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Yellow fever

Historical Background

The sinking of the Maine has historically been labeled as the reason behind the U.S. going to war with Spain. More recent studies however have debunked the importance of the Maine in America's involvement. Yellow Fever is one of the reasons that America went to war. Cuba was a staging ground for many diseases entering the Southern United States. Fear over the disease has been known to shut down whole cities.

It was originally believed that cases of Yellow Fever would increase through trade with Cuba however when Spain invaded Cuba the disease spread at a fast pace. Maximo Gomez said that his greatest commanders were “General June, July, and August,” which were months when Yellow Fever was most active. During the second month of the Cuban insurrection the epidemic phase of yellow fever began which was characterized by three waves of infections corresponding with Yellow Fever Seasons of 1895, 96, and 97. It wasn't untill the end of the Spanish insurrection that the epidemic ended however many American soldiers were still infected. __________ After Spain’s surrender Yellow Fever started ravaging the ranks by July 24th, 3 days before the start of peace talks, close to one third of American forces were sick with Yellow Fever. Fear of this disease led to the decision to leave all those with Yellow Fever in Cuba to prevent an outbreak in the United States. Only Black soldiers of Twenty Fourth Infantry volunteered to stay behind to tend to the sick. Out of the 471 volunteers only 27 were fit for duty once there service was no longer needed. Yellow Fever took 5645 American lives less than combat which took 345 lives.