Wheeler were sick. No telephone service had been installed, and before the battle was well under way the regiments became hopelessly confused. At that point the subordinate officers took charge, and began to get results. The most famous episode in the first real fighting was the capture of San Juan Hill, one of the keys to Santiago, a mile and a half away. The military records show that the Spanish block-house on the Hill was captured by an infantry detachment under Hawkins. HAI After it was taken, Roosevelt-second in command of a cavalry regiment known as the Rough Riders-advanced from the neighboring Kettle Hill, and occupied the trenches north of the block-house. By July 3, the fighting at that point was over, but Shafter felt that he could not take Santiago by storm. He sent a cablegram to the War Department, announcing that he was "seriously considering withdrawing about five miles." Fortunately the War Department ordered him to stand his ground. On the same day, Sunday, the Spanish fleet made its ill-fated attempt to escape from Santiago Harbor. The Americans sighted the vessels at about nine thirty; by one fifteen Cervera's fleet was destroyed. This naval victory was followed by a prompt demand for the surrender of the Spanish forces in Santiago. This was refused, but after the city was bombarded, the commander announced his readiness to surrender. On the 17th of July the surrender took place. After the fall of Santiago, General Miles began the conquest of Porto Rico, a task which he had almost completed when the peace negotiations brought hostilities to an end. In this campaign the American losses amounted to three killed and forty wounded. The last military episode of the war was the capture of Manila, August 13. By the first of August the health of the American army in Cuba had become alarming. Typhoid and yellow fever proved to be far more dangerous than Spanish bullets, and if the Spaniards had held out a few weeks longer, the American forces would have been utterly incapacitated. By August 3 the situation had become so bad that several officers, including Wheeler, Lawton, and Roosevelt, addressed a "round robin" to General Shafter, in which they made known the plight of their men. "This army must be moved at once or it will perish. As an army it can be safely moved now. Persons responsible for preventing such a move will be responsible for the unnecessary loss of many thousands of lives." This very unmilitary but sensible communication had its effect, and before the end of August the troops were transferred to a camp at Montauk Point, Long Island. Of the thirty-five thousand who passed through there, twenty thousand were ill. The majority, after two or three years convalescence, recovered their health. In Montauk, at the end of the summer, after the war was over, the troops received their equipment of thin clothing. PEACE Peace negotiations began on July 18, when the Spanish authorities asked the French government to ask for terms in its behalf. On July 26, the French ambassador in Washington presented a note to McKinley, in which the Spanish government expressed a desire to know how the Cuban question might be settled. On July 30, the President outlined the terms of peace: the immediate evacuation of Cuba, and the relinquishment of Spanish sovereignty; the cession of Porto Rico, and one of the Ladrones; and the occupation by the United States of Manila, pending the conclusion of a treaty of peace, which should determine the status of the Philippines. After the preliminary agreement had been signed, commissioners representing the two powers met at Paris. President McKinley appointed his Secretary of State, William R. Day, Senators Davis and Frye, Republicans, Senator Gray, Democrat, and Whitelaw Reid, editor of the New York Tribune. The make-up of the peace commission served to illustrate McKinley's method of dealing with Congress. Appreciating the fact that the Senate would have the deciding voice in any treaty which was made, he aimed to secure the approval of that body by placing conspicuous members of both parties on the commission itself. Among the commissioners there was a general agreement on certain points. Cuba was to be free, and Porto Rico was to go to the United States. The Spanish tried to saddle on Cuba certain debts which Spain had contracted before the war, for which Cuban revenues had been pledged as security. These bonds were held in France. The American commissioners refused to consider the proposal and Spain finally yielded. Concerning the Philippines there was more uncertainty, and more discussion. Both the people and the government of the United States were puzzled as to their disposal, and as is not infrequently the case, those who knew the least about them were the most cocksure in proclaiming what ought to be done. "I know what I'd do if I was Mack," said Mr. Hennessey, "I'd hist a flag over th' Ph'lippeens, an' I'd take in the whole lot iv them." "An' yet," said Mr. Dooley, "tis not more thin two months since ye larned whether they were islands or canned goods." Spain assumed that the islands should be restored to her. The war had been begun over Cuba, and the Spanish government reasoned that the surrender of Cuba ought to satisfy the United States. But public sentiment in the United States became less and less inclined to surrender them. Acquisitiveness had never been entirely wanting in American character, and the appeal of "Manifest Destiny" was not cold. Furthermore, it was daily becoming more certain that even if the American forces were withdrawn, Spanish power could not be reëstablished. The war had let loose an active native insurrection against Spanish authority in the Philippines. With the United States withdrawn, and with Spain forced out, some European power would have jumped into the opening. The leader in the Filipino insurrection, Aguinaldo, was not making a favorable impression. He and his followers, with true native amiability, had announced their intention of killing every Spaniard luckless enough to fall into their hands. All things considered, it seemed that the easiest way out was for the United States to retain control of the Philippines, paying Spain twenty million dollars for her improvements in the islands. The final treaty was signed on December 10, 1898. Spain relinquished all claim of sovereignty over Cuba, and the United States assumed the responsibility of occupying the island, and restoring order. Spain ceded to the United States Porto Rico, Guam, and the Philippines. The treaty also provided that "the civil rights and political status of the native inhabitants of the territories hereby ceded to the United States shall be determined by the Congress." In the Senate there was considerable opposition to the territorial sections of the treaty, on the ground that the Constitution gives the Federal government no power "to acquire territory to be held and governed permanently as colonies." Senator Hoar of Massachusetts declared that the proposal to acquire and hold the Philippine Islands was in violation of the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the whole spirit of American institutions. CHAPTER LXI BEGINNINGS OF IMPERIALISM The War with Spain and its resulting territorial acquisitions, carried the United States away from its traditional policy of isolation, and brought into play forces and policies which were characterized as un-American. Cuba of course did not become an American colony; on the contrary there was a general agreement that the island should enjoy "independence," but the authorities were far from being in accord with reference to the meaning of that general term. It was clear for example that the United States could not withdraw at once, and leave the people to their fate. When the Spanish relinquished their hold all governmental organization collapsed; for a time at least the United States would be compelled to exercise supervision. Because of the nature of the struggle for independence, conditions in Cuba were appalling. Everywhere there was filth and devastation, and the ignorant Cubans were helpless. The United States had to care for the sick and the dying, and in general, clean up the island. CUBAN GOVERNMENT Under the supervision of the authorities at Washington a provisional government was established in Cuba, with General Leonard Wood in charge. He displayed not only energy but unusual ability as an administrator. The Americans built roads, made provision for schools, and introduced a certain amount of order into the tangle of Cuban finance. Perhaps the greatest progress of all was made in sanitation. Major Walter Reed, an army physician, discovered that yellow fever was carried by a variety of mosquito. Once that fact was demonstrated, it was possible to stamp out one of the greatest scourges to tropical health. Hitherto white people residing anywhere in the American tropics had been always in danger of this disease. Now, in those sections which have the good sense to follow certain simple rules, yellow fever has practically disappeared. By 1900 General Wood's provisional government had done its work so well that the Cubans were considered ready to take charge of |