Identifier: illustratedhist00russ (find matches)
Title: An illustrated history of our war with Spain : its causes, incidents, and results
Year: 1898 (1890s)
Authors: Russell, Henry Benajah, 1859- Thurston, John Mellen, 1847-1916 Proctor, Redfield, 1831-1908
Subjects: Spanish-American War, 1898
Publisher: Hartford, Conn : A. D. Worthington
Contributing Library: Robarts - University of Toronto
Digitizing Sponsor: University of Toronto

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he mouth of the harbor, was practi-cally wrecked, but the Spaniards had already removed most ofher guns and mounted them on shore. In searching for a favorable place for the expected troopsto land, Admiral Sampsons attention was attracted towardsthe harbor of Guantanamo, about forty miles east of Santiago.To clearly understand the problem which General Shafterwas to meet when he came to consider the landing of his troops,it should be borne in mind that the coast of Cuba betweenSantiago and Guantanamo is in a general way formed of threeparallel ranges of hills. First there is the rampart, on the sea-front, a high flat-topped ridge very steep in most places, andbroken into terraces by outcropping ledges of limestone; be-hind this are foothills rising out of the wooded valleys, andbehind that and another line of valleys or ravines, are the highmountains of the coast range, about six miles from the shore.In the vicinity of Santiago the rampart or outer ridge along 2. -i cr  ;: o
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ADVANTAGES OF GUANTANAMO BAY 663 the sea front is about 300 feet high, stretching eastward andwestward like a great stone walL At two places this wall iscut down to tlie sea level in two narrow clefts or notches about100 yards wide at the hottoni, and these appear to be the onlyopenings through which the interior of the country is accessi-ble to an invading force. In one of these and the nearest toSantiago lies the village and railway station of Siboney, and inthe other the village which takes its name from the BaiquiriRiver emptying at that point. But it could not fail to appear to Admiral Sampson or toanyone that a landing in either of these places would be diffi-cult, perhaps impossible, if opposed strongly by a daringenemy. Even without artillery, 1,000 men with Mausers onthe heights surrounding the notches and the approaches mightkeep back a strong landing force for days, for, if driven fromthe tops of the bluif, the Spaniards could fortify the foothillsbeyond and be out of reach

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