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In Cuba with Shafter

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In Cuba with Shafter * ° o e « o ^ 4 -y C . o ° V S , "I A^> vv T v>* .' '. v^ "IrV. " ^ o « * \„ <•> ° o V 5°** ^ J> V* :J ^<* *^*' Copyright, /Sq$, by B. J. F.ilk, Neio York MAJOR-GENERAL WILLIAM R. SHAFTER, U. S. V. IN CUBA WITH SHAFTER BY JOHN D. MILEY LIEUTENANT-COLONEL AND INSPECTOR-GENERAL, UNITED STATES VOLUNTEERS ; FIRST LIEUTENANT, SECOND UNITED STATES ARTILLERY WITH PORTRAITS AND MAPS NEW YORK CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS 1899 UWv Copyright, 1899, BY CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS TWOCOPlEa TROW DIRECTORY PRINTING AND BOOKBINDING COMPANY NEW YORK \ PREFACE In this volume it is my object to put before my readers a clear and intelligent narrative of the Santiago campaign, showing the orders re- ceived and how they were executed ; the plans formed and how they were carried out ; the obstacles met and how they were overcome. The work is not in any sense a criticism of persons or military movements, but a plain state- ment of facts as the writer knows them. At the outbreak of the Spanish-American War I left San Francisco with General Shafter as one of his aides-de-camp, remaining continuously on his staff until the present, and for that rea- son feel competent to speak from knowledge. J. D. MI LEY, Lieutenant- Colonel and Inspector- General United States Volunteers. Governor's Island, N. Y., January 5, 1899. x CONTENTS CHAPTER I Assembling at Tampa, i CHAPTER II The Embarkation of the Santiago Expedition, . 15 CHAPTER III The Embarkation of the Santiago Expedition (Continued), 30 CHAPTER IV The Disembarkation, 52 CHAPTER V The Advance on Santiago, 82 CHAPTER VI The Battles of San Juan and El Caney, . 101 CHAPTER VII The Battles of San Juan and El Caney {Con- tinued), 119 vii CONTENTS CHAPTER VIII The Siege of Santiago, 129 CHAPTER IX The Siege of Santiago {Continued), . 148 CHAPTER X The Capitulation, 164 CHAPTER XI The Capitulation (Continued), . .189 CHAPTER XII Re-embarkation, 215 PORTRAITS Major-General William R. Shafter, U. S. V., Frontispiece FACING PAGE General Shafter and Staff at Tampa, . .12 Major-General Joseph Wheeler, U. S. V., . 26 General Calixto Garcia, 54 Brigadier-General H. S. Hawkins, U. S. V., . 68 Brigadier-General William Ludlow, U. S. V., . 76 Brigadier-General A. R. Chaffee, U. S. V., . 84 Brigadier-General J. Ford Kent, U. S. V., . .110 Brigadier-General John C. Bates, U. S. V., . 122 Brigadier-General Samuel S. Sumner, U. S. V., . 140 Brigadier-General Henry W. Lawton, U. S. V., . 152 General Jose Toral, 186 I MAPS Santiago de Cuba and Vicinity, . At end of volume Map showing intrenchments and position of the Fifth Corps U. S. Army and those of the Spanish after the taking of Caney and San Juan Hill, evening of July i, 1898, . At end of volume Map showing intrenchments and position of the Fifth Corps U. S. Army and those of the Spanish at beginning of truce, 12.30 p.m., July 3, 1898, ...... At end of volume Map showing intrenchments and position of the Fifth Corps U. S. Army and those of the Spanish the day of the surrender, July 14, 1898, ...... At end of volume —; IN CUBA WITH SHAFTER CHAPTER I ASSEMBLING AT TAMPA PURSUANT to orders from the War De- partment General Shafter, with his staff Lieutenants R. H. Noble and J. D. Miley, Aides- B. Babcock, Adjutant-Gen- de-camp ; Colonel J. Commis- eral ; Colonel Charles P. Eagan, Chief S. W. Groesbeck, Judge Advocate sary ; Major and Lieutenant Frank Greene, Signal Officer, left San Francisco April 21st for New Orleans, to take command of the United States forces assembling there. He arrived at New Orleans on the morning of the 25th, assumed command, and the following day left for Washington, in obedience to orders. Here he was informed that he had been se- lected to lead the first expedition into Cuba, and instead of returning to New Orleans would pro- ceed direct to Tampa. The expedition was to IN CUBA WITH SHAFTER be in the nature of a reconnoissance to gather in- formation for use in subsequent movements, and to furnish supplies to the insurgents. No exten- sive movement was contemplated at the time, but while waiting for events to shape themselves it was intended to give all possible aid to the Cu- ban insurgents, in order that they might continue to wage warfare against the Spanish troops. The navy entered into its part of the campaign with so much vigor and with such brilliant re- sults that the feeling prevailed throughout the army that there would be little left to do after the navy and insurgents had completed their work. This feeling seemed to be very general until the army finally faced the enemy before Santiago. On the 29th General Shafter received formal orders to remove his head-quarters to Tampa, as- sume command of all troops there, and prepare them for this expedition, which was to be com- posed of Company E, Corps of Engineers ; the Ninth United States Cavalry ; Light Batteries A and F, Second Artillery ; C and F, Third Artil- lery ; B and F, Fourth Artillery ; D and F, Fifth Artillery; and the First, Fifth, Sixth, Ninth, Tenth, Thirteenth, Twenty-second and Twenty- fourth United States Infantry. All these troops ; ASSEMBLING AT TAMPA were either at Tampa or en rotcte for that place. The expedition was to sail under convoy of the navy, on as early a date as possible, with a large quantity of all kinds of supplies for distribution to the insurgents, and also arms and ammunition sufficient to enable the expedition to successfully engage any Spanish troops that might be en- countered. The first landing was to be made on the south coast of Cuba, to communicate with General Gomez, supplying him with arms, am- munition, and food. It was expected that this visit would infuse spirit into Gomez's army, when they realized that the strong power of the United States was actually behind them. After the in- terview with Gomez, the expedition was to pro- ceed to the northwest coast of Cuba and furnish supplies to the insurgents on that coast, unless, in the meantime, the movements of the Spanish navy had been such as to render this hazardous. In that event the expedition was to seek safety in the nearest American port. It was enjoined upon General Shafter that he was expected to stay in Cuba but a few days ; that the expedition was in the nature of a reconnoissance in force and that he should give aid and arms to the in- surgents, injure the Spanish forces as much as possible, and avoid serious injury to his own 3 IN CUBA WITH SHAFTER command. The idea of giving moral and mate- rial aid to the insurgents was now paramount, and the movements throughout the month of May all had that object in view. Hardly had General Shafter reached Tampa when he received orders from the head-quarters of the army, dated April 30th, to delay any movement, for the rea- son that the Navy Department did not feel that ships could be spared at that time to act as a con- voy. Those responsible for the conduct of the war believed that the first object was the destruc- tion of the Spanish sea-power, and that nothing should in the slightest degree interfere with this. While the expedition was not to sail until further orders, active preparation of the transports was to be continued. Care was taken that the lading of the trans- ports should be such as to enable all, or any part of them, to be sent as an expedition whenever the opportunity might arise. In the orders delaying the sailing of the expedition it was suggested that General Shafter confer with the naval officer in command of the blockading squadron on the north coast of Cuba, in order to learn his opinion of the feasibility of convoying the expedition at this juncture. Accordingly, he despatched Gen- eral Lawton on May 4th to Key West, to have 4 ASSEMBLING AT TAMPA an interview with Commodore Watson, then in command. In this interview Commodore Wat- son gave assurance that a small expedition of one or two vessels fitted out to land arms and ammu- nition on the north coast of Cuba could be con- voyed in absolute safety at any time. It was also considered by the Commodore safe to undertake the expedition ordered on April 29th to com- municate with Gomez, but he did not feel that he could undertake to convoy both expeditions at the same time. General Lawton had been in- structed by General Shafter to ascertain definitely the practicability of convoying an expedition of five to seven thousand men as a reconnoissance in force to the northwest coast of Cuba in the vicinity of Mariel. This was pronounced by Commodore Watson to be absolutely safe with- out any consideration of Cervera's fleet. On General Lawton's return on May 7th, General Shafter prepared a letter to the Adjutant-General of the army forwarding General Lawton's report. In his letter he said that there was so much uncertainty about the operations of the Spanish fleet, that he did not at that time consider it pru- dent for his command to sail as a body. He stated further that his expedition would be com- pletely fitted out by May 12th, and he would be 5 IN CUBA WITH SHAFTER ready at any time after that date to execute the orders of April 29th, or to take possession of, and hold permanently, some point on the north coast of Cuba, to be used as a base of operations.
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