Battle of Cuzco Well
14 JUNE 1898
BATTLE OF CUZCO WELL
On this morning, LCOL Robert W. Huntington dispatched CPT George Fielding Elliott with two rifle companies and 50 Cuban scouts on a 6-mile circuitous march along the shore to the Cuzco Well. They were spotted by the Spanish, and a foot race ensued to the high ground overlooking the Spanish plantation house. Elliott’s Marines reached the hilltop first and forced the Spanish away with rifle and machine gun fire. The enemy retreated to the shelter of their plantation house, where the Marines rained down small arms fire at a range of 1000 yards. Meanwhile, another Marine platoon on outpost duty heard the firing and approached on their own initiative to the head of the valley opposite Elliott. The Spanish were now caught low in the valley in a crossfire! The gunboat USS DOLPHIN opened fire with her 4″ guns and 3-pounders, but unable to see her target, her shells were so erratic several struck the Marines. For a time, the Marines ducked in their position on the hill to dodge DOLPHIN’s gunfire, until SGT John H. Quick crafted a makeshift signal flag from his blue polka dot bandanna and ran back to the crest. With his back to the enemy, and sky-lined by the terrain, he and PVT John Fitzgerald began signaling DOLPHIN. On three occasions over the next four hours, Quick braved enemy fire to correctly spot the gunboat’s fire.
In an afternoon of sharp fighting the Spanish were routed with an estimated 160 casualties. The heavily outnumbered Marines had sustained only three losses to combat and 20 heat casualties. Four allied Cuban scouts were hit as well. The Spanish camp was burned, 18 were captured, and the well was dynamited. Attacks on Huntington’s Guantanamo foothold ended.
The subsequent destruction of Cervera’s squadron and the capture of Santiago de Cuba in July obviated the need for the Guantanamo station. The Marines were withdrawn on 5 August. Indeed, compared to later fighting, the battle of Cuzco was but a skirmish. However, an American public hungry for news of the first ground action gobbled-up the story after imbedded newspaper correspondents painted this action as heroic. One story, in particular, was widely published–that of Stephen Crane, whose name was well known as the author of the popular 1895 novel Red Badge of Courage. SGT Quick and Fitzgerald received the Medal of Honor, and Huntington’s Battalion was paraded to public acclaim in Washington, Boston, New York, Philadelphia, and Omaha.
The Marines would return shortly. The 1903 Platt Amendment, negotiated during our post-war occupation, guaranteed Cuban independence and negotiated the lease of Guantanamo Bay that continues today.
Watch for more “Today in Naval History” 19 JUN 22
CAPT James Bloom, Ret.
Heinl, Robert Debs, Jr. Soldiers of the Sea: The United States Marine Corps, 1775-1962. Baltimore, MD: Nautical & Aviation Pub., 1991, p. 116.
Millett, Allan R. Semper Fidelis: The History of the United States Marine Corps. New York, NY: Macmillan Pub Co., 1980, pp. 131-33.
Moskin, J. Robert. The U.S. Marine Corps Story, 3rd ed. Boston, MA: Little, Brown and Co., 1992, pp. 89-90.
Sweetman, Jack. American Naval History: An Illustrated Chronology of the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps, 1775-Present, 3rd ed. Annapolis, MD: USNI Press, 2002, p. 98.
United States Congress. United States of America’s Congressional Medal of Honor Recipients and their Official Citations. Columbia Heights, MN: Highland House II, 1994, pp. 606, 615.
ADDITIONAL NOTES: The beach near the Cuzco Well became part of the US Naval base and served as a recreational area. It is located near the modern Camp X-Ray detention facility.
George F. Elliott rose to the rank of MGEN and served from 1908-1910 as Commandant of the Marine Corps. Two WWII troop transports, USS GEORGE F. ELLIOTT (AP-13, AP-105) remember him. John Quick rose to the rank of SGTMAJ and later received the Navy Cross for heroic actions in WWI at Belleau Wood. The Gleaves-class destroyer QUICK (DD-490) honors him. Trivia buffs will note that our Navy did have a ship commissioned with the name JOHN FITZGERALD, however this did not recognize PVT John Fitzgerald above. Rather, she was a British trawler purchased by our Navy in WWI for U-boat patrols with her British name retained. Likewise, our armored cruiser WEST VIRGINIA (ACR-5) was renamed HUNTINGTON in 1916 so her original name could be given to BB-48. But in this case her name honors West Virginia’s second largest city.
