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SPANISH-AMERICAN WAR 1898 "The deficiency in transportation was the worst evil with which we had to contend, serious though some of the others were."
Colonel
Theodore Roosevelt |
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When the Battleship MAINE blew up in Santiago Bay, Cuba on 15 February 1898, the media blamed the Spanish. Outraged by stories of Spanish atrocities in Cuba, Americans wanted to liberate the island from Spanish rule. The U.S. also wanted to establish overseas colonies and had financial interests in the sugar cane industry. Propaganda through the American newspapers agitated the country into war hysteria. The Spanish American War was declared on 25 April 1898. The primary issues between the United States and Spain involved the Spanish island colonies in the Caribbean Sea and the Pacific Ocean. |
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Getting to Tampa When the President called for troops to invade Cuba, important arrangements were made with the railroads to move the troops to Tampa. The railroads proved to be very successful in their efficiency. The railways moved 17,000 officers and 435,000 enlisted men at low rates and in reasonable comfort.
Above, members of the 21st Infantry load Louisville & Nashville Railroad box cars heading for Port Tampa, Florida. Photograph by Lieutenant A. Springer.
By 18 May, more than 1,000 freight cars jammed the Tampa yards. Trainloads of troops, equipment, and supplies were eventually backed up as far as Columbia, South Carolina. In the photo above, the ‘regimental luggage’ of the 157th Indiana Volunteer Infantry arrives at Tampa.
Above, this stereoscope view is of Roosevelt’s Rough Riders arriving in Tampa. A stereoscope is a device which creates a three-dimensional view of double photographs. They were very popular at the turn of the century. |
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Contract Transports for Cuba It was a tremendous task to assemble transport vessels. For Cuba alone, 36 contract vessels were fitted for men, horses, guns and carriages, and collected at Tampa within seven weeks. General William R. Shafter had orders from the War Department to load men and equipment on the transports. But the logistics snarl was too complicated him to unravel. He held conferences day and night with his subordinates, but they were still baffled. He finally supervised the loading himself, using a packing case as a desk and two cracker boxes to sit on.
Above, contract transports at the port of Tampa. |
“Hell Won’t Be So Crowded,” Port of Tampa, 1898. Oil. Artist: Clinton Helms, 2002. On left, Teddy Roosevelt confronts General Shafter about boarding the Rough Riders. Original painting in the US Army Transportation Museum.
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Port of Tampa Port Tampa was selected as the port of debarkation, not for its facilities, but for its close proximity to Cuba. In 1898, Tampa was little more than a small tourist port, built to accommodate small steamers bound for the Florida Keys. The pier was a long narrow channel along a strip of land. Loading the ships was accomplished by barefoot stevedores who carried cargo on their backs across fifty feet of soft sand.
Above, the confusion at the Port of Tampa, 1898
Above, waiting to board the transports, Port Tampa 1898. Within a few hours after the order to embark was given on 14 June, 17,000 men with horses, equipment, ammunition and food were safely aboard transports. These men included 13,000 infantry, 3,000 cavalry, 500 artillery, 200 engineers, 300 hospital and signal corps.
“Embarking for Cuba,” watercolor by Charles Johnson Post. U.S. Army Art Collection
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LIFE ON A MILITARY TRANSPORT
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Steaming towards Cuba
On 14 June, the convoy of 36 transports steamed out of Tampa Bay, carrying 16,000 men, 2,300 horses, 38 pieces of artillery, 200 wagons, and 7 ambulances.
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LANDING IN CUBA Disembarking the troops at Daiquiri, Cuba was very difficult. The docks were inadequate. There was only one iron pier and a small wooden wharf. Soldiers boarded long boats and launches, moving to shore in heavy surf. Several boats capsized or smashed against the pier. Horses and mules were forced overboard to swim ashore. Several horses and fifty mules drowned.
Above, the Army’s steam lighter LAURA, seen on the far left, was able to disembark three companies at a time onto the pier.
Getting onto the docks was challenging, as seen above. By 1800 hours, 22 June 1898, over 6,000 soldiers were ashore. Equal numbers were landed the following day.
Roads in Cuba were poor, and rainy weather made them almost impassable. On a good road, pack animals could carry 220-300 pounds for thirty miles in ten hours. Because of the conditions in Cuba, the load and distance were almost cut in half. In the photo above, mules are shown carrying small arms ammunition. |
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THE PARIS PEACE TREATY The End of the War with Spain The official end to the war with Spain was the Paris Peace Treaty, signed 10 December 1898. Spain ceded the islands of Cuba, Puerto Rico and Guam to US control, and paid $20 million for the Philippines. The acquisition of these islands signaled the entrance of the US on the world stage as a principal player.
 Above, recently returned black troopers of the U. S. 9th and 10th Cavalry, stop for a group photo in New York, September 1898. |
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THE PHILIPPINE INSURRECTION
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Above, the USAT SHERMAN was built as a cattle boat in 1893 by Harland and Wolff at Belfast, Ireland. The US Army purchased the SHERMAN and four other British ships in 1898. They were converted into Army troopships by the Atlantic Transport Company, forming the nucleus of the US Army permanent fleet. The USAT SHERMAN participated not only in the Spanish American War, but also in the Philippine Insurrection, the Boxer Rebellion and World War I. After actively serving the US Army from 1898 to 1923, the SHERMAN was scrapped in 1933.
Line drawings of three decks of the USAT SHERMAN. |
Above, troops disembarking on lighters from the troopship USAT NEWPORT in Manila Bay, Philippines.
Land transportation in the Philippines was more efficient than in Cuba. Above, a water buffalo and cart is used for transporting Army supplies. |
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