lowing named ships:
The 9th Cavalry on the Miami, in company with the 6th Infantry; the
10th Cavalry on the Leona, in company with the 1st Cavalry; the 24th
Infantry on the City of Washington, in company with one battalion of
the 21st Infantry; the 25th infantry on board the Concho, in company
with the 4th Infantry.

[14] See Note, at the close of this chapter.

CHAPTER IV.

BRIEF SKETCH OF SPANISH HISTORY.

The following brief sketch of Spain, its era of greatness, the causes
leading thereto, and the reasons for its rapid decline, will be of
interest to the reader at this point in the narrative, as it will
bring into view the other side of the impending conflict:

Spain, the first in rank among the second-rate powers of Europe, by
reason of her possessions in the West Indies, especially Cuba, may be
regarded as quite a near neighbor, and because of her connection with
the discovery and settlement of the continent, as well as the
commanding part she at one time played in the world's politics, her
history cannot but awaken within the breasts of Americans a most
lively interest.

As a geographical and political fact, Spain dates from the earliest
times, and the Spanish people gather within themselves the blood and
the traditions of the three great continents of the Old World--Europe,
Asia and Africa--united to produce the mighty Spaniard of the 15th and
16th centuries. It would be an interesting subject for the
anthropologist to trace the construction of that people who are so
often spoken of as possessing the pure blood of Castile, and as the
facts should be brought to view, another proud fiction would dissipate
in thin air, as we should see the Spaniard arising to take his place
among the most mixed of mankind.

The Spain that we are considering now is the Spain that gradually
emerged from a chaos of conflicting elements into the unity of a
Christian nation. The dismal war between creeds gave way to the
greater conflict between religions, when Cross and Crescent contended
for supremacy, and this too had passed. The four stalwart Christian
provinces of Leon, Castile, Aragon and Navarre had become the four
pillars of support to a national throne and Ferdinand and Isabella
were reigning. Spain has now apparently passed the narrows and is
crossing the bar with prow set toward the open sea. She ends her war
with the Moors at the same time that England ends her wars of the
Roses, and the battle of Bosworth's