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Battle of Santiago de Cuba

The Battle of Santiago de Cuba was a decisive naval engagement that occurred on July 3, 1898 between an American fleet, led by William T. Sampson and Winfield Scott Schley, against a Spanish fleet led by Pascual Cervera y Topete, which occurred during the Spanish–American War. The significantly more powerful US Navy squadron, consisting of four battleships and two armored cruisers, decisively defeated an outgunned squadron of the Royal Spanish Navy, consisting of four armored cruisers and two destroyers. All of the Spanish ships were sunk for no American loss. The crushing defeat sealed the American victory in the Cuban theater of the war, ensuring the independence of Cuba from Spanish rule.

Tensions between Spain and the United States worsened over the Spanish conduct during their efforts to quell the Cuban War of Independence, with many Americans being agitated by largely exaggerated reports of Spanish atrocities against the Cubans. In January 1898, fearing the fate of American interests in Cuba from the war, the cruiser USS Maine was dispatched to protect them. Less than a month later, the cruiser exploded while lying at anchor in Havana harbor, killing 266 sailors and inflaming American opinion with Spain being portrayed as the culprit in the American media at the time, despite the fact that the actual cause of the explosion was never conclusively determined. Two months later, war was declared.


The Americans realized that defeating a significant Spanish squadron then stationed in Cuba was vital to ensuring victory in the war. A squadron consisting of six warships were dispatched to ensure success, commanded by both Sampson and Schley, each admiral having his own approach to naval warfare. On July 3, the Spanish squadron steamed out of the harbor to engage with the Americans. The Spanish, totally unprepared and outgunned, made a desperate attempt to reach the open sea with the American battleships and cruisers in hot pursuit. The entire Spanish squadron was sunk with minimal casualties for the Americans, who suffered only two men killed or wounded.


The Americans pulled a total of 1889 Spanish sailors from the water, among them Cervera. The captured Spaniards were treated with respect and care by the Americans, and Cervera gained respect from the American officers for his dignified conduct during and after the battle. Although the battle ensured the American campaign in Cuba would end in a success, tensions soon arose between Sampson and Schley, with various parties in the US Navy and the American public debating over which admiral had made the greater contribution to victory, and the dispute reached the desk of Theodore Roosevelt. The battle remains one of the most significant naval battles in US maritime history.

Background[edit]

Preliminary context[edit]

The battle marked the culmination of the Cuban Wars for Independence, which had been waged by Cuban revolutionaries against Spanish imperial power for several decades. The United States had political, economic, cultural, and ideological interests in Cuba. Within the larger context, many American political leaders, pushed by interventionist public opinion, were outraged by the publication of a private letter by Spanish Minister Enrique Dupuy de Lôme critical of US President William McKinley and by the destruction of the American armored cruiser USS Maine that was touted by newspapers at the time as the "Battleship Maine" for which a naval court of inquiry and American yellow journalism blamed Spain.[3]


Cuban revolutionaries had staged revolts against Spanish colonial authority in the Ten Years' War (1868–1878), the Little War (1879–1880), and the Cuban War of Independence (1895–1898).[4] During the last war, Spanish General Valeriano Weyler established a policy of interning Cubans in camps he called reconcentrados, which functioned as internment camps. The etymology behind the re- prefix is that formerly the Cubans lived in villages but now they were going to be redistributed into new villages under the hypocritical pretext that it was for their own protection. Spanish forces gathered Cubans who lived in the countryside and centralized them in camps, where they could be monitored. As a consequence, many Cubans died of disease and malnutrition. That policy did as much to paint the Spanish as barbarians to the Cuban natives and the United States as any other item of misrule by the Spanish.


With outrage over Weyler's seemingly-brutal policy and sympathy with the Cubans' struggle building, US public opinion pushed for war with Spain after the publication of the de Lôme Letter in February. Enrique Dupuy de Lôme had been appointed the Spanish Minister to the United States in 1892. In that capacity, it was his duty to refrain from allowing his personal beliefs to intervene with his public duty to support peaceful diplomatic relations between the United States and Spain. However, a letter that expressed his opposition to McKinley's foreign policy decisions was exposed, and the New York Journal translated and printed the letter.[5] Many Americans considered it an insult to the nation and to the president.[6]


Although Spain apologized on February 13, 1898, Maine exploded and sank in Havana Harbor, Cuba, two days later and killed 266 American sailors. After a hasty naval court of inquiry, the American press blamed Spain and accused it of planting a mine that sank the battleship. The war with Spain became known as the "Correspondents' War". Journalists not only wrote stories about the conflict but also took part in the fight. In 1898, the prestige of the press ran high.[7]


American society was changing as literacy rates increased. There was a new revolution of readers. As war zones became more open to the press, journalists wrote eyewitness accounts of what was happening. In an era before radio and television, newspapers were the main source of information, opinion, and entertainment for the American public. In New York City, where the population was about 2,800,000, the combined circulation of daily papers was about 2,000,000.[8]


In response to the public's outcry, McKinley took action against Spain. On April 25, the United States declared war and claimed to have had no self-serving interest in Cuba, but some political and military leaders and imperialists believed that war would be an opportunity for the United States to expand territories overseas and to demonstrate its increasing naval power against a weak foe.[9] Moreover, the United States sought to expand economic ties with Cuba for its resources in sugar and tobacco, all of which influenced America's decision to intervene. It was evident that gaining territories across the globe would increase US strength and influence and tap markets for the products of American industry.[10]


Spanish Prime Minister Práxedes Mateo Sagasta did not seek war with the United States. He did not expect victory but knew that Spanish citizens would likely revolt if he conceded to American demands in Cuba. Meanwhile, Spanish naval leaders tried to employ a strategy that would not win the war outright but resist the US Navy as much as possible. On May 1, 1898, American and Spanish naval forces met in the Philippines at the Battle of Manila Bay, which resulted in a decisive victory for the United States. The Spanish government sent their fleet, under Admiral Pascual Cervera y Topete, to defend Cuba and keep an open line of communication with the Spanish garrison there. Cervera opposed that strategy since he believed his squadron lacked the strength necessary to engage the American squadron. He preferred to engage the Americans near the Canary Islands or to mount an attack against the American coast, but he was overruled by his superiors in Madrid.[11] Cervera's own misgivings reveal the seriousness of the situation faced:

Sampson-Schley controversy[edit]

The American victory bred controversy in the ranks of the naval officer corps over the question of the commanding officer who deserved credit for the victory. Should it be Sampson, who was in operational command of the fleet, but absent when Cervera's force engaged the Americans, or Schley, who remained in tactical command during Sampson's absence and who saw the fight to a successful close from the bridge of Brooklyn? The controversy between the two officers began almost immediately after the conclusion of the battle.


At the conclusion of the battle, Sampson's flagship New York approached Brooklyn. Schley sent the message by signal flag: "The enemy has surrendered" and "We have gained a great victory." Against common practice at the end of a victorious battle, Sampson did not respond with the expected congratulatory remark, but rather, according to historian Joseph G. Dawson, "the answering signal was terse and seemed needlessly brusque."[58] After the messages were exchanged, more tension grew between the two officers when Schley requested for he and his crew to "have the honor of the surrender of the Cristobal Colon." With disregard to Schley and the other commanding officers, Sampson cabled Secretary Long, "The fleet under my command offers the nation as a Fourth of July present the whole of Cevera’s fleet." He invoked General William T. Sherman's message to President Abraham Lincoln after taking Atlanta in 1864 but made no reference to Schley.[59] A day after the news reached the United States, The New York Times published an article with the headline "Sampson's Fourth of July Victory," which expressed gratitude towards Sampson for his leadership during the battle.[60] In Sampson's hometown of Palmyra, New York, a respectful 100 shots were fired for his victory. Following the newspaper headlines were interviews and telegraphs from Sampson's wife, sister, and two sons. Each message displayed praise and congratulations for his accomplishments in the battle.


Less than two weeks before Sampson's battle report was due, reporters sensed that there was tension between the two officers. On July 5, Kentucky Representative Albert S. Berry went on record in favor of Schley by declaring, "Schley is the real hero of the incident. Sampson commands the fleet in those waters, but it was Commodore Schley in command when Cervera and his fleet made the plucky attempt at escape and it was under Schley that every one of that Spanish fleet met its destruction." Berry still did not impugn Sampson but believed that Schley deserved much of the credit for the American victory. The next day, a news report from the Baltimore American declared that "Schley [was] the real hero."[61]


The controversy quickly became a public spectacle inflamed by journalistic sensationalism, popular interest in the recent war, and in the war's celebration of military heroism. On August 9, 1898, the Springfield Republic claimed the controversy to be largely a product of writers determined "to get a brilliant hero out of the Santiago battle at any cost."[62] Many journalists felt that Sampson's "careful, thorough and comprehensive leadership" did not fit the mold of the brash American hero in the era of Rooseveltian masculinity. Just as early motion picture-makers such as Thomas Edison made films celebrating Schley's leadership at Santiago, journalists by and large placed Schley on a pedestal for winning the battle because he was the man standing on the bridge who led the fleet towards the enemy and victory in combat.


The controversy also sharply divided the Navy's officer corps. Alfred Thayer Mahan, author of The Influence of Sea Power upon History: 1660–1783, threw his considerable influence behind Sampson. He argued that it did not matter who was in command during the battle because the "stringent methods laid down" by Sampson brought about the ultimate victory.[63] In Mahan's eyes, the press and the public were robbing Sampson of the credit that he deserved since it was through his overall command that Schley had the means to defeat the enemy.


Within the Navy, the controversy sharpened when Long proposed promotions for the two officers. Prior to the war, both men had held the rank of captain, and both men were promoted to rear admiral to reflect their wartime commands. After the war, Long proposed for both officers to be promoted to vice admiral. Sampson had ranked number ten in the Naval Register and Schley ranked number eight.[64] Upon promotion, Sampson would be moved eight numbers up and Schley only six and would rank Sampson higher in the register than Schley. Alexander McClure, editor of the Philadelphia Times, warned President McKinley that the promotion of Sampson over Schley would be a "great injustice" in the eyes of the public. His warning was ignored, and the promotion of Sampson over Schley became permanent on March 3, 1899.[65]


Shortly thereafter, The New York Sun published an article that quoted Brooklyn's navigator, Lieutenant Commander Albon C. Hodgson, as saying that Schley gave orders to turn "hard aport" when first met by the Spanish fleet. That turn, in which Brooklyn had nearly collided with the battleship Texas, was a key critique of Schley's antagonist that Sampson and his supporters had been using to construct an argument of cowardice against Schley. Hodgson asked if he meant to starboard, and Schley replied "no." According to that testimony, Schley apparently said "damn the Texas; let her look out for herself!" Schley, denying any such remark, requested for Hodgson to write a formal statement retracting his accusations. He pointed out that such a statement would damage the reputation of not only Schley but also Hodgson. The latter complied and retracted his statement but requested Schley to write a statement explaining why he retracted his claim. Schley did not answer that request.[66]


Long grew increasingly frustrated by the issue and its detrimental effects within the service. In November 1899, he ordered all officers to refrain from discussing the matter in public. However, debate continued in private, and those against Schley "were determined to destroy his reputation through a court of inquiry" that would investigate Schley's actions and ultimately give credit to the appropriate officer. Schley had nothing to gain from a court of inquiry but was forced to seek a hearing on his own accord in order to clear his name. Outraged by the publication of Edgar S. Maclay's History of the United States Navy, which Schley supporters deemed slanderous to the admiral's reputation, Schley sought and received the court of inquiry.[67]


A court of inquiry opened on September 12, 1901 at the Washington Navy Yard to investigate 24 charges against Schley from his search for Cervera off Cienfuegos to the conclusion of the Battle of Santiago de Cuba. Contrary to public opinion, the court concluded after 40 days of deliberations closely followed by the public and the press that Schley did not "project the right image of a naval officer" because of his failure to act "decisively between his departure from Key West to the time of the battle." In the court's findings, Schley was criticized for his route to the battle and for possibly endangering the Texas. It also referenced the "injustice to Lt. Cmdr. Hodgson when he published only a portion of the correspondence that passed between the officers about the matter." Admiral George Dewey, president of the court of inquiry and a so-called supporter of Schley, offered a dissenting opinion.[68]


Disappointed with the court's conclusions, Schley appealed his case to President Theodore Roosevelt. The president called for an end to all public disputes. Tensions died down temporarily, but arose after the publication of Long's personal memoir in which the former secretary of the navy credited Sampson fully and believed that Schley contributed little to the battle's outcome. Sampson died in 1902 and Schley in 1911, but the controversy left an internecine struggle within the Navy that in some ways tarnished its image after what had otherwise seemed a glorious naval victory.

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Edison Film Sampson-Schley Controversy Tea Party

Edison Film Sampson-Schley Controversy Battle of Santiago