Utuado
May 3, 1898
Dear Elena,
This early morning we woke to Raulito at our door to tell us—I’m sure you’ve heard—that the Spanish fleet had bombed New York! Everyone was talking about it en la plaza, about how that great American city is in ruins and hundreds, if not thousands, of people have died! The war has begun! (I hope this victory means that the war is over.) We hurried and got dressed to go to town because it wasn’t every day that nuestra Madre España conquered New York! I wore my best dress—the blue one you sent with the ruffles—and Lourdes had on her pink. I was able to find a shirt of Vicente’s for Raulito, and we went down to town complete with a picnic basket with our lunch. (Lourdes and I rode the horse.) La plaza, really the entire town, was filled with people cheering the soldiers. There were rumors of a great naval triumph in Manila. Hats were passed around for donations for the war, rich or poor dropped in their coins. I was against even a centavo going into that basket, but everyone was looking and Vicente dropped in a few coins, despite my protest. (Later I know he regretted it because we couldn’t buy the children the piraguas they wanted.) Tomorrow, when Vicente returns to town to sell some fruit, he’ll mail this letter and buy the newspapers sure to be filled with details of the victories. What have you heard?
Recibe un abrazo de tu hermana,
Valentina
P.S. Kisses to our parents, Ernesto and the children, and to you!
San Juan
May 11, 1898
Dear Valentina,
How are you and the family? The entire city of San Juan was en fiesta yesterday. A fleet of Spanish ships docked at port resplendent with the flags of la Madre Patria. Houses throughout the city, including ours, were adorned with Spanish flags and ribbons. Over a thousand young men have volunteered for the Spanish army. Papá says it’s because they’re hungry and the army will feed them, but I think it’s because they’re patriotic! The damas have signed up for the Red Cross, even me! Doctors and nurses and the high-class San Juan ladies set up makeshift hospitals and ambulances. Hundreds of workers marched into the city, their machetes raised in the air. Everyone shouted, ¡Viva España! ¡Viva la Madre Patria! ¡Viva Puerto Rico! ¡Abajo con los yanquis! ¡Viva la guerra! San Juan is ready. The whole island of Puerto Rico is ready. The newspapers say so. Let the Americans come if they dare!
Love,
Elena
PART TWO
THE AMERICANS
San Juan
May 25, 1898
Dear Valentina,
We have returned to our house after several weeks away from San Juan. In the early hours of May 12, we were still asleep when a blast of noise rocked us in our beds. The American warships bombed the harbor! We ran from our room and screamed for the servant to get Mamá and Papá while Ernesto and I gathered the children. We fled the house in our bedclothes and not much else. Ernesto stopped to lock up the door even as I yelled at him to leave it. (Afterward, I was grateful.) Ernesto and the servant carried the children while Papá and I helped our mother. We ran and choked on smoke. Cannon fire from El Morro returned the Americans’ attack. It was pandemonium, Valentina, a terrible nightmare, and were it not for the feel of cold cobblestones on my bare feet or the night breeze through my nightgown, I might have thought myself asleep. People ran out of their houses in their nightclothes, as we had; one of our neighbors was naked, his hair wet as if he’d been in the bath; everyone was screaming and pushing to make their way to the road to Río Piedras. A man covered in blood lay on the road. Someone shouted that he was dead, and people stepped on him to get past. The Church of San José had a gaping hole in its roof. Vendors on their way to market from the countryside dropped their wares and scampered for dear life, except for the bread vendors who raced with baskets of fresh bread balanced on their heads. The milkman had abandoned his cow and calves; they bleated and blocked the road. The vendedor de aves had dropped his wooden crates of birds, and they flew against the bars, unable to escape. We took refuge in a friend’s house some distance from the harbor. Later that day, we returned to pack a few things before driving in our carriage to the house of Ernesto’s sister. (Ernesto decided to go back to San Juan to attend to our business.) One of our neighbors left San Juan in his sailboat; we could see the parade of white sails as we drove by the harbor. The American warships had vanished, but one of the grand houses in San Juan had its entire top story blown off. (We found out later that the Spanish had done it, thinking it was an American warship.) Ernesto heard from our customers that the next day many merchants and regular citizens sent the soldiers in El Morro cases of champagne, cognac, wine, sausages, dulces, etc.
Some of the familias pudientes have left for their grand haciendas in the countryside or taken the steamships to Europe, or have chosen to recuperate in the hot springs of los Baños de Coamo for the duration of the war.
Mamá has not stopped shaking, and I fear that she has suffered un ataque de nervios from which she might not recover. The doctor says to wait and pray. Valentina, remember when we thought Mamá seven feet tall and as sturdy as the trunk of the coconut palm? Now I have to talk to her in whispers because any loud sound will startle her and bring on tears. Our father, on the other hand, whistles all the time. He is the only one who can calm Mamá. Dear sister, how I wish you were with me to help with this burden that God—or shall I say the Americans—has placed on me, but I know that you have your own troubles.
All my love,
Elena
P.S. One of our neighbors found a projectile on the street. It weighed over a hundred pounds!
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
PROCLAMATION, JULY 28, 1898
To the inhabitants of Puerto Rico:
In the prosecution of the war against the kingdom of Spain by the people of the United States, in the cause of liberty, justice, humanity, its military forces have come to occupy the island of Puerto Rico. They come bearing the banner of freedom, inspired by a noble purpose, to seek the enemies of our country and yours, and to destroy or capture all who are in armed resistance. They bring you the fostering arm of a nation of a free people, whose greatest power is in justice and humanity to all those living within its fold. Hence the first effect of this occupation will be the immediate release from your former relations, and, it is hoped, a cheerful acceptance of the government of the United States. The chief object of the American military forces will be to overthrow the armed authority of Spain, and to give the people of this beautiful island the largest measure of liberty consistent with this occupation. We have not come to make war upon the people of a country that for centuries has been oppressed, but, on the contrary, to bring you protection, not only to yourselves, but to your property; to promote your prosperity; and to bestow upon you the immunities and blessings of the liberal institutions of our government. It is not our purpose to interfere with any existing laws and customs that are wholesome and beneficial so long as they conform to the rules of military order and justice. This is not a war of devastation, but one to give to all within the control of its military and naval forces the advantages and blessings of enlightened civilization.
Nelson A. Miles
Major General, Commanding US Army
San Juan
July 30, 1898