attered wrecks, on the coast of Cuba. The
Spanish loss in killed and wounded was heavy, while Admiral Cervera and
about 1800 of his men were taken prisoners. Not one of our vessels was
seriously damaged, and but one of our men was killed. When the battle
began, the American war ships were in their usual positions before the
harbor, as assigned them by Admiral Sampson; but Sampson himself, in his
flagship, was several miles to the east on his way to a conference with
General Shafter. Commodore Schley's flagship, the _Brooklyn_, was at the
west end of the line, and as the enemy tried to escape in that
direction, she was in the thickest of the fight. Another war ship which
especially distinguished herself was the _Oregon_, a Western-built
ship, which had sailed from San Francisco all the way around Cape Horn
in order to reach the seat of war.

[Illustration: General Miles]

After the naval battle of July 3, all hope of successful resistance by
the Spaniards vanished, and on July 17, General Toral surrendered
Santiago, the eastern end of Cuba, and an army of nearly 25,000 men. A
week later General Miles set off to seize the island of Porto Rico. He
landed on the southern coast, and had occupied much of the island when
hostilities came to an end.

571. Peace.--On August 12, 1898, a protocol was signed by
representatives of the two nations, providing for the immediate
cessation of hostilities, the withdrawal of Spain from the West Indies,
and the occupation of Manila by the United States till the conclusion of
a treaty of peace, which was to be negotiated by a commission meeting in
Paris, and which was to provide for the disposition of the Philippines.

News of the cessation of hostilities was instantly sent to all our
fleets and armies. But, on August 13, before word could reach the
Philippines, Manila was attacked by General Merritt's army and Dewey's
fleet, whereupon the Spanish general surrendered the city and about
7000 soldiers.

A formal treaty of peace was signed at Paris December 10, 1898,
providing that Spain should relinquish her title to Cuba, and cede Porto
Rico, Guam (one of the Ladrones), and the Philippines to the United
States; and that the United States should pay $20,000,000 to Spain. The
treaty was then submitted to the governments of the United States and
Spain for ratification; but in both countries it met some opposition. In
our country objections were made especially to the taking of the
Philippi