The president had other matters on his mind. The bloodshed in Wilmington was overshadowed by several crises confronting McKinley that week. Negotiations with Spain in Paris for a peace treaty to formally end the Spanish-American War were proceeding poorly. Some American troops who had fought in Cuba were dying of yellow fever, prompting an investigation into the War Department’s combat tactics in Cuba and its handling of food and sanitary facilities for troops. In the Philippines, insurgents were defying American occupation.
