Seeking info on my Great-Great-Grandfather

[Beltrami2005]

Hello everybody.

 

I am writing from Spain, sorry for my bad English I am still learning. I am 21 years and I want to find the truth about a family story.

 

My grandmother always tell me that her grandfather (my great-great-grandfather) was a survivor of the Cristóbal Colón ship in the war of 1898 in Cuba. His name was Vicente Garrido. He was from a small village near Cartagena. She says, he was not a big officer, he was very young then. I think the position name is Fogonero? In English maybe "Stoker" or "Fireman"? He work down in the heat with the coal to make the ship go fast. The story in my family is that when the ship was running away from the Americans, the coal was very bad quality and the ship can't go fast enough. He was down there when the Captain decide to run the ship into the rocks at a river so the Americans don't capture it.

My grandmother say he jump into the water and swim to the beach. She say a American boat come and pick him up and he was a prisoner of war in a place called "Seavey Island" or Annapolis before he was send back home.

 

I have some questions if you please help:

 

Is it true that the sailors were sent to USA as prisoners? Did they treat them good?

 

Are there any photos of the crew before the battle?

 

I want to know if this is a real history or just a "cuento" (legend) from my grandmother. Any help is very good for me.

 

Thank you!

[Cobra 6 Actual]

Hello and welcome to this Forum. By the way, your English is much better than my Spanish. Your questions are outside of my knowledge base, but perhaps another member can help you.

[Beltrami2005]

14 minutes ago, Cobra 6 Actual said:

Hello and welcome to this Forum. By the way, your English is much better than my Spanish. Your questions are outside of my knowledge base, but perhaps another member can help you.

 

Thank you. I know its maybe bit very special question with bit much detail. But maybe one knows. :D

[BEAST]

Hello and welcome, Seavey Island is located in Maine, I believe as part of Portsmouth Naval Yard. It is my understand that Spanish POWs were held there and at Annapolis. Here are a couple of links that discuss Spanish POWs at these locations.

 

https://www.usni.org/magazines/proceedings/1930/june/spanish-naval-prisoners-war-annapolis-1898

 

https://www.spanamwar.com/Spanishprisonersnh.html

[CAC1901]

Pictures of the crews of Spanish ships would, I presume, be more likely to exist in Spanish or Cuban sources since those kind of photos would have been in their possession before the war. I believe most of the Spanish miltary men went back to Spain afterwards.  It is known that some Spanish veterans remained on in Cuba, Porto Rico, and the Phillipines to conduct business, work in the new government, and so on. 

 

From sources of the period Spanish prisoners were generally treated well.  US officers remarked that the hostility towards Spain in US newspapers, in the effort to whip up popular support for the war, was uncalled for as they viewed the Spanish military men as professional soldiers who fought well and were doing their duty serving their country. Once fighting ceased US & Spanish officers mingled and even attended joint dinners where Cuban rum & cigars were shared. The term 'yellow journalism' came about as a result of the war; where newspapers published deliberately misleading and distorted information, sensationalistic and sometimes fabricated stories, and that sort of thing.  

[Beltrami2005]

@BEAST @CAC1901 @Cobra 6 Actual

 

I thank you all for your info. From what i did read on those sites i assume he was most realistic in Seavey Island. It pretty much fits all i got told so far. I find it interesting that for most part all our people were treated well. They were also able to send message home to be save and ok. That was very unique for that era and i think in wars before it was often not very good. Was there a reason why our soldiers were treated good? I mean even in your civil war many very ugly things happened . 

[CAC1901]

I don't think treating Spanish prisoners well was unusual in the history of our involvement in wars. Every war has its own unique peculiarities. The Civil war here was vast, covered half the continental US, and involved millions of participants. The treatment of captured men and officers ran the gamut from respectful and professional all the way to extra-judicial executions in the field. In that war paroling (releasing) captured soldiers even occurred. Same thing occurred in the western conflicts with Indian tribes, in the Spanish and Philippine wars, and of course in WW1 and 2.  We see the best and the worst of humanity all in one.  One of the more interesting stories of WW1 was the famous front lines 'Christmas truce' that rattled war mongering politicians and generals, who took steps to prevent it from happening again. 

[Beltrami2005]

14 hours ago, CAC1901 said:

I don't think treating Spanish prisoners well was unusual in the history of our involvement in wars. Every war has its own unique peculiarities. The Civil war here was vast, covered half the continental US, and involved millions of participants. The treatment of captured men and officers ran the gamut from respectful and professional all the way to extra-judicial executions in the field. In that war paroling (releasing) captured soldiers even occurred. Same thing occurred in the western conflicts with Indian tribes, in the Spanish and Philippine wars, and of course in WW1 and 2.  We see the best and the worst of humanity all in one.  One of the more interesting stories of WW1 was the famous front lines 'Christmas truce' that rattled war mongering politicians and generals, who took steps to prevent it from happening again. 

 

Yes that is true, but i am happy it went that way or i would not exist xD