Today In Wyoming's History: July 31: 1899 The Wyoming Battalion, having been in the Philippines for exactly one year, embarked on the Grant at Manila and started their journey home. Attribution: On This D
Saturday, July 31, 1999
Thursday, July 29, 1999
Saturday, July 29, 1899. The results of the Hague Convention.
Final Act of the International Peace Conference; July 29, 1899
The International Peace Conference, convoked in the best interests of humanity by His Majesty the Emperor of All the Russias, assembled, on the invitation of the Government of Her Majesty the Queen of the Netherlands, in the Royal House in the Wood at The Hague on the 18th May, 1899.
The Powers enumerated in the following list took part in the Conference, to which they appointed the Delegates named below:
In a series of meetings, between the 18th May and the 29th July, 1899, in which the constant desire of the Delegates above mentioned has been to realize, in the fullest manner possible, the generous views of the August Initiator of the Conference and the intentions of their Governments, the Conference has agreed, for submission for signature by the Plenipotentiaries, on the text of the Conventions and Declarations enumerated below and annexed to the present Act:
I. Convention for the peaceful adjustment of international differences.
II. Convention regarding the laws and customs of war by land.
III. Convention for the adaptation to maritime warfare of the principles of the Geneva Convention of the 22d August, 1864.
IV. Three Declarations:
1. To prohibit the launching of projectiles and explosives from balloons or by other similar new methods.
2. To prohibit the use of projectiles the only object of which is the diffusion of asphyxiating or deleterious gases.
3. To prohibit the use of bullets which expand or flatten easily in the human body, such as bullets with a hard envelope, of which the envelope does not entirely cover the core, or is pierced with incisions.
These Conventions and Declarations shall form so many separate Acts. These Acts shall be dated this day, and may be signed up to the 31st December, 1899, by the Plenipotentiaries of the Powers represented at the International Peace Conference at The Hague.
Guided by the same sentiments, the Conference has adopted unanimously the following Resolution:
" The Conference is of opinion that the restriction of military charges, which are at present a heavy burden on the world, is extremely desirable for the increase of the material and moral welfare of mankind."
It has, besides, formulated the following wishes:
1. The Conference, taking into consideration the preliminary step taken by the Swiss Federal Government for the revision of the Geneva Convention, expresses the wish that steps may be shortly taken for the assembly of a Special Conference having for its object the revision of that convention.
This wish was voted unanimously.
2. The Conference expresses the wish that the questions of the rights and duties of neutrals may be inserted in the programme of a Conference in the near future.
3. The Conference expresses the wish that the questions with regard to rifles and naval guns, as considered by it, may be studied by the Governments with the object of coming to an agreement respecting the employment of new types and calibers.
4. The Conference expresses the wish that the Governments, taking into consideration the proposals made at the Conference, may examine the possibility of an agreement as to the limitation of armed forces by land and sea, and of war budgets.
5. The Conference expresses the wish that the proposal, which contemplates the declaration of the inviolability of private property in naval warfare, may be referred to a subsequent Conference for consideration.
6. The Conference expresses the wish that the proposal to settle the question of the bombardment of posts, towns, and villages by a naval force may be referred to a subsequent Conference for consideration.
The last five wishes were voted unanimously, saving some abstentions.
In faith of which, the Plenipotentiaries have signed the present Act, and have affixed their seals thereto.
Done at The Hague, 29th July, 1899, in one copy only, which shall be deposited in the Ministry for Foreign Affairs, and of which copies, duly certified, shall be delivered to all the Powers represented at the Conference.
Last edition:
Wednesday, July 26, 1899. Newsboy Leader Quits.
Monday, July 26, 1999
Sunday, July 25, 1999
Tuesday, July 25, 1899. The Great Meet of the Newboys.
I haven't been covering it, but the summer of 1899 featured the Newsboy Strike in New York City, which was directed at the Hearst newspapers.
July 25, 1899: “Great Meet of Newsboys”
It was not the only newsboy strike in US history, but it is remarkable as a youth lead labor strike.
Last edition:
Friday, July 21, 1899. Ernest Hemingway born.
Wednesday, July 21, 1999
Friday, July 21, 1899. Ernest Hemingway born.
Ernest Hemingway was born in Oak Park, Illinois to Clarence Edmonds Hemingway, a physician, and Grace Hall Hemingway, a musician.
Last edition:
Thursday, July 6, 1899 Ordered home.
Tuesday, July 6, 1999
Thursday, July 6, 1899 Ordered home.
Today In Wyoming's History: July 6: 1899 The Wyoming Battalion received its orders in the Philippines to return to the U.S. Attribution: On This Day.
Kansas state infantry, February 1899.
They were undoubtedly mighty glad to receive them as well.
The Philippine Insurrection is all but forgotten by 99% of Americans. Those who do remember it have some particular connection with it or are students of history.
They Wyoming Battalion was a battalion of infantry augmented by a battery of artillery. The infantry was drawn from volunteers from Buffalo, Douglas, Sheridan and Evanston, commanded by Maj. Frank M. Foote of Evanston. The artillery came from Cheyenne. They had volunteered for action in Cuba, not the Philippines, but the U.S. Army was so small, there was no way to exploit the Navy's defeat of the Spanish Navy in the Far East other than through using volunteer troops who had not been committed to Cuba. During their service the unit suffered high causalities, losing 3 men in combat, 12 died of disease, and 75 men became unfit for service due to wounds, illnesses and injuries. As with the remainder of the U.S. Army during the Spanish American War, many more soldiers from Wyoming died of disease and illness caused by poor sanitation and diet and inadequate medical care, and from numerous tropical diseases, than were ever felled by a foe’s bullet.
Coming before the Dick Act, these units fit into an odd category between the Regular Army, which they were not part of, and existing state militia units, which they were also not part of. State raised, they are regarded as National Guard units today, which makes sense in that their history more closely aligns with the National Guard, and the Guard found itself doing recruiting to fill out its ranks for the Punitive Expedition, World War One, and even in the lead up to World War Two.
The Philippine Insurrection, indeed the US presence in the Philippines in general, was controversial from the onset. A strong anti-colonial impulse in the US, natural for a nation which had once been a foreign colony, had operated against going to war with Spain in the first place, as members of Congress feared that Cuba would be annexed to the US as a colony. Preventing that from occurring had been a condition of the declaration of war, but other Spanish possessions had been omitted as they were completely out of mind. To naval strategists, including the Assistant Secretary of the Navy Theodore Roosevelt, striking at Spanish possession is the Pacific and Far East made perfect sense, but to most Americans it simply wasn't something that was likely to occur. As a result of this, nothing had addressed Spain's Far Eastern territories.
Given this, the war was not universally popular from the start. The use of state troops contributed to that, as the troops had not enlisted for service in a colonial enterprise. To address some of this, the Army, now freed of combat in Cuba, began to replace state units with regular troops. This did not address all the problems, however, particularly as the Army began to increasingly resort to harsh measures, giving rise to atrocities. The war was officially declared over on July 4, 1902, although in reality it continued on at least until 1915.
A good argument can be made that the Spanish American War as the US's first modern war. It came about rapidly and haphazardly, like many wars following it did. The long range implications of the war were not foreseen, including that the war would give rise to a long, unexpected war following it. The initial war was popular, but as the implications of it lingered on, the war succeeding it was not.
Last edition:
Thursday, July 1, 1999
Saturday, July 1, 1899. "Birth" of Indiana Jones.
According to George Lucas, this is the birthdate for his fictional character, Henry Walton "Indiana" Jones, Jr.
Last edition:
Friday, June 30, 1899. Safe passage for Spanish troops at Baler.
Labels: 1890s, 1898, 1899, 1900, 1900s, Army, Philippine Insurrection, Philippines, Prisoners of War, Spanish American War, Spanish Army, U.S. Navy
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)