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Introduction
- University of New Mexico Press
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1 Introduction TheFirstColoradoRegimentenlistedintofightSpaniards,and ended up fighting Filipinos. For months, newspaper reports and CongressionalspeecheshadurgedAmericaninterventionintheCuban revolutionagainsttheSpanish.ThedestructionofthebattleshipMaine andmutualdeclarationsofwarbetweentheUnitedStatesandSpain fannedintoflamethealreadysmolderingresentmentofSpain’sCuban policies.Menflockedtoenlistinstatevolunteerregiments,amongthem theFirstColoradoInfantry.Beforetheycouldjointhecampaignagainst the Spanish in Cuba, however, Commodore George Dewey’s United StatesNavy’sAsiaticSquadrondestroyedtheSpanishnavalsquadron atManilaonMay.Deweylackedtheinfantrynecessarytoseize thecityitself.Fromthewesternstates,regularArmyunitsandvolunteer regiments assembled in San Francisco, diverted from the larger conflictinCuba.Becauseofitsprewardutyduringlabordisputes,the Coloradomilitiaenjoyedfullfieldequipment;Gen.WesleyMerrittof theDepartmentofthePacificrushedthemtothePhilippines. CrossingthePacific,theycapturedWakeIsland.InthePhilippines, statetroopscompetedwitheachotherandwiththeregularsformilitary distinctionandpresscoverage.TheColoradotroopspushedforward andledtheassaultonManila,seizingFortSanAntoniodeAbadand raisingthefirstAmericanflagoverthecapitalcity’sdefenses.Withthe Spanish-American War over, the Filipinos expected independence; with independence denied, tensions between the Filipinos and the AmericansmounteduntiltheyflaredintobattleonFebruary. TheColoradoansfoughttheinsurrectosthatfirstnight,andwentonto huntfinal.indd 1 4/11/06 10:05:25 AM 2/Introduction campaignagainsttheFilipinosinwhatcametobecalledthePhilippine Insurrection.ThewartofreeCubansfromSpanishrulehadbecomea wartosubjectFilipinostoAmericanrule. GeraldLinderman’slandmarkTheMirrorofWar:AmericanSociety andtheSpanish-AmericanWarhasexaminedthewarinCubaasanexpression oflatenineteenth-centuryAmericancultureandpolitics.In theprocess,Lindermanhasdetailedthelinksbetweeneasternvolunteer regimentsandtheirhometowns.Heobservedthat“regulararmyunits ...wonthebattles,butthehometownNationalGuardcompaniesbecame theprismthroughwhichmanyAmericansviewedandinterpreted theSpanish-AmericanWar.” Certainly,thecitizensofColoradoexperienced thewarvicariously,throughtheaccountsofthemenoftheFirst Colorado.InhisfocusontheeasternaspectsoftheSpanish-American War,however,Lindermandownplaystheimportanceofvolunteerregiments . In the Philippines, fighting against first the Spanish and later the Filipinos, volunteer regiments raised primarily from the western statesdidmuchofthefightingand,infact,“wonthebattles.”TheFirst Coloradohadaprominentroleinthosebattles. RichardDrinnon’sFacingWest:TheMetaphysicsofIndian-Hating andEmpire-BuildingcallstheprocessofAmericanoverseasimperialism the“obverse”ofalmostthreehundredyearsofracistIndian-hatingon thepartofEnglishsettlersandtheirdescendants. Whilequitepolemical, Drinnon draws powerful and at least partly persuasive connections between American attitudes toward Indians and American attitudes towardFilipinos,aconnectionmadeinamorerestrainedmannerby WalterL.WilliamsinhisstudyofCongressionaltreatmentofIndians andFilipinosas“wards”oftheUnitedStatesgovernment. Theattitudes ofthemenoftheFirstColoradoRegimenttowardtheFilipinos,both beforeandaftertheoutbreakofthePhilippine-AmericanWar,reveal muchabouttheseWesterners’viewoftheworld,theirrace,theirnation, andwhattheycametocallthe“whiteman’sburden.”Surnamessuggest thattheFirstColoradowasoverwhelminglyofBritishdescent,witha huntfinal.indd 2 4/11/06 10:05:26 AM [18.217.228.35] Project MUSE (2024-04-18 00:12 GMT) Introduction/3 sprinkling of Germans and Scandinavians. Their letters and diaries containfrequentcomparisonsbetweentheFilipinosandthe“coloreds,” “Mexicans,”and“Indians”theyhadobservedinColorado.Confident of their superiority to the Filipinos, the Coloradoans also expressed reservationsaboutAmericanactionsoverseas.Whilethecommanders oftheEighthArmyCorpsemployedIndianWarsstrategiesagainstthe Filipinos,strategiesinwhichtheFirstColoradoparticipated,thewaythe ColoradomentreatedtheFilipinosowedmoretoCivilWarconcepts ofcombatthantoracism.AssociationwiththeFilipinoscouldleadtoa grudgingrespect,andforsomeoftheFirstColorado,evenadmiration andsympathy.Reluctantparticipantsinthe...