Our War with Spain for Cuba's FreedomWhite, Trumbull
History
Our War with Spain for Cuba's Freedom
White, Trumbull
Cuba -- History; Spain -- Foreign relations -- United States; Spanish-American War, 1898; United States -- Foreign relations -- Spain
Major Moses P. Handy, afterwards famous as a journalist, was
present at the surrender of the Virginius to the American men of
war in the harbor of Bahia Honda, and gives a graphic account of
the circumstances attending that ceremony. In concluding the tale
he says: "The surrender of the surviving prisoners of the massacre
took place in the course of time at Santiago, owing more to
British insistence than to our feeble representation. As to the
fifty-three who were killed, Spain never gave us any real
satisfaction. For a long time the Madrid government unblushingly
denied that there had been any killing, and when forced to
acknowledge the fact they put us off with preposterous excuses.
'Butcher Borriel,' by whose orders the outrage was perpetrated,
was considered at Madrid to have been justified by circumstances.
It was pretended that orders to suspend the execution of Ryan and
his associates were 'unfortunately' received too late, owing to
interruption of telegraph lines by the insurgents, to whose broad
and bleeding shoulders an attempt was thus made to shift the
responsibility.
"There was a nominal repudiation of Borriel's act and a promise
was made to inflict punishment upon 'those who have offended,' but
no punishment was inflicted upon anybody. The Spanish government,
with characteristic double dealing, resorted to procrastination,
prevarication and trickery, and thus gained time, until new issues
effaced in the American mind the memory of old wrongs unavenged.
Instead of being degraded, Borriel was promoted. Never to this day
has there been any adequate atonement by Spain, much less an
apology or expression of regret for the Virginius massacre."
The amount of money paid to the United States government for
distribution among the families of American sufferers by this
affair was $80,000. And that is the extent of the reparation made
for the shocking crime.
The Virginius, although the most conspicuous, was not the only
American victim of Spanish misgovernment in Cuba during the Ten
Years' war. In 1877 the three whaling vessels, Rising Sun, Ellen
Rizpah, and Edward Lee, while pursuing their legitimate business
under the American flag, outside of Cuban waters, were fired upon
and detained for days, with circumstances of peculiar hardship and
brutality. The United States government investigated the outrage
with care, and demanded of Spain an indemnity of $19,500. The
demand, however, was not enforced, and the sum of $10,000 was
accepted as a compromise settlement.
CHAPTER XIV.
OPERATIONS OF THE TEN YEARS' WAR.
The Two Wars Compared--The Havana Volunteers--The Slaughter at
the Villaneuva Theater--The Court Martial of the Students--A
Holiday in Havana--The Close of the War--The Treaty of Zanjon.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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