The start of the Spanish-American War can be traced back to the Cuban revolution.  Spain was trying to put down a revolt among its Cuban colonists and they were losing the war, not because of inferior weapons or tactics but because of the Cubans carrying on a never ending guerrilla war.  Spain after several years of this put a harsh new commander named General Weyler.  He decided that the best way to deal with the Cubans was to put the entire Cuban population into several cities, the plan was called ''the reconcentrado plan''.G.J.A. O'Toole points out that ''according to a Spanish estimate, over four hundred thousand Cubans died of hunger and disease in the cities'' (59).  America after hearing about these death camps demanded the removal of General Weyler, Spain obliged, sent him home, and replaced the general with General Blanco.Thus ended ''the reconcentrado plan''.  The Spanish-American War is also called ‘’the splendid little war’’
    The triggering of the of Spanish-American War is, of course, the blowing up of the battleship Maine.The battleship was sent to Havana harbor on a ''friendly visit''(O'Toole 12) but was really sent to protect American property and lives in Cuba.On February 15, 1898 the Maine battleship exploded in Havana Harbor.  The American public was outraged and demanded blood.  President Mckinley ordered a Navel Board of Inquiry to investigate what happoned. The board came back reporting that it was a Spanish mine that blew up the battleship. On April 11, 1898 President Mckinley with public backing ''asks Congress to use American military force to end Spanish rule in Cuba'' (O'Toole 12) and is granted his wish.
    The Spanish-American War's first military action was in the Philippines.Commador Dewey, commader of the Asiatic Squadron, steamed from Hong Kong with nine warships to destroy the Spanish Pacific fleet in Manila Bay. Soon he reached  Manila Bay, and on May 1st after 5 passes on the Spanish fleet, Commadore Dewey sunk all nine Spanish warships.  Dewey blockaded the port till General Meritt arrived with his
men and attacked the city on August 13th capturing the city for the United States.  Only 2 days later did they find out that the Spanish-American War was over on August 12th.
    When the Philippines were secured for the U.S.  The U.S. Army had to ''select,equip,train,and organize 125,000 men.  The inevitable consequence was an administrative nightmare and chaos''(O'Toole 197).  A famous man resigned from his post as Assistant Secretary of the Navy and went to San Antonio, Texas to equip, train, organize and select a calvary regiment of his own.  This man's calvary regiment was to be known all over the U.S. as The Rough Riders, the mans name, Theodore Roosevelt.  Roosevelt knew that a calvary regiment need to have speed and rapid fire so he personally equipped his men with the Krag-Jorgenson rifle, while all other army units got the old and obsolete 1873 Springfield Infantry Carbine.
    On June 22nd this calvary unit landed on Daiquiri, Cuba with 8 of his 12 regiments and 1 horse.  General Wheeler a Confederate Civil War veteran commanded all calvary units in Cuba.  June 24th is when the Rough Riders attacked the Spanish at Las Guasimas and lost 8 men(Roosevelt 100). Eventually, the Spanish all across the Americans front retreated into the San Juan Heights. Soon, this unexpected Spanish retreat caused the logistics and the communication chain to break. General Wheeler was down with malaria and the infantry general, General Shafter who commanded the infantry became overheated, because he weighted over 300 pounds.  Food and ammunition were having a tough time getting up to the trenches, because of the Spanish artillery that used the smokeless powder. The American artillery consisted of 4 field guns under the command of Captain Grimes. These field guns used black powder and the Spanish just aimed their guns wherever a discharge of black smoke occured.
    Finally, on July 1st, Lieutenant Ord having had enough of getting pounded by the Spanish artillery remarked, "I'll come out of the battle as a colonel or a corpse". Ord got premission from Hawkins to charge up the hill. Ord was the first man on San Juan Hill and also the first to die in the assault for it. Roosevelt's Rough Riders along with the 1st White regiment, 9th and 10th Negro regiments (the 10th being commanded by General John ''Black Jack'' Pershing) saw Ord move forward and decided that a general advance was on and charged up Kettle Hill, capturing it from the Spanish.(Roosevelt 128)
    ''Private Post recalled:
 There went up what the academic histories call a cheer, but it was nothing more than a hoarse scream of relief from scores of men and the yell that soldiers give those whom they wish to honor. It was Hawkin's brigade,its two regiments, the  Sixth and the Sixteenth running in a pack, unleashed from the jungle, and hell- bent for the red tiled roof that crowned San Juan Hill. It was a running spearhead.There was no nice order, no neatly formed companies crossing that  plain or mountain slope. It was more like a football field when the game is over  and a mess of people are straggling across it, expect that these men were on the  run, yelling with no time to lose."(O'Toole 318)
    Roosevelt after lifting his cover fire for the men attacking San Juan Hill and with help of Lieutenant Parkers 4 Gatling guns led his men in a charge down Kettle Hill in support of the units attacking San Juan Heights(Roosevelt 136-137). Meanwhile, at a hill called El Caney, General Lawton after a brutal ten hour attack claimed the blockhouse and surrounding area his(O’ Toole 321).
    The Spanish-American War is often called by its other name, ''The splendid little war''.  This name was invented by John Hays (Secretary of State) to describe the feeling of the era and the public opinion toward the war.  The Spanish-American War was perhaps the most celebrated war in American history.  Public opinion was at its highest in any American war. The newspapers helped the public opinion by making the Spanish look like devils and making sure they stayed that way either by making up Spanish atrocities or bending the truth.  It was Randolph Hearst who once said, ''You furnish the pictures and I'll furnish the war''(Bartlett's 587).
    The Spanish-American War is also one of the shortest wars in American history.It lasted from April 11th till December 10th, 1898 about 113 days(O’ Toole 17)  The American casualties(dead,wounded,missing) of this war was only about 2,446 and the Spanish casualties were much worse.Compared to the Civil War casualties (1,086,564) or World War II (406,742) the Spanish-American War has relatively light casualties.
    America needed a war in which it could win easily, and have light casualties.  The Spanish-American War offered just that. America needed to test what weapons worked and what didn't and to test new tactics. Plus, besides the various Indian engagements the American public hadn't had a good war since the Civil War. Since the highly protective tariffs(Mckinely, Dingley) had made an abundance of goods in the US this ment that American business men and merchants could peddle their wares in the newly acquired territories and protectorates cheifly Cuba, The Philippines and Puerto Rico. The Spanish-American War proved that the U.S. was still a force to reckon with and that she could still whip any European power with her navy. America got much respect for that.
    The Treaty of Paris that ended the war enabled the U.S. to spread its influence and commerce into the Far East and Caribbean.  America built navel bases in Manila, and in Hawaii ironically named Pearl Harbor, and a coal base in Cuba called Guantánamo Bay(O’ Toole 399, 385, 353).  Also, it opened better trade routes for Japan and China.The torpedo came out of the war as a feared weapon, advances in the machine gun made it deadlier especially the newly improved belt fed system. The American Springfield rifle used so much throughout the war was obsolete since the start. Rapid fire rifles like the American Krag-Jorgenson and the Spanish Mauser ruled battlefields for years to come. The tactic of ramming ships used a lot in the Civil War also became obsolete. A new ship emerged from the war as a respected and feared weapon, the torpedo boat. This boat was the only defence a warship didn't have.
    Finally, the Spanish-American War brought a new sense of patriotism that was lost in the Civil War.  It saw the first use of the weapons that all others will be based on. The war provided America with new leaders (Pershing, Roosevelt) to lead the nation into the next century and into both World Wars.  Last of all, it gave America a stepping stone it needed into becoming a world power.

1. Gagliasso, Dan. "Teddy Roosevelt's Rough Riders Ride Again!”
                         Soldier of Fortune August 1997: 43-47.

2. Marrin, Albert. The Spanish-American War.  New York: Macmillan,1991.

3. O' Toole, G.J.A.  The Spanish-American War an American Epic in 1898.
                          New York, London:Norton,1984.

4. Roosevelt, Thedore. The Rough Riders. Ed. Elting Morison. The Rough
                          Riders. New Introduction by Elting Morison.  2nd  ed. New York: Da
                          Capo Press, 1990.

5. A Chronology of the American Civil War. Chart. Southern Heritage
                         Prints, 1996