Colorado's Volunteer Infantry in the Philippine Wars, 1898-1899

2: To Hell with Spain

฀฀฀฀59฀฀ Chapter฀Two ___________ To฀Hell฀with฀Spain The฀men฀of฀the฀First฀Colorado฀had฀rallied฀to฀the฀cry฀“Remember฀the฀Maine,฀ to฀Hell฀with฀Spain!”฀Expecting฀to฀liberate฀the฀Cubans฀from฀the฀Spanish,฀ they฀instead฀found฀themselves฀headed฀for฀the฀Philippine฀Islands.฀Because฀ the฀Colorado฀militia,฀unlike฀most฀western฀volunteers,฀possessed฀its฀entire฀ complement฀of฀field฀gear฀and฀campaign฀equipage,฀the฀U.S.฀Army฀initially฀ had฀scheduled฀the฀First฀Colorado฀to฀sail฀in฀the฀first฀fleet฀of฀transports.฀ Delays฀in฀securing฀rail฀transport฀from฀Denver฀to฀San฀Francisco,฀however,฀ caused฀the฀Army฀to฀relegate฀the฀Coloradoans฀to฀the฀second฀fleet. The฀Australia,฀Sydney,฀and฀City฀of฀Peking,฀comprising฀the฀first฀fleet,฀ therefore฀sailed฀from฀San฀Francisco฀on฀฀May฀฀without฀the฀First฀ Colorado. ฀ On฀ their฀ way฀ to฀ Hawaii,฀ however,฀ they฀ spotted฀ the฀ China฀ inbound฀to฀San฀Francisco,฀and฀predicted฀she’d฀soon฀follow฀with฀more฀ troops. ฀In฀fact,฀the฀Pacific฀Mail฀Company฀leased฀the฀China,฀upon฀her฀ arrival฀in฀California,฀to฀the฀United฀States฀Army฀for฀$,฀a฀day,฀to฀help฀ carry฀the฀second฀expedition฀to฀the฀Philippines. ฀Since฀the฀Army’s฀prewar฀ mission฀had฀revolved฀around฀coastal฀defense฀installations฀and฀western฀ garrisons,฀ the฀ government฀ owned฀ no฀ troopships,฀ and฀ had฀ to฀ rely฀ on฀ leased฀merchant฀vessels. On฀board฀the฀China,฀the฀Colorado฀men฀were฀joined฀by฀two฀companies฀ of฀the฀Eighteenth฀United฀States฀Infantry,฀two฀batteries฀of฀the฀Utah฀Light฀ Artillery,฀and฀detachments฀of฀United฀States฀Engineers฀and฀the฀hospital฀ corps. ฀Also฀loaded฀on฀the฀China฀were฀some฀“casuals,”฀including฀sailors฀ reinforcing฀ Dewey’s฀ squadron.฀ By฀ :฀ p.m.,฀ the฀ China฀ boarded฀ ,฀ men฀and฀fifty฀steers,฀and฀then฀left฀the฀pier฀and฀anchored฀in฀San฀Francisco฀ huntfinal.indd 59 4/11/06 10:05:35 AM 60฀ /฀฀Chapter฀Two bay฀while฀other฀ships฀loaded. ฀The฀men฀did฀their฀best฀to฀settle฀into฀their฀ strange฀new฀quarters,฀hurriedly฀improvised฀when฀the฀Army฀chartered฀the฀ China฀as฀a฀transport.฀Contractors฀had฀jury-rigged฀wooden฀bunks฀in฀the฀ holds฀of฀the฀ship.฀Pairs฀of฀bunks฀were฀bolted฀together฀side-by-side,฀and฀ then฀laid฀end-to-end฀six฀bunks฀long.฀These฀were฀mounted฀in฀three฀levels,฀ so฀that฀each฀assembled฀bunk฀unit฀held฀thirty-six฀men. ฀Some฀of฀the฀racks฀ were฀ stacked฀ four฀ high.฀ The฀ men฀ slept฀ on฀ straw-filled฀ mattresses฀ and฀ pillows,฀with฀their฀military฀blankets฀on฀top.฀Canvas฀wind฀funnels฀were฀ supposed฀to฀vent฀the฀lower฀decks,฀but฀with฀only฀enough฀space฀to฀stand฀ between฀each฀set฀of฀bunks฀and฀the฀next,฀the฀quarters฀were฀not฀pleasant. The฀enlisted฀men฀went฀aboard฀with฀what฀they฀could฀carry,฀which,฀ after฀ allowing฀ for฀ their฀ military฀ equipment฀ and฀ arms,฀ was฀ very฀ little.฀ Military฀ gear฀ was฀ stowed฀ away฀ in฀ deeper฀ holds,฀ but฀ the฀ men฀ had฀ to฀ squeeze฀ their฀ personal฀ possessions฀ into,฀ under,฀ and฀ over฀ their฀ bunks.฀ Tight฀quarters฀didn’t฀prevent฀the฀men฀from฀bringing฀their฀pets฀along.฀ Ralph฀“Doc”฀Taylor฀smuggled฀his฀puppy฀“Dewey”฀aboard฀in฀bandsman฀ .฀At฀Home฀on฀the฀China.฀Photo฀courtesy฀of฀John฀Stewart฀Post฀Number฀One,฀Veterans฀ of฀Foreign฀Wars. huntfinal.indd 60 4/11/06 10:05:35 AM ฀฀To฀Hell฀with฀Spain฀฀/฀฀61 George฀Settle’s฀tuba.฀Some฀of฀the฀men฀openly฀brought฀a฀water฀spaniel฀ puppy฀named฀“Denver,”฀which฀sported฀a฀Red฀Cross฀brassard฀for฀a฀collar.฀ Company฀A฀brought฀its฀goat,฀“Billy,”฀and฀quartered฀him฀with฀the฀steers. ฀ As฀night฀fell,฀the฀ship฀turned฀on฀the฀electric฀lights฀in฀the฀saloons฀and฀ covered฀ deckways,฀ and฀ the฀“diversions฀ commenced.”฀ Chaplain฀ David฀ Fleming฀ had฀ printed฀ song฀ sheets฀ in฀ San฀ Francisco,฀ which฀ he฀ now฀ distributed฀to฀the฀men,฀and฀as฀a฀bandsman฀played฀the฀ship’s฀piano,฀they฀ sang฀both฀the฀original฀verses฀and฀parodies฀of฀“Hot฀Time฀in฀the฀Old฀Town฀ Tonight”฀and฀“On฀the฀Banks฀of฀the฀Wabash.”฀After฀an฀hour฀of฀sing-along,฀ quartets฀and฀soloists฀sang,฀accompanied฀by฀the฀guitars,฀mandolins,฀and฀ banjos฀of฀the฀few฀men฀who’d฀bothered฀to฀drag฀instruments฀along. Besides฀the฀China,฀the฀second฀expedition฀included฀the฀Colon,฀Senator,฀ and฀Zealandia;฀the฀China฀was฀the฀fastest฀of฀the฀fleet. ฀By฀฀June,฀the฀other฀ three฀ships฀had฀embarked฀two฀more฀companies฀of฀the฀Eighteenth฀Infantry,฀ another฀battalion฀of฀Utah฀artillerymen,฀four฀companies฀of฀the฀TwentyThird ฀ United฀ States฀ Infantry,฀ and฀ the฀ Tenth฀ Pennsylvania฀ Volunteer฀ Infantry. ฀Finally,฀at฀midday฀on฀the฀fifteenth,฀the฀fleet฀was฀ready฀to฀sail.฀ A฀Red฀Cross฀boat฀came฀past฀the฀four฀ships,฀carrying฀Mrs.฀Henry฀McCoy,฀ wife฀of฀the฀regiment’s฀lieutenant฀colonel,฀come฀to฀wave฀the...