Editing San Juan, Puerto Rico (section)

=== Spanish-American War ===
{{Main|Puerto Rico campaign}}
[[File:Bombardment of El Morro in 1898.jpg|left|thumb|Bombardment of [[Castillo San Felipe del Morro|El Morro]] in 1898]]

On May 8, 1898, United States Navy ships, among them {{USS|Detroit|C-10|6}}, {{USS|Indiana|BB-1|6}}, {{USS|New York|ACR-2|6}}, {{USS|Amphitrite|BM-2|6}}, {{USS|Terror|BM-4|6}} and {{USS|Montgomery|C-9|6}}, commanded by [[Rear Admiral (United States)|Rear Admiral]] [[William T. Sampson]] arrived at San Juan Bay.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://members.tripod.com/~adjuntas1/guerra1.html|author=José Oquendo|publisher=Historia de Adjuntas, Puerto Rico|title=1898 - Adjuntas en la Guerra Hispanoamericana|access-date=2006-10-10|language=es|archive-date=March 30, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120330055709/http://adjuntas1.tripod.com/guerra1.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://home.coqui.net/sarrasin/Carta.htm|title=Erwin Letter from US Marine Alden Morse, at the USS New York, relating the bombing of San Juan del 12 Mayo 1898|author=Miguel J. Hernández|publisher=Coquí.Net|access-date=2007-05-08|archive-date=March 1, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120301162237/http://home.coqui.net/sarrasin/Carta.htm|url-status=live}}</ref> {{USS|Yale|1888|6}} captured the Spanish freighter ''Rita'' in San Juan Bay, thus being the first hostile encounter between the warring sides in Puerto Rico. On May 9, ''Yale'' fought a brief battle with an [[auxiliary cruiser]] of Spain, name unknown, resulting in a Spanish victory. Around this time, Captain [[Ángel Rivero Méndez]] was assigned the command of the Spanish forces in the fortress of [[Castillo San Cristóbal (San Juan)|San Cristóbal]] in San Juan. On May 10, ''Yale'' returned to San Juan Bay, Rivero-Méndez ordered his men to open fire upon ''Yale'' using an Ordoñez 15-centimeter cannon, thus becoming the first attack against the Americans in Puerto Rico during the [[Spanish–American War]].<ref name="GHA" />

For his actions, Captain Rivero-Méndez was awarded the "Cruz de la Orden de Mérito Militar" (The Cross of the Order of the Military Merit) first class.<ref name="GHA">{{cite web|access-date=2006-10-10|url=http://members.tripod.com/~adjuntas1/guerra1.html|title=1898 - Adjuntas en la Guerra Hispanoamericana|language=es|archive-date=March 30, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120330055709/http://adjuntas1.tripod.com/guerra1.html|url-status=live}}</ref> The residents of San Juan were furious with Rivero and blamed him for the destruction caused to their city by the American bombardments. Nothing came of those accusations and Capt. Rivero-Méndez was ordered to turn over the keys of all the military installations in San Juan to Captain Henry A. Reed of the U.S. Army after the [[Treaty of Paris (1898)|Treaty of Paris of 1898]] was signed.<ref name="GHA"/>

On July 25, General [[Nelson A. Miles]] landed at [[Guánica]] (in southwestern Puerto Rico) with 3,300&nbsp;soldiers in what was known as the [[Puerto Rican Campaign]]. The American troops found some resistance and engaged the Spanish and Puerto Rican troops in battle, the most notable of these the battles of [[Battle of Yauco|Yauco]] and [[Battle of Asomante|Asomante]]. All military actions in Puerto Rico were suspended August 13, 1898, after President [[William McKinley]] and French Ambassador [[Jules Cambon]], acting on behalf of the Spanish government, signed an [[armistice]].<ref name="COPRSAW">{{cite web|access-date=2008-08-04|url=https://www.loc.gov/rr/hispanic/1898/chronpr.html|title=Chronology of Puerto Rico in the Spanish–American War|work=The World of 1898: The Spanish–American War|publisher=Hispanic Division, Library of Congress|archive-date=January 4, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180104123909/http://www.loc.gov/rr/hispanic/1898/chronpr.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |author=Karl Stephen Herrman |title=From Yauco to Las Marias a Recent Campaign in Puerto Rico |year=2004 |publisher=Kessinger Publishing |page=2|isbn=1-4191-2123-5}}</ref> Spain ceded the island to the United States later the same year by signing the [[Treaty of Paris (1898)|Treaty of Paris]].