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George Dewey - U.S. Naval Officer (1837-1917)
He graduated from the Naval Academy at Annapolis in 1858 ranked fifth in his class, an achievement he attributed to his talent for mathematics and languages. He served in the U.S. Navy during the U.S. Civil War, and by age twenty-eight had served as executive officer on six different ships. In the years following the Civil War, Dewey served in various government positions in Washington D.C. He established a reputation as an energetic and innovative administrator during a time when the U.S. Navy was undergoing rapid modernization and technological progress.
In 1897, Dewey left his office position and proceeded to Japan as the new commander-in-chief of the U.S. Asiatic Squadron. After the USS MAINE blew up in Havana harbor on February 15th, Dewey ordered the Asiatic Squadron to Hong Kong, preparing for conflict with Spain. On April 24, 1898, war was declared between the US and Spain. Dewey's fleet departed for the Philippines, reaching Manila Bay on April 30th, and destroyed the Spanish fleet there the following day in the Battle of Manila Bay on May 1st, 1898. The U.S. forces suffered no significant losses.
Dewey immediately became a popular hero in the U.S. and was promoted to
Rear-Admiral. Dewey's Asiatic Squadron blockaded Manila until the American army arrived at the end of June. Manila surrendered on August 15, 1998, two days after the United States signed an Armistice with Spain. In March 1899, Dewey was appointed Admiral of the Navy.
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The Rough Riders - Volunteer Military Regiment
The "Rough Riders" was the name
given to the First U.S. Volunteer Cavalry under the leadership of Theodore
Roosevelt, who resigned his position as Assistant Secretary of the U.S. Navy in
May 1898 to join the volunteer cavalry force. Once Roosevelt joined the group, it quickly became the place for a mix of troops ranging from Ivy League athletes to glee-club singers to Texas Rangers and Indians. Roosevelt and Colonel Leonard Wood, the unit's commander, trained and
supplied the men well enough that the Rough Riders were allowed into action, unlike many other volunteer companies. They sailed for Cuba on June 13, 1898 where they joined the Fifth Corps of the regular U.S. Army.
The Rough Riders fought in some actual battles, and though not important to the outcome of the war, their actions quickly made headlines in U.S. newspapers. They were especially noted for their role in the Battle of San Juan Hill, which grew to become legendary thanks to Roosevelt's writing ability and idealized re-enactments filmed long afterward. Just over two years after the brief war ended, Roosevelt was elected Vice President of the United States under William McKinley. Less than a year later McKinley was assassinated by an anarchist and Roosevelt succeeded him as the 26th President of the United States.
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Charles Clark - U.S. Naval Officer (1843-1922)
He had early naval experience in the U.S. Civil War. Following the war he served in the U.S. Asiatic Squadron, and commanded the Bering Sea Patrol. In 1898, as tensions with Spain rose, he took command of the battleship USS Oregon. Then sailing in the Pacific, the ship was needed on the U.S. east coast if war broke out with Spain. The Panama Canal did not exist, so only the route was a 14,500 mile journey down the western coast of South America, around Tierra del Fuego and north again. The voyage was completed in sixty-six days during which war was declared. Clark arrived off Key West on the morning of May 26th ready for battle. On July 3rd the Oregon was instumental in the U.S. naval victory at the Battle of Santiago.
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Richard Hobson - U.S. Naval Officer (1870-1937)
The son of a Confederat Army veteran, Hobson entered the Naval acadamy at Annapolis as the youngest in his class, graduating four years later ranked first in his class. He studied naval architecture in France. While serving during the Spanish-American War he was ordered to block the entrance to the harbor at Satiago de Cuba. Hobson sank the coal ship Merrimac at the harbor entrance, but the effort was unsuccessful and he was taken prisoner. He was eventually released, and his exploits earned him national acclaim. In 1901 Congress passed a joint resolution taking him for his efforts and promoting him to Captain. After resigning from the Navy in 1903, he served four terms as a U.S. Congressman.
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Wesley Merritt - U.S. Army Officer (1834-1910)
He served as a Federal cavalry officer in the U.S. Civil and was promoted to Major General of Volunteers in April 1865. He was second in command to Gen. Sheridan in the Appomattox Campaign, and served as a Commissioner of the surrender at Appomattox. After the war Merritt served as an Indian fighter on the western frontier and as superintendent of West Point. He commanded U.S. Army forces in the first Philippine Expedition of 1898. After Spain's defeat and the end of the Spanish-American War an American military government was established in the Phillipines with Merritt as the first Military Governor. In 1900, a civilian government was established.
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Robley Evans - U.S. Naval Officer (1846-1912)
Serious wounds received late in the U.S. Civil War left him with a limp and chronic leg pain for the rest of his life. Because of his injuries he was medically discharged, but after many years of appeal to Congress he was reinstated to active duty. He earned the nickname "Fighting Bob" for his tenacity while commanding the USS Yorktown protecting U.S. interests in Chile in 1891. When the Spanish-American War broke out in 1898, Evans was in command of the U.S. Navy's newest and largest battleship, the USS Iowa, which played a crucial role in the U.S. naval victory in the Battle of Santiago. After the war he commanded Theodore Roosevelt's Great White Fleet of sixteen battleships on the first leg of its worldwide cruise.
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Guy Vernon Henry - U.S. Army Officer (1839-1899)
Born at Fort Smith, Indian Territory (now Arkansas), graduated from West Point in 1861 and served throughout the U.S. Civil War and Indian Wars rising to the rank of Brigadier General in the regular Army. He was awarded the Medal of Honor for his service in the Civil War. He received further honors for gallantry in battles with Native American Tribes in Montana where he was shot through the face. He was later Colonel
of the all-black 10th U.S. Cavalry and was commanding Fort Assinniboine during the
Spanish-American War in 1898. He served briefly as military governor of Puerto Rico following
the war.
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William Shafter - U.S. Army Officer (1835-1906)
He won a Congressional Medal of Honor for his service in the U.S. Civil War. Following the war he served in the regular Army as Lieutenant Colonel, Colonel, and was promoted to Brigadier General in 1897. With the outbreak of the Spanish American War, Shafter was appointed
a major general of volunteers and assigned to the Fifth Corps, comprised primarily of regular U.S. Army troops, though there were some volunteers regiments including the "Rough Riders". The Fifth Corps served in the invasion of Cuba.
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Frederick Funston - U.S. Army Officer (1865-1917)
Funston was an adventurer, worked as newspaper reporter, as a field agent for the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture, and as an explorer of Death Valley and the Yukon. He fought as a volunteer with Cuban rebels against Spanish rule, and commanded a regiment during the Spanish-American War. He went to the Philippines in 1898 with U.S. military forces fighting native rebellions, and captured the rebel leader Aguinaldo in 1901. He was awarded the Medal of Honor, promoted to brigadier general, and returned to the U.S. In a 1902 magazine article, the satirist Mark Twain ridiculed Funston for his criticism of people who had not supported the war in the Philippines. Funston commanded U.S. Army troops restoring order in San Francisco after the great 1906 earthquake. Only 165 cm. tall, he was nicknamed "Bantam".
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Henry Lawton - U.S. Army Officer (1843-1899)
Lawton joined the military at the beginning of the U.S. Civil War, served for the entire war, received the Medal of Honor for heroism, and was discharged in 1865 as a colonel. He rejoined the Army two years later, served throughout the Indian Wars in the 1870s and 1880s. In 1886 his troops captured the Apache Chief, Geronimo. As the Spanish American War began in early 1898 Lawton was sent to Cuba as a brigadier general. His troops supported the Rough Riders in the battle of San Juan Hill. At the end of the war he was sent to the Philippines to lead U.S. military efforts to suppress native insurrections following the end of Spanish rule. He was killed in battle by the forces of an insurgent Philippine leader named, ironically, Geronimo. The U.S. city of Lawton, Oklahoma is named after him.
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