American History - Part 139 - McKinley - War with Spain - Rough Riders - San Juan Hill
Channel: ListenAndReadAlong
Date: 16/07/2013

Welcome to THE MAKING OF A NATION-- American history in VOA Special English.
The Spanish-American War took place in the late 1800s during the administration of President William McKinley. This week in our series, Harry Monroe and Kay Gallant tell the story of that war.
Unlike other presidents of the late 1800s, William McKinley spent much of his Presidency dealing with foreign policy. The most serious problem involved Spain.
Spain ruled Cuba at that time. Cuban rebels had started a fight for independence. The Spanish government promised the Cuban people equal rights and self-rule-- but in the future. The rebels did not want to wait.
President McKinley felt Spain should be left alone to honor its promises. He also felt responsible for protecting the lives and property of Americans in Cuba. When riots broke out in Havana, he ordered the battleship Maine to sail there.
One night in early 1898, a powerful explosion sank the Maine. More than 250 American sailors died. 
By the time Spain agreed to the demands, McKinley had made his decision. He asked Congress for permission to use military force to bring peace to Cuba. Congress agreed. It also demanded that Spain withdraw from Cuba and give up all claims to the island.
The President signed the congressional resolution. The Spanish government immediately broke relations. On April 25th, 1898, the United States declared war on Spain.
The American fleet arrived in Manila Bay on May 1st. It sailed toward the line of Spanish ships. The Spanish fired first. The shells missed. When the two naval forces were 5000 meters apart, Admiral Dewey ordered the Americans to fire. After 3 hours, Admiral Montojo surrendered. Most of his ships were sunk. 400 of his men were dead or wounded.
American land forces arrived several weeks later. They captured Manila, giving the United States control of the Philippines.
Dewey was suddenly a hero. Songs and poems were written about him. Congress gave him special honors. A spirit of victory spread across the nation. People called for an immediate invasion of Cuba.
Two weeks after the Spanish-American War began, the Army sent a small force to Cuba. The force was ordered to inspect the north coast of Cuba and to take supplies to Cuban rebels. That invasion failed. But the 2nd one succeeded. 400 American soldiers landed with guns, bullets, and supplies for the rebels.
Next, the Army planned to send 25,000 men to Cuba. Their goal was the Port of Santiago on the south coast. American ships had trapped a Spanish naval force there earlier.
One of the commanders of the big American invasion force was Theodore Roosevelt.
Roosevelt had resigned as Assistant Secretary of the Navy when the war started. He organized a group of horse soldiers. Most of the men were cowboys from America's southwest. They could ride and shoot well. Some were rich young men from New York who simply shared Roosevelt's love of excitement. The group became known as Roosevelt's "Rough Riders."
As the Americans landed near Santiago, Spanish forces withdrew to positions outside the city. The strongest force was at San Juan Hill.
The Spanish soldiers used smokeless gunpowder. This made their artillery hard to find. The Americans did not have the smokeless powder. But they had Gatling machine guns which poured a stream of bullets at the enemy.
When the machine guns opened fire, American soldiers began moving up San Juan Hill. Several American reporters watched. Later, one of them wrote this   "I have seen many pictures of the charge on San Juan Hill. But none seem to show it as I remember it. In the pictures, the men are running up the hill quickly in straight lines. There seem to be so many men that no enemy could stand against them.
"In fact," said the reporter, "there were not many men. And they moved up the hill slowly, in a close group, not in a straight line. It seemed as if someone had made a terrible mistake. One wanted to call to these few soldiers to come back."
The American soldiers were not called back. They reached the top of San Juan Hill. The Spanish soldiers fled. "All we have to do," an American officer said, "is hold on to the hill and Santiago will be ours."
The victorious United States demanded independence for Cuba. It demanded control over Puerto Rico and Guam. And it demanded the right to occupy Manila. The two sides agreed quickly on the terms concerning Cuba, Puerto Rico, and Guam. But they could not agree on what to do about the Philippines.
Spain rejected the American demand for control. It did not want to give up this important colony. Negotiations on this point of the peace treaty lasted for days.
That will be our story next week.