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YOUNG PEOPLES' HISTORY
OF THE
WAR WITH SPAIN
BY
PRESCOTT HOLMES
WITH EIGHTY-SIX ILLUSTRATIONS
ALTEMUS' YOUNG PEOPLE'S LIBRARY
Copyright 1900 by Henry Altemus Company
PHILADELPHIA
HENRY ALTEMUS COMPANY
[Illustration: (Decorative Frame)]
[Illustration: BATTLE OF MANILA FROM THE DECK OF THE PETREL.]
INTRODUCTORY.
[Illustration: (Battle at sea)]
The brief war between the United States and Spain was the outgrowth of
the humanity of the American people and their love of fair play. They
did not stand idly by when Spain was literally starving the people of
Cuba into subjection to her will, but freely and generously sent food,
medicine and clothing to the sufferers.
When Spain's cruelty to the Cubans became intolerable to the civilized
world, the United States intervened in the name of humanity and right,
and demanded that the oppression should cease. Spain resented this,
and the war followed.
Much has been said and written regarding our conduct of the war, and
the grave scandals that arose from it; but it is not the purpose of
this volume to discuss these other than to say that, the work of the
navy was clean and beyond question, while it is clear to every one
that there was gross mismanagement on the part of army officials.
The army performed as splendid achievements as the navy, but did it
under much greater difficulties. Regulars and volunteers fought side
by side, and equally deserve our praise; but they were corralled in
filthy camps, stowed between the dirty decks of crowded transports,
and despatched to Cuba in a manner of which a cattle shipper would be
ashamed. They were flung against the ingenious defences of the
Spaniards, cold, wet and hungry, and to their indomitable spirit alone
we owe the victories in Cuba.
The boys and girls of America cannot fail to be deeply interested in
the story of the splendid deeds of our army and navy in the year of
our Lord 1898, and it is for them that this history has been prepared.
[Illustration: (Soldiers encampment)]
YOUNG PEOPLES' HISTORY OF THE WAR WITH SPAIN.
CHAPTER I.
THE CAUSE OF THE WAR.
[Illustration: (Battle at sea)]
On April 21st, 1898, a war began between the United States and Spain.
All the other countries of the world felt an interest in it, but did
not take any part in it. They were what we call "neutral"--that is,
they did not help either side.
As soon as the war was proclaimed a great wave of excitement swept
through the United States, from shore to shore. Flags were hung out in
every city and town; thousands of men offered to serve in the
army--volunteers they were called; and many persons offered to help in
other ways. The people were not glad that war had begun, but they felt
that their country was doing right, and that they ought to support her
efforts.
And what was the cause of the war? Spain, a large country across the
Atlantic Ocean, in the southwestern part of Europe, owned some of the
islands, called "West Indies," near the United States. Spain had been
unjust and cruel to the people living in one of these islands, for
many years. Several times the unhappy islanders tried to drive the
Spanish from the island, and set up a government of their own, but
Spain sent so many soldiers there that they could not get their
freedom. They fought bravely, however, but matters kept getting worse
and worse, and at last Spain sent a very cruel general to take charge
of affairs in the island. His name was Weyler, and he determined to
conquer the islanders. After a while he found he could not do it by
fighting them, so he sent his soldiers to drive those who were not
fighting away from their homes and farms and make them live in or near
the large cities. When he had done this, the people had no way to earn
money to buy food for themselves and their families, and soon they
began to get sick and to die of starvation. The cruel Weyler would not
give them anything to eat, and so they died by thousands.
[Illustration: Cuban Flag.]
When this dreadful state of affairs became known in the United
States, kind people sent several ship-loads of food and medicines and
clothing to the sufferers. This did a great deal of good, but all the
poor people could not be reached and they continued to die. Finally,
the United States told Spain that she ought not to have such a cruel
man at the head of affairs, and after a while Spain sent another
general to take his place. This new governor's name was Blanco, and he
really tried to help the poor people, but Spain had very little money
to send him to buy food for them, and so they went on dying. The
soldiers, too, were in a very bad condition; they had not been paid
for a great many months; they did not have enough to eat, and so they
too sickened and died by thousands. You can see that unless something
was done to help the poor people, they would all die and their
beautiful island would become a wilderness.
Besides being very proud, Spain was very poor. She had spent millions
of dollars trying to conquer the islanders, and had no money to buy
food for the sufferers that she had driven from their homes and
huddled like cattle in yards and gloomy inclosures. So she asked the
United States to help feed them, and the Red Cross Society, of which I
will tell you later, sent hundreds of tons of food, medicines and
clothing to them. These supplies were distributed by competent
persons, and the relief was very great, but very soon some of the
Spaniards began to say that the United States had no business to
interfere in the affairs of the island, and to stir up the people.
The feeling became so strong that our representative, Consul-General
Lee, notified the authorities in the United States that, the lives and
property of American citizens living in the island were not safe. It
was for this reason that the battleship Maine was sent to Havana, the
chief city of the island. I will tell you about this ship later.
[Illustration: President McKinley.]
Well, in spite of all that the United States had done to help Spain,
matters grew worse, and finally the United States was obliged to tell
Spain that, unless she took her soldiers away from the island and let
the people govern themselves, she would help them to become a free and
independent nation. When Spain received this message, she regarded it
as a declaration of war, and both sides prepared for the conflict.
But before telling you about the war, shall I tell you something about
the island and the group to which it belongs?
[Illustration: Map of the West Indies.]
The island is called Cuba. It belongs to a large group of islands
known as the West Indies; a changed form of the old name, West Indias,
given by Christopher Columbus, who thought that by sailing westward he
had reached islands off the shore of India. If you look on a map of
the Western Hemisphere, you will find the West Indies between the
Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean.
Most of these islands are high and rocky, seeming like a chain of
mountains in the ocean, with their tops above the waves. They are in
the tropical regions, and the climate is very hot in the lowlands and
on the coasts, but is delightful in the high parts all the year round.
There are only two seasons--wet and dry. The rainy season begins in
the spring or early summer, and lasts about six months.
What grows in these islands? Delicious fruits: mangoes, oranges,
cocoanuts, limes, pineapples, and bananas; many other valuable crops:
coffee, tobacco, maize, rice, sugar-cane, and cotton; immense forests
of mahogany and other valuable trees. This beautiful vegetation makes
these lands fair to look upon. Then, too, there are many birds with
gorgeous plumage. The islands have gold, silver, copper, and iron
mines; there are quarries of marble; and some kinds of precious stones
are found.
But this region is not a paradise. Snakes and other horrid things
crawl among the beautiful trees and foliage, and poisonous insects
swarm in every place. Earthquake shocks are often felt, and fearful
hurricanes sweep over the islands nearly every year, doing much
damage.
A gentle race of Indians dwelt in these islands at the time of their
discovery, but the Spanish settlers treated the natives so cruelly
that after a few years they had ceased to exist. Many of the Indians
were sent to Spain and other countries and sold as slaves; the rest
were made to work in the mines, and as the Indians had never been used
to such work, they died from the hard labor. In later times some of
the islands were bought from Spain, others were captured, others were
gained by treaty, by the nations to whom they now belong.
At the beginning of the war between the United States and Spain, in
1898, Cuba, as I have already said, belonged to Spain. Spain owned
another large island, Puerto Rico, which we call Porto Rico, a name
meaning "rich port." But I need not say anything more about Porto Rico
at present.
[Illustration: King Alfonso.]
Cuba is the largest and most valuable of the West India Islands. It
was discovered by Columbus about two weeks after his first landing at
San Salvador. According to his custom, he gave it a Spanish name, but
somehow the old name clung to it, and to-day the whole world knows the
island by its native Indian name, Cuba. On account of its position, it
is often called the "Key to the Gulf of Mexico;" and Havana, the
capital, has a key upon its coat of arms. Cuba looks very small upon
our maps, yet it contains nearly as much land as the State of
Pennsylvania.
[Illustration: Queen Regent of Spain.]
Perhaps I should tell you just here that Spain is a kingdom. Its
ruler, King Alfonso XII., died in 1885. His widow, Queen Christina,
has ruled since then, but her son will be crowned king as soon as he
is old enough. The "little king," as he is often called, was twelve
years old when this war began. Christina is a good and noble woman,
and it is not her fault that the people in distant islands have been
badly treated.