The Spanish American War

The Spanish American War is an important part of Tampa history.

Through the efforts of Henry B. Plant, Tampa became the “official port of embarkation for troops going to Cuba.”  The headquarters for the Army were at Plant’s Tampa Bay Hotel.  Among the notables that arrived in Tampa were Clara Barton, and Colonel Teddy Roosevelt and the Rough Riders.[1]

Henry B. Plant’s Tampa Bay Hotel[2]

The story is told of the Rough Riders on their horses riding into Las Novedades Restaurant in Ybor City, and the owner Manuel Menendez offering them free drinks on the house. This story became known as “The Charge of the Yellow Rice Brigade.” [3]  

                                                                          

      

                                                                                                                                                        

Las Novedades Restaurant[4]

Here's a short video on the Spanish American War:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IU5l4yQCpMM  It's about seven minutes, and is a good overview of “a splendid little war.”  It touches on Jose Martí, the “Butcher Weyler,” yellow journalism, the Maine, African American 9^th Calvary, the Rough Riders, among other things.   

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[1] Henry B. Plant Museum, The History, “The Spanish American War” (http://www.plantmuseum.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=18&Itemid=41, accessed 14 March 2010).

[2]Wikimedia Commons, “Old Tampa Bay Hotel” (http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Old_Tampa_Bay_Hotel07.jpg, accessed 14 March 2010).

[3] Frank Trebín Lastra, Ybor City, The Making of a Landmark Town (Tampa: University of Tampa Press, 2006), 47.

[4] Wikimedia Commons,  “Las Novedades Restaurant”

(http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Tampa_Ybor_City_Novedades_01.jpg, accessed 14 March 2010).