Battle of Santiago de Cuba fully and believed that Schley contributed little to the battle's outcome. Sampson died in 1902 and Schley in 1911, but the controversy left an internecine struggle within the Navy that, in some ways, tarnished the Navy's image after what had otherwise seemed a glorious naval victory. The end of the Spanish–American War was in many ways a new beginning for the U.S. Navy and marked a watershed moment in American and Spanish history. The defeat of the Spanish Navy gave the United States uncontested control of the seas surrounding Cuba. With resupply of the Spanish garrison nearly impossible, Spain ultimately
Society of the Army of Santiago de Cuba to whom in the absence of lineal descendants the right of inheritance to one (1) membership may be devised by decedent members. Members by inheritance shall include those who are lineal male descendants of any officer or enlisted man now deceased who was killed or died of wounds received or disease contracted in the line of duty in the Santiago campaign and who, had he survived, would have been eligible to membership. Honorary membership shall be conferred upon all duly accredited Military and Naval Attaches of foreign governments who were present on land in Cuba with the Fifth Army Corps