These reinforcements had been sent out in three expeditions: the first
expedition, Brigadier-General Anderson commanding, consisted of 115
officers and 2,386 enlisted men; the second, under Brigadier-General
Greene, of 158 officers and 3,428 enlisted soldiers; the third, under
command of General McArthur, consisted of 197 officers, and 4,650
men. With these expeditions went the Astor Battery and Major-General
Wesley Merritt, who had been chosen Commander-in-chief of the United
States forces in the Philippines. In all, over 11,000 men were on
their way to Manila, and a fourth expedition, consisting of 1,763 men,
under Brigadier-General H. G. Otis, was soon to follow.
It was the cruiser Charleston, which conveyed the transports of one
of these expeditions, that stopped to have a little fun, by way of
profitable diversion, at the island of Guam, one of the Ladrones.
Thirteen shells from the Charleston went thundering against the
fortress of Santa Cruz. But even thirteen proved insufficient to
provoke a Spanish reply. However, a half-hour after the bombardment
began, the captain of the port, Lieutenant Commander José Garcia
y Gutierrez, of the Spanish navy, accompanied by one or two other
Spanish officers, were rowed to the Charleston, and, having been
taken on board, apologized for their seeming discourtesy; they said
that lack of ammunition at the fortress made it impossible for them
to return the American salute. They were, in fact, unaware that war
had been declared between the United States and Spain, and were,
therefore, much surprised when Captain Henry Glass informed them
that they were prisoners of war. They were sent ashore and ordered
to convey to the Governor Don Juan Marina the command that he come
upon the Charleston. He replied that, under Spanish law, he was not
allowed to go aboard a foreign man-of-war.
Captain Glass then sent Lieutenant Brannersreuther to the Governor,
demanding an immediate and unconditional surrender. A half-hour was
allowed for the consideration of the demand. The Governor expressed
great surprise at these peremptory proceedings; but twenty-five
minutes after this demand he, nevertheless, made the unconditional
surrender of everything Spanish in and around the Ladrones. The guns,
ammunition, and flags of the Spaniards, as well as the garrison and
all the Spanish officers, were then taken aboard one of the transports,
and the expedition continued its journey Manila-ward.
It is said that, great was the rejoicing on board the cruiser and
the transports as the Stars and Stripes were unfurled from the Fort
of Santa Cruz; and, while the Charleston fired a salute of 21 guns,
Captain Glass formally declared the Ladrones to be possessions of
the United States.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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