The War for Cuban Independence
by Jerry A. Sierra
Intro | Before The
War | The War Begins | U.S.
Intervention | After The War |
Sidebars: Frederick
Funston, American Insurrecto | Funston
meets Gómez |
Spanish-Filipino-American
War | An Excerpt from Mark Twain |
A Poem: Cuba Libre | References
Sidebar:
"Cuba Libre," A Poem by Ernest H. Crosby
When we sailed from Tampa Bay,
"Cuba Libre!"
And our ships got
under weigh,
"Cuba Libre!"
As we floated down the tide,
Crowding to
the steamer's side,
You remember how we cried,
"Cuba Libre!"
When we spied the island shore,
"Cuba Libre!"
Then we shouted
loud once more,
"Cuba Libre!"
As we sank Cervera's ships
Where the
southern sea wall dips,
What again was on our lips?
"Cuba Libre!"
These are foreign word, you know-
"Cuba Libre!"
That we used
so long ago;
"Cuba Libre!"
And in all the time between
Such a lot
of things we've seen,
We've forgotten what they mean
"Cuba Libre!"
Let us ask the President,
"Cuba Libre!"
What that bit of
Spanish meant,
"Cuba Libre!"
Ask McKinley, Root and Hay
What on
earth we meant to say,
When we shouted night and day
"Cuba Libre!"
But alas! They will not speak
"Cuba Libre!"
For their memories
are weak,
"Cuba Libre!"
If you have a lexicon,
Borrowed from a
Spanish don,
Send it down to Washington,
"Cuba Libre!"
In 1902, Ernest H. Crosby wrote "Captain Jinks, Hero," a novel satirizing the war fever and the betrayal of the Cubans and Filipinos by the government.
Next: References