The Spanish American War (1898-1901): Ground War in Cuba: 1898

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Along with the heroic exploits of the "Rough Riders", two black regiments played a crucial role in winning San Juan Hill. The charge up the hill itself was made on foot, since so few horses had made it to Cuba.

After the battles of El Caney and San Juan Hill, Admiral Cervera, commanding the Spanish fleet, was ready to surrender. With his old ships rotting and the land army facing defeats, Cervera knew he could not win. Nevertheless, Spanish leaders ordered him to continue fighting to preserve Spanish honor. By July 3, continuing the trend of US naval dominance, his fleet had been utterly destroyed. In the naval battles, 500 Spanish sailors lost their lives while only 1 American died.

When it seemed like the war would be over soon, the US moved quickly to send forces into Spanish-controlled Puerto Rico, and took the island with minimal conflict. The American forces, under General Nelson A. Miles, were welcomed by the Puerto Ricans as liberators. But liberation was far from what the US had in store for Puerto Rico. Since it was not bound by the Teller Amendment in Puerto Rico, the US could keep the island as a colony.

The armistice came just in time for the US. Although the US was defeating the Spanish army, disease was coming close to defeating the US Army. Malaria, typhoid, dysentery, and yellow fever were plaguing American troops who were fighting in the tropics for the first time. In all, while the Spanish only killed about 400 American soldiers, around 5,000 US soldiers died from disease.

Walter Reed, a pathologist and biologist working for the US Army, began groundbreaking work into the causes of yellow fever that began as a result of the Spanish-American War. Previously, it had been believed that the fever was spread through material like clothing and bedding. Wood discovered that yellow fever was actually caused by a certain mosquito's bite. Although Wood's work came too late to save American lives in the Spanish-American War, his research beginning during the war led to a better understanding of yellow fever, which was later practically eliminated in Cuba and Latin America by systematically destroying mosquito breeding and nesting areas.

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