Judge Advocate Generals DepartmentUnited States Army, February 15th, 1898, to July 4th, 1902
The following is a history and roster of the men who served in the Judge Advocate Generals Department of the United States Army between February 15th, 1898, and July 4th, 1902, during the Spanish American War, the Philippine Insurrection, and the China Relief Expedition. Please keep in mind when searching for names that the spellings of some names have changed or been misspelled in the original records, and as the record was transcribed also take into account human error. If you have any additional information, photo's, artifacts that you would like to share please contact the Webmaster.
History of the Judge Advocate Generals Department, 1898 to 1902
By Bro. Kenneth H. Robison II, Sons of Spanish American War Veterans
On June 30th, 1775, the Continental Congress officially adopted the Articles of War (then 69 in number) by which the Armed forces of the country would conduct themselves in times of peace and war. This was followed with the creation of the post of "Judge Advocate of the Army" on July 29th, 1775, to which Mr. William Tudor was appointed to fill, being officially designated as the "Judge Advocate General" on August 10th, 1776, Congress outlining that the "The Judge Advocate General, or some person deputed by him, shall prosecute in the name of the United States of America." Several officers would carry out the duties of Judge Advocate General from 1777 to 1802, and by the Act of March 16th, 1802, the position was abolished when the regular army was reduced to one regiment of artillery and two of infantry.
The position of Judge Advocate was again revived by the act of January 11th, 1812, which called for the appointment of one judge-advocate per division of the army. On April 24th, 1816, this was increased to three per division, but was later reduced to the original number by the Act of April 14th, 1818. However, by the Act of March 2nd, 1821, the army was again reduced, and the office of the Judge Advocate was discontinued.
With the passage of the Act of March 2nd, 1849, Congress authorized the President to appoint a Judge Advocate of the Army, who was to be drawn from the captains of the army. To the position was appointed Captain John F. Lee of the Ordnance Department, who would fill the position until September 4th, 1862. The Act of July 17th, 1862, officially created and established the "Office of the Judge Advocate General" and authorized the appointment of a Judge Advocate General who would rank as a Colonel of Cavalry, and the appointment of a Judge Advocate, with the rank of Major of Cavalry, to serve with each army then in the field. To this was added, by the Act of June 20th, 1864, the Bureau of Military Justice, of which the Judge Advocate General was the head of, with the rank of Brigadier General; the Bureau was intended only to exist for the duration of the American Civil War, however, the Act of July 28th, 1866, reorganized the army and retrained it as part of the regular service. The Bureau was retained until the Act of July 5th, 1884, which consolidated the Corps of Judge Advocates and the Bureau of Military Justice into one organization designated as the "Judge Advocate General's Department." At the time the Department was authorized to consist of one (1) Judge Advocate General, with the rank of Brigadier General, one (1) Assistant Judge Advocate General, with the rank of Colonel, three (3) Deputy Judge Advocate Generals, with the rank of Major, and gave the authority to the Secretary of War to detail such line officers as necessary as 'acting' judge advocates. The duties of the Department and its officers was described in 1897 by Deputy Judge Advocate General (Lieutenant Colonel) John W. Clous, when he wrote that:
| "Under the existing statutes the Judge Advocate General is required "to receive, revise and cause to be recorded the proceedings of all courts-martial, courts of inquiry, and military commissions and to perform such other duties as have been performed heretofore by the Judge Advocate General of the army," and under his direction the "judge advocates shall perform their duties." In connection with the duties thus specified the Judge Advocate General is required by existing regulations to render reports to the Secretary of War upon such cases tried by military courts as require the action of the President, as well as when applications for clemency or other relief are presented to the President or Secretary of War by persons who have been convicted by military courts. He also prepares and revises charges and renders opinions upon all such questions of military law as may be referred to him for opinion by the Secretary of War or the Commanding General of the army. He also assists the latter in the review of cases of courts-martial coming under his cognizance.
The "other duties" of the Judge Advocate General mentioned in the statute consist in the preparation of all sorts of legal papers, and in the rendering of opinions upon all questions of law arising in the administration of the War Department referred to him under the interior business regulations established by the Secretary of War. In this connection the Judge Advocate General is in effect the law officer of the War Department, holding practically the same relation of advisory counsel to the Secretary of War as is held by the several solicitors or Assistant Attorneys General towards the chiefs of the executive department to which they are attached.
The acting judge advocates and judge advocates detailed for duty at Department headquarters are under the immediate command of Department commanders, and their duties chiefly consist in preparing or revising charges, serving on general courts-martial, examining, revising and reporting upon the records of military courts received at the headquarters at which they are serving, and generally in assisting their immediate commanders in the examination of questions of law arising in the administration of their commands. These officers are frequently called upon to appear as counsel for the United States, or for officers or soldiers of the army in the courts of the United States, in habeas corpus and other proceedings as well as before the civil and criminal courts of the States and Territories within the command to which they are attached. It is therefore necessary that they should have a legal education and be members of the bar."
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At the time of the Declaration of War between the United States and Spain in April 1898, the Judge Advocate General's Department had changed little since 1884, at the time it consisted of eight (8) officers and eleven (11) civilian employees. Of the officers, one was on duty as the Judge Advocate General (Guido Norman Lieber), two in the office of the Judge Advocate and one on duty at the Professor of Law at the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York, leaving only four (4) Judge Advocates available for active duty with an army of 28,267-men that was soon to be enlarged to 65,000+ Regulars and 125,000+ Volunteers. To supplement the lack of regularly appointed Judge Advocates, the policy had been adopted to detail line officers as 'acting' judge advocates of various commands, General Lieber wrote of this practice in the 1900 Annual Report that "...This arrangement has proved to be a very good one, and the officers so detailed have done their work well, but I am decidedly of opinion that a larger proportion of officers employed on this work should belong to the regular Judge-Advocate General's Department..."
With the calling up of volunteers in April this force was supplemented by the Act of April 22nd, 1898, which authorized the appointment of eleven (11) officers of United States Volunteers to serve as Judge Advocate Generals of each Army Corps, those appointed would hold the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. With the conclusion of the War with Spain, and the start of the Philippine Insurrection, the Act of March 2nd, 1899, was passed, which reduced the number of Judge Advocates of U.S. Volunteers to five (5) officers who would hold the rank of Major. At the same time the requirements for an appointment as a Judge Advocate were revised so that "...no person in civil life shall hereafter be appointed a judge advocate...until he shall have passed satisfactorily such examination as to his moral, mental, and physical qualifications as may be prescribed by the President, and no such person shall be appointed who is more than forty-four years of age..." Two years later, Congress finally increased the strength of the Department, but only marginally, by the Act of February 2nd, 1901, when it set the Department's strength at one (1) Judge Advocate General with the rank of Brigadier General, two (2) Assistant Judge Advocate Generals with the rank of Colonel, three (3) Deputy Judge Advocate Generals with the rank of Lieutenant Colonel, six (6) Judge Advocates with the rank of Major, and allowed for one acting Judge Advocate with the rank of Captain for each department or division which could not be provided with a Judge Advocate. The acting Judge Advocates however could only be appointed for a four year term, and he could not be reappointed without having served two years with the arm in which he was permanently commissioned.
| Among the many duties assigned to the Judge Advocates was the court-martials of those serving with the Army; these would entail the drafting of charges, the convening of a trial, sentencing and finally approval of the findings of the court by the Department Commander, the Judge Advocate Generals, the Secretary of War and finally the President of the United States. From August 1897 to June 1902 there would be 25,724 officers, cadets, enlisted men and civilians tried by court-martial. Of these many would be for routine violations, however, others would be much more involved and public, such as the case of Commissary General Patrick Eagan in January 1899 over |
| - | 1898 | 1899 | 1900 | 1901 | 1902 | TOTAL | | Court-Martialed | 1,880 | 5,788 | 6,680 | 6,065 | 5,311 | 25,724 | | Convicted | 1,660 | 4,824 | 6,071 | 5,266 | 4,715 | 22,536 | | Acquitted | 220 | 618 | 506 | 561 | 436 | 2,341 | | Disapproved | - | 346 | 103 | 238 | 160 | 847 |
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| an incident involving himself and Major General Nelson A. Miles, in which the two officers leveled accusations against each other over issues involving the beef which was supplied to the army during the War with the Spain, and in which General Eager publicly criticized General Miles. In the ensuring trial known as the "Embalmed Beef Scandal," General Eager was charged with conduct unbecoming an officer and gentleman, and conduct to the prejudice of good order and military discipline. After a month long trial, General Eager was found guilty of the charges and was sentenced to suspension of rank for six-years, and upon his restoration was retired from the service at his own request. |
Statistics of the Judge Advocate Generals Department
| Rank | 1898 | 1899 | 1900 | 1901 | 1902 | 1903 |
| Judge Advocate General (Brigadier General) | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Assistant Judge Advocate General (Colonel) | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 |
| Deputy Judge Advocate General (Lt. Col.) | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 |
| Judge Advocate General (Major) | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 6 |
| TOTAL | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 12 | 12 |
Annual Report of the Judge Advocate General, U.S. Army
Publications & Documents of the Judge Advocate General's Department, U.S. Army
Roster of Officers & Men of the Judge Advocate General's Department
The Court of Inquiry in the 'Embalmed Beef' scandal in Washington, D.C., on February 15th, 1899. Pictured from left to right are Colonel George L. Gillepsie, Major General James F. Wade, Lieutenant Colonel (Judge Advocate) George B. Davis and General George W. Davis.(Sanders Auctions)
Resources
Books & Published Material
- "The Annual Cyclopedia and Register of Important Events of the Year 1898." D. Appleton & Company, New York, 1899.
- Pages 371 to 376, Volume I, "Annual Reports of the War Department for the Fiscal Year Ended June 30, 1898." Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C.; 1898.
- Pages 123 to 147, Volume I, "Annual Reports of the War Department for the Fiscal Year Ended June 30, 1899." Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C.; 1899.
- Pages 251 to 261, Volume I, "Annual Reports of the War Department for the Fiscal Year Ended June 30, 1900." Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C.; 1900.
- Pages 243 to 251, Volume I, "Annual Reports of the War Department for the Fiscal Year Ended June 30, 1901." Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C.; 1901.
- Pages 495 to 500, Volume I, "Annual Reports of the War Department for the Fiscal Year Ended June 30, 1902." Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C.; 1903.
- "The Army Lawyer: A History of the Judge Advocate General's Corps, 1775-1975." 1975.
- Pages 33 to 37, "The Army of the United States. Historical Sketches of Staff and Line with Portraits of Generals-in-Chief." Theodore F. Rodenbough & William L. Haskin; Maynard, Merrill & Company, New York City, New York; 1896.
- "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.
- Page 39, 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.
- "A Military Album containing over one thousand portraits of Commissioned Officers who served in the Spanish-American War." L.R. Hamersly Company, New York, New York, 1902.
- "Officers of Volunteer Regiments Organized Under the Act of March 2, 1899." Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1899.
- Page 10, "Official Army Register for 1898." Adjutant Generals Office, Washington, D.C., December 1st, 1897.
- Page 11, "Official Army Register for 1899." Adjutant Generals Office, Washington, D.C., January 1st, 1899.
- Page 11, "Official Army Register for 1900." Adjutant Generals Office, Washington, D.C., December 1st, 1899.
- Page 11, "Official Army Register for 1901." Adjutant Generals Office, Washington, D.C., December 1st, 1900.
- Pages 14 & 15, "Official Army Register for 1902." Adjutant Generals Office, Washington, D.C., July 1st, 1902.
- Pages 14 & 15, "Official Army Register for 1903." Adjutant Generals Office, Washington, D.C., December 1st, 1902.
- "Powell's Records of Living Officers of the United States Army." Major William H. Powell, United States Army; L.R. Hamersly & Company, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 1890.
Documents, Papers & Non-Published Materials
John A.T. Hull Papers, 1835-1920, Des Moines Center Manuscript Collection, Des Moines, Iowa.
The Lieber Collection; National Archives, Washington, D.C.
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