Early in the war President McKinley received news from Cuba which was very disappointing. For years the Cubans had claimed that if the United States would only furnish them with arms and ammunition they could easily fight off the Spanish soldiers located in the islands. The Cubans were brave,—of this there can be no doubt,—but an examination proved that their socalled army was sadly lacking in military organization and was so scattered that to bring it together without outside aid would be next to impossible. Consequently any campaign in the island would have to be fought mainly by our own soldier boys, with the Cubans as a secondary aid.
"Never mind, we'll fight it out for them," said our soldiers. "Only give us the chance." And fight it out they did, as we shall see later.
From Hampton Roads the Flying Squadron under Commodore Schley went to Key West and then to Cienfuegos. It was now felt by all that the Spanish fleet, which was known to have sailed westward, must be somewhere in the vicinity of the West Indies. A close watch was kept by every
