services in the battle of
Manila, May 1, 1898.
The commander of the revenue cutter _Hugh McCulloch_, present and
in active cooperation with the fleet under Commodore Dewey on that
occasion (by Executive order under the provisions of section 2757,
Revised Statutes), is the only commander of a national ship to whom
promotion or advancement was not and could not be given, because he
already held the highest rank known to the Revenue-Cutter Service.
I now recommend that in recognition of the efficient and meritorious
services of Captain Daniel B. Hodgsdon, United States Revenue-Cutter
Service, who commanded the _Hugh McCulloch_ at the battle of Manila
(that officer being now in the sixty-third year of his age and having
served continuously on active duty for thirty-seven years), he be placed
upon the permanent waiting-orders or retired list of the Revenue-Cutter
Service on the full-duty pay of his grade.
WILLIAM McKINLEY.
EXECUTIVE MANSION, _June 27, 1898_.
_To the Congress of the United States:_
On the morning of the 3d of June, 1898, Assistant Naval Constructor
Richmond P. Hobson, United States Navy, with a volunteer crew of seven
men, in charge of the partially dismantled collier _Merrimac_,
entered the fortified harbor of Santiago, Cuba, for the purpose of
sinking the collier in the narrowest portion of the channel, and thus
interposing a serious obstacle to the egress of the Spanish fleet which
had recently entered that harbor. This enterprise, demanding coolness,
judgment, and bravery amounting to heroism, was carried into successful
execution in the face of a persistent fire from the hostile fleet as
well as from the fortifications on shore.
Rear-Admiral Sampson, commander in chief of our naval force in Cuban
waters, in an official report dated "Off Santiago de Cuba, June 3,
1898," and addressed to the Secretary of the Navy, referring to Mr.
Hobson's gallant exploit, says:
As stated in a recent telegram, before coming here I decided to make the
harbor entrance secure against the possibility of egress of the Spanish
ships by obstructing the narrow part of the entrance by sinking a
collier at that point. Upon calling upon Mr. Hobson for his professional
opinion as to a sure method of sinking the ship, he manifested a most
lively interest in the problem. After several days' consideration he
presented a solution which he considered would insure the immediate
sinking of the ship when she had reached the desired point in the
channel. * * * The plan contemplated a crew of only seven men and Mr.
Hobson, who begged that it might be intrusted to him.
As soon as I reached Santiago and had the collier to work upon, the
details were commenced and diligently prosecuted, hoping to complete
them in one day, as the moon and tide served best the first night after
our arrival. Notwithstanding every effort, the hour of 4 o'clock in the
morning arrived and the preparations were scarcely completed. After a
careful inspection of the final preparations I was forced to relinquish
the plan for that morning, as dawn was breaking. Mr. Hobson begged to
try it at all hazards.
This morning proved more propitious, as a prompt start could be made.
Nothing could have been more gallantly executed. * * * A careful
inspection of the harbor from this ship showed that the _Merrimac_
had been sunk in the channel.
I can not myself too earnestly express my appreciation of the conduct of
Mr. Hobson and his gallant crew. I venture to say that a more brave and
daring thing has not been done since Cushing blew up the _Albemarle_.
The members of the crew who were with Mr. Hobson on this memorable
occasion have already been rewarded for their services by advancement,
which, under the provisions of law and regulations, the Secretary of the
Navy was authorized to make; and the nomination to the Senate of Naval
Cadet Powell, who in a steam launch followed the _Merrimac_ on her
perilous trip for the purpose of rescuing her force after the sinking of
that vessel, to be advanced in rank to the grade of ensign has been
prepared and will be submitted.
Cushing, with whose gallant act in blowing up the ram _Albemarle_
during the Civil War Admiral Sampson compares Mr. Hobson's sinking of
the _Merrimac_, received the thanks of Congress, upon recommendation
of the President, by name, and was in consequence, under the provisions
of section 1508 of the Revised Statutes, advanced one grade, such
advancement embracing 56 numbers. The section cited applies, however, to
line officers only, and Mr. Hobson, being a member of the staff of the
Navy, could not under its provisions be so advanced.
In considering the question of suitably rewarding Assistant Naval
Constructor Hobson for his valiant conduct on the occasion referred
to, I have deemed it proper to address this message to you with the
recommendation that he receive the thanks of Congress and, further, that
he be transferred to the line of the Navy and promoted to such position
therein as the President, by and with the advice and consent of the
Senate, may determine. Mr. Hobson's transfer from the construction
corps to the line is fully warranted, he having received the necessary
technical training as a graduate of the Naval Academy, where he stood
No. 1 in his class; and such action is recommended partly in deference
to what is understood to be his own desire, although, he being now a
prisoner in the hands of the enemy, no direct communication on the
subject has been received from him, and partly for the reason that the
abilities displayed by him at Santiago are of such a character as to
indicate especial fitness for the duties of the line.
WILLIAM McKINLEY.