Idaho in the Spanish American War, Philippine Insurrection, and China Relief Expedition, February 15th, 1898, to July 4th, 1902
 
The State of Idaho

In The Spanish American War, February 15th, 1898, to July 4th, 1902

    The following information is about the Volunteers and Government Officials of the State of Idaho during the Spanish American War, the Philippine Insurrection, and China Relief Expedition, February 15th, 1898, to July 4th, 1902. If you have any additional information, photographs, artifacts, etc., that you wish to contribute, feel free to submit the information to the Webmaster.

Timeline of Events
Government
Volunteers
Military Camps
Veterans Organizations
Memorials


Timeline of Events

April 23rd, 1898: President William McKinley issues a call for 125,000 volunteers from across the United States to serve for two years unless sooner discharged, with each state and territory being assigned a quota that they were requested to fill. At the start of the War with Spain Idaho's military forces were organized under the title of the "Idaho National Guard" and was reported as having an authorized strength in April 1898 at 21,000 officers and men, in reality the number of men organized was only 508 officers and men, with another 20,000 liable for military duty. The National Guard was organized into one regiment of Infantry. In April 1898 they were organized as follows:

  • 1st Infantry Regiment (Headquarters � Lewiston; Company A � Caldwell; Company B � Lewiston; Company C � Grangeville; Company D � Genesee; Company E � Kellogg; Company F � Wardner; Company H � Wardner; Company I � Boise)
  • The staff of the National Guard consisted of the Adjutant General, the Quartermaster General and the Paymaster General.

April 18th, 1898: Governor Frank Steunenberg offers the services of the Regiment of Idaho National Guard, to the Secretary of War, for active service in the event of war with Spain.

April 27th, 1898: The various companies and volunteers of the Idaho National Guard are instructed to assemble at a mobilization camp in Boise, Idaho; designated as Camp Stevenson.

May 7th to 18th, 1898: The 1st Idaho Volunteer Infantry Regiment is mustered into United States service at Camp Stevenson in Boise, Idaho.

May 18th, 1898: Troop D of the 2nd United States Volunteer Cavalry Regiment is mustered into United States service at Fort D.A. Russell, Wyoming.

October 24th, 1898: Troop D of the 2nd United States Volunteer Cavalry Regiment is mustered out of United States service with the regiment at Jacksonville, Florida.

September 25th, 1899: The 1st Idaho Volunteer Infantry Regiment is mustered out of United States service at San Francisco, California.


Idaho Government
Idaho Volunteers
Federal and State Government
Idaho Volunteers, 1898 to 1902


Camps and Military Installations

    During peace time and war the United States Military and State National Guard maintains forts, posts, depots, and other installations throughout the various states, and in times of war Camps are organized as rendezvous for the various volunteers joining. The following is a listing of those posts that were located and active in the State of Idaho from February 15th, 1898, to July 4th, 1902.


BOISE BARRACKS, BOISE, ADA COUNTY

Established upon the recommendation of Major General�s George Wright in 1860 & Benjamin Alvord in 1862, for the purpose of protecting travelers along the Oregon Trail; the post was authorized on January 14th, 1863, and on July 4th, 1863, a detachment of 3 companies of Infantry and one of Cavalry under the command of Major Pinkney Lugenbeel, who had been detailed from the garrison at Fort Vancouver, Washington Territory, arrived and began construction of the post. The site chosen was situated near the intersection of the Oregon Trail and the roads leading towards the Silver City (Owyhee) and Idaho City (Boise Basin) mining areas, and offered access to grass, water, wood and stone, necessary for the establishment of the garrison. Initially designated as Camp Boise, and later Fort Boise, the post was officially re-designated as the Boise Barracks on April 5th, 1879, the post would serve as a base of operations for those troops operating against the Indians throughout Idaho, especially during the Snake and Bannock Wars. Remaining in use throughout the 1880�s & 1890�s, the post was officially abandoned by the Federal Government in 1912, when it was passed to the care of the Idaho National Guard, who used the site for training, and as a mobilization camp for the troops called to active service in the 1916-1917 Punitive Expedition along the United States-Mexico Border, and later in the First World War. In 1919 a portion of the site was turned over to the State Public Health Service, who established a veteran�s hospital on the site, this hospital later being transferred to the Veterans Administration in 1930, and is still in operation. Other portions of the post were transferred to other groups and agencies, in March 1944 a part was transferred to the State of Idaho, in March 1948, February 1950 & July 1958 the City of Boise obtained portions, and in July 1956 449 acres were transferred to the Bureau of Land Management.

The Boise Barracks, showing the post housing, with the main gate in the background
(Harold B. Lee Library, Birgham Young University)


CAMP OSBURN, OSBURN, SHOSHONE COUNTY

The camp was established on December 2nd, 1899, when the troops stationed at Camp Wardner were relocated to Osburn during the Coeur d�Alene Labor War. The camp would remain as a base of operations for troops of the Idaho National Guard and the U.S. Regular Army operating in the area until April 11th, 1901, when the order for martial law over the area was revoked.


FORT SHERMAN, COEUR D'ALENE, KOOTENAI COUNTY

Established on April 16th, 1878, for the purpose of maintaining peace in Northern Idaho, protecting the railroad and telegraphs crews and guarding the United States-Canada Border, upon the recommendation of Major General William T. Sherman. The post was initially designated as Camp Coeur d�Alene by Lieutenant Colonel Henry C. Merriam, 2nd U.S. Infantry Regiment, when established on the north shore of Lake Coeur d�Alene, near where the Spokane River leaves the lake. On April 5th, 1879, was upgraded to Fort Coeur d�Alene, and on April 6th, 1887, was officially designated as Fort Sherman in honor of Major General William T. Sherman, per General Order No. 30, War Department, Washington, D.C. At the start of the War with Spain the post was garrisoned by the men of the 16th U.S. Infantry Regiment, under the command of Colonel Hugh A. Theaker, however, with their calling to assemble with other units for active service, the majority of the garrison left the post on April 21st, 1898. A small detachment remained as the post garrison under the command of 1st Lieutenant Beaumont Buck, and who were in turn relieved by a detachment of the 4th U.S. Cavalry Regiment in May 1898. These remained until September 1898 when a detachment of the 6th U.S. Cavalry took their place until December 1899, when they were relieved by the posts final garrison, a detachment of the 24th U.S. Infantry Regiment under the command of 1st Lieutenant Daniel F. Keller. On March 5th, 1900, the post was officially ordered abandoned by the government, the troops and property to be removed to Fort George Wright in Spokane, Washington. The post was officially abandoned in September 1900, with the removal of the last pieces of property, and transferred to the Department of the Interior who sold it in 1905 at public auction. A portion of the site is now part of the North Idaho College, who maintain the original officers� quarters, powder magazine and post chapel.

Entrance gate of Fort Sherman near Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, ca. 1880-1890's.
(Special Collections, University of Washington Libraries)


CAMP STEVENSON, BOISE, ADA COUNTY

Named in honor of Territorial Governor Edward Augustus Stevenson (1831-1895); Camp Stevenson was established in late April, early May, with the arrival of the volunteer companies of the Idaho National Guard then mobilizing for active service. Unable to use the Boise Barracks themselves, the volunteers were encamped on the lower edge of the field east of the Idaho City road, on a portion of the Boise Military Reservation, at what is now Fifth & Fort Streets. The post would serve as the mobilization camp for the 1st Idaho Volunteer Infantry Regiment and Troop D of the 2nd United States Volunteer Cavalry Regiment; and would close with the departure of the last of those troops in late May 1898.


CAMP WARDNER, KELLOGG, SHOSHONE COUNTY

The camp was established in May 1899, during the mining labor war in Coeur d�Alene, and remained in use until December 2nd, 1899, when the camp was abandoned and the troops relocated to Camp Osburn in Osburn, Idaho.


Veterans Organizations

    Following the end of the conflicts the Veterans began forming themselves into various regimental and national organizations for the purpose of keeping in contact with old and new friends, as well as to perpetuate the memory of their fallen comrades, several organizations sprung up in the years immediately following the war, however aside from the Regimental Associations most of these eventually came together to form the "United Spanish War Veterans." The following is information regarding the Department of Idaho of the United Spanish War Veterans and the Auxiliary of the United Spanish War Veterans.

Department of Idaho
United Spanish War Veterans
Department of Idaho
Auxiliary of the U.S.W.V.


Veterans Memorials

    The following pages contain information on the burial locations of the Veterans of 1898 to 1902, as well as the monuments and memorials that were erected to the memory of the Veterans, Battles, and other events that took place during those years, within the State of Idaho.

Graves Registry
Monuments & Memorials


Resources


Books & Published Material

- "The Annual Cyclopedia and Register of Important Events of the Year 1898." D. Appleton & Company, New York, 1899.

- "Correspondence relating to the War with Spain, and conditions growing out of the same, including the Insurrection in the Philippine Islands, and the China Relief Expedition, between the Adjutant-General of the Army and Military Commanders in the United States, Cuba, Porto Rico, China, and the Philippine Islands, from April 15, 1898, to July 30, 1902." Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C., 1902.

- Volume I, "Historical Register and Dictionary of the United States Army, from its organization, September 29, 1789, to March 2, 1903." Francis B. Heitman, Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C., 1903.

- Volume I, "History of Idaho. The Gem of the Mountains." James H. Hawley; the S.J. Clarke Publishing Company, Chicago, Illinois, 1920.

- "List of Military Posts, etc., Established in the United States from its earliest settlement to the present time." Adjutant General's Office, War Department; Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C.; 1902.

- "Officers of Volunteer Regiments Organized Under the Act of March 2, 1899." Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1899.

- "Official History of the Operations of the First Idaho Infantry, U.S.V. in the Campaign in the Philippine Islands." 1900.

- "The Organized Militia of the United States." Government Printing Press, Washington, D.C., 1900.

- "Statistical Exhibit of Strength of Volunteer Forces Called Into Service During the War With Spain; with Losses From All Causes." Adjutant Generals Office, Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C., 1899.


Documents, Papers & Non-Published Materials

- General Index to Compiled Service Records of Volunteer Soldiers who served During the War with Spain. Microfilm publication M871, 126 rolls. ARC ID: 654543; Records of the Adjutant General's Office, 1780s-1917, Record Group 94; The National Archives at Washington, D.C.

- Pension applications for service in the US Army between 1861 and 1900, grouped according to the units in which the veterans served. (NARA T289) National Archives & Records Administration, Washington, D.C.


Websites & Online Resources

- Idaho In the Spanish American War.

- Spanish-American War Camps, 1898-1899 Period.

 
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