SPANISH AMERICAN WAR CAMPS

1898-99 PERIOD  

By Fred M. Greguras

Camp at Palmetto Beach

·        About 4 miles east of Tampa

·        Described in Empire State at pages 135-140

·        Occupied only a short time because of poor health conditions

Camp Panama Park, Jacksonville, FL

·        See Camp Cuba Libre

Camp Joseph W. Plume, Buffalo, NY

·        The 202nd regiment of New York volunteers was organized and mustered into service at Buffalo between July 19 to August 8, 1898 and then went to Camp Black.

·        According to the Annual Report of the Adjutant General of the State of New York for 1898, 1899, the 202nd regiment was organized at the armory of the 65th Regiment National Guard in Buffalo which may have been where it camped.  Fort Porter was probably too small for a regimental sized campground.

·        Buffalo Library could not find any information on this camp.

Camp John S. Poland, Knoxville, TN

·        Named after the Brig. General commanding the Second Division of the First Army Corps who died at Chickamauga on August 7, 1898

·        Established August 21, 1898

·        This camp was also established because of the overcrowding at Camp Chickamauga.

·        Previously named Camp Wilder, according to Rule, Standard History of Knoxville, Tennessee, Lewis Publishing Company, 1900, page 190 [hereafter referred to as Rule].

·        Abandoned in early January 1899 except for the hospital at Turner Park which stayed open until mid-February, 1899.

·        From Rule, page 190:   "June 29, the camp of the Sixth regiment was removed to the Lonsdale addition to the city, near the Southern railway shops, the new camp being named Camp Wilder, the Fourth regiment remaining at Camp Bob Taylor. . . . August 12, an armistice was declared between Spain and the United States, and on the same day, Brigadier General McKee, accompanied by his staff officers, Major W. P. Kendall and Captain Alexander M. Davis, arrived in Knoxville for the purpose of looking over the ground at Camp Wilder and other places, with the view of finding a more healthful location for his command than that at Chickamauga.  He visited Fountain City and Camp Bob Taylor, finally selecting Camp Wilder, and naming it Camp Poland, in honor of General Poland, who had died. . . .  Lincoln Park was selected for a portion of this camp.  August 23, the First Georgia regiment and the Thirty-first Michigan were in camp near the Brookside cotton mills. . . . All of the Second division of the First army corps were here, besides the Fourth Tennessee."

Camp Powers, Augusta, ME

·        Llewellyn Powers was governor of Maine during the Spanish American War.

·        According to Kenneth E. Thompson, Jr. of Portland, Maine:  "Present-day Camp Keyes is the state National Guard camp and headquarters west of downtown Augusta (Kennebec County), within the city limits. . . . The annual encampments of the Maine militia had been conducted at various locations around the state from 1820 to 1888.  In that latter year, the encampment was held at the former Camp Keyes, which was an ideal physical site and centrally located in the state.  In 1889 the state purchased the farm, and established a permanent camp for the annual encampments of the militia. . . . Until 1909 the name of the camp annually bore the name of the sitting governor, at which time the old designation of Camp Keyes was made permanent.  Thus, in 1897-98-99-1900, the camp was named Camp Powers in honor of incumbent Governor Llewellyn Powers (1836-1908), who also served as a congressman before and after being governor. . . . Camp Powers was simply the state National Guard headquarters, and was only briefly used to rendezvous and muster the state units which were quickly sent South to the federal camps for training and brigading, probably similar to what happened at state rendezvous’ in every other state."

Camp Pratt, Los Angeles, CA

·        Camp of the 7th Cal. Vol. Inf. during November 12 - December 2, 1898 just prior to the muster out of the unit, according to the Biennial Report of the Adjutant-General of California, 1900.

·        No mention was found in contemporary Los Angeles newspapers.

Camp Price, Macon, GA

·        Named after the wartime mayor of Macon, Sylvester Bragg "Daisy" Price, popular four time mayor and Confederate veteran (1846-1899).  Daisy Price died in office.

·        Located in Central City Park in the south part of the city, south of 7th street along the river.

·        The camp was in existence from sometime in June 1898 to August 6, 1898, according to articles in the Macon Telegraph newspaper.

Camp Prior, Near Macon, GA

·        See Camp Haskell, Macon, GA

Camp Rae, Macon, GA

·        Mentioned as a muster in place for Georgia units in Carlton and Thaxton, A Roster of Spanish American War Soldiers From Georgia.

Camp Ramsdell, Concord, NH

·        George A. Ramsdell was governor of New Hampshire from 1897-1899.

·        The 1st N. H. Vol. Inf. began arriving at the state military encampment grounds in Concord Heights on May 2, 1898, was mustered in from May 7-13, 1898 and left for Chickamauga on May 17, 1898.

·        The state military reservation is still located in Concord Heights.

Camp Ramsey, Near St. Paul, MN (See Camp Van Duzee)

·        Named for Alexander Ramsey, the first territorial governor of Minnesota.

·        Muster in location for all four Minnesota volunteer regiments.

·        At the Minnesota State Fairgrounds at the northwest edge of St. Paul.  An 1898 map of St. Paul indicates the fairgrounds were in the northwest part of the city, north of the Northern Pacific tracks and west of Snelling Avenue.  A current map places the fairgrounds at the same location.

·        See pages 148-150 of source (7)

·        According to Hampton Smith, Reference Librarian for the Minnesota Historical Library, based on research in Holbrook: "The primary camp for rendezvous and mustering in was Camp Ramsey . . . located on the State Fairgrounds in St. Paul.  This spot was chosen for its proximity to a number of rail lines and the availability of the large barns and other buildings on the fairgrounds.  Our collection includes some interesting photos of men of the 13th Minnesota billeted in horse barns.  Unfortunately the area had very poor sanitary facilities and some of the later regiments to muster in had dangerous outbreaks of typhus."

Camp Riche, Galveston, TX  (See Camp Hawley)

·        Named for Col. Charles Swift Riche, an 1886 graduate of West Point who was the engineer in charge of fortifications in Galveston just prior to the Spanish American War.  He was also Colonel of the Galveston volunteer "immune" regiment (1st U.S. Vol. Inf.).

·        According to Shelley Henley Kent, Assistant Archivist of Galveston’s Rosenberg Library: ." . . it seems that incoming troops were temporarily camped at the beach park located south of Avenue Q at the beach between 23rd and 24th Streets which is referred to as "Camp Riche."  The June 2, 1898 Galveston Daily News identifies Camp Riche as being at the ballpark.

Camp Rodgers, Ybor City, FL

·        Also spelled "Rogers."

·        Ybor City is adjacent to Tampa.

·        According to source (8), established on May 21, 1898 as a camp of the Battalion of Siege Artillery.  Abandoned about August 20, 1898.

Camp Dan Russell, Raleigh, NC (see Camp at Fort Macon and Camp Bryan Grimes)

·        Named after Daniel L. Russell, the wartime governor of North Carolina.

·        Likely muster in site for 2nd N.C. Vol. Inf. regiment.

·        The name of the 1st regiment’s camp was Camp Bryan Grimes according to Annual Report of the Adjutant-General of North Carolina for 1898, 1899.  The Report does not mention Camp Dan Russell but source (4) does.

·        The 2nd’s camp was located at the fairgrounds according to the Report.

Camp Sadler, Carson City, NV

·        Reinhold Sadler was acting governor of Nevada when the Spanish American War began and was elected governor in the 1898 election.

·        Camp Sadler was established in June 1898 at the racetrack, east of the capital building, on the outskirts of Carson City.  The site was reportedly crowded, had no shade and the racetrack’s owner wanted the camp moved so the track could be prepared for the fall racing season.  In August, the troops (1st Battalion Nev. Vol. Inf.) were moved to a camp in Treadway Park on the west end of Carson City which was named Camp Clark.  The troops were mustered out by late October 1898.

·        See, generally, Philip Earl’s unpublished masters thesis, Sagebrush Volunteers: Nevadans in the Spanish-American War and the Philippine Insurrection, 1896-1900.

Camp Sanger, Lexington, KY (See Camps Hamilton, Miles and Mill Farm)

·        Possible early name for Camp Hamilton as Brig. Gen. Joseph B. Sanger was Commanding Officer of the Third Division of the First Army Corps, part of the troops moved from Chickamauga Park to Lexington at the end of the war.

Camp Santa Mesa, PI.

·        Near Manila, PI.  Inscription on a stereoview says “3 miles North East of Manila.”

·        1st Neb. Vol. Inf. there

·        Photo in Neely, Fighting in the Philippines, F. Tennyson Neely, Publisher 1899.  Caption "Nebraska boys in camp at Santa Mesa"

Camp Alvin Saunders, Lincoln, NE (See Camp Meiklejohn)

·        Named after Nebraska governor in office during the Civil War.

·        Camp of the First Brigade, Nebraska National Guard, consisting of the 1st and 2nd Neb. Vol. Inf. from April 26 to May 10, 1898.  The 3rd Neb. Vol. Inf. was mustered in at Fort Omaha.

·        From 1897-98 Report of the Adjutant General of Nebraska, pages 45-47:  "The brigade encampment north of the city of Lincoln, near the city limits, on a plat of ground known as the Lancaster County Fairgrounds.  The ground was of ample size and sloping gently affording good natural drainage, and were lighted by electricity connected with the city circuit.  A line of water pipes had been laid and connected with the city mains affording an abundant supply of good water.  Previous to the arrival of the troops, the camp was laid out so as to conform as nearly as possible to the form given in the United States Army drill regulations and staked off in the most convenient manner taking into consideration the lay of the ground and the buildings thereon.  The First Regiment encamped on the south side of the encampment grounds and the Second Regiment on the east.  The regiments were divided into battalions of four companies each and were assigned to places according to rank.  …  The regimental bands encamped on the right of their respective regiments.  The line and field officers were encamped in their proper places with their respective regiments.  The general headquarters was located in the secretary’s building on the Fairgrounds. . . .  The camp had been designated Camp Alvin Saunders in honor of the Territorial War Governor, Honorable Alvin Saunders, and the only living [civil] war governor of the States today."

·        At page 7 of the Report, it states that the two regiments were ordered to mobilize at the "old fairgrounds" in Lincoln.  Although there are differences in references to the fairgrounds, the site of the camp was the state fairgrounds, then referred to as the Lancaster County Fairgrounds, according to Nebraska Militia: The History of the Army and Air National Ground, 1854-1991, published by Donning, 1994, pages 52-53.  The fairground is still located at 1800 State Fair Drive in Lincoln.  There are no buildings at the fairgrounds remaining from the 1898 period.

Camp Shipp, Anniston, AL

·        Named for Lt. William E. Shipp of the 10th Cavalry who was KIA at Santiago, Cuba.

·        Established after the war on September 3, 1898 and existed through January 1899.

·        From a photograph description of Camp Shipp in the Alabama Room collection of the Anniston Public Library:  "Encampment formed at Blue Mountain after the Spanish American War.  [Blue Mountain is in the north part of Anniston.]  … At the end of the Spanish-American War in August 1898, and with a final peace settlement still in the future, the U.S. Army deemed it unwise to muster out troops and needed a suitable site to quarter a large reserve force.  Anniston was chosen. … Camp Shipp was located in the vicinity of Union Foundry in West Anniston."

·        From Gates, The Model City of the New South, Strode Publishers, Inc., 1978, pages 140-143:  "The well-drained hill just west of the American Pipe and Foundry Company was designated as the location for General Royal T. Frank’s headquarters and the first regiment. … As additional troops from the Third Tennessee and Fourteenth New York arrived, the camp spread to the hills north and east of the Hercules Pipe Company.  Parades were held on the grounds of the old Anniston Inn, which was a college. … Noble Street was dotted with hastily erected tents used as restaurants for the thriving business of Camp Shipp soldiers.  [Noble Street runs north and south almost through the entire city on present day maps.] … The medical facilities were the pride of the camp.  In the first two months in Anniston, 636 patients were treated, with only 20 deaths reported.  The hospital had been moved from Chickamauga, where an outbreak of illness was attributed to infected wells, flies, and unskilled nurses.  A War Investigating Committee thoroughly inspected the hospital in October and noted considerable improvement since removal to Anniston. … By late October, several changes were made for the coming of winter.  Each soldier was issued two blankets and a heavy overcoat.  Every three tents were consolidated with added wooden floors and boxed sides.  Wooden kitchens, mess halls, and a new division hospital were built. … Annistonians hoped that Camp Shipp would be permanent.  By the end of January, however, troops began to move out.  Some were discharged, some regiments were sent on to Cuba, and the 300 camp mules were ordered to Manila. … The last patient was discharged and the hospital closed in March.  Even the building was removed."

Camp Josiah Simpson, General Hospital, Near Fort Monroe, VA

Camp Robert Smith, Helena, MT

·        Named after then Governor Smith of Montana.

·        This was an assembly area in May 1898 for the 1st Mont. Vol. Inf. prior to its departure on May 25 for San Francisco.

·        According to Montana in the Wars, published by the American Legion, 1977, a compilation prepared for the Montana American Legion, Camp Smith was initially located in Central Park, not far from the Broadwater Hotel, west of Helena.  This location became too muddy and was abandoned for another location closer to Helena.

Camp Snyder, Gettysburg, PA

Camp Steadman, Chicago, IL

·        Illinois Naval Militia

Camp Stephens, Jefferson Barracks, MO

·        Named after the war time Missouri governor

·        Muster in site for all Missouri National Guard units in May and July 1898.

Sternberg General Hospital, Chickamauga, GA

·        At Camp Thomas

Camp Stevenson, Boise City, ID

·        According to Alan Virta, Head, Special Collections, Boise State University Library:  The Idaho Statesman (Boise’s morning newspaper) of May 1, 1898, reports that Idaho volunteer companies were arriving in Boise and assembling at the camp "on the Boise military reservation."  The Statesman of May 4, 1898, reports that Governor Steunenberg chose the name Camp Stevenson for the "camp established on the reservation," in honor of Edward A. Stevenson, governor of the Idaho Territory in the 1880s.  Stevenson died in 1896.  The Statesman of May 5, 1898, refers to the camp as "Camp Edward A. Stevenson."

·        The Boise Barracks was located on the large expanse of land commonly known as the military reservation.  The newspapers do not specify where on the reservation Camp Stevenson was located, nor how close it was to the Boise Barracks.  The site of the Boise Barracks is now occupied by the VA Hospital, which has preserved many of the old buildings.  The rest of the old reservation is now parkland and athletic fields, though a few public buildings (including the new Federal Courthouse) have been built fronting on Fort Street.

·        See page 157 of source (7) for a photo of the camp.

Camp Tampa, FL

·        Primary staging area for the invasion of Cuba

·        Camps all over Tampa.  Overcrowding caused other camps to be established outside of Tampa.

·        Important Dates (from the Tampa Bay History Center Web Site):

4/14/1898

Tampa is selected, along with Mobile and New Orleans, as a mobilization point for United States troops.  Tampa is also chosen as a supply base.

5/1898

Troops pour into Tampa, filling the first encampment at Tampa Heights (largest camps at this location) and spilling over into camps at De Soto Park, Palmetto Beach, Fort Brooke, Port Tampa, Ybor City.  By June, 25,000 troops were stationed in and near Tampa.

6/1/1898

The Rough Riders cavalry unit under the command of Col. Leonard Wood and his second in command Lt. Colonel Theodore Roosevelt arrive in Tampa.

·        "Port Tampa was the scene of the army’s embarkation to Cuba.  The wharves and warehouses were totally inadequate for the volume of supplies and traffic.  The improvements of the harbor near downtown Tampa, later the Port of Tampa, can be traced to the government’s frustration at Port Tampa.  Port Tampa was a city, separate from Tampa, until 1961."  Tampa 1898:  The Homefront and the Spanish-American War, 1998 handout for Tampa History Center exhibit.

·        See chapter on Tampa in source (7) beginning at page 167.  Also see map at page 173.

Camp Tanner, Springfield, IL

·        Named after the wartime Illinois governor

·        At the State Fairgrounds

·        From Bunzey, Whiteside Boys in Porto (sic) Rico, 1898, no publisher identified, 1901:  "At eleven fifteen we entered Springfield.  The State Fairgrounds being some distance from where we entered the city, we were picked up by a switch engine and run down to Camp Tanner, as the rendezvous at the Fairgrounds had been officially designated by Brigadier General Barkley, Post Commander.  A draw bar was pulled out of one of the coaches which caused a delay of nearly two hours.  We marched into the campgrounds at one thirty p.m.  Nearly all of the State troops had arrived in advance of our delayed train.  The Third and Sixth regiments were assigned quarters in the Exhibition Building; the First, Second, Fourth and Fifth were located in the various buildings scattered about the grounds.  The Seventh was under tents in the center of the race course.  Governor Tanner, Commander-in-Chief of the State troops, established headquarters in the Dome Building.  The Commissary Department was located in the Poultry Building, separated from our quarters by a long high bridge that spanned a wide, dry ravine which coursed through the grounds."

·        Many photos of Camp Tanner in the Bunzey book

Camp Bob Taylor, Knoxville, TN

·        Named after the war-time governor of Tennessee

·        From Rule, Standard History of Knoxville, Tennessee, Lewis Publishing Company, 1900, page 189: "General John T. Wilder, on a visit to Secretary of War Alger, June 20, 1898, secured assurances that Knoxville would be made a camp site in the location of the camps for soldiers that were not sent forward to Cuba, or while they might be in waiting.  Sites for the Fourth and Sixth regiments were selected June 22, that for the Sixth being on what was formerly Elmwood Park, two miles east of the city on the Park street short line, and consisting of seventy acres of land surrounded on three sides by woodland, and about fifty yards to the eastward was the site of the camp of the Fourth regiment, nearly south of the residence of N. S. Woodward, seventy acres of grass land and well drained.  About 5,000 acres of land, partly covered with timber, was there available for a drill and parade ground.  A pipe line was laid to the Knoxville water works though the camp, and there were pipes, four inches in diameter, from this main pipe through the center of the camp with hydrants where needed.  The name given to this camp was Camp Bob Taylor, in honor of the governor of Tennessee."

Camp George H. Thomas, Chickamauga Park, GA

·        Named after the "Rock" of Chickamauga

·        Established April 14, 1898.

·        Souvenir booklet published, Life Scenes in Camp Thomas, no publisher identified, July, 1898

·        Also called Camp Chickamauga

·        See source (7) beginning at page 140

Camp Townsend, Peekskill, NY (See Camp Black)

·        Named for Major General Frederick Townsend, Adjutant General, who established the state camp in 1882 for training New York National Guard units.  This was not a new name in 1898 but was the existing name of the camp.

·        The current Camp Smith, northwest of Peekskill, has been the site of New York national guard military encampments since 1882 according to the web site for the camp.  A souvenir booklet was published on the 1897 encampment.  Camp Townsend was at this site in 1898.

·        The 8th, 9th and 12th N.Y. Vol. Inf. regiments mustered in here.

Camp Tunnell, Middletown, DE

·        Ebe Walter Tunnell was governor of Delaware during the Spanish American War

·        Muster in and camp site of the 1st Del. Vol. Inf. from about April 26 until August 20, 1898.

·        Camp was at east end of Middletown opposite "Ingleside," the home of William Green, according to the 1961 Middletown Centennial Celebration Program.

Camp Van Duzee, St. Paul, MN (See Camp Ramsey)

·        Named for Col. Charles Van Duzee of the 14th Minn. Vol. Inf.

·        According to source (8) the camp was established September 23, 1898 and the site is at the present intersection of University and Hamline Avenues.

·        According to Hampton Smith, Reference Librarian for the Minnesota Historical Library, based on research in Holbrook, Camp Van Duzee was the final encampment in St. Paul of the 14th Minn. Vol. Inf. before its muster out.  It was located across the rail yards from Camp Ramsey.

Camp Voorhees, Sea Girt, NJ

·        Foster McGowan Voorhees was elected governor of New Jersey in 1898

·        Sea Girt was and continues to be a New Jersey National Guard camp

·        All four regiments of New Jersey volunteers were mustered in at Sea Girt.

Camp Warburton, Newport News, VA  (See Camp Brooke)

·        From the May 12, 1898 Newport News Daily Press:  "Battery A, Captain B. H. Warburton and Battery C, Captain George Waters, arrived in the city yesterday morning from Camp Hastings, Pa., having been ordered here by the War Department.

Brigadier General Royal L. Frank commandant of Fortress Monroe, under whose command the batteries are detailed a lieutenant to receive the artillerymen from Pennsylvania and escort them to their camp near the works of the Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company, which will be known as ‘Camp Warburton.’ . . . As was exclusively stated in the Daily Press today one week ago, these batteries were ordered here to protect the works of the Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Companies where the battleships Kearsarge, Kentucky and Illinois are in course of construction, and the arrival of the artillerymen from Pennsylvania yesterday morning was the result of a request made by President C. B. Orcutt several weeks ago.  Today the officers of the batteries will place their guns and locate guards in the shipyard.

On arriving at the large tract of water-front property recently purchased by the multi-millionaire, Mr. Collis P. Huntington, directly adjoining the shipyard on the north, the artillerymen found their guns, battery accouterments and camp equipage in waiting for them and they lost no time in marking out their camp and preparing for an indefinite stay on the bluff over looking the James.  Several names were mentioned for the camp, but it was unanimously agreed to name it for the senior commander, and so it is ‘Camp Warburton.’"

Camp Warburton, MD

·        At Fort Washington.  Named for the Maryland plantation known as Warburton Manor where Fort Washington was built.  Fort Warburton was built in 1809 along the Potomac River across from Mount Vernon, south of Washington, to defend the capital, on the Maryland plantation known as Warburton Manor.  It was destroyed by Americans during the War of 1812 to prevent it from falling into British hands.  In 1824, Fort Washington was built in its place.  Fort Washington is now part of the national park system.

Camp Wetherill, Fort Thomas, KY (see also Camp Allyn Capron at Fort Thomas)

·        Named after Captain Alex M. Wetherill, killed at San Juan Hill

·        From Charles H. Bogart, The Military Post at Ft. Thomas, pages 7-9, unpublished manuscript:  "While Ft. Thomas was without a regular garrison during the Spanish American War its military activity did not cease.  First it was used as a rendezvous for volunteer army regiments.  Among the troops stationed at the fort during this period were Company A and B (immunes) (Colored) Indiana Volunteers.  These troops were followed on 9 July 1898 by the 8th U.S. Volunteer Infantry (immunes) (Colored) under Colonel Haggins.  The 8th Volunteer Infantry were not stationed on the post but were "camp(ed) just outside the reservation at Ft. Thomas."  In all probability this camp was located just to the north of the fort.  The troops were housed in tents.  These troops shipped out from Ft. Thomas in September for Chickamauga, Tennessee where they went into camp until January 1899 when they were mustered out of service.  The 8th was not housed in the barracks at Ft. Thomas as they had been converted to hospital wards to treat the sick pouring in from the volunteer regiments.." . .  "Political pressure also resulted in the ordering of the 6th Infantry back to Ft. Thomas even though no barrack space was available as all the barracks were being used as hospitals.  The 6th Infantry upon arrival at Cincinnati by train on 20 September 1898 paraded through the city crossed over to Newport and marched out to the end of the streetcar line serving Southgate, Kentucky.  Here was established Camp Wetherill, named in honor of Captain Alex M. Wetherill killed at San Juan Hill.  The 6th remained here until 28 September when it moved to Ft. Thomas but remained housed in tents.  On 26 October the 6th Infantry departed for San Antonio, Texas." See also Bogart, The Military Post at Fort Thomas, Kentucky, Journal of America’s Military Past, Winter, 1999, page 60.

·        According to Charles H. Bogart, the camp was located on the Congressman Berry farm in Southgate, Kentucky, about one mile from Ft. Thomas, near Evergreen Cemetery.

Camp Wetherill, Greenville, SC

·        5th Mass Vol. Inf. here from November 18, 1898 until muster out on March 31, 1899.  Official Roster of this unit was published at Camp Wetherill dated March 1899.

Camp Wheeler, Huntsville, AL (See Camp Albert G. Forse)

·        Established August 17, 1898 and named after Major General Joseph Wheeler by Major General J. J. Coppinger in late August, 1898. 

·        Renamed Camp Albert G. Forse when General Wheeler assumed command of the camp about November 9, 1898.

Camp Wikoff, Montauk Pt., Long Island, NY

·        Named after Colonel Charles Wikoff, commanding officer of the 22nd Infantry from Fort Crook, NE who was KIA at El Caney, Cuba, July 1, 1898.  See his photo at page 233 of source (7) and a brief biography at page 297.  Col. Wikoff was then commanding the 3rd Brigade of the First Division comprised of the 9th, 13th and 24th U.S. Infantry regiments.  He was killed at the ford across the San Juan River which became known as "Bloody Ford" because of the large number of men killed and wounded there.

·        "Decontamination" area for troops returning from Cuba, quarantining them for possible tropical diseases.

·        Montauk Historical Society offers a map showing the Rough Riders’ camp from August 15 - September 15, 1898.

·        The Munsey Magazine, November 1898, at page 256, contains the article, "Life at Camp Wikoff," with many photos.

·        In existence from approximately August 7, 1898 through October 1898.

·        See page 297 of source (7).

·        Book on this camp: Heatley (ed.), Bully! Colonel Theodore Roosevelt, The Rough Riders & Camp Wikoff, Montauk, New York 1898, published by the Montauk Historical Society in cooperation with Pushcart Press, 1998.

Camp Wilder, Knoxville, TN (See Camp Poland)

·        Named after General John T. Wilder

·        Renamed Camp Poland in August, 1898

Camp Wilmer, Pimlico, MD, near Baltimore

·        Named after the then Maryland Adjutant General L. Allison Wilmer according to Fifth Regiment, Infantry, Md. Nat. Guard U.S. Volunteer, published by Geo. A. Meekins, 1899, page 218.

·        Part of the 1st and the entire 5th Maryland Vol. Inf. were mustered in at Pimlico beginning in late April 1898.

·        According to Fifth Regiment, page 218, the regiment left its armory and rendezvoused at the corner of Eutaw Place and North Avenue and “marched through the park to Camp Wilmer at Pimlico.”  The park referred to was likely Druid Hill Park, given the location of Eutaw Place, and Camp Wilmer would have been north of the park.

Camp Wood, San Antonio, TX

·        Camp was named Camp Wood after its Colonel, Leonard Wood

·        Good source is John Rayburn’s article "The Rough Riders in San Antonio, 1898" in the journal "Arizona and the West," Vol. 3, No. 2, 1961, pages 113-128.

·        San Antonio was picked as the assembly area for the 1st U.S. Vol. Cav. in May 1898.  Colonel Leonard Wood arrived in San Antonio on May 5, 1898 to select a campsite.

·        Riverside Park was selected for the campsite.  The fairgrounds and Riverside Park were across the street from each other.  The Exposition Hall and grandstand would initially be a barracks for the men while officers would occupy tents between the main entrance to the park and the barracks.  "Troops sleep on coarse gray blankets beneath the high roof of the old Exposition Hall at the Fair Ground."  Troops later moved into tents as soon as they were available.  This site had recently been used for a pre-war encampment for troops from several states, according to a newspaper article.

·        According to a National Park Service report:  "Immediately south of Riverside Park, the San Antonio International Fair and Exposition opened in 1888 and was held through 1904.  Though Riverside Park attracted large numbers of visitors to the area, the fair, which included a theater, race track, and transportation, machinery, and agricultural exhibit halls, greatly expanded the "visitor industry" in the vicinity of San Antonio’s missions . . . ."

·        Troops started arriving about May 7, 1898

·        Parade Grounds were near San Jose Mission

·        Camp was abandoned when the 1st U.S. Vol. Cav. left for Tampa on May 30, 1898

·        Park is still there at 100 McDonald Street and is partially a golf course.  The campsite was apparently in the golf course area of the park.

·        Source (4) lists Camp Mosby at San Antonio.  Camp Wood is not mentioned in source (4).

Camp Wrenn, FL

·        Named after Robert D. Wrenn of Troop A of the Rough Riders?

·        See page 297 of source (7)

Camp S. B. M. Young, Augusta, GA (See Camp MacKenzie)

·        Named after Major General Samuel B. M. Young, U.S. Vols, Commanding Second Army Corps, who had a leadership role in the operations around Santiago.  See page 100 of source (7) for a brief biography.  According to the Augusta Chronicle, November 13, 1898, General Young was to be the camp’s commanding officer.

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