




                             THE BOYS OF '98





                              *STORIES of*
                            *AMERICAN HISTORY*

                             *By James Otis*

               1. When We Destroyed the Gaspee
               2. Boston Boys of 1775
               3. When Dewey Came to Manila
               4. Off Santiago with Sampson
               5. When Israel Putnam Served the King
               6. The Signal Boys of '75
                        (A Tale of the Siege of Boston)
               7. Under the Liberty Tree
                        (A Story of the Boston Massacre)
               8. The Boys of 1745
                        (The Capture of Louisburg)
               9. An Island Refuge
                        (Casco Bay in 1676)
              10. Neal the Miller
                        (A Son of Liberty)
              11. Ezra Jordan's Escape
                        (The Massacre at Fort Loyall)

                         *DANA ESTES & COMPANY*
                              *Publishers*
                    *Estes Press, Summer St., Boston*





  [Illustration: THE CHARGE AT EL CANEY.]





                            THE BOYS OF '98


                                   BY
                               JAMES OTIS
                                AUTHOR OF
              "TOBY TYLER," "JENNY WREN'S BOARDING HOUSE,"
                    "THE BOYS OF FORT SCHUYLER," ETC.


_Illustrated by_
J. STEEPLE DAVIS
FRANK T. MERRILL
_And with Reproductions of Photographs_

_ELEVENTH THOUSAND_


BOSTON
DANA ESTES & COMPANY
PUBLISHERS





                            _Copyright, 1898_
                         BY DANA ESTES & COMPANY





                                CONTENTS.


 CHAPTER                                              PAGE
      I.   THE BATTLE-SHIP MAINE                         1
     II.   THE PRELIMINARIES                            19
    III.   A DECLARATION OF WAR                         38
     IV.   THE BATTLE OF MANILA BAY                     64
      V.   NEWS OF THE DAY                              92
     VI.   CARDENAS AND SAN JUAN                       117
    VII.   FROM ALL QUARTERS                           130
   VIII.   HOBSON AND THE MERRIMAC                     149
     IX.   BY WIRE                                     171
      X.   SANTIAGO DE CUBA                            194
     XI.   EL CANEY AND SAN JUAN HEIGHTS               224
    XII.   THE SPANISH FLEET                           254
   XIII.   THE SURRENDER OF SANTIAGO                   290
    XIV.   MINOR EVENTS                                302
     XV.   THE PORTO RICAN CAMPAIGN                    320
    XVI.   THE FALL OF MANILA                          335
   XVII.   PEACE                                       345
           APPENDIX A--THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS           355
           APPENDIX B--WAR-SHIPS AND SIGNALS            370
           APPENDIX C--SANTIAGO DE CUBA                 379
           APPENDIX D--PORTO RICO                       383
           APPENDIX E--THE BAY OF GUANTANAMO            386





                              ILLUSTRATIONS.


                                                              PAGE
    THE CHARGE AT EL CANEY                          _Frontispiece_
    U. S. S. MAINE                                               7
    CAPTAIN C. D. SIGSBEE                                       12
    EX-MINISTER DE LOME                                         20
    U. S. S. MONTGOMERY                                         24
    MAJOR-GENERAL FITZHUGH LEE                                  30
    U. S. S. COLUMBIA                                           38
    CAPTAIN-GENERAL BLANCO                                      44
    PREMIER SAGASTA                                             49
    PRESIDENT WILLIAM MCKINLEY                                  55
    U. S. S. PURITAN                                            58
    ADMIRAL GEORGE DEWEY                                        64
    U. S. S. OLYMPIA                                            69
    U. S. S. BALTIMORE                                          72
    BATTLE OF MANILA BAY                                        75
    U. S. S. BOSTON                                             77
    U. S. S. CONCORD                                            82
    U. S. S. TERROR                                             99
    JOHN D. LONG, SECRETARY OF NAVY                            107
    U. S. S. CHICAGO                                           117
    THE TRAGEDY OF THE WINSLOW                                 119
    U. S. S. AMPHITRITE                                        123
    THE BOMBARDMENT OF SAN JUAN, PORTO RICO                    127
    U. S. S. MIANTONOMAH                                       130
    ADMIRAL SCHLEY                                             135
    U. S. S. MONTEREY                                          144
    U. S. S. MASSACHUSETTS                                     151
    LIEUTENANT HOBSON                                          156
    U. S. S. NEW YORK                                          161
    HOBSON AND HIS MEN ON THE RAFT                             166
    ADMIRAL CERVERA                                            169
    QUEEN REGENT, MARIA CHRISTINA OF SPAIN                     171
    GENERAL GARCIA                                             181
    ADMIRAL CAMARA                                             186
    GENERAL AUGUSTI                                            192
    U. S. S. MARBLEHEAD                                        201
    U. S. S. VESUVIUS                                          207
    U. S. S. TEXAS                                             215
    COLONEL THEODORE ROOSEVELT                                 218
    MAJOR-GENERAL SHAFTER                                      224
    THE ATTACK ON SAN JUAN HILL                                229
    VICE-PRESIDENT HOBART                                      234
    U. S. S. NEWARK                                            239
    ADMIRAL W. T. SAMPSON                                      243
    GENERAL WEYLER                                             254
    CAPTAIN R. D. EVANS                                        256
    U. S. S. IOWA                                              262
    THE DESTRUCTION OF CERVERA'S FLEET                         266
    U. S. S. INDIANA                                           269
    U. S. S. OREGON                                            275
    U. S. S. BROOKLYN                                          282
    MAJOR-GENERAL JOSEPH WHEELER                               292
    KING ALPHONSO XIII. OF SPAIN                               300
    GENERAL GOMEZ                                              311
    U. S. S. NEW ORLEANS                                       314
    U. S. S. SAN FRANCISCO                                     318
    MAJOR-GENERAL MILES                                        320
    MAJOR-GENERAL BROOKE                                       327
    GENERAL BROOKE RECEIVING THE NEWS OF THE                   333
      PROTOCOL
    GENERAL RUSSELL A. ALGER, SECRETARY OF WAR                 334
    MAJOR-GENERAL WESLEY MERRITT                               344
    DON CARLOS                                                 349






                             THE BOYS OF '98.





                                CHAPTER I.


                          THE BATTLE-SHIP MAINE.


At or about eleven o'clock on the morning of January 25th the United
States battle-ship _Maine_ steamed through the narrow channel which gives
entrance to the inner harbour of Havana, and came to anchor at Buoy No. 4,
in obedience to orders from the captain of the port, in from five and
one-half to six fathoms of water. She swung at her cables within five
hundred yards of the arsenal, and about two hundred yards distant from the
floating dock.

Very shortly afterward the rapid-firing guns on her bow roared out a
salute as the Spanish colours were run up to the mizzenmast-head, and this
thunderous announcement of friendliness was first answered by Morro
Castle, followed a few moments later by the Spanish cruiser _Alphonso
XII._ and a German school-ship.

The reverberations had hardly ceased before the captain of the port and an
officer from the Spanish war-vessel, each in his gaily decked launch, came
alongside the battle-ship in accordance with the rules of naval etiquette.

Lieut. John J. Blandin, officer of the deck, received the visitors at the
head of the gangway and escorted them to the captain's cabin. A few
moments later came an officer from the German ship, and the courtesies of
welcoming the Americans were at an end.

The _Maine_ was an armoured, twin-screw battle-ship of the second class,
318 feet in length, 57 feet in breadth, with a draught of 21 feet, 6
inches; of 6,648 tons displacement, with engines of 9,293 indicated
horse-power, giving her a speed of 17.75 knots. She was built in the
Brooklyn navy yard, according to act of Congress, August 3, 1886. Work on
her was commenced October 11, 1888; she was launched November 18, 1890,
and put into commission September 17, 1895. She was built after the
designs of chief constructor T. D. Wilson. The delay in going into
commission is said to have been due to the difficulty in getting
satisfactory armour. The side armour was twelve inches thick; the two
steel barbettes were each of the same thickness, and the walls of the
turrets were eight inches thick.

In her main battery were four 10-inch and six 6-inch breech-loading
rifles; in the secondary battery seven 6-pounder and eight 1-pounder
rapid-fire guns and four Gatlings. Her crew was made up of 370 men, and
the following officers: Capt. C. D. Sigsbee, Lieut.-Commander R.
Wainwright, Lieut. G. F. W. Holman, Lieut. J. Hood, Lieut. C. W. Jungen,
Lieut. G. P. Blow, Lieut. F. W. Jenkins, Lieut. J. J. Blandin, Surgeon S.
G. Heneberger, Paymaster C. M. Ray, Chief Engineer C. P. Howell, Chaplain
J. P. Chidwick, Passed Assistant Engineer F. C. Bowers, Lieutenant of
Marines A. Catlin, Assistant Engineer J. R. Morris, Assistant Engineer
Darwin R. Merritt, Naval Cadet J. H. Holden, Naval Cadet W. T. Cluverius,
Naval Cadet R. Bronson, Naval Cadet P. Washington, Naval Cadet A.
Crenshaw, Naval Cadet J. T. Boyd, Boatswain F. E. Larkin, Gunner J. Hill,
Carpenter J. Helm, Paymaster's Clerk B. McCarthy.

Why had the _Maine_ been sent to this port?

The official reason given by the Secretary of the Navy when he notified
the Spanish minister, Senor Dupuy de Lome, was that the visit of the
_Maine_ was simply intended as a friendly call, according to the
recognised custom of nations.

The United States minister at Madrid, General Woodford, also announced the
same in substance to the Spanish Minister of State.

It having been repeatedly declared by the government at Madrid that a
state of war did not exist in Cuba, and that the relations between the
United States and Spain were of the most friendly character, nothing less
could be done than accept the official construction put upon the visit.

The Spanish public, however, were not disposed to view the matter in the
same light, as may be seen by the following extracts from newspapers:

"If the government of the United States sends one war-ship to Cuba, a
thing it is no longer likely to do, Spain would act with energy and
without vacillation."--_El Heraldo, January 16th._

"We see now the eagerness of the Yankees to seize Cuba."--_The Imparcial,
January 23d._

The same paper, on the 27th, declared:

"If Havana people, exasperated at American impudence in sending the
_Maine_, do some rash, disagreeable thing, the civilised world will know
too well who is responsible. The American government must know that the
road it has taken leads to war between both nations."

On January 25th Madrid newspapers made general comment upon the official
explanation of the _Maine's_ visit to Havana, and agreed in expressing the
opinion that her visit is "inopportune and calculated to encourage the
insurgents." It was announced that, "following Washington's example," the
Spanish government will "instruct Spanish war-ships to visit a few
American ports."

The _Imparcial_ expresses fear that the despatch of the _Maine_ to Havana
will provoke a conflict, and adds:

"Europe cannot doubt America's attitude towards Spain. But the Spanish
people, if necessary, will do their duty with honour."

The _Epocha_ asks if the despatch of the _Maine_ to Havana is "intended as
a sop to the Jingoes," and adds:

"We cannot suppose the American government so naive or badly informed as
to imagine that the presence of American war-vessels at Havana will be a
cause of satisfaction to Spain or an indication of friendship."

The people of the United States generally believed that the battle-ship
had been sent to Cuba because of the disturbances existing in the city of
Havana, which seemingly threatened the safety of Americans there.

On the morning of January 12th what is termed the "anti-liberal outbreak"
occurred in the city of Havana.

Officers of the regular and volunteer forces headed the ultra-Spanish
element in an attack upon the leading liberal newspaper offices, because,
as alleged, of Captain-General Blanco's refusal to authorise the
suppression of the liberal press. It was evidently a riotous protest
against Spain's policy of granting autonomy to the Cubans.

The mob, gathered in such numbers as to be for the time being most
formidable, indulged in open threats against Americans, and it was
believed by the public generally that American interests, and the safety
of citizens of the United States in Havana, demanded the protection of a
war-vessel.

The people of Havana received the big fighting ship impassively. Soldiers,
sailors, and civilians gathered at the water-front as spectators, but no
word, either of threat or friendly greeting, was heard.

In the city the American residents experienced a certain sense of relief
because now a safe refuge was provided in case of more serious rioting.

That the officers and crew of the _Maine_ were apprehensive regarding
their situation there can be little doubt. During the first week after the
arrival of the battle-ship several of the sailors wrote to friends or
relatives expressing fears as to what might be the result of the visit,
and on the tenth of February one of the lieutenants is reported as having
stated:

"If we don't get away from here soon there will be trouble."

The customary ceremonial visits on shore were made by the commander of the
ship and his staff, and, so far as concerned the