The Battle of Las Guasimas of June 24, 1898, part of the Spanish-American War, unfolded from Major General "Fighting Joe" Wheeler's attempt to storm a Spanish position in the jungles surrounding Santiago. Commanding a division that included the 1st U.S. Volunteer Cavalry and the 10th Regular Cavalry, Wheeler engaged a rearguard under Major General Antero Rubín.

The Spanish infantry held its ground, skewering the advancing American regiments with rifle volleys; however, after an exchange of fire lasting two hours, Rubín, rather than press his advantage, pulled his men from the trenches and resumed his ongoing retreat in the direction of Santiago. The yellow press seized upon this to describe the battle as a rout; in reality, Wheeler had been much closer to defeat.

Background

On June 23, the Spanish garrisons of Sigua, Siboney and Daiquirí, retiring before American landings in their vicinity, clashed with a Cuban advance guard column of 250 men under Colonel Carlos González Clavel near Sevilla, east of Santiago de Cuba. Having lost three dead and 10 wounded in the skirmish and inflicted roughly the same casualties, the Spaniards retired to a lightly entrenched position at Las Guasimas de Sevilla, on the road to Santiago (4 miles northwest of Siboney beach).

Brigadier-General Lawton, commander of the 2nd Infantry Division of the U.S. Volunteers V Corps, had been appointed chief of the landing operation by Major General William R. Shafter, Commander-in-Chief of American forces in Cuba. American reports suggested the Spaniards were digging in with a field gun; however, Cuban scouts contradicted these, revealing the Spaniards were preparing to abandon their position.^[1] Rubin had in fact received orders to fall back on Santiago.^[1] On the morning of the 24th, Major General Joseph Wheeler, under orders to stand his ground until the completion of the disembarkation, defied orders and spurred his dismounted cavalry division into action.

General Wheeler asked Cuban Colonel González Clavel for the cooperation of his forces in the improvised assault, but the disciplined Cuban officer, lacking orders from Lawton, refused Wheeler's request. Nevertheless, with the information offered by the Cubans about the Spanish dispositions, Wheeler rushed his men forward with 2 guns to the front, Colonel Young's brigade leading the advance against Spanish positions. Knowing neither the ground nor the Spanish deployment, the American forces could have been ambushed and decimated, but Cuban scouts moved before American columns, leading them to the enemy's deployment without incident.

Battle

Brigadier General Antero Rubín commanded nearly 1,500 men and 2 guns, distributed as follows:

• 3 companies of the 1st "Provisional de Puerto Rico" infantry battalion,
• 5 companies of the 11th "San Fernando" infantry battalion
• 5 companies of the 4th "Talavera Peninsular" infantry battalion
• 2 companies of movilizados (Spanish levied loyalists)
• 2 platoons of engineers and 1 platoon of mountain artillery equipped with two 75 mm Krupp guns

These forces were deployed in three echelons: 3 companies of Puerto Rico and 1 company of movilizados covering the crossroads of the Siboney trails, with 2 other companies (San Fernando) guarding the surrounding heights; 3 companies (San Fernando), the engineers, and the artillery holding the Asiento de Sevilla; and 5 companies of Talavera and 1 company of movilizados at La Redonda under Colonel Bory, covering the trails to Justicí and El Pozo.

The American side included the 1st U.S. Volunteer Cavalry, or "Rough Riders", under Leonard Wood, the 1st U.S. Regular Cavalry, and the 10th U.S. Regular Cavalry (this consisted of Afro-American soldiers, then called Buffalo soldiers). Supported by artillery, the American forces numbered in all more than 1,200 men.

The first sign the Americans had of the enemy's proximity was a Cuban independentist soldier laid down dead by the road. The engagement began with shots by U.S. artillery. Spanish infantry returned fire, nailing the advancing American units to the ground with rifle volleys. The Spaniards were armed with superior 1893 model Mauser repetition rifles that fired round after round of smokeless or "dry" gunpowder, making them exceedingly difficult to target in return.

Wheeler's forces moved to encircle the Spaniards' first echelon, assaulting its front and right flank, but were repulsed. Then came a pause, and both sides reinforced the battle line, the Spaniards sending forward 2 companies of San Fernando and the artillery. After midday the attack was renewed, but Spanish Comandante Andres Alcamiz, leading the Puerto Rico battalion, once again checked the American assault.

After halting the American advance, the Spanish inexplicably resumed their ongoing withdrawal towards Santiago's outer defenses instead of profiting from the sharp reverse inflicted on the Americans, allowing "American observers [to] unanimously but incorrectly assume their attack had forced the enemy to retreat."^[2]

Casualties were as follows: U.S. forces lost 17 dead and 52 wounded; Spanish forces suffered 7 dead and 7 wounded, as reported by general Rubin, although these figures are sometimes revised upward. (The discrepancy occurs because the Spaniards at Las Guásimas escorted a convoy carrying wounded troopers, as can be read in the order of retreat sent to General Rubin by Lt. General Arsenio Linares on the afternoon of the 24th.)

Aftermath

Rubín had guaranteed the safety for his forces, moving away from the menacing, large calibre guns of the U.S. Navy along the coast. After drawing "first blood" at Las Guasimas, much of it from his own men, Wheeler concentrated the U.S. Volunteer V Corp with General Calixto García's 5,000 Cubans and invested Santiago's first lines of defense.

The position at Sevilla, briefly occupied by American forces, turned out to be of little value for the aimed advance towards Santiago. General Shafter considered installing his headquarters at La Redonda once the landing was completed, moving it afterwards to El Pozo. The Spanish retreat did unbar the way to the strong points that covered Santiago on the east side, mainly Fort Aguadores, San Juan Hill, Canosa, El Caney, and Fort El Viso, where a set of bloody battles would be waged on July 1. Many of the Spanish officers and soldiers that fought at Las Guasimas de Sevilla were to be in the fight again at the bloody encounter of San Juan Hill.

Although Colonel Gonzalez Clavel was criticized by some U.S. officers for not taking part in the attack, he had in fact acted in accordance with military protocol and his directives from General Lawton, the supreme authority during the landing, the Headquarters' orders being not to advance until the landing was completed. Gonzalez Clavel's actions were warmly approved by General Lawton and General Calixto Garcia. Moreover, historical scrutiny of the operation has suggested the Americans erred badly in pursuing a frontal attack against a Spanish position which might have been turned or enveloped with much less difficulty; had the Spaniards elected to hold their ground, Wheeler may have sustained a very severe defeat.^[3] An officer with the Rough Riders reflected: "It is a good thing we are not at war with England or Germany or France, for we should not last a week."^[4]

In fiction

This engagement was featured in the movie Rough Riders starring Tom Berenger as Theodore Roosevelt. The film depicts it as an American success, albeit a costly one.

Notes

References

• Enrique Collazo (1973). Los Americanos en Cuba. Editorial Ciencias Sociales. 
• Anibal Escalante Beaton (1978). Calixto Garcia: su campana en el 95. Editorial Ciencias Sociales. 
• Albert A. Nofi (1997). The Spanish-American War, 1898. Combined Books. ISBN 0-938289-57-8. 
• Severo Gomez Nunez (1998). La guerra Hispano-americana. Editorial Almena S.L. 

External links

• Spanish-American War Centennial Website