680 Invasion of Cuba. Capture of Santiago. [i898 coast of Cuba, and at San Juan, Porto Rico. On May 14 the fleet of Admiral Cervera, for which the squadrons of Sampson and Schley had both been searching, was reported at Cura9ao. Five days later it entered the harbour of Santiago de Cuba, where its presence was dis- covered only at the end of the month. A blockade was then instituted to prevent its escape ; and a concentration of the American squadrons was promptly effected. On June 22, the advance of the invading army, composed of 14,000 regulars and 2,500 volunteers, under General Shafter, landed at Daiquiri, fifteen miles east of Santiago ; and the movement against Santiago began. On June 23 the Spanish outposts at Las Guasimas were driven in ; on July 1 the outworks of Santiago were gained ; and next day the heights of El Caney and San Juan were, after an obstinate resistance, carried by assault, the Americans losing more than 103 officers and 1492 men, killed and wounded. On July 3 occurred the decisive event of the campaign. The Spanish fleet, in attempting to leave the harbour of Santiago, was met by the American ships and destroyed. Admiral Cervera and more than 1300 of his men were taken prisoners, while about 600 perished. The American ships were repeatedly struck, but none was seriously injured; while but one man was killed, and one severely wounded. On July 17 Santiago capitulated to General Shafter. The capitulation covered the entire eastern end of Cuba, and included 22,000 Spanish soldiers, all of whom the United States agreed to return to Spain. Arrangements to that end were at once begun ; but, before they were completed, the United States was obliged to undertake the removal of its own troops, who, weakened by the hardships of the campaign, were prostrated in large numbers by climatic diseases. The malady most prevalent was malarial fever ; but dysentery and yellow fever had also appeared. At this time loud complaints were heard of inefficiency in army management, especially in the commissary and quartermaster's departments, not only among the troops in Cuba, but also among those who were collected in camps in the United States. Without entering into the merits of the controversies to which these complaints gave rise, it is not improper to remark that there is no business in which preparation and training are more requisite than in war; and that the attempt, by means of an organisation designed to maintain 25,000 regular soldiers in time of peace, to create and move an army of 200,000 men, mostly volunteers, in time of war, must inevitably be attended with some confusion and disorder. On the fall of Santiago, an expedition set out for the invasion of Porto Rico. This expedition, which sailed from Guantanamo, Cuba, on July 21, was under the command of General Miles, and consisted of upwards of 3,500 men whom he had just led to Santiago for the rein- forcement of General Shafter. Miles landed at Guanica on July 25, with little opposition, and was soon reinforced by troops under Generals Schwan, Wilson, and Brooke, till his army numbered 16,973 officers and
