Criteria The Dewey Medal was a military decoration of the United States Navy which was established by the United States Congress on June 3, 1898. The medal recognizes the leadership of Admiral of the Navy Geor... The Dewey Medal was a military decoration of the United States Navy which was established by the United States Congress on June 3, 1898. The medal recognizes the leadership of Admiral of the Navy George Dewey, during the Spanish-American War, and the sailors and marines under his command. MoreHide
Criteria The Spanish Campaign Medal was awarded for military service in, or on the high seas en route to, any of the following countries during the dates indicated: Cuba (May 11 to July 17, 1898), Puerto Rico ... The Spanish Campaign Medal was awarded for military service in, or on the high seas en route to, any of the following countries during the dates indicated: Cuba (May 11 to July 17, 1898), Puerto Rico (July 24 to August 13, 1898) or Philippine Islands (June 30 to 16 August 16, 1898). MoreHide
Description The Spanish–American War (Spanish: Guerra hispano-estadounidense or Guerra hispano-americana; Filipino: Digmaang Espanyol-Amerikano) was a conflict fought between Spain and the United States in 1898. The Spanish–American War (Spanish: Guerra hispano-estadounidense or Guerra hispano-americana; Filipino: Digmaang Espanyol-Amerikano) was a conflict fought between Spain and the United States in 1898. Hostilities began in the aftermath of the internal explosion of the USS Maine in Havana harbor in Cuba leading to United States intervention in the Cuban War of Independence. American acquisition of Spain's Pacific possessions led to its involvement in the Philippine Revolution and ultimately in the Philippine–American War.
Revolts had been occurring for some years in Cuba against Spanish rule. The U.S. later backed these revolts upon entering the Spanish–American War. There had been war scares before, as in the Virginius Affair in 1873. In the late 1890s, US public opinion was agitated by anti-Spanish propaganda led by newspaper publishers such as Joseph Pulitzer and William Randolph Hearst which used yellow journalism to call for war. The business community across the United States had just recovered from a deep depression, and feared that a war would reverse the gains. They lobbied vigorously against going to war.
The US Navy battleship Maine was mysteriously sunk in Havana harbor; political pressures from the Democratic Party pushed the administration of Republican President William McKinley into a war that he had wished to avoid.[9] Spain promised time and time again that it would reform, but never delivered. The United States sent an ultimatum to Spain demanding that it surrender control of Cuba. First Madrid declared war, and Washington then followed suit.
The main issue was Cuban independence; the ten-week war was fought in both the Caribbean and the Pacific. US naval power proved decisive, allowing expeditionary forces to disembark in Cuba against a Spanish garrison already facing nationwide Cuban insurgent attacks and further wasted by yellow fever. Numerically superior Cuban, Philippine, and US forces obtained the surrender of Santiago de Cuba and Manila despite the good performance of some Spanish infantry units and fierce fighting for positions such as San Juan Hill. Madrid sued for peace with two obsolete Spanish squadrons sunk in Santiago de Cuba and Manila Bay and a third, more modern fleet recalled home to protect the Spanish coasts.
The result was the 1898 Treaty of Paris, negotiated on terms favorable to the US which allowed it temporary control of Cuba and ceded ownership of Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Philippine islands. The cession of the Philippines involved payment of $20 million ($575,760,000 today) to Spain by the US to cover infrastructure owned by Spain.
The defeat and collapse of the Spanish Empire was a profound shock to Spain's national psyche, and provoked a thorough philosophical and artistic revaluation of Spanish society known as the Generation of '98.[ The United States gained several island possessions spanning the globe and a rancorous new debate over the wisdom of expansionism. It was one of only five US wars (against a total of eleven sovereign states) to have been formally declared by Congress.... More
Description
A failed attempt, as the fleet was assigned to enter Cardenas Bay and destroy the three Spanish gunboats reportedly moored in the harbor.
People You Remember
Captain of the USS Baltimore
Memories The following is the official report filed by Capt.Nehemial Dyer of the USS BALTIMORE relating the sThe following is the official report filed by Capt.Nehemial Dyer of the USS BALTIMORE relating the ship's involvement in the Battle of Manila Bay. The Report: U. S. S. BALTIMORE, Manila, Philippine Islands, May 4, 1898. SIR: I have the honor to make the following report, as required by article 437, Navy Regulations of the engagement of this ship with the Spanish fleet and shore batteries at Sangley Point, Cavite Bay, on the 1st instant. At early daylight the fleet had reached a point close up to the shipping off the city of Manila, when the signal was made, Prepare for general action. Spanish batteries near Old Manila opened fire at long range at about the same time. Flagship [OLYMPIA] leading, with port helm, bore down on the right of Spanish line of vessels, formed in a somewhat irregular crescent at anchor, extending from off Sangley Point to the northeast, and in readiness to receive us, their left supported by the batteries on Sangley Point. Following your lead in close order, our fire commenced with the port battery at about 5.40 a. m., at a distance of about 6,000 yards. Our column passed down the enemy?s line, turning with port helm as their left was reached, engaging them with starboard battery on the return. This maneuver was performed three times at distances from the enemy's ships varying from 2,600 to 5,000 yards, when you signaled to withdraw from action at 7.35. Upon reaching a convenient distance in the bay, you signaled, Let the people go to breakfast; and at 8.40, Commanding officers repair on board the flagship. While on board the flagship I received an order to intercept a steamer coming up the bay, reported to be flying Spanish colors. Soon after starting on this duty I discovered the colors of the stranger to be British, and so reported by signal, you having in the meantime made general signal to get under way and follow your motions, this ship being at the time some 2 miles to the south-southwest of the flagship on her way to intercept the supposed Spanish steamer. At 10.55 you made general signal, Designated vessel will lead, with Baltimore?s distinguishing pennant, and in a few minutes signal to attack the enemy?s batteries or earthworks and for fleet to close up; in obedience to which order this ship led in, with starboard helm, to a position off the Canacoa and Sangley Point batteries and opened fire with starboard battery at a distance of about 2,800 yards, closing in to 2,200, between which and 2,700 yards our best work was done, slowing the ship dead slow, stopping the engines as range was obtained, delivering a rapid and accurate fire upon the shore batteries and a gunboat just inside of Sanlgey Point, since proven to have been the Don Antonio de Ulloa, practically silencing the batteries in question before the fire of another ship became effective, owing to the lead we had obtained in our start for the supposed Spanish steamer. The fire of ships and batteries having been silenced and the white flag displayed on the arsenal buildings at Cavite, you signaled, at 1.20, to prepare to anchor, and at 1.30, Anchor at discretion. The victory was complete. The wind was light and variable during the first engagement and from the northeast; force 2 to 3 during the second. The firing devices gave considerable trouble, extractors, sear springs, and firing pins bending and breaking, and wedge blocks jamming. Electric firing attachments gave trouble by the grease and dirt incident to firing insulating the connections, so much so that shortly after the engagement commenced they were abandoned for percussion, but coolness and steadiness replaced defective parts in the shortest possible time. The ammunition supply was ample, and the test was conclusive so long as electric hoists are uninjured. The behavior of officers and men was beyond all praise. The accuracy and rapidity of their fire you were an eyewitness of. The steadiness and cool bearing of all on board who came under my observation was that of veterans. The fact that the ship was so rarely hit gave few opportunities for conspicuous acts of heroism or daring, but the enthusiasm and cool steadiness of the men gave promise that they would have been equal to any emergency. I shall report later such detail of individual merit as has been mentioned by officers of divisions or that came under my own observation. I inclose (a) report of executive officer; (b) surgeon?s report of casualties (c) carpenters report of damages; (d) report of ammunition expended. Very respectfully, N. M. DYER, Captain, U. S. N., Commanding. ... More
Description The American Civil War was an internal conflict fought in the United States from 1861 to 1865. The Union faced secessionists in eleven Southern states grouped together as the Confederate States of AmeThe American Civil War was an internal conflict fought in the United States from 1861 to 1865. The Union faced secessionists in eleven Southern states grouped together as the Confederate States of America. The Union won the war, which remains the bloodiest in U.S. history.
Among the 34 U.S. states in February 1861, seven Southern slave states individually declared their secession from the U.S. to form the Confederate States of America. War broke out in April 1861 when Confederates attacked the U.S. fortress of Fort Sumter. The Confederacy grew to include eleven states; it claimed two more states, the Indian Territory, and the southern portions of the western territories of Arizona and New Mexico (called Confederate Arizona). The Confederacy was never diplomatically recognized by the United States government nor by any foreign country. The states that remained loyal, including border states where slavery was legal, were known as the Union or the North. The war ended with the surrender of all the Confederate armies and the dissolution of the Confederate government in the spring of 1865.
The war had its origin in the factious issue of slavery, especially the extension of slavery into the western territories. Four years of intense combat left 620,000 to 750,000 soldiers dead, a higher number than the number of American military deaths in World War I and World War II combined, and much of the South's infrastructure was destroyed. The Confederacy collapsed and 4 million slaves were freed (most of them by Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation). The Reconstruction Era (1863–1877) overlapped and followed the war, with the process of restoring national unity, strengthening the national government, and granting civil rights to freed slaves throughout the country.... More
USS Glasgow