Page:American Boy's Life of William McKinley.djvu/295

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OF WILLIAM McKINLEY
251

President who hurried the Regulars, the Rough Riders, and other troops into Cuba, and who ordered that the blockade of Santiago Bay must be made absolutely perfect. Not only this, but he sent a part of the army, under General Miles, into Porto Rico to subdue that Spanish possession, and asked the War Department to hold a fleet of ships in readiness to harass the coast of Spain itself, should it become necessary to do so. Throughout the whole contest he showed himself really and truly not alone the Chief Magistrate, but also the Commander in Chief of the Army and the Navy.

With her war-ships at the bottom of the sea, and her army around Santiago and in Porto Rico reduced and hemmed in, Spain could scarcely hope to continue the struggle, and soon came a cessation of hostilities pending negotiations for peace. The matter was placed in the hands of President McKinley and his advisers, and on August 9, Spain accepted the terms of peace as offered by our President. Thus the war with Spain came to an end.