Which Cuban bay did American and Cuban forces seize in June 1898?

American and Cuban forces seized Guantánamo Bay in June 1898.

The Battle of Guantánamo Bay was part of the Spanish-American War. U.S. naval forces and Cuban insurgents targeted the harbor because it offered an important sheltered position near Santiago de Cuba. Capturing it helped the United States establish a base for operations against Spanish forces in eastern Cuba.

U.S. Marines landed in the area in June under Lieutenant Colonel Robert W. Huntington, while Commander Bowman H. McCalla directed the American landing operation. The fighting included the assault on Spanish positions near Cuzco Well, whose water supply was strategically important.

Guantánamo Bay is sometimes remembered mainly for the later U.S. naval base, but the 1898 battle mattered because it secured a harbor and supported the campaign that led to the decisive Battle of Santiago de Cuba. The capture was an American-Cuban victory, not a battle for Havana or Matanzas.