Our War With Spain For Cubas Freedom | Page 5

intimate knowledge of Cuba and the

Cubans to be of invaluable assistance to the commanders of army and
navy alike, not only in advice as to the forming of plans, but in
executing them. One who has seen the things knows that to exaggerate
the horrors of Spanish cruelty and the oppression of Spanish rule in
Cuba is an impossibility. No newspaper could have printed the plain
truth of a score of shocking affairs, simply because the public prints are
no place for the exploiting of such tales of vicious crime against
humanity as have been perpetrated. The most sensational tales have
never reached the limits of the truth.
It is hoped that the reader will find in this volume not only a
comprehensive current history of our war with Spain for Cuba's
freedom, but also much of the other matter that will be of interest and
value in considering the future of the liberated island. Its history, its
people, its resources and other salient subjects are included, with
certain matter on Spain and her own affairs, with Puerto Rico and the
Philippine islands, which chapters serve to make the volume a work for
general reference and reading on the whole subject of the war.

TABLE OF CONTENTS.
I. A War for Liberty and Humanity II. How Columbus Found the "Pearl
of the Antilles" III. Spain's Black Historical Record IV. Buccaneering
in the Spanish Main V. Commercial Development of Cuba VI. Beauties
of a Tropical Island VII. Wealth from Nature's Store in the Forest and
Fields of Cuba VIII. The Cubans and How They Live IX. Havana, the
Island Metropolis X. The Cities of Cuba XI. Mutterings of Insurrection
XII. Outbreak of the Ten Years' War XIII. Massacre of the Virginius
Officers and Crew XIV. Operations of the Ten Years' War XV. The
Peace of Zanjon and Its Violated Pledges XVI. Preparations for
Another Rebellion XVII. The Cuban Junta and Its Work XVIII. Key
West and the Cubans XIX. Another Stroke for Freedom XX. Jose Marti
and Other Cuban Heroes XXI. Desperate Battles with Machete and
Rifle XXII. Filibusters from Florida XXIII. Weyler the Butcher XXIV.
Cuba Under the Scourge XXV. Fitzhugh Lee to the Front XXVI.
Americans in Spanish Dungeons XXVII. Maceo Dead by Treachery
XXVIII. Weyler's Reconcentration Policy and Its Horrors XXIX.
American Indignation Growing XXX. Outrages on Americans in Cuba
XXXI. McKinley Succeeds Cleveland XXXII. The Case of Evangelina

Cisneros XXXIII. Work of Clara Barton and the Red Cross XXXIV.
The Catastrophe to the Maine XXXV. Patience at the Vanishing Point
XXXVI. Events in the American Congress XXXVII. President
McKinley Acts XXXVIII. Strength of the Opposing Squadron and
Armies XXXIX. Battleships and Troops Begin to Move XL.
Diplomatic Relations Terminate XLI. First Guns and First Prizes of the
War XLII. Declaration of War XLIII. Call for the National Guard, Our
Citizen Soldiery XLIV. Blockade of Cuban Ports XLV. Spanish
Dissensions at Home XLVI. The Philippines, Puerto Rico, and Other
Colonies of Spain XLVII. Progress of Hostilities XLVIII. Sea Fight off
Manila, Americans Victorious XLIX. Hawaii, and Our Annexation
Policy L. Continued Success for American Soldiers and Sailors LI. The
Invasion of Puerto Rico LII. The Surrender of Manila LIII. Victorious
Close of the War LIV. Personal Reminiscences

INTRODUCTION.
When, on the 22d day of April, 1898, Michael Mallia, gun-captain of
the United States cruiser Nashville, sent a shell across the bows of the
Spanish ship Buena Ventura, he gave the signal shot that ushered in a
war for liberty for the slaves of Spain.
The world has never seen a contest like it. Nations have fought for
territory and for gold, but they have not fought for the happiness of
others. Nations have resisted the encroachments of barbarism, but until
the nineteenth century they have not fought to uproot barbarism and
cast it out of its established place. Nations have fought to preserve the
integrity of their own empire, but they have not fought a foreign foe to
set others free. Men have gone on crusades to fight for holy tombs and
symbols, but armies have not been put in motion to overthrow vicious
political systems and regenerate iniquitous governments for other
peoples.
For more than four centuries Spain has held the island of Cuba as her
chattel, and there she has revelled in corruption, and wantoned in
luxury wrung from slaves with the cruel hand of unchecked power. She
has been the unjust and merciless court of last resort. From her
malignant verdict there has been no possible appeal, no power to which
her victims could turn for help.
But the end has come at last. The woe, the grief, the humiliation, the

agony, the despair that Spain has heaped upon the helpless, and
multiplied in the world until the world is sickened with it, will be