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96-538: Eisenhower House , formerly known as the Commandant's Residence or Quarters Number One of Fort Adams , is a historic house that is part of Fort Adams State Park in Newport, Rhode Island . The building was built by George C. Mason & Son in 1873. Its first inhabitant was General Henry Jackson Hunt . Dwight D. Eisenhower used the house as his summer residence during his presidency in 1958 and 1960. Initially, in 1958,

192-477: A "crusade" and a combination of "knight-errantry and national self- assertiveness." Osgood argued: In his War and Empire , Prof. Paul Atwood of the University of Massachusetts (Boston) writes: The Spanish–American War was fomented on outright lies and trumped up accusations against the intended enemy. ... War fever in the general population never reached a critical temperature until the accidental sinking of

288-764: A Spanish political system that was not stable and could not risk a blow to its prestige. The eruption of the Cuban revolt, Weyler's measures, and the popular fury these events whipped up proved to be a boon to the newspaper industry in New York City. Joseph Pulitzer of the New York World and William Randolph Hearst of the New York Journal recognized the potential for great headlines and stories that would sell copies. Both papers denounced Spain but had little influence outside New York. American opinion generally saw Spain as

384-653: A detached redoubt 650 yards (594 m) south of the main fort. In the United States, it is rivaled in size only by Fort Monroe in Hampton , Virginia, and Fort Jefferson on the Dry Tortugas in Florida. Construction of the new fort began in 1824 under First lieutenant Andrew Talcott and continued at irregular intervals until 1857. From 1825 to 1838 construction was overseen by Lieutenant Colonel Joseph Gilbert Totten ,

480-492: A hopelessly backward power that was unable to deal fairly with Cuba. American Catholics were divided before the war began but supported it enthusiastically once it started. The U.S. had important economic interests that were being harmed by the prolonged conflict and deepening uncertainty about Cuba's future. Shipping firms that had relied heavily on trade with Cuba now suffered losses as the conflict continued unresolved. These firms pressed Congress and McKinley to seek an end to

576-501: A low point for Spanish colonialism. Liberal Spanish elites like Antonio Cánovas del Castillo and Emilio Castelar offered new interpretations of the concept of "empire" to dovetail with the emerging Spanish nationalism . Cánovas made clear in an address to the University of Madrid in 1882 his view of the Spanish nation as based on shared cultural and linguistic elements—on both sides of

672-737: A professor at the United States Military Academy . Battery Reilly was named for Captain Henry J. Reilly, killed in the China Relief Expedition near Peking on 15 August 1900 during the Boxer Rebellion who previously served at Fort Adams. Battery Talbot was named for Silas Talbot , a U.S. Army officer from Rhode Island in the American Revolutionary War who later became a United States Navy officer and commanded

768-514: A request to the U.S. State Department to send a U.S. warship to Cuba. This request led to the armored cruiser USS  Maine being sent to Cuba. While Maine was docked in Havana harbor, a spontaneous explosion sank the ship. The sinking of Maine was blamed on the Spanish and made the possibility of a negotiated peace very slim. Throughout the negotiation process, the major European powers, especially Britain, France, and Russia, generally supported

864-463: A result of the explosion. Of the 94 survivors only 16 were uninjured. In total, 260 servicemen were killed in the initial explosion, six more died shortly thereafter from injuries, marking the greatest loss of life for the American military in a single day since the defeat at Little Bighorn twenty-one years prior. While McKinley urged patience and did not declare that Spain had caused the explosion,

960-627: A shot in anger. At the start of the Mexican–American War in 1846, the post was commanded by Benjamin Kendrick Pierce , the brother of President Franklin Pierce . The fort's redoubt , about 1 ⁄ 4 mile (0.4 km) south of the main fort, was built during this war. From 1848 to 1853, Fort Adams was commanded by Colonel William Gates , a long-serving veteran of both the War of 1812 and

1056-525: A three-pronged invasion of the island. The plan called for one group from Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic led by Máximo Gómez , one group from Costa Rica led by Antonio Maceo Grajales , and another from the United States (preemptively thwarted by U.S. officials in Florida) to land in different places on the island and provoke an uprising. While their call for revolution, the grito de Baire ,

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1152-446: A training ground for its army. Spanish Prime Minister Antonio Cánovas del Castillo announced that "the Spanish nation is disposed to sacrifice to the last peseta of its treasure and to the last drop of blood of the last Spaniard before consenting that anyone snatch from it even one piece of its territory". He had long dominated and stabilized Spanish politics. He was assassinated in 1897 by Italian anarchist Michele Angiolillo , leaving

1248-427: A united European stand against the United States but took no action. The U.S. Navy's investigation, made public on March 28, concluded that the ship's powder magazines were ignited when an external explosion was set off under the ship's hull. This report poured fuel on popular indignation in the U.S., making war virtually inevitable. Spain's investigation came to the opposite conclusion: the explosion originated within

1344-622: A war. On April 19, while Congress was considering joint resolutions supporting Cuban independence, Republican Senator Henry M. Teller of Colorado proposed the Teller Amendment to ensure that the U.S. would not establish permanent control over Cuba after the war. The amendment, disclaiming any intention to annex Cuba, passed the Senate 42 to 35; the House concurred the same day, 311 to 6. The amended resolution demanded Spanish withdrawal and authorized

1440-541: Is at Fort Moultrie near Charleston , South Carolina. An unnamed battery of a single 8-inch M1888 gun on a converted 1870s carriage also existed briefly from 1898. In 1907 two additional batteries were completed, Battery Bankhead with three 6-inch Armstrong guns and Battery Belton with two 3-inch M1903 guns . Battery Greene-Edgerton was named for Major General Nathanael Greene of the American Revolutionary War and Lieutenant Colonel Wright P. Edgerton,

1536-486: The 1898 Treaty of Paris , signed on December 10 with terms favorable to the U.S. The treaty ceded ownership of Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Philippines to the U.S., and set Cuba up to become independent state in 1901, although in practice became a U.S. protectorate. The cession of the Philippines involved payment of $ 20 million ($ 730 million today) to Spain by the U.S. to cover infrastructure owned by Spain. In Spain,

1632-593: The Americas or to interfere with the newly independent states in the hemisphere. The U.S. would, however, respect the status of the existing European colonies. Before the American Civil War (1861–1865), Southern interests attempted to have the United States purchase Cuba and convert it into a new slave state . The pro-slavery element proposed the Ostend Manifesto of 1854. Anti-slavery forces rejected it. After

1728-719: The Philippines , and its domination of Cuba. It represented U.S. intervention in the Cuban War of Independence and Philippine Revolution , with the latter later leading to the Philippine–American War . The Spanish–American War brought an end to almost four centuries of Spanish presence in the Americas, Asia, and the Pacific; the United States meanwhile not only became a major world power, but also gained several island possessions spanning

1824-580: The USS Maine was deliberately, and falsely, attributed to Spanish villainy. ... In a cryptic message ... Senator Lodge wrote that 'There may be an explosion any day in Cuba which would settle a great many things. We have got a battleship in the harbor of Havana, and our fleet, which overmatches anything the Spanish have, is masked at the Dry Tortugas. In his autobiography, Theodore Roosevelt gave his views of

1920-591: The frigate USS  Constitution from 1799 to 1801. Battery Bankhead was named for Brevet Major General James Bankhead , who served in the War of 1812, Second Seminole War , and Mexican–American War. Battery Belton was named for Francis S. Belton, who served in the War of 1812 and the Mexican–American War. In 1913 Battery Bankhead was disarmed and its three 6-inch (152 mm) guns sent to Hawaii. The United States entered World War I in April 1917. During

2016-499: The protected cruiser Olympia at the Battle of Manila Bay on 1 May 1898. In 1862 Fort Adams became the headquarters and recruit depot for the U.S. Army's 15th Infantry Regiment . This regiment, along with several others, was reorganized into a regiment of three eight- company battalions , with the 3rd Battalion formed at Fort Adams in March 1864. From August to October 1863, Fort Adams

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2112-426: The 15-inch (381 mm) guns; the remainder replaced older weapons in the fort, of which all but 20 32-pounders were removed by 1873. For mobile defense, four 4.5-inch (114 mm) siege rifles , four 3-inch (76.2 mm) Ordnance rifles , and four 10-inch (254 mm) mortars were provided. In 1894, four 8-inch (203 mm) converted rifles were added in a new battery south of the fort. As time went by,

2208-623: The 1880s and 1890s. Roosevelt served as Assistant Secretary of the Navy from 1897 to 1898 and was an aggressive supporter of an American war with Spain over Cuban interests. Meanwhile, the "Cuba Libre" movement, led by Cuban intellectual José Martí until he died in 1895, had established offices in Florida. The face of the Cuban revolution in the U.S. was the " Cuban Junta ", under the leadership of Tomás Estrada Palma , who in 1902 became Cuba's first president. The Junta dealt with leading newspapers and Washington officials and held fund-raising events across

2304-528: The 333 years of Spanish rule, the Philippines developed from a small overseas colony governed from the Mexico-based Viceroyalty of New Spain to a land with modern elements in the cities. The Spanish-speaking middle classes of the 19th century were mostly educated in the liberal ideas coming from Europe. Among these Ilustrados was the Filipino national hero José Rizal , who demanded larger reforms from

2400-572: The 6th Provisional Regiment), 66th Artillery Regiment (CAC), and 34th Artillery Brigade (CAC) also were organized at Fort Adams and sent to France, but only the 51st completed training in time to see action. Thornton Wilder , author and playwright whose 1973 novel Theophilus North is set in Newport, served a three-month enlistment in the United States Army Coast Artillery Corps at Fort Adams during World War I. Wilder rose to

2496-480: The American Civil War and Cuba's Ten Years' War , U.S. businessmen began monopolizing the devalued sugar markets in Cuba. In 1894, 90% of Cuba's total exports went to the United States, which also provided 40% of Cuba's imports. Cuba's total exports to the U.S. were almost twelve times larger than the export to Spain. U.S. business interests indicated that while Spain still held political authority over Cuba, it

2592-402: The American position and urged Spain to give in. Spain repeatedly promised specific reforms that would pacify Cuba but failed to deliver; American patience ran out. McKinley sent USS Maine to Havana to ensure the safety of American citizens and interests, and to underscore the urgent need for reform. Naval forces were moved in position to attack simultaneously on several fronts if the war

2688-605: The Atlantic—that tied Spain's territories together. Cánovas saw Spanish colonialism as more "benevolent" than that of other European colonial powers. The prevalent opinion in Spain before the war regarded the spreading of " civilization " and Christianity as Spain's main objective and contribution to the New World . The concept of cultural unity bestowed special significance on Cuba, which had been Spanish for almost four hundred years, and

2784-771: The Caribbean, or of the Philippines or Guam . Historians note that there was no popular demand in the United States for an overseas colonial empire. The first serious bid for Cuban independence, the Ten Years' War, erupted in 1868 and was subdued by the authorities a decade later. Neither the fighting nor the reforms in the Pact of Zanjón (February 1878) quelled the desire of some revolutionaries for wider autonomy and, ultimately, independence. One such revolutionary, José Martí, continued to promote Cuban financial and political freedom in exile. In early 1895, after years of organizing, Martí launched

2880-621: The East Passage of Narragansett Bay in combination with the new Fort Wetherill in Jamestown , Rhode Island, as part of the Coast Defenses of Narragansett Bay . The Endicott and Taft-period batteries at Fort Adams were: Batteries Greene-Edgerton, Reilly, and Talbot were built between 1896 and 1899 and were the first of these to be completed. Battery Greene-Edgerton included sixteen mortars, all of which were at first called Battery Greene, but

2976-670: The Harbor Defenses of Narragansett Bay. The United States entered the war on 7 December 1941, and during the war Fort Adams and most of the other Endicott Period forts in Rhode Island were superseded by new defenses centered on Fort Church and Fort Greene and their guns were scrapped. However, the previous anti-aircraft guns at the fort were replaced by two 90-millimeter guns with several 40 mm Bofors guns and .50-caliber (12.7 mm) machine guns . An Anti- Motor Torpedo Boat Battery (AMTB 925), with two 90-millimeter guns on mobile mounts,

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3072-494: The Mexican–American War. The fort's garrison was ordered to California and many of the soldiers lost their lives when the steamer SS  San Francisco was wrecked in a North Atlantic storm on December 24, 1853. A report of 1854 stated that Fort Adams was armed with 100 32-pounder seacoast guns, 57 24-pounder seacoast guns, and 43 24-pounder flank howitzers . All of these weapons were smoothbore cannon . The flank howitzers were short-barreled guns deployed in casemates in

3168-580: The Philippines on June 1, 1896, known as "the Kimball Plan". On April 23, 1898, a document from Governor General Basilio Augustín appeared in the Manila Gazette newspaper warning of the impending war and calling for Filipinos to participate on the side of Spain. Roosevelt, who was at that time Assistant Secretary of the Navy, ordered Commodore George Dewey , commanding the Asiatic Squadron of

3264-471: The President to use as much military force as he thought necessary to help Cuba gain independence from Spain. President McKinley signed the joint resolution on April 20, 1898, and the ultimatum was sent to Spain. In response, Spain severed diplomatic relations with the United States on April 21. On the same day, the U.S. Navy began a blockade of Cuba. On April 23, Spain reacted to the blockade by declaring war on

3360-646: The President was living at the Naval War College on Coasters Harbor Island . However, with his passion for golf, he moved to this location as it was close to the Newport Country Club . It then became the "Eisenhower House" and the Summer White House . The Eisenhower House became part of Fort Adams State Park after the U.S. Navy transferred Fort Adams to the State of Rhode Island in 1964. The residence

3456-503: The South. The prospect of a naval war gave anxiety to those in the South. The financial security of those working and living in the cotton belt relied heavily upon trade across the Atlantic which would be disrupted by a nautical war, the prospect of which fostered a reluctance to enlist. Potential volunteers were also not financially incentivized, with pay per month initially being $ 13.00 which then

3552-564: The Spanish and the Cubans, but promised the U.S. it would give the Cubans more autonomy. However, with the election of a more liberal Spanish government in November, Spain began to change its policies in Cuba. First, the new Spanish government told the United States that it was willing to offer a change in the Reconcentration policies if the Cuban rebels agreed to a cessation of hostilities. This time

3648-486: The Spanish authorities. This movement eventually led to the Philippine Revolution against Spanish colonial rule. The revolution had been in a state of truce since the signing of the Pact of Biak-na-Bato in 1897, with revolutionary leaders having accepted exile outside of the country. Lt. William Warren Kimball, Staff Intelligence Officer with the Naval War College prepared a plan for war with Spain including

3744-483: The Spanish government as a tyrannical oppressor. Historian Louis Pérez notes that "The proposition of war in behalf of Cuban independence took hold immediately and held on thereafter. Such was the sense of the public mood." Many poems and songs were written in the United States to express support of the "Cuba Libre" movement. At the same time, many African Americans , facing growing racial discrimination and increasing retardation of their civil rights, wanted to take part in

3840-419: The Spanish tyranny in Cuba. Historian Nick Kapur argues that McKinley's actions as he moved toward war were rooted not in various pressure groups but in his deeply held "Victorian" values, especially arbitration, pacifism, humanitarianism, and manly self-restraint. A speech delivered by Republican Senator Redfield Proctor of Vermont on March 17, 1898, thoroughly analyzed the situation and greatly strengthened

3936-599: The Third System of U.S. fortifications. The new fort was designed by Brigadier General Simon Bernard , a Frenchman who had served as a military engineer under Napoleon Bonaparte . Bernard designed the new Fort Adams in the classic style and it became the most complex fortification in the Western Hemisphere . It included a tenaille and crownwork , a complex outer work on the southern (landward) side, designed to break up and channel an assault force. The fort also had

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4032-550: The U.S. On April 25, the U.S. Congress responded in kind , declaring that a state of war between the U.S. and Spain had de facto existed since April 21, the day the blockade of Cuba had begun. It was the embodiment of the naval plan created by Lieutenant Commander Charles Train four years ago, stating once the US enacted a proclamation of war against Spain, it would mobilize its N.A. (North Atlantic) squadron to form an efficient blockade in Havana, Matanzas and Sagua La Grande . The Navy

4128-435: The U.S. It funded and smuggled weapons. It mounted an extensive propaganda campaign that generated enormous popular support in the U.S. in favor of the Cubans. Protestant churches and most Democrats were supportive, but business interests called on Washington to negotiate a settlement and avoid war. Cuba attracted enormous American attention, but almost no discussion involved the other Spanish colonies of Puerto Rico , also in

4224-414: The U.S. began a blockade of Cuba, and soon after Spain and the U.S. declared war. The war was fought in both the Caribbean and the Pacific, where American war advocates correctly anticipated that U.S. naval power would prove decisive. On May 1, a squadron of U.S warships destroyed the Spanish fleet at Manila Bay in the Philippines and captured the harbor. The first U.S. Marines landed in Cuba on June 10 in

4320-403: The United States and soften support for war with Spain. An attempt was made to negotiate a peace before McKinley took office. However, the Spanish refused to take part in the negotiations. In 1897 McKinley appointed Stewart L. Woodford as the new minister to Spain, who again offered to negotiate a peace. In October 1897, the Spanish government refused the United States' offer to negotiate between

4416-464: The United States would see "a duty imposed by our obligations to ourselves, to civilization and humanity to intervene with force". Intervention in terms of negotiating a settlement proved impossible—neither Spain nor the insurgents would agree. Louis Perez states, "Certainly the moralistic determinants of war in 1898 has been accorded preponderant explanatory weight in the historiography." By the 1950s, however, American political scientists began attacking

4512-496: The United States, wrote that S=Cuba was entirely dependent on the outside world for food supplies, coal, and maritime supplies and that Spain would not be able to resupply a naval expeditionary force locally. While tension increased among the Cubans and Spanish government, popular support of intervention began to spring up in the United States. Many Americans likened the Cuban revolt to the American Revolution, and they viewed

4608-560: The army capable of field operations) [REDACTED] 288,452 (Caribbean) Total: 4,119 American: Total: 56,400–56,600 Spanish: The Spanish–American War (April 21 – December 10, 1898) was fought between Spain and the United States in 1898. It began with the sinking of the USS Maine in Havana Harbor in Cuba , and resulted in the U.S. acquisitions of Puerto Rico , Guam , and

4704-577: The battery was divided into two groups of eight in 1906. Battery Talbot, one of a number of batteries added on the United States East Coast at the outbreak of the Spanish–American War in 1898, included two 4.72-inch (120 mm) Armstrong guns . One gun of Battery Talbot is preserved at Equality Park in Newport.Rhode Island; another was in Westerly , Rhode Island, circa 1920–1977 and now

4800-458: The business community to find a negotiated solution. Wall Street, big business, high finance and Main Street businesses across the country were vocally opposed to war and demanded peace. After years of severe depression, the economic outlook for the domestic economy was suddenly bright again in 1897. However, the uncertainties of warfare posed a serious threat to full economic recovery. "War would impede

4896-556: The deaths of hundreds of American sailors held the public's attention. McKinley asked Congress to appropriate $ 50 million for defense, and Congress unanimously obliged. Most American leaders believed that the cause of the explosion was unknown. Still, public attention was now riveted on the situation and Spain could not find a diplomatic solution to avoid war. Spain appealed to the European powers, most of whom advised it to accept U.S. conditions for Cuba in order to avoid war. Germany urged

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4992-524: The defeat in the war was a profound shock to the national psyche and provoked a thorough philosophical and artistic reevaluation of Spanish society known as the Generation of '98 . The combined problems arising from the Peninsular War (1807–1814), the loss of most of its colonies in the Americas in the early 19th-century Spanish American wars of independence , and three Carlist Wars (1832–1876) marked

5088-445: The destruction could have been caused by a mine." After Maine was destroyed, New York City newspaper publishers Hearst and Pulitzer decided that the Spanish were to blame, and they publicized this theory as fact in their papers. Even prior to the explosion, both had published sensationalistic accounts of "atrocities" committed by the Spanish in Cuba; headlines such as "Spanish Murderers" were commonplace in their newspapers. Following

5184-467: The early 1950s until the mid-1970s, Fort Adams fell victim to neglect, the weather, and vandalism. In 1965, the fort and most of the surrounding land was given to the State of Rhode Island for use as Fort Adams State Park . In 1976, Fort Adams was declared a National Historic Landmark in recognition of its distinctive military architecture, which includes features not found in other forts of the period. Through

5280-513: The early 1990s, Fort Adams was subjected to an environmental remediation program which made the fort safe for public access. In 1994, the Fort Adams Trust was formed; to provide guided tours at the fort and oversee restoration work there. In 1995 the Fort Adams Trust began giving tours at the fort from May to September. Since that time, the fort has had several areas of the fort restored as well as having its land defenses cleared of overgrowth, and

5376-626: The efforts of State Senator Eric O'D. Taylor, in the 1970s Fort Adams was cleaned up, opened for tours, and used for the filming of the PBS television miniseries The Scarlet Letter . The tour program was cancelled circa 1980 due to budget cutbacks by the State of Rhode Island. Since 1981, the Fort Adams grounds have been host to the Newport Jazz Festival and the Newport Folk Festival . In

5472-735: The eight mortars of Battery Greene-Edgerton as Fort Adams' only armament. In the Second World War a peak strength of over 3,000 soldiers were assigned to the Harbor Defenses of Narragansett Bay . In September 1940 the 243rd Coast Artillery Regiment of the Rhode Island National Guard was mobilized and sent to Fort Adams to reinforce the Regular Army 's 10th Coast Artillery Regiment . The two regiments garrisoned several coast defense forts and anti-aircraft installations under

5568-455: The explosion of USS Maine . President McKinley issued two calls for volunteers, the first on April 23 which called for 125,000 men to enlist, followed by a second appeal for a further 75,000 volunteers. States in the Northeast, Midwest, and the West quickly filled their volunteer quota. In response to the surplus influx of volunteers, several Northern states had their quotas increased. Contrastingly, some Southern states struggled to fulfil even

5664-511: The explosion, this tone escalated with the headline "Remember The Maine, To Hell with Spain!", quickly appearing. Their press exaggerated what was happening and how the Spanish were treating the Cuban prisoners. The stories were based on factual accounts, but most of the time, the articles that were published were embellished and written with incendiary language causing emotional and often heated responses among readers. A common myth falsely states that when illustrator Frederic Remington said there

5760-448: The first mandated quota, namely Alabama, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia. The majority of states did not allow African American men to volunteer which impeded recruitment in Southern states, especially those with large African American populations. Quota requirements, based on total population, were unmanageable, as they were disproportionate compared to the actual population permitted to volunteer. This

5856-493: The foremost American military engineer of his day. In 1838 Totten became U.S. Army Chief of Engineers and served until his death in 1864. The new Fort Adams was first garrisoned in August 1841, functioning as an active U.S. Army post until 1950. During this time the fort was active in five major wars – the Mexican–American War (1846–1848), American Civil War (1861–1865), Spanish–American War (1898), World War I (1917–1918), and World War II (1941–1945) — but never fired

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5952-428: The fort as "an irregular star fort of masonry , with an irregular indented work of masonry adjoining it, mounting seventeen heavy guns. ... The barracks are of wood and bricks, for one company ." After the War of 1812, there was a thorough review of the fortification needs of the United States and it was decided to replace the older Fort Adams with a newer and much larger fort. This was part of what became known as

6048-477: The fort's armament was upgraded to keep up with technological innovations. Major kinds of ordnance used at the fort included muzzle-loading cannon in the 19th century, rifled breech-loading artillery pieces in the early 20th century, and anti-aircraft guns during and after World War II . The fort received significant armament, in the form of batteries to the south of the main fort, under the Endicott and Taft programs from 1896 through 1907. These were to defend

6144-411: The four U.S. railway artillery regiments that saw action in that war (using French-made weapons) and their brigade headquarters. The railway gun units were designated the 52nd and 53rd Artillery Regiments (CAC) (originally the 7th and 8th Provisional Regiments), and the 30th Separate Artillery Brigade (Railway) (CAC) (originally the 1st Expeditionary Brigade). The 51st Artillery Regiment (CAC) (originally

6240-510: The globe, which provoked rancorous debate over the wisdom of expansionism . The 19th century represented a clear decline for the Spanish Empire , while the United States went from a newly founded country to a rising power. In 1895, Cuban nationalists began a revolt against Spanish rule, which was brutally suppressed by the colonial authorities. Yellow journalism in the U.S. exaggerated the atrocities in Cuba to sell more newspapers and magazines, which swayed American public opinion in support of

6336-435: The island's southeast, moving west and engaging in at the Battles of El Caney and San Juan Hill on July 1 and the destroying the fleet at and capturing Santiago de Cuba on July 17. On June 20, the island of Guam surrendered without resistance, and on July 25, U.S. troops landed on Puerto Rico , which a blockade had begun on May 8 and where fighting continued until an armistice was signed on August 13. The war ended with

6432-500: The march of prosperity and put the country back many years," warned the New Jersey Trade Review. The leading railroad magazine editorialized, "From a commercial and mercenary standpoint it seems peculiarly bitter that this war should come when the country had already suffered so much and so needed rest and peace." McKinley paid close attention to the strong antiwar consensus of the business community, and strengthened his resolve to use diplomacy and negotiation rather than brute force to end

6528-468: The origins of the war: Our own direct interests were great, because of the Cuban tobacco and sugar, and especially because of Cuba's relation to the projected Isthmian [Panama] Canal. But even greater were our interests from the standpoint of humanity. ... It was our duty, even more from the standpoint of National honor than from the standpoint of National interest, to stop the devastation and destruction. Because of these considerations I favored war. In

6624-423: The political sympathies of residents in Maryland during the American Civil War , so the United States Naval Academy was moved in 1861 from Annapolis , Maryland, to Fort Adams. In September 1861, the academy moved to the Atlantic House Hotel in Newport, Rhode Island, and remained there for the rest of the war. Among the midshipmen assigned to the Naval Academy while it was at Fort Adams was Robley D. Evans who

6720-414: The pro-war cause. Proctor concluded that war was the only answer. Many in the business and religious communities which had until then opposed war, switched sides, leaving McKinley and Speaker Reed almost alone in their resistance to a war. On April 11, McKinley ended his resistance and asked Congress for authority to send American troops to Cuba to end the civil war there, knowing that Congress would force

6816-416: The rank of corporal in the Army. The two 10-inch (254 mm) guns of Battery Reilly were dismounted in 1917 for potential service as railway guns, but after considerable delay they were sent to Fort Warren near Boston , Massachusetts, in 1919 to replace guns removed from that fort. Eight of the sixteen mortars at Battery Greene-Edgerton were removed in 1918 for potential railway artillery service; this

6912-571: The rebels refused the terms in hopes that continued conflict would lead to U.S. intervention and the creation of an independent Cuba. The liberal Spanish government also recalled the Spanish Governor-General Valeriano Weyler from Cuba. This action alarmed many Cubans loyal to Spain. The Cubans loyal to Weyler began planning large demonstrations to take place when the next Governor General, Ramón Blanco , arrived in Cuba. U.S. consul Fitzhugh Lee learned of these plans and sent

7008-575: The rebels. President Grover Cleveland resisted mounting demands for U.S. intervention, as did his successor William McKinley . Though not seeking a war, McKinley made preparations in readiness for one. In January 1898, the U.S. Navy armored cruiser USS Maine was sent to Havana to provide protection for U.S. citizens. After the Maine was sunk by a mysterious explosion in the harbor on February 15, 1898, political pressures pushed McKinley to receive congressional authority to use military force. On April 21,

7104-481: The residents of some Cuban districts to move to reconcentration areas near the military headquarters. This strategy was effective in slowing the spread of rebellion. In the United States, this fueled the fire of anti-Spanish propaganda. In a political speech, President William McKinley used this to ram Spanish actions against armed rebels. He even said this "was not civilized warfare" but "extermination". Spain depended on Cuba for prestige and trade, and used it as

7200-451: The revolt. Campos's reluctance to accept his new assignment and his method of containing the revolt to the province of Oriente earned him criticism in the Spanish press. The mounting pressure forced Cánovas to replace General Campos with General Valeriano Weyler , a soldier who had experience in quelling rebellions in overseas provinces and the Spanish metropole. Weyler deprived the insurgency of weaponry, supplies, and assistance by ordering

7296-446: The revolt. Other American business concerns, specifically those who had invested in Cuban sugar, looked to the Spanish to restore order. Stability, not war, was the goal of both interests. How stability would be achieved would depend largely on the ability of Spain and the U.S. to work out their issues diplomatically. Lieutenant Commander Charles Train, in 1894, in his preparatory notes in an outlook of an armed conflict between Spain and

7392-453: The ship. Other investigations in later years came to various contradictory conclusions, but had no bearing on the coming of the war. In 1974, Admiral Hyman George Rickover had his staff look at the documents and decided there was an internal explosion. A study commissioned by National Geographic magazine in 1999, using AME computer modeling, reported: "By examining the bottom plating of the ship and how it bent and folded, AME concluded that

7488-414: The tenaille and redoubt to protect the fort against a landward assault. From 1859 to 1863 the fort was in the care of Ordnance Sergeant Mark Wentworth Smith, a Mexican–American War veteran who was wounded at the Battle of Chapultepec . He died in 1879 at the age of 76, the oldest active-duty enlisted soldier in the history of the U.S. Army. The United States Department of War was concerned about

7584-495: The trust's restoration efforts are ongoing.. In 2012, the park was the official venue for the America's Cup World Series in Newport. Spanish%E2%80%93American War U.S. victory [REDACTED]   United States [REDACTED] Cuban Liberation Army [REDACTED] Philippine Revolutionaries [REDACTED]   Spain Total: 339,783 (only 20–25 percent of

7680-401: The war as a mistake based on idealism, arguing that a better policy would be realism. They discredited the idealism by suggesting the people were deliberately misled by propaganda and sensationalist yellow journalism. Political scientist Robert Osgood, writing in 1953, led the attack on the American decision process as a confused mix of "self-righteousness and genuine moral fervor," in the form of

7776-506: The war over, Battery Talbot was disarmed in 1919 and its guns sent to Newport and Westerly as memorials. At some time after the war three 3-inch (76.2 mm) M1917 anti-aircraft guns were deployed at the fort, supplemented by at least two mobile 3-inch (76.2 mm) guns (or possibly mobile 75 mm guns ) on White truck or Ford Model T chassis. Battery Belton's two 3-inch (76.2 mm) guns were transferred to Fort Wetherill in 1925 to replace obsolescent M1902 guns there. This left

7872-694: The war, Fort Adams served as the headquarters for the Coast Defenses of Narragansett Bay , as well as a training center. The United States Army Coast Artillery Corps (CAC) was chosen to man all U.S. heavy artillery in that war, as it was the only part of the U.S. Army with experience using big guns and had a significant number of personnel trained in the operation of such guns. Four heavy artillery regiments and two heavy artillery brigade headquarters were organized at Fort Adams and served in France, with troops of Coast Defense Commands from Maine , Rhode Island, New York, and elsewhere as their cadre . These included two of

7968-399: The war. They saw it as a way to advance the cause of equality, service to country hopefully helping to gain political and public respect amongst the wider population. President McKinley, well aware of the political complexity surrounding the conflict, wanted to end the revolt peacefully. He began to negotiate with the Spanish government, hoping that the talks would dampen yellow journalism in

8064-701: Was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1974. It is used for weddings and other social events. Fort Adams The first Fort Adams was designed by Major Louis de Tousard of the United States Army Corps of Engineers as part of the first system of US fortifications . After some additions in 1809, this fort mounted 17 cannon and was garrisoned during the War of 1812 by Wood's State Corps of Rhode Island militiamen . The United States Secretary of War 's report for December 1811 describes

8160-585: Was also at Fort Adams by December 1943. As the war progressed, the number of troops was gradually reduced to about 500 by the end of the war in August 1945. In 1953, the U.S. Army transferred ownership of Fort Adams to the U.S. Navy, which still uses some of the grounds for family housing . President Dwight D. Eisenhower lived at the former commanding officer's quarters (now called the Eisenhower House ) during his summer vacations in Newport in 1958 and 1960. From

8256-426: Was also done as a force-wide program to improve the rate of fire due to overcrowding in the mortar pits during reloading. Some sources state that Battery Talbot's guns were redeployed to Sachuest Point , a few miles from Fort Adams, from 1917 to 1919. However, U.S. Army records show that these guns came from Fort Strong , Massachusetts, in the Coast Defenses of Boston . World War I ended on 11 November 1918. With

8352-478: Was commanded by Brigadier General Robert Anderson , who had commanded Fort Sumter when it was attacked by Confederate forces in April 1861, beginning the American Civil War. As part of a major upgrade to U.S. seacoast defenses, Fort Adams' armament was modernized in the 1870s with eleven 15-inch (381 mm) Rodman guns , thirteen 10-inch (254 mm) Rodman guns, and four 6.4-inch (163 mm) (100-pounder) Parrott rifles . Three new emplacements were built for

8448-564: Was especially evident in some states, such as Kentucky and Mississippi, which accepted out-of-state volunteers to aid in meeting their quotas. This Southern apprehension towards enlistment can also be attributed to "a war weariness derived from the Confederacy's defeat in the Civil War." Many in the South were still recuperating financially after their losses in the Civil War, and the upcoming war did not provide much hope for economic prosperity in

8544-481: Was no war brewing in Cuba, Hearst responded: "You furnish the pictures and I'll furnish the war." However, this new " yellow journalism " was uncommon outside New York City, and historians no longer consider it the major force shaping the national mood. Public opinion nationwide did demand immediate action, overwhelming the efforts of President McKinley, Speaker of the House Thomas Brackett Reed , and

8640-526: Was not avoided. As Maine left Florida, a large part of the North Atlantic Squadron was moved to Key West and the Gulf of Mexico . Others were also moved just off the shore of Lisbon, and others were moved to Hong Kong too. At 9:40 P.M. on February 15, 1898, Maine sank in Havana Harbor after suffering a massive explosion. More than 3/4 of the ship's crew of 355 sailors, officers and Marines died as

8736-447: Was ready, but the Army was not well-prepared for the war and made radical changes in plans and quickly purchased supplies. In the spring of 1898, the strength of the U.S. Regular Army was just 24,593 soldiers. The Army wanted 50,000 new men but received over 220,000 through volunteers and the mobilization of state National Guard units , even gaining nearly 100,000 men on the first night after

8832-435: Was successful, the result was not the grand show of force Martí had expected. With a quick victory effectively lost, the revolutionaries settled in to fight a protracted guerrilla campaign. Antonio Cánovas del Castillo, the architect of Spain's Restoration constitution and the prime minister at the time, ordered General Arsenio Martínez-Campos , a distinguished veteran of the war against the previous uprising in Cuba, to quell

8928-461: Was the U.S. that held economic power over Cuba. The U.S. became interested in a trans-isthmus canal in either Nicaragua or Panama and realized the need for naval protection. Captain Alfred Thayer Mahan was an exceptionally influential theorist; his ideas were much admired by future 26th President Theodore Roosevelt , as the U.S. rapidly built a powerful naval fleet of steel warships in

9024-466: Was then raised to $ 15.60 for combat pay. It was more economically promising for most southern men to continue in their own enterprises rather than enlist. The overwhelming consensus of observers in the 1890s, and historians ever since, is that an upsurge of humanitarian concern with the plight of the Cubans was the main motivating force that caused the war with Spain in 1898. McKinley put it succinctly in late 1897 that if Spain failed to resolve its crisis,

9120-574: Was viewed as an integral part of the Spanish nation. The focus on preserving the empire would have negative consequences for Spain's national pride in the aftermath of the Spanish–American War. In 1823, the fifth American President James Monroe (1758–1831, served 1817–25) enunciated the Monroe Doctrine , which stated that the United States would not tolerate further efforts by European governments to retake or expand their colonial holdings in

9216-568: Was wounded at Fort Fisher , North Carolina , in 1865, commanded the battleship USS  Iowa during the Spanish–American War in 1898, and later commanded the Great White Fleet on the first leg of its epic around-the-world voyage of 1906–1908. Among Evans' classmates at Fort Adams were future Rear Admiral Charles Sigsbee , who commanded the battleship USS  Maine , and future Captain Charles Vernon Gridley , who commanded

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