1864-April-18: Thomas Savage, the American consul general at Havana, warned Seward that a Spanish military expedition was preparing to leave Cuba to attack M…

1864-April-18: Thomas Savage, the American consul general at Havana, warned Seward that a Spanish military expedition was preparing to leave Cuba to attack Monte Christi. Savage noted that Haiti claimed this territory, and an attack would likely spark a direct conflict between Spain and the Haitian government. He further reported that “great excitement” prevailed in Haiti, where a revolution had broken out against President Geffrard’s policy of neutrality. This internal unrest stemmed from the Haitian public’s desire to more actively support the Dominican “War of Restoration” against Spanish rule.