page_title: Puerto Rico Campaign
section_title: Battle of Fajardo
hierarchical_section_title: Puerto Rico Campaign / The land campaign in Puerto Rico (July 25–August 13) / Battle of Fajardo
caption_attribution_description: English: Old Lighthouse in Fajardo, Puerto Rico c.1893 Source http://www.robertosantiago.net/Old_PR_photos/Photo_Index_1.htm
context_page_description: The Puerto Rico Campaign was the American military sea and land operation on the island of Puerto Rico during the Spanish–American War. The offensive began on May 12, 1898, when the United States Navy attacked the capital, San Juan. Though the damage inflicted on the city was minimal, the Americans were able to establish a blockade in the city's harbor, San Juan Bay. On June 22, the cruiser Isabel II and the destroyer Terror delivered a Spanish counterattack, but were unable to break the blockade and Terror was damaged.
  The land offensive began on July 25, when 1,300 infantry soldiers led by Major General Nelson A. Miles disembarked off the coast of Guánica. After controlling the first skirmish, the Americans advanced to Coamo, where they engaged Puerto Rican and Spanish troops in battle. The battle concluded when the allied soldiers retreated after the battle left two dead on their side, and four on the American side.
context_section_description: On August 1, the monitors USS Puritan, USS Amphitrite, armed tug USS Leyden, and collier USS Hannibal were sailing off the coast of Fajardo on the northeast corner of Puerto Rico, when Captain Frederick W. Rodgers, Puritan's commanding officer and senior officer afloat, spotted the "Faro de Las Cabezas de San Juan" (Cape San Juan Lighthouse) that had been designated the landing site for the US Army's invasion of Puerto Rico. Rodgers ordered a reconnaissance landing party ashore, including Puerto Rican volunteers. The sailors advanced to within a one-half mile (0.80 km) of Fajardo, about five miles (8.0 km) from the coast, but withdrew when they encountered Spanish troops.
  The 25-man Spanish garrison stationed in Fajardo was alerted to the American presence and ordered to withdraw after notifying their superiors in San Juan. When Dr. Santiago Veve Calzada, a Fajardan, realized that the garrison was abandoned and his town defenseless against the Americans, he implored the Spanish authorities in San Juan to dispatch troops to defend Fajardo. Losing hope that Spanish troops would come to the town's aid, Veve went to the lighthouse to seek protection for the town from the Americans. On the afternoon of August 5, Veve entered Fajardo with a contingent of bluejackets and United States flags were hoisted over the Fajardo Customs House at the harbor and City Hall.  On the evening of August 6, Captain Charles J. Barclay of Amphitrite ordered 28 sailors and 7 officers commanded by Lt. Charles N. Atwater and Assistant Engineer David J. Jenkins ashore to relight and occupy the Fajardo Light. They were also ordered to quarter 60 women and children of the town's families that were deemed in danger for having sided with the Americans. As the first group of sailors was entering the darkened lighthouse, Naval Cadet William H. Boardman was mortally wounded when his revolver fell from a faulty holster and discharged into his thigh, cutting the femoral artery. His was one of only two Navy deaths during the Puerto Rican campaign.
  On August 4, Governor General Manuel Macías y Casado sent Colonel Pedro del Pino and about 220 troops, including civil guardsmen to recapture the city. When Colonel Pino entered Fajardo on August 7, he found it nearly deserted because the residents, fearing a battle, had fled to the Fajardo Light and the surrounding hills. At close to midnight on August 8, Pino's troops began their assault on the lighthouse. The landing party of Amphitrite's sailors occupying the lighthouse doused the light and signaled the ships offshore, initiating shore bombardment as the naval guns began firing a protective pattern. After two hours, the Spanish forces retreated back to the town. The Americans suffered no casualties, despite a close call when a wayward naval shell smashed through the two-foot (0.61 m) thick walls of the lighthouse within touch of six men but failed to explode. The Spanish losses were two dead and three wounded, including a lieutenant.
  Early the next morning, Barclay decided the continued occupation of the lighthouse was of marginal value and ordered his men back to the ship. A landing party of 30 sailors from Amphitrite and a similar number of U.S. Marines from USS Cincinnati under Lieutenant John A. Lejeune came ashore to secure the area while the 60 Fajardan civilians boarded Leyden for passage to Ponce and the lighthouse was abandoned to the Spaniards. In Fajardo, Pino's men tore down the U.S. flags that flew over the harbor Customs House and City Hall, returning to San Juan after verifying that the lighthouse was abandoned. The contingent of about 20 civil guards that had accompanied Pino, were left to maintain order in the town. The skirmish at Fajardo was the only time that American forces withdrew from a position during the Puerto Rican Campaign.
caption: Faro de Las Cabezas de San Juan (Cape San Juan lighthouse), c. 1898. It is located on the northeastern part of the highest point of Cape San Juan in Fajardo, Puerto Rico.
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