1898 HOME > Lt. Henry H. Whitney Lt. Henry H. Whitney In May
1898, Lt. Henry H. Whitney of the Fourth Artillery was sent to
the island on a reconnaisance mission, sponsored by the Army's
Bureau of Military Intelligence. The mission was almost a
disaster when newspapers leaked his identity, but he posed as a
crew member in the furnace-room of the merchant ship and evaded
detection by a boarding party of Spanish officers. He provided
maps and information on the Spanish military presence by posing
as a British merchant marine officer, and reported that the
Spanish forces were few in number and poorly equipped.