sentences:  Silvestre was a very brave, albeit reckless junior officer in Cuba, where he was seriously wounded during a cavalry action, but as a general he was hopelessly inept, and owned his rapid rise up the ranks to the patronage of his best friend, King Alfonso XIII, who used his position of Supreme Commander to promote favored officers.After the Spanish–American War, Silvestre had served as a military aide to the king, whom become his patron.When Alfonso ascended to the Spanish throne in 1886, Spain could at least maintain the pretense of being a world power as Spain had colonies in the Americas, Africa, Asia and the Pacific.