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Bermejo, Segismundo, 1832-1899 To the commander of the sloop of war Canandaigua [in Spanish]

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Gilder Lehrman Collection #: GLC02254.34 Author/Creator: Bermejo, Segismundo, 1832-1899 Place Written: Puerto Cabello, Venezuela Type: Manuscript document signed Date: 15 July 1872 Pagination: 6 p. : Height: 21.5 cm, Width: 31.5 cm Order a Copy

Seal in upper lefthand corner of first page. Pages sewn together in upper lefthand corner. Denounces the ex-Confederate blockade runner "Virginius". Argues that the ship has violated Spanish waters and committed piratical acts. Admiral Bermejo y Merelo was Spanish minister of the Navy during the Spanish-American war. The Virginius, a former Confederate blockade runner, was being used by Cuban rebels and their American supporters during Cuba's unsuccessful struggle for independence from Spain. After the Spanish captured the ship and executed several of its crew, war with the U.S. was only narrowly averted. The incident was revisited in the lead up to the Spanish-American War.

Bermejo, Segismundo, 1832-1899

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