Shafter’s main expeditionary force began landing at the Cuban village of Daiquirí on June 22, 1898.
Daiquirí lay about 14 miles east of Santiago de Cuba and had an iron mine, a pier, and a useful coastal landing area. U.S. Army commander William R. Shafter, Navy Rear Admiral William T. Sampson, and Cuban general Calixto García planned the operation together. American naval gunfire and a Cuban diversion helped scatter roughly 300 Spanish defenders before the troops came ashore.
About 6,000 Americans landed on the first day, with the wider Fifth Army Corps movement continuing over the next two days. Siboney, another coastal village, was occupied on June 23 and became an important headquarters and supply base. That sequence explains a common mix-up: both villages were connected with the invasion, but Daiquirí was the initial landing point for Shafter’s main force.
The landing secured a foothold for the advance toward Santiago, leading to fighting at Las Guásimas, El Caney, and San Juan Hill. The village’s name is also associated with the daiquiri cocktail, supposedly developed nearby around 1900.