A notorious battle in the war was Dewey and his fleet attacking the Manila Bay in the Philippines. General Dewey was ordered to attack the Spanish fleet at Manila Bay if war was to breack out between the Spanish and the Americans. When war did indeed breack out that is just what he did. On May 1st, 1898, Dewey’s fleet attacked the Spanish fleet harbored in the bay. The battle went about 2 hours and the Americans then took a break because of reports of low ammunition. When they learned the report was false they went back into battle and were soon able to sink the old fashioned fleet of wooden ships by noon. In the end around 400 Spaniards died but not one American life was lost. Another famous battle was the Battle of San Juan Hill. The goal of the U.S. was to capture the port city of Santiago. On June 1st, US soldiers marched up the hill at El Caney and took the hill within four hours. On the very same day 8,000 very brave US soldiers were able to take control of the ridge above Santiago by nightfall. The Rough Riders were involved in this battle and six Buffalo Soldiers and two Rough Riders including Roosevelt received the Medal of Honor for their actions in this battle. Two days later the, U.S. Navy sank the entire Spanish fleet off the coast of Cuba. Then two weeks after the sinking Spanish troops in Cuba surrendered. Soon after Cuba surrendered U.S. forces defeated the Spanish military in Puerto Rico. Soon after on December tenth 1898 the Treaty of Paris was signed and the war was over. In the aftermath of the war Spain lost Cuba, Puerto Rico, and the pacific island of Guam to America. The U.S. also bought the Philippines from Spain for 20 million dollars. The U.S. allowed all of these nations to become their own independent colonies. From the blowing up of the USS Maine to The Battle of San Juan Hill that is how the United States of America achieved victory in The Spanish American War. -By Thomas Parker and Melissa Weinstein
Battle in Spanish American War
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