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The U.S. Makes Plans for the
Invasion of Puerto Rico
On June 2, 1898, The New York Times had
the foreboding headline of "Plans For Invasion," wherein it described the United
States’ military plans and operations for the invasion of Puerto Rico, as part of the
on-going Spanish-American War being fought with colonial Spain. The U.S. officially
divulged its intention to invade Puerto Rico by landing troops onto the island nation for
the express purpose of eventually setting up a military government.
On June 5, 1898, a Times
lead article entitled, "Army About To Move: Puerto Rico Will be Invaded by Troops
Under Gen. Lee," indicated that the military movement against Puerto Rico was near
and this fact was made clear by the U.S.’s Assistant Secretary of War Meiklejohn when
he "disclosed the fact that four transports have been ordered to proceed...."
and to be prepared for possible military action. In addition to the men being mobilized,
the U.S. also got readied a number of ships. The destination of these troops, under the
command of Major Gen. Fitzhugh Lee, was San Juan de Puerto Rico. No actual date for the
ships’ departures was provided to the newspaper, nor was any date set for the
possible invasion of Puerto Rico.
On June 13, 1898,
another Times’ article entitled, "Invasion of Puerto Rico,"
stated that the U.S. War Department’s efforts and plans for the invasion of Puerto
Rico were to be on its forefront. However, the military decided to hold off on the
invasion of Puerto Rico until Santiago, Cuba was taken. The U.S. determined that the
Spanish forces and troops in Puerto Rico were relatively small in number, although the
fear was that there still might be some military effort required to invade the island. The
article noted that Admiral Sampson "found that the reduction of the forts and
batteries of San Juan was no child’s play, and that he succeeded in doing little
damage to them in three hours of bombarding." It was estimated that approximately
12,000 to 15,000 troops would be needed for the invasion of Puerto Rico.
Finally, on June 30,
1898, the Times had the rather sensational article entitled, "Fight At Puerto
Rico," wherein it described how the Spanish warship, Antonio Lopez, was
spotted by American ships while trying to enter the river San Juan, near San Juan de
Puerto Rico, with war cargo; but the warship escaped any damage when it swiftly changed
its course. The Antonio Lopez was identified as being a "small gunboat built
for service in Cuban and Puerto Rican waters."
For more information
please contact:
La Casa de Puerto Rico
P.O. Box 81982
San Diego, CA 92138
(619) 685-2847
lacasa@inetworld.net
Email
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