By Humberto Rodriguez
We read the original article, "A Message
To Garcia" in a previous part of this publication. This was reportedly
the most reproduced article during the lifetime of an author, in the
history of the United States. The article suggests that President
William McKinley gave First Lieutenant Rowan an actual letter or
message to deliver to Major General Calixto Garcia. In fact, he did
not. Prudence in view of the possibility of Lt. Rowan being captured
with such a message made it impractical. He was given an oral message
instead. The letter he was given was a letter from the Department of
State of the United States to serve as presentation to the Cuban Exile
Junta, which operated in Jamaica.
It must be remembered that
this final war, "The War of Independence," had started with the "Grito
de Baire," by Saturnino Lora and family, on February 24, 1895. Soon
thereafter, the Cuban political leader and source of inspiration, Jose
Marti, died in combat at Dos Rios, in Eastern Cuba, on May 19, 1895.
Spain could no longer contain the independence movement. The Grito de
Baire marked the beginning of the end for the rule of Spain. It started
incessant warfare in the eastern part of rural Cuba.
As we
have seen time and again in history, the intransigence and arrogance of
the rulers left the ruled no option but to rebel. After the cruelty of
the 10 Year War and the arbitrary actions of General Martinez Campos,
the Baragua protest gave an indication of what was to come. The policy
of repression of the "Penninsulars," as the people born in Spain were
called, left no alternative. It boiled down to the fact that
Penninsulars regarded those Spaniards of "Ultramar" or Overseas as
third class citizens, albeit most were entirely of Spanish blood. They
could not study the careers they wanted, nor had access to the best
employment. Although, as is usual in these cases, there were three
separate courses of actions and trains of thought, 1) full integration
into Spain or the US, 2) more autonomy as a colony and 3) full
independence, the full independence movement had by now, all the
momentum. There were several reasons, not the least of which were the
cruelty of the Spanish rulers and the pen of a teacher, writer and
journalist called José Julian Marti Perez, who from New York, had
united and motivated all Cubans, prior to his death in combat, related
above. The Electric Encyclopedia at http://www.encyclopedia.com
describes the situation like this:
"After efforts to quell
guerrilla activity had failed, the Spanish military commander,
Valeriano Weyler y Nicolau, instituted the reconcentrado, or
concentration Camp, system in 1896; Cuba's rural population was
forcibly confined to centrally located garrison towns, where thousands
died from disease, starvation, and exposure.
Weyler's actions
brought the rebels many new American sympathizers. These pro-rebel
feelings were inflamed by the U.S. yellow press, especially W. R.
Hearst's New York Journal and Joseph Pulitzer's New York World, which
distorted and slanted the news from Cuba. The U.S. government was also
moved by the heavy losses of American investment in Cuba caused by the
guerrilla warfare, an appreciation of the strategic importance of the
island to Central America and a projected isthmian canal there, and a
growing sense of U.S. power in the affairs of the Western Hemisphere.
There was an unspoken threat of intervention. This grew sharper after
the insurgents, refusing a Spanish offer of partial autonomy,
determined to fight for full freedom."
The popularity of the
war amongst the rural population and the help they offered the mambises
(Cuban independence forces) moved Weyler to execute his policy of
"Reconcentrado." Bad mistake. While he was doing that, the mambises
were advancing. Already in 1996 Major General Antonio Maceo Grajales
had fought his famous "Battle of Mal Tiempo" and executed his
"Invasion," or traveled the entire island, from east to west, fighting
and winning battles along the way. Spain still held the major cities.
General Maceo was surprised in the province of Habana, close to a town
called Bejucal, at the place known as "El Cacahual," by Spanish forces
while his own forces were between two stone fences, making his retreat
impossible. He was killed at that battle, on December 7, 1896. His
assistant and son of the supreme military leader of the mambises,
Francisco Gomez Toro, was also killed with him.
Spain
committed more and more resources and men to retaining Cuba as a
colony. An estimated 200,000 Spaniards died in Cuba. It was all in
vain. Many of the Spaniards were honorable men and were respected by
the mambises, such as Camps, the Spanish commander of "La Periquera" en
Holguin, brave soldier who defended its post beyond duty and was much
admired by the mambises. The episode of “La Periquera” will be the
subject of another article.
Perhaps the Spanish soldier that
Cuba could have done without was Angel Castro. He returned to live in
Cuba after the war. I wish he had stayed in Galicia. If he had, Fidel
Castro would not have been born in Cuba.
By the time President
William McKinley sent Lieutenant Andrew Summers Rowan with his "Message
To Garcia," it was very doubtful that Spain could have retained Cuba,
even without any US intervention. But the sentiment for involvement in
the Cuban War of Independence was growing in the US.
First,
Hearst published a stolen letter, written by a minister of Spain in
their embassy in Washington, which showed contempt for President
McKinley. Then, on February 15, 1898, the USS Maine blew up in Havana
Harbor, under mysterious circumstances, while the yachts of both Hearst
and Pulitzer were nearby. Here is the official version of the US Navy:
http://www.history.navy.mil/faqs/faq71-1.htm
Members
of the US Congress visited Cuba and reported on the effect of the
Reconcentrado policy of Valeriano Weyler. In late March 1898, President
McKinley proposed to Spain an armistice in Cuba, but the US sentiment
ran now toward war.
The Queen of Spain had just ordered a
ceasefire and the President of the United States knew it, but
nevertheless, he asked Congress on April 11, 1898, for War Powers.
Congress issued resolutions demanding that Spain withdraw from Cuba and
setting the terms for US intervention. The resolutions contained the
Teller Amendment, which provided that the US would withdraw as soon as
Cuba gained independence.
On 22 April 1898, Congress
authorized the recruitment of volunteers to fight in Cuba and the US
had already blockaded Cuban ports on 21 April, which is considered an
act of war. On 24 April 1998, Spain declared war on the US. On 25 April
1898, the US declared war on Spain also, but retroactive to 21 April
1898.
Such were the events that took place while Andrew S.
Rowan was on his mission. The great contribution of the United States
to the Cuban Independence War was that of its Navy. It started when
Admiral George Dewey sailed into Manila Bay and defeated the Spanish
fleet which was there at anchor, on 1 May 1898. On 19 May 1898, Admiral
Pascual Cervera y Topete took the Spanish armada into the bay of
Santiago de Cuba. On 28 May 1898, Commodore W. S. Schley blockaded the
Santiago Harbor. Rear Admiral W. I. Sampson joined the blockade and
took command. When the fleet under Admiral Cervera tried to run the
blockade on 3 July 1898, it was destroyed.
Meantime, the US
had landed 17,000 volunteer troops, more or less trained and not very
well equipped. They were under the command of W. R. Shafter. They
wanted to take Santiago and fought a good battle at El Caney on 1 July
1898, where the decisive contribution was that of the forces of Major
General Calixto Garcia. The "Rough Riders," under Leonard Wood and
Teddy Roosevelt, fought the battle of San Juan Hill. Santiago
surrendered on 17 July 1898. That was it, the war was practically over.
The Armistice was signed on 12 August 1898. At that time, US
troops under Nelson A. Miles were occupying Puerto Rico. Admiral Dewey
and General Wesley Merritt occupied Manila on 13 August 1898. The
official end of the war was when the Treaty of Paris was signed on 10
December 1898, which was ratified by Congress on 6 February 1899. This
treaty was exclusively between the United States and Spain. The Cuban
patriots were completely ignored and excluded.
Such was the
situation when Elbert Hubbard wrote his famous essay, "A Message To
Garcia," on 22 February 1899. Previous parts covered a prologue that
the author wrote on 1913 and the actual article that he wrote and
published in 1899. In case you missed it or do not remember it, I will
give you a little information on the author, Elbert Hubbard and on the
man who carried the message, Andrew S. Rowan, below. These previous
parts gave you the actual story of Rowan, a detailed account of his
actions and vicissitudes, the contents of the message and the results.
Rowan printed his article in 1923, long after Elbert Hubbard, William
McKinley and Calixto Garcia were dead.
At the end of the war,
Spain assumed the Cuban debt. Puerto Rico and Guan were ceded to the
United States as Indemnity or Reparations and Manila was bought for $20
millions. The United States emerged from the Spanish-American War as a
World Power.
Cuba was under United States rule until the
Republic was established on 20 May 1902, when the US flag was lowered
and the Cuban flag, the one designed by the Venezuelan Narciso Lopez,
was raised at the Morro Castle, in Havana. The republic was under US
control however, under the terms of the Platt Amendment, until it was
repealed in Cuba in 1934. The first Cuban president, Tomas Estrada
Palma, was a teacher and a United States citizen.
The protagonists Rowan, Andrew S. (1857-1943)
Lieutenant Colonel Andrew Summers Rowan was born at Monroe County, Virginia, which is now West Virginia, in 1857.
Graduated
from the US Military Academy at WestPoint, class of 1881. He was
stationed in Washington D.C. at the time he was entrusted with "A
Message To Garcia." After the Spanish-American war, he served in
different US posts and in the Philippines, retiring as a Major after
thirty years of service, in 1909. Here is what they say about him at a
history site:
http://americanhistory.si.edu/westpoint/history_4b2.html
history.html">http://scriptorium.lib.duke.edu/scriven/bohol-history.html
Captain Rowan was honored by his native State of West Virginia in a proclamation on January 1901:
http://www.wvculture.org/history/military/rowanandrew02.html
Hubbard, Elbert (1856 - 1915)
American
author and publisher, born at Bloomington, Ill. Editor of The Fra and
The Philistine magazines. After a visit to London, He founded in 1895
an artist colony in East Aurora, N.Y., and founded there Roycrofter
Inc.the Roycroft Press, for fine books and hand craftsmanship.
Hubbard
was the author of the essay "A Message to Garcia" in 1899, a lesson in
duty based on an incident in the Spanish-American War. Hubbard died on
the Lusitania, which was sunk in the Irish Sea by a German submarine on
May 7, 1915.
Elbert Hubbard's business "Credo": I believe in
the goods I sell. I believe in the firm for whom I work. I believe in
my colleagues and helpers. I believe in American business methods. I
believe in producers, creaters, manufacturers, distributors, and in all
industrial workers of the world who have a job, and hold it down. I
believe that Truth is an asset. I believe in good cheer and in good
health, and I recognize the fact that the first requisite in success is
not to achieve the dollar, but to confer a benefit, and that the reward
will come automatically, and usually as a matter of course. I believe
in sunshine, fresh air, spinach, applesauce, laughter, buttermilk,
babies, bombazine and chiffon, always remembering that the greatest
word in the English language is "Sufficiency." I believe that when I
make a sale I make a friend. And I believe that when I part with a man
I must do it in such a way that when he sees me again he will be glad -
and so will I. I believe in the hands that work, in the brains that
think, and in the hearts that love. Amen, and Amen.
Resources
Lern more about Elbert Hubbard:
http://www.bigeye.com/elberth.htm
Elbert Hubbard bibliography:
http://www.bigeye.com/ehbiblio.htm
Learn more about Major General Calixto Garcia:
http://www.spanamwar.com/Garciabio.htm
See what the official Whitehouse website says about:
William McKinley, 25th President of the United States:
http://www.whitehouse.gov/history/presidents/wm25.html
Theodore Roosevelt, the 26th President of the United States:
http://www.whitehouse.gov/history/presidents/tr26.html
Other Resources
Interesting links
Subscribe to a free historical electronic publication by sending a blank email to: Cuba From Exile
or you may subscribe online at: http://www.3cuba.com/cgi-bin/pub/websub.cgi?from
Publish your book in electronic form:
EDIT.US
Humberto Rodriguez, Miami, March 3, 2005
Humberto
Rodriguez, CLU is a writer, author, programmer, marketer, insurance and
financial consultant. Webmaster of several sites, he teaches you how to
develop, publish and market your own website. Subscribe to his free
newsletter:
http://HRFinancial.com/
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