Cuba was but ninety miles from Florida, and much of our coastwise shipping passed in sight of the island.

The people of the United States were aroused to sympathy and to a desire to be of assistance when they saw that the Cubans, so near geographically and so bound to them by many commercial ties, were engaged against a foreign monarchy in a struggle for freedom and a republican form of government.

Ethan Allen headed a Cuban committee in New York and by his historic name associated the new revolution with the memory of the American struggle for freedom.

The Cuban flag was displayed in the United States, Cuban bonds were sold, and volunteers and arms were sent to the aid of the insurgents.
Owing to the nature of the country and the character of the people, a Cuban revolution had its peculiarities.

The island is a very long and rugged mountain chain surrounded by fertile, cultivated plains.