American Historical Ephemera & Photography

Typed letter signed ("John D. Long") as Secretary of the US Navy, to Commodore John C. Watson, Commanding 1st Squadron, North Atlantic Fleet, assigning commands in advance of the US attack on the Spanish fleet in Cuba. Washington, DC, 21 June 1898. 

1 page, 7 1/4 x 10 1/2 in., on Navy Department stationery (creased and with clipped left edge line, toning). "1st Endorsement" on verso at the Naval Base Key West, 24 June 1898, signed ("Geo. C. Remey") by Commodore George C. Remey (1841-1928). Manuscript notation at top of letter "U.S.S. Montgomery / Rcd 930 AM June 25."

Long assigns Commodore John C. Watson (1842-1923) to the command of the 1st Squadron of the North Atlantic Fleet, Commodore Winfield Scott Schley (1839-1911) to command the 2nd Squadron of the North Atlantic Fleet, and Commodore Remey to command of the Naval Base at Key West. He then indicates that Rear Admiral William T. Sampson (1840-1902), Commander-in-Chief of the U.S. Naval Forces on the North Atlantic Station, will assign such vessels as "he deems most advisable to the 1st and 2nd Squadrons of the fleet under his command."

At the the time of this letter a large fleet of US naval forces had already assembled off the coast of Cuba and enacted a blockade. One day after Secretary Long issued these commands US troops landed in Cuba, and shortly thereafter on 3 July 1898 US naval forces destroyed the Spanish fleet off Santiago Bay.  The Spanish fleet attempt to leave the bay was halted as the U.S. squadron under Commodore Schley destroyed the Spanish destroyer Furor, the torpedo boat Plutón, and the armored cruisers Infanta María Teresa, Almirante Oquendo, Vizcaya, and Cristóbal Colón. An important letter from the Secretary of the Navy on the eve of one of the Spanish-American War's most significant engagements.