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Into History.

com. It's the evening of February 15,, 1898 in Havana Harbor, Cuba, on board a U.S. Navy second-class

battleship. Settled inside his quarters, Captain Charles Sigsby sits at his desk composing a letter to his wife.

As he writes, he can hear a young ugler on deck playing taps, a song used to signal lights out for the men on board.

Sigsby briefly lays down his pen and listens to the familiar notes.

He finds them quite beautiful in the stillness of the night.

Captain Sigsby is in command of the USS Maine,

an armored naval ship which has been anchored in Havana Harbor for three weeks.

The ship's assignment is to protect American citizens living in the Spanish colony of Cuba

in the event hostility should break out.

For decades a bitter conflict has been simmering between Cuban

rebels and their Spanish rulers. Although America is not directly

involved in the conflict, public sympathy in the United States leans

toward the rebels. But Captain Sigsby is under orders to keep the peace with the Spanish while present in the harbor.

Under the electric lights of the cabin, Sigsby picks up his pen and writes to his wife at all as well.

He's a veteran officer whose career dates back to the American Civil War.

His instincts tell him that his time here in Cuba will be uneventful.

In no small part because the USS Maine is an intimidating

6,000 ton warship equipped with powerful 10 inch guns. The Spanish would be

...