"BULLY" SAN JUAN HILL, SANTIAGO DE CUBA
Mar 14 '02
The Bottom Line A little side trip into history between the hotel bar and a visit to the beach.
On April 5, 1898, the American Battleship USS Maine was blown up under mysterious circumstances in Havana harbor. The American Government used this act as an excuse to become embroiled in the struggle between Cuba and their Spanish colonial masters. The Spanish American War was on.
A US Army expeditionary force, including the 1st Volunteer Cavalry Regiment, the "Rough Riders" under their charismatic Colonel Theodore "Teddy" Roosevelt, was dispatched to Cuba. They landed at Daiquiri Beach east of the city of Santiago de Cuba. Several days later they fought their first minor inconclusive action against Spanish forces near the town of Siboney.
On July 1 1898 the Americans assaulted the Spanish defenses outside Santiago de Cuba. The Americans including the "Rough Riders" made their historic charge up Kettle and San Juan Hills ending the battle, the war, and Spain's involvement in Cuba and the Americas.
Visitors to Santiago de Cuba can easily visit San Juan Hill. It is located just outside the eastern edge of the city on the coast road to Bacanao Park. The site is easy to locate, near the zoo, the Hotel Leningrado, and a nearby amusement park. Modern day visitors can climb to the top of the hill along a paved road, a much easier trek then that endured by Roosevelt and his men.
The view of the city and the surrounding mountains from the summit is spectacular. There are several cannons from that era, and plaques commemorating the soldiers, Cuban, American and Spanish who fought and fell here. Descending the hill, you can stop at the large ceiba tree under whose branches the peace treaty, that would forever alter the path of Cuban history, was signed.
For those who wish to, it is possible to visit both the town of Siboney, east of the city, where the initial skirmishes took place, and the landing site at Daiquiri Beach. Take the coastal road east to Siboney and after continue eastward towards Bacanao and watch for the turn off for the Hotel Daiquiri which is located on the beach of that name.
It should be noted that there are no plaques or monuments to this conflict at either site. Siboney is better known in Cuban history as the site of Castro's initial failed attempt to seize power in 1956, and the Daiquiri, well we all know what that name means in Cuba.
It is also possible to travel west from Santiago to Nima Nima and/or Asserdero. Here you can view the rusting wrecks of Spanish warships that were run aground and destroyed by the American fleet in the naval battle that took place on July 3, 1898 soon after that at San Juan Hill.
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Member: James Smith
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