Spanish American War – Access Genealogy

The Spanish-American War was a conflict in 1898 between Spain and the United States. Revolts against Spanish rule had been endemic for decades in Cuba and were closely watched by Americans; there had been war scares before, as in the Virginius Affair in 1873. By 189798 American public opinion grew more angry at reports of Spanish atrocities, magnified by the “yellow journalism”. After the mysterious sinking of the American battleship Maine in Havana harbor, political pressures from the Democratic Party pushed the government headed by President William McKinley, a Republican, into a war McKinley had wished to avoid. Compromise proved impossible and first Madrid, then Washington, formally declared war.

Although the main issue was Cuban independence, the ten-week war was fought in both the Caribbean and the Pacific. A series of one-sided American naval and military victories followed on all fronts, owing to their numerical superiority in most of the battles and despite the good performance of some of the Spanish infantry units. The outcome was the 1898 Treaty of Paris, which was favorable to the U.S. followed by temporary American control of Cuba and indefinite colonial authority over Puerto Rico, Guam and the Philippines. The defeat and subsequent end of the Spanish Empire was a profound shock for Spain’s national psyche. The victor gained several island possessions spanning the globe and a rancorous new debate over the wisdom of imperialism.

1898 – 1902

History of the Spanish American War

Rough Riders
Compiled military service records for 1,235 Rough Riders, including Teddy Roosevelt have been digitized. The records include individual jackets which give the name, organization, and rank of each soldier. They contain cards on which information from original records relating to the military service of the individual has been copied. Included in the main jacket are carded medical records, other documents which give personal information, and the description of the record from which the information was obtained.
- Rough Rider Search Instructions for NARA
- Recruitment for the 9th and 10 Cavalry
History of Black Soldiers in the Spanish American War
- What part did Black Americans do in the Spanish-American War?

Obtaining Spanish American War Records

Compiled Military Service Records
National Archives
- M871, General Index to Compiled Service Records of Volunteer Soldiers Who Served During the War With Spain, 126 rolls.
- M233, Register of Enlistments in the U.S. Army, 1798-1914, 81 rolls.
- T288, General Index to Pension Files, 1861-1934, 544 rolls.
- M1328, Abstracts of Service Records of Naval Officers (“Records of Officers”), 1829-1924, 18 rolls.
- M1052, General and Special Indexes to the General Correspondence of the Office of the Secretary of the Navy, July 1897-Aug. 1926, 119 rolls.
- M1064, Letters Received by the Commission Branch of the Adjutant General’s Office, 1863-1870, 527 rolls.
- M1125, Name and Subject Index to the Letters Received by the Appointment, Commission, and Personal Branch of the Adjutant General’s Office, 1871-1894, 4 rolls.
- M698, Index to the General Correspondence of the Office of the Adjutant General, 1890-1917, 1,269 rolls.
- M929, Documents Relating to the Military and Naval Service of Blacks Awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor from the Civil War to the Spanish American War, 4 rolls.
- Articles at the Archives
  - “New Glory to Its Already Gallant Record” The First Marine Battalion in the Spanish-American War, Prologue article
  - Sailors, Soldiers, and Marines of the Spanish-American War, The Legacy of USS Maine, Prologue article
  - Documenting United States Naval Activities during the Spanish-American War, Prologue article
  - Band of Angels: Sister Nurses in the Spanish-American War, Prologue article
  - “I Am Entitled to the Medal of Honor and I Want It”, Theodore Roosevelt and His Quest for Glory, Prologue article
  - Military Service during the Spanish-American War, a reference report
  - Index to Civil War and Spanish-American War Claims Files Data File, description in the National Archives Catalog
  - Pre-World War I Army Medals
  - Pre-World War I U.S. Army Pension and Bounty Land Applications
Spanish American War Chronology (hosted at Spanish American War Centennial)
Personal Profiles
Theodore Roosevelt
Spanish American War Centennial – Military Rosters
- Unit Profiles
Maj. Micah Jenkins Camp #164 of the Sons of Spanish American War Veterans

Cemeteries

Spanish American War Records by State

Multi State Records

Spanish American War Camps 1898-1899 (hosted at NEGenWeb)
Films of the Spanish American War (hosted at American Memory)
USGenWeb Archives (Records by state and County)
Spanish American War (hosted at Library of Congress)
Spanish American War Memorials (hosted at Waymarking)
History of the Negro Soldier in the Spanish American War
Yellow Fever in the Spanish American War (hosted at University of Virginia)
Photographs of The Spanish American War (hosted at Library of Congress)
Pensions, Rosters and Land Grants (hosted at USGenWeb Pension Project )

Alabama

Arizona

Arizona in the Spanish-American War (hosted at AccessGenealogy)
Alexander Brodie, Arizona Rough Riders (hosted at Arlington National Cemetery)

Arkansas

Arkansas’ Spanish American War Soldiers (hosted at Arkansas Research)
Arkansas Digital Archives, Microfilm Records

California

Missouri

Montana

Nebraska

History of the operations of the First Nebraska infantry, U.S.V. in the campaign in the Philippine Islands
Camp Alvin Saunders (hosted at NEGenWeb)
Nebraska in the War with Spain (hosted at NEGenWeb)
Nebraska Veterans of the Spanish American War (hosted at NEGenWeb)

New Jersey

New Mexico

Politics of the Spanish American War (hosted at University of Virginia)
Rough Riders of New Mexico (hosted at Genealogy Trails)

New York

Roster of the 2nd New York Volunteer Infantry (hosted at Schenectady Public Library)
Military Discharges (hosted at Delaware County New York Genealogy and History )
Veterans from Schenectady County, New York (hosted at Schenectady Public Library)
New York and the War with Spain (hosted at Internet Archives)
Spanish American War Units (hosted at New York State Military Museum)
- Name Index

North Carolina

Goldsboro Rifles, 1898 (hosted at USGenWeb Pension Project)
Roster (partial), 3rd NC Volunteers Colored Troops
Roster of Co L (Cabarrus Light Infantry), 1st North Carolina Volunteers
Bryson Hensley, Pension File
Lt. Giddens Acts as War Correspondent
Goldsboro News-Argus

Roster for the 1st North Carolina Volunteer Infantry (hosted at Spanish American War Centennial Web Site)

Company A – Mecklenburg

Company B – Wayne

Company C – Forsyth

Company D – Rockingham

Company E – Iredell

Company F – Buncombe

Company G – Cleveland

Company H – Haywood

Company I – Durham

Company K – Wake

Company L – Cabarrus

Company M – Mecklenburg

North Dakota

Ohio

Oklahoma

Spanish American War (hosted at Oklahoma Historical Society)
Oklahomans in the Spanish American War (edited by Rodney C. Murrow)

Oregon

Pennsylvania

Rhode Island

South Carolina

Spanish American War (hosted at SCGenWeb Project)
Company B, First South Carolina Volunteers (hosted at Genealogy Trails)

South Dakota

Day County Veterans (hosted at Day County SDGenWeb)
Roster of the 1st South Dakota Volunteer Infantry

Tennessee

Service Abstracts in Tennessee Volunteer Units (hosted Tennessee Dept of State)
Why were the names Buffalo Soldiers and Rough Riders used (hosted an Tennessee 4 Me)
Pictures from the Spanish American War (by Joe Payne)
Virtual Cemetery – Spanish American War (hosted at Find a Grave)

Texas

Veterans from Hood County (hosted at Hood County Genealogy Society)
Veterans from Mills County (hosted at Ivy Place )
Partial Roster of the 2nd Texas Volunteer Infantry, Co E (hosted at Spanish American War Centenial Web Site)

Utah

Utah in the Spanish American War (hosted at Utah History to Go)
Names Index (hosted at Utah Department of Administrative Services)

Vermont

Roster for the 4th Virginia Volunteer Infantry (hosted at Spanish American War Centenial Web Site)
Our Military Heritage (hosted at Genealogy Center)
Vermont Rosters (hosted at USGenWeb Pension Project )

Virginia

Virginia’s Negro Regiment (hosted at Jestor)
Virginia’s Participation in the Spanish-American War and Philippine-American War
Select resources documenting Virginia military participation in the Spanish-American War and Philippine-American War

Washington

1st Washington Infantry (hosted at WaGenWeb)
Washington Veterans Home Cemetery (hosted at Find a Grave)

West Virginia

Marshall County Obituaries (hosted at Marshall County WVGenWeb)
Summers County Soldiers (hosted at WV Genealogy Trails)
2nd West Virginia Volunteer Infantry

Wisconsin

Racine County Roster (hosted at USGenWeb Pension Project)

Wyoming

Suggested Spanish-American War Books at Amazon

Rough Riders, by Theodore Roosevelt – Upon the 1898 Declaration of War launching the Spanish-American War, Roosevelt resigned from the Navy Department. With the aid of U.S. Army Colonel Leonard Wood, Roosevelt found volunteers from cowboys from the Western territories to Ivy League friends from New York, forming the First U.S. Volunteer Cavalry Regiment. The newspapers called them the “Rough Riders.”

The Spanish War: An American Epic, 1898 – On the night of February 15, 1898, the U.S. battleship Maine was ripped in half by an explosion in Havana harbor with the loss of 266 American lives. War with Spain followed nine weeks later. After a three-month fight on two fronts half a world apart, the era of isolation was gone forever, as the United States formed alliances and gained spheres of influence that would shape its desstiny for decades to come.

Topics:

Spanish-American War,

History of the Spanish American War

Obtaining Spanish American War Records

Cemeteries

Spanish American War Records by State

Multi State Records

Alabama

Arizona

Arkansas

California

Colorado

Connecticut

Florida

Georgia

Idaho

Illinois

Indiana

Kansas

Kentucky

Louisiana

Maine

Massachusetts

Michigan

Minnesota

Mississippi