After Cambridge, Atkins joined the "Manchester Guardian". He left England on 23 April 1898 as the first special correspondent of the newspaper to cover the Spanish–American War of 1898 in both Cuba and Puerto Rico. Atkins covered the Battle of El Caney and accompanied General William Rufus Shafter's army in the Capture of Santiago in Cuba. In Puerto Rico he covered the attack on Asomante Heights and interviewed General Nelson A. Miles.