Tuesday, May 18, 1999

Thursday, May 18, 1899. Republic of Zamboanga established

The Republic of Republic of Zamboanga was established in the Philippines.  It quickly devolved into being an American protectorate.  General Vicente Álvarez, who lead its establishment, fell due to intrigue with the American forces followed by the fall of the remaining Spanish fort.

On the same day, the US took control of Jolo.

Last prior edition:

Wednesday, May 10, 1899. Song and Dance.


Monday, May 10, 1999

Friday, May 7, 1999

Sunday, May 7, 1899. Aguinaldo moves

Emilio Aguinaldo y Famy, President of the Philippine First Republic which was at war, or from the American prospective, an agent in insurrection against the successor to Spain, the United States, moved his Seat of Government from San Isidro, Nueva Ecija to Angeles, Pampanga as Philippine battefield fortunes were fading.

Last prior edition:

Wednesday, May 5, 1899. The station at Khilkovo.

Wednesday, May 5, 1999

Wednesday, May 5, 1899. The station at Khilkovo.


William S. Davidson, Sarah E. Smith, Maud Morphew, Eleonora Hansen, Frederick Pray, and David Clarkson at Khilkovo Station (Okeanskaia), north of Vladivostok. 
I enclose a photo I took at the station at Khilkovo-- you will recognize all but Miss Morphew and Mrs. Hansen and you can distinguish them by Mrs. Hansen's fur cape. 
Elanor Pray.

We discussed Mrs. Pray yesterday, but here too there's a warning for us moderns. Russian society of 1899 was blisteringly ignorant.  That ignorance would help fuel two revolutions, the second successful, and the rise of Communism, through its adoption by populists.

A warning on populist extremism to us all.

Last prior edition:

Thursday, May 4, 1899. The Battle of Santo Tomas and the remarkable Elanor Pray.


Tuesday, May 4, 1999

Thursday, May 4, 1899. The Battle of Santo Tomas and the remarkable Elanor Pray.

 

The 1st Nebraska advancing during the Battle of Santo Tomas

The Battle of Santo Tomas was found in this day at Santo Tomas, Pampanga.  The battle resulted in the complete route of the large Filipino force, its second defeat in recent days, and the wounding of General Antonio Luna, a primary Filipino commander.

Like many battles of the Philippine Insurrection, the battle was fought, on the American side, by state volunteers, who were, for all intents and purposes, National Guardsmen.  In this case, the US forces consisted of the 20th Kansas, the 1st Montana, 1st Nebraska and 51st Iowa.

Elanor Pray, an American from Maine who was living in Vladavostock where her husband was posted to the "American store" sent a letter with photographs of some of the local scenes and her observations of them.


I think you will be interested in the photo of our premises here even if it does have to be curved to make the thing come together. Fred took it from the roof of the new P[ost] O[ffice] and the building half completed in front of us belongs also to the P.O." 

Little known in the US, Pray's heavily photographed letters have made her well known in Russia, as her long residence there, 1894 to 1930, meant that she's chronicled, and preserved, an entire epic in Russia's history which would otherwise have seen much lost.  She apparently liked the region, as she stayed on after the death of her husband in 1923 and only left in 1930 when her employer closed its facility in the area, which was also experiencing hardening Stalinist repression.

From Vladivostok she moved to China and was interned in World War Two by the Japanese, becoming part of a 1943 prisoner exchange which resulted in her return to the US. She smuggled her papers out in the process.  She died in 1954 at age 85.

Manuel won the Kentucky Derby.

Last prior edition:

Monday, May 1, 1899. Prisoners of the Philippine Republic.

Saturday, May 1, 1999

Monday, May 1, 1899. Prisoners of the Philippine Republic.

USS Yorktown.

Admiral George Dewey reported that ten officers and crewmen of the USS Yorktown were taken prisoner by the Philippine Republic, exactly one year after the U.S. Navy's defeat of the Spanish fleet at Manila Bay.

Adm. Dewey.

Last prior edition:

Wednesday, April 28, 1899. Discussions in the Philippines.