Publisher's Synopsis
Excerpt from Military Notes on Cuba, 1909
The island of Cuba was discovered October 28, 1492, by Christopher Columbus, who took possession of it in the name of Spain. The first attempt at a permanent settlement was made in 1511 by Don Diego Columbus, a son of Christopher Columbus, and Diego Velasquez, who landed at Baracoa with 300 men. The first settlement, at Santiago de Cuba, was made in 1514, and the following year a settlement was made at Trinidad.
The island was first called Juana, then Fernandina, and later Ave Maria. It received its present name from the natives of the island, whom Columbus described as a peace ful, contented, and progressive race. Havana was founded on its present site in 1519. It was totally destroyed in 1538 by French privateers, but was immediately rebuilt. The capital of the island was located at Santiago de Cuba until 1550, when it was moved to the city of Havana. The first governor of the island was Fernando de Soto, afterwards famous as an explorer. In 1554 the city of Havana was again destroyed by the French.
The early settlers devoted themselves principally to raising cattle, but in 1580 the cultivation of tobacco and sugar cane was commenced, and this led to the introduction of negro slavery.
During the seventeenth century the island was kept in a. State of perpetual fear of invasions by the French. Dutch, English, and the pirates who infested the seas.
In 1762 the English, under Lord Albemarle, attacked the city of Havana, and on August 14, after a siege of two months, the city and island capitulated. By the treaty of Paris, February, 1763, Cuba was returned to Spain.
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