Once war was declared in April, plans to send an American expeditionary force evolved. Once a Spanish flotilla was trapped in the harbor of Santiago de Cuba, rather than striking at Havana, the decision was to send the force to Santiago. The size and complexity of the force grew from a projected 5,000 men to 25,000. The Corps commander, General William Shafter, was overwhelmed. Tampa was completely inadequate for a port and Shafter had few people he could call on to help prepare the force for embarkation. In May through early June, it proved difficult to properly assemble the force and its supplies, delaying their departure and impacting their performance. Take a listen!

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We are continuing our narrative on the Spanish-American War. In this episode we will concentrate on Admiral Dewey's victory in Manila Bay in the spring of 1898 as well as naval movements around the island of Cuba. Dewey's easy victory would open opportunities in the Philippines, but more on that in later episodes. The Army, pressured with more men than they anticipated, struggled to supply and arm the waves of volunteers. While supply organs slowly ramped up production, there was a deficit in modern fire arms that would dog the Army throughout the war. On the eve of the twentieth century, the long rifles that would dominate the century entered the scene. It took time to manufacture and equip troops, meaning that when Americans landed on the shores of Cuba, there were armed with second hand weapons.

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After discussing the origins of the Spanish-American War in our last episode, we bring the story forward to the declaration of war and the plans of the United States and Spain. Spain was unable to pour reinforcements, either naval or ground into Cuba and the Philippines. They had no choice but to use the resources they had access to. In the United States, the navy had begun planning for a campaign long before hostilities commenced. The Army was far behind and subject to the whims of politics. Rather than expand the regular army, a decision was reached to recruit volunteers, complicating mobilization and training.

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We have done it! We have reached the end of the nineteenth century with the beginning of the Spanish-American War. In the first of a string of episodes, we will be exploring the country's first overseas venture - war with Spain over its island possessions in the Caribbean and the Pacific. In the aftermath of the Civil War, the United States was already thinking beyond its continental borders. With the purchase of Alaska and new found influence in Samoa and the Hawaiian Islands, the United States was already considering what was next. With Spain's influence on a steep decline, there were an insurrection in Cuba which captured the attention of public opinion and those magnates who had invested heavily in the Cuban sugar industry. Uncertain whether to negotiate of go to war, Presidents Cleveland and McKinley proceeded carefully until events dictated their actions.

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The second and final episode of this arc take the story of the new steel navy to the beginning of the Spanish-American War. From the mid-1880s to the 1890s, the necessary infrastructure was put in place to expand the capabilities of the ships joining the fleet. Moreover, there was a shift in ideas on how to use the navy. Rather than focus on coastal defense and commerce raiding, thanks to the writings of Alfred Thayer Mahan, there was an interest in building larger ships that could wrestle the command of the seas from regional adversaries. Rather than concentrate on cruisers, there was growing interest in building what today we would know as battleships. This will be the final episode of this season before we move forward into thinking about the Spanish-American War.

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Perhaps one of the most prominent aspects of this period is the rise of the steel navy. After several decades of decline, the navy made a bold move and built a small fleet of steel warships. There was a growing, often fractious, political consensus that the navy needed to move forward. The move toward steel ships triggered the evolution of the American manufacturing base, slowly building the capacity to cast and mold steel, as well as build modern weapons made of the same material. We take the story up to the creation of the first four steel ships and will continue the expansion of the fleet in the next episode.

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In this episode we take a look at Harbor Defense in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. One of the most consistent missions of the US Army since the founding of the republic was defending the nation's harbors. The Civil War demonstrated that the granite of bricks of yore were outclassed by modern weapons. After a period of stagnation in the years after the Civil War, in 1886 Secretary of War Endicott released a plan for modern fortifications. While it took more than a decade to appropriate funding, these fortifications would defend the nation's harbors well into the twentieth century.

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In this episode we will continue and conclude our discussion of Emory Upton. We left off with the beginning of Upton's around the world journey. Upton traveled overseas on a mission to observe the armies of Asia and Europe. It was an important time for Upton. His observations of some of the most modern and, in his mind, backwards armies of the world, allowed him to work out his own notions of how the United States should reform its Army. Inspired by what he saw, Upton wanted a thoroughly professional Army that met the needs of the country. While inspired by, in particular, the German model, he fashioned a system that would correspond to American traditions. Unfortunately, due to health issues, he took his life in 1881. Upton's shadow continued to be thrown across American military history. He is an important bellwether for the degree of introspection that was occurring not only in Upton's mind, but his peers as well.

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We are continuing our exploration of professionalization and what kind of Army would emerge through a long period of introspection. In this episode we are going to explore these issues through the eyes of Emory Upton. A protege of William T. Sherman, Upton's experiences in the Civil War would trigger an intense interest in tactics and the shape of the Army in the future. This episode will focus on the formative stage of Upton's career - his experiences at West Point, serving in the Army during the Civil War, and navigating the pitfalls of the post war army, and how these fueled his interests. In our next episode we will explore the works that inspired a future generation of officers. Please take a listen!

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We are continuing our exploration of reform and revitalization of the US Army in the decades after the end of the Civil War. This is a critical topic that deserves some coverage if you want to understand the army's performance in the future. One of the trends that emerged in this time period was an acceleration of moving the army toward a more professional organization. Will look at the key ingredients of this movement, in particular with a focus on education. A component of professionalization is education. We will spend some time looking at the emergence of the post-graduate education system. Please take a listen!

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