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Includes correspondence, missives, orders, and miscellaneous notes concerning American involvement in the abortive López Expedition of 1851 and its aftermath, in which the Spanish South American defector Narciso López attempted to mount a military filibuster to remove Cuba from Spanish control and bring it into the United States as a slave state. These materials include some materials of Americans before the raid, expressing hopes that an American slave state of Cuba could offset the admission of California as a free state, as well as a military order by U.S. Naval Secretary William A. Graham to send the steamer John Hancock to New Orleans to prevent support to the López Expedition in the wake of its failure. Spanish royal orders to destroy the Filibuster, as well as indications of its subsequent flight to Nicaragua, are also included. Also in this file is a copy of a death certificate for Cuban-American Pedro Ángel Castellón signed by Severín LaTorre, Spanish consul to New Orleans, and verified in 1867. The folder includes a military promotion request for Leopoldo García Gardó signed by Antonio Venenc y Andrada in Segovia, Spain. The relationship of the latter two items with the other filibuster material is unclear. Partial geographical list: New York City, Havana/Habana (Cuba), Matanzas (Cuba), London (England), Tampa (Fla.), Key West, Jackson (Miss.), Augusta (Miss.), New Orleans (La.), Centreville (La.), Cheshire (Mass.), St. Augustine (Fla.), Madrid (Spain), Segovia (Spain). Additional keywords: Seminole War, Zachary Taylor, Franklin Pierce, California, Slavery, Caribbean, Georgia, Navy Department, Queen Isabella/Isabela II, U.S.-Spain relations, Spanish Army.

Includes correspondence, orders, and notes concerning the outfitting of vessels from American ports to support Cuban independence fighters in the Ten Years' War. The Virginius, referred to in a note from a U.S. court clerk in the West District of Wisconsin to the Adjutant-General declaring the preparedness of a local sharpshooter regiment to fight in the event of a war with Spain after the Virginius affair, was such a vessel. Included in this file is a note from U.S. Secretary of State Hamilton Fish to the postmaster-general urging the rapid transmission of orders between New Orleans and Key West. Also includes an exemption order for a Spanish soldier signed by several superior officers including Don Victoriano Gómez. Smuggling, arms shipments, military exemptions. Partial geographical list: Havana/Habana (Cuba), Portland (Maine), New York City, Washington (D.C.), Madison (Wis.), New Orleans (La.), Key West, Madrid (Spain).

Includes correspondences and missives sent by Máximo Gómez, who coordinated contacts between the Cuban government in exile in New York (including recruiting volunteers) and the Cuban Liberation Army, to colleagues (particularly Francisco Carrillo), initially from exile in the British West Indies and then from Cuba (particularly in Western Cuba, as far east as the region of Sancti Spíritus). Gómez frequently expressed frustration to Carrillo over the logistical, tactical, and disciplinary situation of Cuban troops and the relative discipline and strength of Spanish forces. Also includes Gómez's eulogy for General Calixto García, who died of presumed pneumonia in December 1898. Spanish-American War, Maine explosion, promotions. Partial geographical list: Turks Islands, Jamaica, Havana/Habana (Cuba), Sancti Spíritus, Los Charcos.