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88-750: On the evening of February 4, 1899, the battalion was the first unit to skirmish with the First Nebraska Volunteer Regiment while the then-commanding officers General Artemio Ricarte and Colonel Luciano San Miguel were on leave at the time of the incident, sparking the Battle of Manila in 1899 and the Philippine–American War. The name of the first Filipino fatality of the war was Corporal Anastacio Felix of Morong Battalion's 4th Company, under Captain Serapio Narvaez . The battalion bore

176-477: 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

264-764: 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

352-492: 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

440-501: 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

528-514: 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

616-463: 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,

704-581: 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 ,

792-446: 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

880-427: 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

968-622: 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

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1056-477: A water pipeline, the regiment was present in a campaign that began in late March and resulted in the Capture of Malolos , fighting in several battles. In April, the regiment fought at the Battle of Quingua , where its commander, Colonel John M. Stotsenburg , was killed. After fighting in Battle of Calumpit and the Battle of Santo Tomas the regiment occupied San Fernando before being returned to Manila. On July 1,

1144-486: 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,

1232-593: 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

1320-656: The Mariquina River and a Hotchkiss gun . During the two days of fighting, the regiment had six men killed and 22 wounded. Eight of the regiment's members were cited for gallantry. From February 7 to March 15, the regiment, along with an artillery battery from Utah , guarded a water pipeline. The Nebraskans and Filipinos at first fought small set-piece battles , but the Filipinos found they were not having success with those tactics and began to move to guerrilla warfare . A larger action occurred on February 22, in which part of

1408-601: The Philippines in June. The regiment was present in the actions against Manila in August, including the capture of the city . Remaining in the Philippines through the rest of the year, the 1st Nebraska was engaged when Philippine-American War and the 1899 Battle of Manila began with William W. Grayson firing the first shot of the war. After fighting in the Battle of Manila and then guarding

1496-666: 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

1584-527: The Philippines . Soldiers in the occupying American forces often referred to the locals by racial slurs, and some of the soldiers behaved in a hostile manner towards the Chinese minority population of Manila. Some looting occurred as well. Bratt was sent home due to illness in September, and John M. Stotsenburg was promoted to colonel to command the regiment on October 4. Disease caused many illnesses and deaths in

1672-580: 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

1760-673: 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

1848-496: The 1st Nebraska came under fire for the first time. Spanish troops made a failed attempt to outflank the American line. During the fight, seven or eight Nebraskans were wounded and one was killed, and two men of the regiment were awarded the Certificate of Merit . Part of the regiment came under artillery fire on August 5, losing two men wounded. When American troops occupied Manila on August 13 in an affair partially arranged with

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1936-404: The 1st Nebraska fought at the Battle of Santo Tomas , where it suffered its final battle losses. After American forces captured San Fernando, the 1st Nebraska entered the city on May 6 and stayed there through the 20th. Battle and disease had taken the regiment from a strength of 923 men on February 4 to only about 300 when it reached San Fernando. The campaign for Malolos and San Fernando had cost

2024-457: The 1st Nebraska was present at the Capture of Malolos , where it served as a skirmish line and captured a few small defensive positions. On April 23, the 1st Nebraska sent a scouting party armed with new Krag–Jørgensen rifles. Filipino fire pinned the scouts down in a ditch, starting the Battle of Quingua . A charge by the Nebraskans drove off the Filipinos, but Stotsenburg was killed during

2112-528: 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

2200-480: 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

2288-652: The American General Henry Ware Lawton . Constant skirmishes and battles with the Philippine Constabulary and the U.S. Army took a heavy toll on the battalion. On March 29, 1901, General Gerónimo surrendered in San Mateo, Rizal . This Philippine history -related article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . This article about a military unit of the Armed Forces of

2376-402: 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

2464-605: 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

2552-771: 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

2640-788: The Philippines is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . 1st Nebraska Infantry Regiment (1898) The 1st Nebraska Infantry Regiment was an infantry regiment that served in the United States Army during the Spanish–American War and the Philippine–American War . After mustering in May 1898 for service in the Spanish–American War, the regiment trained in Nebraska and at Camp Merritt in California before leaving for

2728-580: 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

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2816-471: 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

2904-503: 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

2992-564: 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

3080-545: 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

3168-483: 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

3256-419: 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

3344-550: 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

3432-435: 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

3520-414: 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

3608-403: 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

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3696-464: 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

3784-496: 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

3872-560: 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

3960-483: The battle, having been shot through the heart. Major Harry Mulford took command of the regiment after Stotsenburg's death. The Americans, including the 1st Nebraska, then began moving to the northwest towards San Fernando , which was a Filipino stronghold. The regiment participated in the opening portion of the Battle of Calumpit on April 25, crossing the Calumpit River and driving back Filipino forces. On May 4,

4048-555: The brunt of most of the American probes north of the Pasig River. The battalion was reported to have retreated towards Cubao by morning of February 5 before ultimately ending up and regrouped in Marikina . The battalion set up a defense on the outskirts of the town the next day but by February 7, the unit has dispersed when the Americans under Colonel John Stotsenburg arrived and occupied in

4136-458: 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

4224-505: The convoy. On June 24, the men were allowed to disembark at Honolulu in the Republic of Hawaii while the ships took on coal. The vessels left Hawaii the next day, stopping again at Wake Island on July 4. Manila Bay was reached on July 17. With Manila itself still in Spanish hands, the regiment disembarked at Cavite City on July 20. The American troops occupied a position established by local Filipino rebels, and at 21:40 on August 2,

4312-556: 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

4400-524: 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

4488-445: 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

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4576-550: The end of the war, whichever came first. After training in Nebraska at Camp Alvin Saunders, the regiment was originally intended to be sent to Camp George H. Thomas in Georgia , but was instead sent to San Francisco, California , leaving on May 16. The trip was made by railroad and cost the government $ 15,808.80. Colonel John P. Bratt commanded the unit, which would eventually receive

4664-554: 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

4752-511: 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

4840-499: 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

4928-566: 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

5016-484: 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

5104-491: The local Spanish commander, the 1st Nebraska was one of the units that advanced into the town. It did not fire a shot and suffered no casualties. American troops performed occupation duty in the city, with the First Nebraska policing the waterfront district near the customs house. Tensions remained between the Americans and the Spanish and with the Filipino rebels under General Emilio Aguinaldo , who desired independence for

5192-400: The location of the 1st Nebraska's camp being a point of contention. The Philippine–American War began on February 4. Filipino soldiers did not answer to American sentinels , and Private William W. Grayson of the 1st Nebraska fired a shot. Firing all along the American lines soon broke out, as the Battle of Manila had begun. The next day, the Nebraskans captured a pumping station on

5280-565: 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

5368-489: The nickname "Fighting First". After arriving the San Francisco, the unit reported to Camp Merritt , on May 19 and 20, where the men trained more. While at Camp Merritt, an order was made to increase the size of the regiment's companies , and a few men were sent back to Nebraska for further recruiting. The regiment left for Manila on June 15, traveling on the steamship SS Senator , with three other troopships in

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5456-468: 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

5544-414: 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

5632-571: 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

5720-575: 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,

5808-421: The regiment 20 killed and 168 wounded. The United States began to replace the state volunteer regiments with new national ones, and the 1st Nebraska was sent back to Calumpit on May 20. From there, it returned to Manila by rail, where it performed guard duty for a month. On June 21, the regiment boarded the SS Hancock , leaving Manila on July 1. Hancock made stops in Nagasaki and Yokohama in July, and

5896-401: The regiment a route with which to quickly take the city's waterworks if needed. In December, the Treaty of Paris ended the Spanish–American War, and the United States signaled that it intended to keep the Philippines as a colonial possession , although Aguinaldo and his followers still desired independence. Tensions between the Americans and the Filipinos mounted through January 1899, with

5984-477: The regiment boarded the steamship SS Hancock , which brought the men back to the United States, where they mustered out on August 23. Upon the outbreak of the Spanish–American War in April 1898, two regiments of the Nebraska National Guard were sent to Lincoln, Nebraska , on April 23 to mobilize, per orders by Governor of Nebraska Silas Holcomb . The unit entered United States service on either May 12 or May 10, with an enlistment period of two years or

6072-419: The regiment chased a detachment of Filipinos. On February 26, a detachment of the regiment was fired upon from the town of Mariquina , and the Nebraskans burned the town in response. An investigation was launched into Stotsenburg in early March, but after interviewing men of the regiment, the investigators determined that the complaints that had led to the investigation had been made by maligners, and Stotsenburg

6160-401: The regiment was present at the Battle of Marilao River . Part of the regiment helped a South Dakota unit capture a bridge, and later in the action, the 1st Nebraska routed the left side of the Filipino line. After spending March 28 repairing the capture bridge, the regiment advanced on March 29 and 30. On the latter day, it was heavily engaged after crossing the Guiguinto River. On March 31,

6248-481: 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

6336-451: 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

6424-446: 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

6512-570: The ship reached San Francisco on the night of July 29 and 30. The 1st Nebraska was mustered out on August 23, 1899, and the men boarded trains for Nebraska on August 25. During the regiment's time in service, it had 64 men killed and several hundred wounded. 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

6600-453: 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

6688-528: The town. Following President Emilio Aguinaldo 's government's decision to dissolve the Army in November 1899 and transform military units into decentralized guerrilla commands, the unit was assigned, under the leadership of General Gerónimo, to operate in the Province of Morong. The command played a significant role in the Battle of San Mateo in 1899 , where a sniper from the command named Bonifacio Mariano fatally shot

6776-452: The unit, and 300 soldiers were discharged in December and shipped back to the United States due to illness or infirmity. The losses to illness were partially offset by the arrival in late November of the additional recruits that had been authorized in June. In December, the regiment was transferred to Camp Santa Mesa, which was in a salient of the American lines outside of Manila that would allow

6864-401: 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

6952-399: 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

7040-488: Was cleared. During the time the regiment guarded the pipeline, it lost seven men killed and 14 wounded. Aguinaldo had his capital at Malolos , and the Americans made a movement to attack it. The offensive began on March 25, with the 1st Nebraska being part of the leading American force. Fighting through San Francisco del Monte , the regiment continued fighting on March 26, driving to the Meycauayan River. The next day,

7128-564: 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

7216-481: 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

7304-526: 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

7392-400: 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

7480-435: 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

7568-461: 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

7656-466: 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,

7744-511: 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

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