the United States embarked on its first war with any European
Power, save England--a war forced upon us by every consideration of
humanity--a war which shall be of great advantage or of great harm to
our Republic, according as its fruits are wisely or wrongly
administered.

CHAPTER II.

THE OPENING DAYS OF THE WAR. -- THE FIRST BLOW STRUCK IN THE
PACIFIC. -- DEWEY AND HIS FLEET. -- THE BATTLE AT MANILA. -- AN
EYE-WITNESS' STORY. -- DELAY AND DOUBT IN THE EAST. -- DULL TIMES
FOR THE BLUE-JACKETS. -- THE DISCOVERY OF CERVERA. -- HOBSON'S
EXPLOIT. -- THE OUTLOOK.

Strangely enough the first warlike stroke at Spain was not delivered
in or about Cuba, where the quarrel arose, but in the other
hemisphere, in the far-away waters of the Asiatic Pacific, where the
American flag is almost a stranger and the power and wealth of the
great American Republic are unknown. In the Philippine Islands Spain
retains one of the colonies with which she once encircled the globe.
More than 7,000,000 people--a peace-loving, kindly, intelligent
race--are there ruled by the Spaniards, and as the rule was of the
characteristic Spanish kind, with all the accompaniments of slaughter,
dishonor, and extortion, the natives--as in Cuba--were in a chronic
state of rebellion. One uprising, which had assumed very considerable
proportions, was reported by the Spaniards as suppressed just before
our declaration of war. That event, however, aroused the
revolutionists again and, as we shall see, they were of the greatest
service to us as allies.

When war was declared an American squadron of six warships lay at Hong
Kong. The vessels were the "Olympia," protected cruiser; "Raleigh,"
"Baltimore," and "Boston," cruisers; "Concord" and "Petrel," gunboats,
and the revenue cutter "McCulloch." Not a very powerful fleet--not a
battle-ship nor even an armored cruiser among them--but the ships
carried crews of as sturdy Yankee blue-jackets as ever trained a gun,
and when the time came for daring an enemy's fire the little "Petrel"
was as dashing and defiant as the stoutest of steel-clads could be. In
command of the squadron was Admiral George Dewey, a Vermonter, who
served with Farragut and had his baptism of fire at the forts below
New Orleans. In time of peace the war record of a subaltern is quickly
forgotten, and Dewey patiently climbed the ladder of promotion until
1898 found him a commodore and in command of the Asiatic squa