Porto Rico: Its History, Products and PossibilitiesHall, A. D. (Arthur D.)
History
Porto Rico: Its History, Products and Possibilities
Hall, A. D. (Arthur D.)
Puerto Rico -- Description and travel; Puerto Rico -- History
In the beginning the plan of campaign included an advance along three
lines.
The first division, under General Schwan, was to advance along the
western coast to Aguadilla, in the north-western corner of the island,
and then to push to the east until Arecibo, on the northern coast and
about half-way between Aguadilla and San Juan, was reached. The second
division, under General Henry, was to push directly to the north from
Ponce, forming a union with Schwan at Arecibo. The main advance was to
be along the military road from Ponce to San Juan. As this road runs for
some distance parallel to the southern coast, a division was dispatched
under General Brooke to land at Arroyo and capture Guayama, an important
city on the military road, about forty miles east of Ponce. By this
means, whatever detachments of Spanish troops might be stationed on the
road between these two points were exposed to attack from both front and
rear.
Before any of these movements could be completed, however, came the
armistice and the consequent cessation of hostilities.
Much, though, had been accomplished before this, enough to show what
American arms were capable of.
In the east, General Brooke, after landing at Arroyo, had taken Guayama;
in the centre, General Wilson had advanced on the military road,
occupied Coamo, and had made a demonstration before Aibonito, where
there was a large Spanish force; further to the west, General Henry had
marched to within fifteen miles of Arecibo; in the extreme west, General
Schwan had marched along the coast and taken Mayaguez, the principal
port in that end of the island, after a sharp skirmish with a force that
outnumbered his own. The slight opposition met by General Brooke at
Guayama, General Wilson at Coamo, and General Schwan near Mayaguez,
indicated that there would be little difficulty in reaching the capital,
and officers and men alike felt that the capture of San Juan was a
matter of but a few days.
The third landing of American troops in Porto Rico took place on August
2, at Arroyo, from the St. Louis and the St. Paul. The army then took
the place of the navy and accepted the surrender of the town. There was
no defense and no Spanish flag was flying. The surrender of Arroyo was
important, as there were a large number of manufacturing enterprises
there.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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