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043 - The War with Spain · History of Minnesota and Tales of the Frontier, Part 1

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  Speaker 1: Section forty three of the History of Minnesota and Tales
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  Speaker 1: of the Frontier, Part one. This is a LibriVox recording.
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  Speaker 1: All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more
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  Speaker 1: information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox dot org. Recording
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  Speaker 1: by Mark Sando. The History of Minnesota and Tales of
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  Speaker 1: the Frontier Part one by Charles V. Flandrau, Section forty
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  Speaker 1: three The War with Spain. For many years there has
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  Speaker 1: been a growing sentiment in the United States that Spain
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  Speaker 1: was governing Cuba and her other West Indian colonies in
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  Speaker 1: an oppressive and unjust manner, and the desire to interfere
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  Speaker 1: in behalf of the Cuban people received a good deal
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  Speaker 1: of encouragement, and its general expression succeeded in creating very
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  Speaker 1: strained relations between Spain and the United States. Is well
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  Speaker 1: known fact that the Spanish people from the north line
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  Speaker 1: of Mexico to Cape Horn, as well as the inhabitants
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  Speaker 1: of the Spanish Islands, hate the Americans most heartily. Why
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  Speaker 1: I do not know, except that our social, governmental, and
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  Speaker 1: religious haas Abbot's customs and beliefs are radically different from
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  Speaker 1: their own. But that such is the case no one
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  Speaker 1: doubts who knows these people. In eighteen ninety seven, some
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  Speaker 1: effort at conciliation was made, and Spain sent one of
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  Speaker 1: her warships to New York on a friendly visit, but
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  Speaker 1: she did not stay long and got away as soon
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  Speaker 1: as she decently could. The United States sent the battleship
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  Speaker 1: Maine to Havana on the same friendly mission, where she
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  Speaker 1: was officially conveyed to her anchorage. She had been there
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  Speaker 1: but a short time when she was blown up on
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  Speaker 1: February fifteenth, eighteen ninety eight, and two hundred and sixty
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  Speaker 1: American seamen murdered. It was an official investigation to determine
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  Speaker 1: the cause of the explosion, but it found no solution
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  Speaker 1: of the disaster. Various theories were advanced of internal spontaneous explosion,
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  Speaker 1: but no one was misled. The general sentiment of Americans
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  Speaker 1: was that the Spanish in Cuba deliberately exploded a submarine
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  Speaker 1: torpedo under her to accomplish the result that followed. Previous
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  Speaker 1: to this cowardly act, there was much difference of opinion
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  Speaker 1: among the people of all sections of the country as
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  Speaker 1: to the propriety of declaring war against Spain, but public
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  Speaker 1: sentiment was at once unified in favor of war. On
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  Speaker 1: the announcement of this outrage, on the twenty fifth of
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  Speaker 1: April eighteen ninety eight, Congress passed an act declaring that
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  Speaker 1: war against Spain had existed since the twenty first of
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  Speaker 1: the same month. A requisition was made on Minnesota for
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  Speaker 1: its quota of troops. Immediately after war was declared, and
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  Speaker 1: late in the afternoon of the twenty eighth day of April,
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  Speaker 1: the Governor issued an order to the Adjutant General to
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  Speaker 1: assemble the state troops at Saint Paul. The Adjutant General,
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  Speaker 1: on the twenty ninth issued the following order by telegraph
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  Speaker 1: to the different commands. The first, second, and Third Regiments
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  Speaker 1: of Infantry are hereby ordered to report at Saint Paul
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  Speaker 1: on Friday morning, April twenty nine, eighteen ninety eight, not
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  Speaker 1: later than eleven o'clock, with one day's cooked rations in
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  Speaker 1: their haversacks. The order was promptly obeyed, and all the fields,
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  Speaker 1: staff and company officers with their commands reported before the
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  Speaker 1: time appointed, and on the afternoon of that day went
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  Speaker 1: into Kingmp at the State fair Grounds, which was named
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  Speaker 1: Camp Ramsay. Such promptness on the part of the state
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  Speaker 1: militia was remarkable, but it will be seen that they
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  Speaker 1: had been prepared for the order of the Adjutant General
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  Speaker 1: before its final issue, who had anticipated the declaration of war.
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  Speaker 1: On April eighteenth, he had issued the following order. The
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  Speaker 1: commanding officers of the infantry companies and artillery batteries composing
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  Speaker 1: the National Guard will immediately take steps to recruit their
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  Speaker 1: commands up to one hundred men each. All recruits above
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  Speaker 1: the maximum piece footing of seventy six men will be
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  Speaker 1: carried upon a muster roll as provisional recruits, to be
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  Speaker 1: discharged in case their services are not needed for field service.
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  Speaker 1: On the twenty fifth of April, the Adjutant General issued
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  Speaker 1: the following order, in obedience to orders this day received
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  Speaker 1: from the Honorable Secretary of War, calling upon the State
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  Speaker 1: of Minnesota for three regiments of infantry as volunteers of
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  Speaker 1: the United States, to serve two years or less, and
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  Speaker 1: as the three National Guard regiments have signified their desire
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  Speaker 1: of entering the service of the United States as volunteers,
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  Speaker 1: the first, second, and third Regiments of Infantry of the
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  Speaker 1: National Guard of the State of Minnesota will immediately make
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  Speaker 1: preparations to report to these headquarters upon receipt of telegraphic
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  Speaker 1: orders which will be issued later. This commendable action on
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  Speaker 1: the part of our military authorities resulted in Minnesota troops
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  Speaker 1: being the first to be mustered into the service of
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  Speaker 1: the United States in the War with Spain, thus repeating
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  Speaker 1: the proud distinction gained by the state in eighteen sixty one,
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  Speaker 1: when Minnesota was the first state to offer troops for
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  Speaker 1: the defense of the Union in the Civil War. It
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  Speaker 1: is a curious as well as interesting coincidence that the
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  Speaker 1: first Minnesota regiment for the Civil War was mustered in
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  Speaker 1: on April twenty ninth, eighteen sixty one, and the first
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  Speaker 1: three regiments for the Spanish War were mobilized at Saint
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  Speaker 1: Paul on April twenty nine, eighteen ninety eight. The mustering
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  Speaker 1: inn of the three regiments was completed on the eighth
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  Speaker 1: day of May eighteen ninety eight, and they were designated
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  Speaker 1: as the twelfth, thirteenth, and fourteenth Regiments of Infantry Minnesota Volunteers.
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  Speaker 1: This classification was made because the state had furnished eleven
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  Speaker 1: full regiments of infantry for the Civil War, and it
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  Speaker 1: was decided to number them consecutively. The twelfth and fourteenth
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  Speaker 1: left Camp Ramsay on the sixteenth day of May for
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  Speaker 1: Camp George H. Thomas in Georgia, and the thirteenth departed
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  Speaker 1: for San Francisco on the same day. The thirteenth was
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  Speaker 1: afterwards order to Manila. The others did not leave the
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  Speaker 1: country and were subsequently mustered out. The thirteenth did gallon
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  Speaker 1: service in the Philippines and many battles, was mustered out
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  Speaker 1: in San Francisco, and on October twelfth, eighteen ninety nine,
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  Speaker 1: returned to our state. A warm welcome was given it
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  Speaker 1: in Minnesota, where it will always be regarded with the
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  Speaker 1: same pride and affection formally bestowed upon the old first
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  Speaker 1: of patriotic memory. President mc kinley and several of his
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  Speaker 1: cabinet arrived in Saint Paul at the time of the
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  Speaker 1: arrival of the thirteenth and assisted in welcoming them to
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  Speaker 1: their homes. There was a second call for troops, under
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  Speaker 1: which the fifteenth Regiment was mustered in, but was not
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  Speaker 1: called upon for active duty of any kind. It is
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  Speaker 1: hoped that the war may be ended without the need
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  Speaker 1: of more volunteers from Minnesota, But should another call be
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  Speaker 1: made on our people, no doubt can be entertained of
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  Speaker 1: their prompt response. Having given the part taken in the
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  Speaker 1: war against Spain and the Philippines by Minnesota, its further
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  Speaker 1: prosecution against the latter becomes purely a federal matter, unless
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  Speaker 1: we shall be called into it in the future. When
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  Speaker 1: Spain sued for peace soon after the destruction of her
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  Speaker 1: second fleet off Santiago to Cuba, a commission to negotiate
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  Speaker 1: a treaty of peace with her was appointed by the President,
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  Speaker 1: and Minnesota was honored by the selection of its senior Senator,
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  Speaker 1: Honorable Cushman K. Davis, Chairman of the Senate Committee on
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  Speaker 1: Foreign Relations, as one of its members. The commission consisted
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  Speaker 1: of William R. Day, Secretary of State of the United States,
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  Speaker 1: Cushman K. Davis of Minnesota, William P. Frye of Maine,
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  Speaker 1: George Gray of Delaware, and White Law Reed of New York.
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  Speaker 1: It met at Paris and concluded its labours the tenth
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  Speaker 1: day of December eighteen ninety eight, when the treaty was
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  Speaker 1: signed by the commissioners of both contracting parties. It is
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  Speaker 1: hardly necessary to add that the influence exerted on the
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  Speaker 1: rest result by the distinguished and learned representative from Minnesota
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  Speaker 1: was controlling end of Section forty three