As the joint resolution of Congress of April 20th declared the aim of the United States to be relinquishment of Spanish authority in the island of Cuba, our main sphere of action was naturally the Caribbean. As soon as Spain should have yielded the island, the war would naturally end unless Spain should choose to continue it. There were in the island, by official statement, 159,297 regular troops and 119,160 volunteers. The American regular army, distributed from Maine to Alaska, was but 28,183. Of course it was necessary to call for a large number of volunteers. To preserve Cuba it was necessary for Spain to preserve communication with the island. This could be done only by obtaining and keeping command of the Atlantic. To do this she had an effective force of only four armored cruisers: the _Infanta Maria Teresa_, _Almirante Oquendo_, _Vizcaya_ (Biscay), and _Cristóbal Colón_, each of about 7,000 tons. A battleship, the _Pelayo_, and a large armored cruiser, the _Carlos V_, were not yet ready for service. This was of course a hopeless disparity of fighting force as compared with Admiral Sampson’s fleet of five powerful battleships and two armored cruisers. Admiral Cervera, who had been placed in command of the Spanish squadron, saw this clearly and protested, without avail, against sending it across the Atlantic. On April 29, 1898, he left the Cape Verde Islands with the four armored cruisers first mentioned and with three torpedo-boat destroyers, with orders to go to San Juan, Puerto Rico. * * * * * Commodore George Dewey, commanding our naval forces in Asia, had, under the orders of the department, collected his whole force at Hong Kong in anticipation of the war, and had made ready for the eventuality. The _Baltimore_, a large cruiser for the period, had fortunately reached him in time with a precious supply of extra ammunition. The British Declaration of Neutrality had obliged him to withdraw on April 24th his force consisting of the _Olympia_, _Baltimore_, _Boston_, _Raleigh_, _Concord_, _Petrel_, and the revenue cutter _McCulloch_, from Hong Kong to Mirs Bay, thirty miles away on the China coast. Here, on April 26th, he received a telegram informing him officially of the declaration of war and adding: “Commence operations at once, particularly against the Spanish fleet. You must capture vessels or destroy. Use utmost endeavors.” The last three words were certainly unnecessary. He left as soon as possible, this being the afternoon of May 27th. It was 620 miles to Manila.