The camp was the main training base of the "Porto Rico Regiment of Infantry," [note 1] a segregated U. Army Regiment which was later renamed the " 65th Infantry Regiment. Spain had lost its last colony in the western hemisphere and the United States gained imperial strength and global presence. Miles the first head of the military government established on the island, acting as both head of the army of occupation and administrator of civil affairs.
On July 1, , the United States Senate passed a Bill which would require a strict mental and physical examination for those who wanted to join the Regiment. Under the provisions of an act of Congress approved April 23, and of Circular No. Though many civilians from all walks of life applied for the officers' appointment in January , only seven made it that day.
An Act of Congress , approved on May 27, , reorganized the regiment as part of the "regular" Army. Since the native Puerto Rican officers were Puerto Rican citizens and not citizens of the United States, they were required to undergo a new physical examination to determine their fitness for commissions in the Regular Army, and to take an oath of U. Camp Las Casas was established in Santurce under the command of Lt.
Colonel Orval P. Townshend in On March 21, , Lt. The Odenwald , built in not to be confused with the German World War II war ship which carried the same name , was an armed German supply ship which tried to force its way out of the San Juan Bay and deliver supplies to the German submarines waiting in the Atlantic Ocean.
Marxuach gave the order to open fire on the ship from the walls of the fort. Sergeant Encarnacion Correa then manned a machine gun which was located along the wall below La Fortaleza , the governor's residence and fired warning shots at the ship with little effect. Puerto Ricans were unaccustomed to the racial segregation policies of the United States which were also implemented in Puerto Rico, and often refused to designate themselves as "white" or "black.
