Entitled: "1st Marine Battalion raising the United States flag at Guant獺namo Bay on June 10, 1898." The Battle of Guant獺namo Bay was fought from June 6-10,1898 when American and Cuban forces seized the strategically and commercially important harbor of Guant獺namo Bay, Cuba. Capturing the bay from the Spanish forces was instrumental in the following Battle of Santiago de Cuba and the subsequent invasion of Puerto Rico. Although overshadowed by the land and sea battles at Santiago, the establishment of the United States naval base at Guant獺namo Bay and the rout of defending Spanish troops by American and Cuban forces was important in the final Spanish defeat. The Spanish-American War was a conflict in 1898 between Spain and the United States, the result of US intervention in the Cuban War of Independence. Photographed by Edward Hart, June 10, 1898.