Puerto Ricans fought alongside General Bernardo de Gálvez during the American Revolutionary War in the battles of Baton Rouge, Mobile, Pensacola and St. Louis.

[5] When Ponce de León arrived in Puerto Rico, he was well received by the Cacique (Tribal chief) Agüeybaná (The Great Sun), chieftain of the island Taino tribes.

After being named Governor, de León and the conquistadors forced the Incans to work in the mines and to build fortifications; many Tainos died as a result of cruel treatment during their labor.

[9] After the failed rebellion, the Tainos were forced to give up their customs and traditions by order of a Royal decree, approved by King Ferdinand II, which required that they adopt and practice the values, religion and language of their conquerors.

[14] On December 26, 1598, Alonso de Mercado, a military man was named to the Captaincy General of Puerto Rico by Spain and asked to punish anyone who had allowed the takeover, through negligence, malice or cowardice.

The Dutch wanted to establish a military stronghold in the area, and dispatched Captain Boudewijn Hendricksz (also known as Boudoyno Henrico or Balduino Enrico) to capture Puerto Rico.

The Fijo served in the defense of Puerto Rico and other Spanish overseas possessions, performing in battles in Santo Domingo, other islands in the Caribbean, and South America, most notably in Venezuela.

At the Martín Peña Bridge, they were met by the likes of Sergeants José and Francisco Díaz and Colonel Rafael Conti who together with Lieutenant Lucas de Fuentes attacked the enemy with two cannons.

[12][33] The British continued to launch probing attacks on Puerto Rico after Abercromby's defeat, with unsuccessful skirmishes on the coastal towns of Aguadilla (December 1797), Ponce, Cabo Rojo, and Mayagüez.

In 1808, the Spanish Crown sent their Navy, under the command of Puerto Rican Captain Ramón Power y Giralt, to prevent the invasion of Santo Domingo by the French by enforcing a blockade.

According to his plot, which was to be carried out on July 27, during the festival celebrations for Santiago (St. James), several slaves were to escape from various plantations in Bayamón, which included the haciendas of Angus McBean, C. Kortnight, Miguel Andino and Fernando Fernández.

[51] Leaders of El Grito de Lares who were in exile in New York City joined the Puerto Rican Revolutionary Committee, founded on December 8, 1895, to continue the quest for independence.

[37] In 1869, the incoming governor of Puerto Rico, Jose Laureano Sanz, in an effort to ease tensions in the island, dictated a general amnesty and released all who were involved with the Grito de Lares revolt from prison.

The 1st Puerto Rican Provisional Battalion, composed of the Talavera Cavalry and Krupp artillery, was sent to Santiago de Cuba where they fought American forces in the Battle of San Juan Hill.

Captains Ramón Acha Caamaño and José Antonio Iriarte, both natives of Puerto Rico, were among those who defended the city from Fort San Felipe del Morro.

On June 19, 1915, Major General Luis R. Esteves of the U.S. Army became the first Puerto Rican and the first Hispanic to graduate from the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York.

Among those who were born in Puerto Rico and who would go on to serve in the Rif War as members of the Spanish military were General Manuel Goded Llopis and Captain Felix Arenas Gaspar.

He was posthumously awarded the Cruz Laureada de San Fernando "Laureate Cross of Saint Ferdinand" (Spain's version of the United States' Medal of Honor) for his actions in the defense of his company.

Llopis, who was born in San Juan, was named Chief of Staff of the Spanish Army of Africa after his victories in the Rif War, took the Balearic Islands and by order of Franco, suppressed the rebellion of Asturias.

His name is listed among the 2,338 Americans killed or mortally wounded on December 7, 1941, in the Remembrance Exhibit on the back lawn of the USS Arizona Memorial Visitor Center at Pearl Harbor.

[110] According to García Rosado, one of the hardships which Puerto Rican women in the military were subjected to was social and racial discrimination against the Latino community, which at the time was rampant in the United States.

[113] Lieutenant Colonel Gilberto José Marxuach, "The Father of the San Juan Civil Defense", was the commander of both the 1114th Artillery Co. and the 1558th Engineers Co.[114] Also in January 1944, the 65th Infantry Regiment was moved from Panama to Fort Eustis in Newport News, Virginia, in preparation for overseas deployment to North Africa.

Being away from their homeland for the first time would serve as an inspiration for compositions of two Bolero's; "En mi viejo San Juan" by Noel Estrada[116] and "Despedida" (My Good-bye), a farewell song written by Pedro Flores and interpreted by Daniel Santos.

Besides Lieutenant Colonel Juan César Cordero Dávila who served with the 65th Infantry and Colonel Virgil R. Miller, a West Point graduate, born in San Germán, Puerto Rico, who was the regimental commander of the 442d Regimental Combat Team, a unit which was composed of "Nisei" (second generation Americans of Japanese descent), that rescued Lost Texas Battalion of the 36th Infantry Division, in the forests of the Vosges Mountains in northeastern France.

Instead it involved a nuclear and conventional weapons arms race, networks of military alliances, economic warfare and trade embargoes, propaganda, espionage, and smaller conflicts.

The 65th was part of a task force which enabled the Marines to withdraw from Hangu-Ri.In December 1952, 162 Puerto Ricans of the 65th Infantry were arrested, 95 were court-martialed, and 91 were found guilty and sentenced to prison terms ranging from 1 to 18 years of hard labor.

[149] Commencing on July 3, 1952, the regiment defended the main line of resistance (MLR) for 47 days and saw action at Cognac, King and Queen with successful attacks on Chinese positions.

[146] Throughout October 1952, the 65th's morale declined and casualties around Jackson Heights mounted; by early November a patrol from Company L refused to follow their platoon leader across a river in the Chorwon Valley.

Mendez was posthumously awarded the Navy Cross for his actions on March 16, 1967, for saving the life of his platoon commander, Lieutenant Ronald D. Castille (one of the seven justices of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania).

The names of those who perished in combat are inscribed in "El Monumento de la Recordación" (Monument of Remembrance), which was unveiled on May 19, 1996, and is situated in front of the Capitol Building in San Juan, Puerto Rico.