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Includes four broadsides: (1) in Spanish, urging Spanish subjects to support the centralizing viceregency of Governor-General Valeriano Weyler and oppose the "yankee pigs" [¡Españoles! ¡Viva España Con Honra!...]; (2) in English, requesting the shipment of durable goods from Omaha to Cuba as part of a relief effort [Cuba! Help the Starving!...]; (3-4) in English, for military volunteers from the region of Albany, N.Y. [Chas. C. Kromer, For Cuba 1200 Men Wanted... Schoharie, N.Y. Dated Schoharie, May 13, 1896 and accompanying partially printed blank form (with letter by Kromer and lawyer); and (5) bilingual in Spanish and English, from a Cuban independentist group in New York dated 1875 commemorating the previous losses of "martyrs" in the Ten Years' War [La Revolucion, no. 6. Nueva York, Noviembre 27, 1875.]. War aid, famine, American volunteers in Cuba. Partial geographical list: Havana/Habana (Cuba), Omaha, Albany (N.Y.).

Includes 4 letters sent by Ens. Kenneth Bennett, serving aboard the USS Amphitrite, a monitor patrolling the seas in blockade duty off Key West, to his mother in Hackensack. Bennett expresses gratitude for his mother's weekly correspondence and his aunt's frequent mailings of New Jersey newspapers. Includes a re-telling of ship Captain Barclay's story about a shark attack he dealt with earlier in his career (2 pages). Sailors' letters, Battle of Santiago, Siege of Santiago, Sharks. Partial geographical list: Key West, Hackensack (N.J.).

Includes three letters from Odin Bestor to his mother Flora (in Baltimore) as Odin was sent from Camp Chickamauga in Georgia to Ocala, to Tampa, to Puerto Rico, then presumably to Cuba. Bestor expresses repeated frustration at the poor professionalism of the officers commanding U.S. Army troops headed for Cuba, stories of which had also separately reached Flora. On printed, illustrated Ocala House stationery (highlighting a 5-mile bicycle path to Silver Springs, "the Mecca of all Florida tourists"). Soldiers' letters, hotels. Partial geographical list: Chickamauga (Ga.), Ocala (Fla.), Tampa (Fla.), Puerto Rico.

Includes three letters from 1st Ambulance Company, U.S. 4th Army Corps enlistee Joseph Bowditch to various cousins in Massachusetts: one to his cousin May, who was attempting to ensure Joseph was following the Bible (Joseph gently rebukes her, and instead tells her about his quotidian schedule and life in the camp); another to an unnamed cousin detailing the differences between military life and civilian life, even in Florida; and another to another cousin Carrie, sending money for Carrie to buy a new bicycle. Pencil illustration of his tent. Printed Army Christian Commission stationery. Battle of Santiago, Siege of Santiago, soldiers' letters. Partial geographical list: Tampa (Fla.), East Bridgewater (Mass.).

Includes 8 letters sent by seaman Jim Bryan of Wyandotte, Michigan, to his family while he was aboard the frigate USS Franklin off the Virginia coast, and the cruiser USS Newark, which departed the Chesapeake for Key West to participate in the blockade in June . Includes several descriptions of Bryan's dismay at naval life and customs, as well as his hope that they think fondly of him. Sailors' letters, Battle of Santiago, Siege of Santiago. Partial geographical list: Wyandotte (Mich.), Norfolk (Va.), Key West, Puerto Rico, Guantánamo Bay (Cuba).

Includes letters incoming to Sen. Joseph R. Hawley of Connecticut (who opposed the buildup to war) during the buildup to war with Spain from constituents and some New Yorkers. One letter, penned by an attorney Roger Welles out of Hartford (whose son Rod was entering command of the USS Tecumseh), believes that war against Spain is divinely ordained, and lamenting that no General Jackson or Grant would step up to lead the attack. Other letters, from John Nickolson of the Loyal Legion, the importer Edward Frisbie, and the estate and insurance broker Theodore E. Packer, express gratitude to Hawley for his opposition to the war; a letter from J. Cheney on March 30th goes further and says, "we do not have much in common with those yellow skinned devils on either side down in Cuba . . . Stand firm and let the heathen rage." The lawyer Albert Walker argues that war with Spain contravened the Monroe Doctrine, which held that the Doctrine only applied American protection to territories not under European control in 1823. Thomas Sims, the pastor of the Congregationalist church attended by Roger Welles, was less pro-war than Welles was--Welles took one of Sims's sermons as an argument to support the war, but Sims was content to leave the matter to McKinley (who still opposed the war at this time). USS Maine, U.S. Senate, William McKinley, pacifism, religion and the Spanish-American War. Partial geographical list: Hartford (Conn.), Washington (D.C.), South Manchester (Conn.), Mystic (Conn.), Philadelphia (Pa.), Norwich (Conn.), Willimantic (Conn.), New York.

Includes three letters sent by a sailor named Fred to his sister in Norwich, Conn., concerning conditions on the USS Iowa during its blockade actions in the Caribbean Sea between Cuba and Puerto Rico, including a description of the bombardment of San Juan by a small flotilla including the ships Indiana, New York, Amphitrite, and Terror as well as the Iowa; and an attack on the Spanish fleet in Cienfuegos. Sailors' letters, Battle of Santiago, Siege of Santiago. Partial geographical list: Caribbean Sea, USS Iowa, Santiago (Cuba), San Juan (Puerto Rico), Santo Domingo (Dominican Republic), Cienfuegos (Cuba), Norwich (Conn.).

A collection of letters sent by Edward F. Leiper on the USS New Orleans to his wife Mary his young daughter, also Mary. Mary and Mary were initially living in Annapolis before moving to (elder) Mary's mother's home in Overbrook, Philadelphia. While stationed at Newport, Leiper wrote to (elder) Mary quite frequently; by 8 May, the New Orleans had put to sea. After a stay in Hampton Roads that Leiper found quite frustrating, the New Orleans departed for Key West, and then to the Cuban coast for blockade duties, after which letters began to be sent much less regularly. As the New Orleans stayed off Santiago in June, Leiper begins to complain about "canned fruit, bad bread and bad coffee. I doubt if you can think of a worse combination" and the "heat of a tropical sun." He also makes a complaint to his wife about the "lot of irresponsible newspaper reporters" for their "sensational and readable columns of matter for the public." By August, the New Orleans was in San Juan for peace negotiations, witnessed by Edward, who was optimistic that the war would end soon. The envelopes of each letter are marked numerically; this collection begins with letter number seven. Sailors' letters, Battle of Santiago, Siege of Santiago. Partial geographical list: Newport (R.I.), Annapolis (Md.), North Atlantic Ocean, Hampton Roads (Va.), Key West (Fla.), Caribbean Sea, Santiago (Cuba), San Juan (Puerto Rico), Guantánamo (Cuba), Overbrook (Philadelphia, Pa.).

These are 5 items from William Chapman, Army, and 9 items (6 letters, 3 empty envelopes) from William and Douglas McCaskey, Infantry. William Chapman was an army captain (related to the McCaskey family by marriage) who was present in Santiago when the Spanish troops surrendered on July 17th; three of his letters detail the Spanish decision to surrender amidst a yellow fever outbreak, effectively ending the war. In an August letter to his mother, he expresses frustration that credit for the Santiago surrender in the press was going to the Rough Riders (who Chapman viewed as unprofessional but passionate) and the 71st New York Volunteer infantry (who Chapman hated). Instead, Chapman argued that the bulk of the credit should go to the First Brigade, including the 3rd and 20th Infantry--the 20th coincidentally commanded by Chapman's in-law William McCaskey. The other collection consists of papers from father William and son Douglas McCaskey, including a June 1898 note from William to his wife meant as a farewell letter in case William died commanding the 20th; a note from Douglas to his mother (William's wife) in Fort Leavenworth detailing the military situation; two other letters from William to his wife detailing the military situation during the siege of Santiago (including a hand-drawn map); and an August letter from William to his wife indicating that Douglas had typhoid but was recovering. Soldiers' letters, Battle of Santiago, Siege of Santiago, 20th U.S. Infantry, Rough Riders, guerrilla warfare. Partial geographical list: Santiago (Cuba), Tampa (Fla.), Fort Leavenworth (Kan.).

Consists of letters sent by Schenck to his mother (and wife of another Robert Schenck who was in the Grand Army of the Republic [G.A.R.]) while Robert (Jr.) was serving aboard the USS Vicksburg off the Cuban coast. One letter is from May, but the others are from late June and after, as the Spanish were moving towards surrender and the war was ending. Consists of the detailing of military manoeuvres as well as Schenck's relief upon the end of the war and his return trip to Virginia. Sailors' letters, Battle of Santiago, Siege of Santiago. Partial geographical list: Havana/Habana (Cuba), Santiago (Cuba), Cárdenas (Cuba), Key West, Portsmouth (Va.).