|
SPANISH AMERICAN WAR 4TH PENNSYLVANIA
INFANTRY REGIMENT LIEUTENANT’S TRUNK – WELL IDENTIFIED
AND HIS SERVICE IN PUERTO RICO IS WELL DOCUMENTED:
This Spanish American War officer’s trunk is identified
to Lt. John B. Fisher of Company I, 4TH
Regiment, Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry. According to
the unit’s published history, Fisher, who resided in
Harrisburg, enrolled in the regiment on June 30, 1898
and mustered out at the end of the war and the unit’s
service on November 16, 1898.
4TH PENNSYLVANIA VOL INFANTRY
HARRISBURG, PA CIRCA 1898
On April 28, 1898, pursuant to
General Orders No. 7, A. G. O. the Fourth Regiment of
Infantry, National Guard of Pennsylvania, reported at
Mount Gretna, Pennsylvania for the purpose of
volunteering in the service of the United States in the
War with Spain. On May 9TH and 10TH
Companies B, C, E, F, G and H were mustered in with a
total strength of 24 officers and 600 enlisted men. The
process of mustering the regiment was completed before
that of any other regiment of the state, thus the
regiment had the honor of being the first to enter the
United States volunteer service from Pennsylvania.
The regiment was first sent to Camp Hastings in Mount
Gretna, Pennsylvania, and then was ordered to Camp
Thomas, Georgia which was situated on the Chickamauga
Battlefield, arriving there on May 16TH. The
regiment reported to Major General Brooke, and was
assigned to the Second Brigade with the 3RD
Illinois and 4TH Ohio Infantry Regiments,
First Division, First Army Corps.
Early in June, while the 4TH Pennsylvania was
at Camp Thomas, President McKinley issued his second
call for volunteers. As a result, four companies - I, K,
L, and M - were added to the regiment which arrived at
Camp Thomas by the first week of July. Unlike the first
group of companies, none of the men in the four new
companies were members of the Pennsylvania National
Guard, and therefore, had not received adequate
training. Fortunately, at Camp Thomas the drilling and
training was conducted in earnest.
On July 4TH, the regiment moved to
Charleston, South Carolina, arriving on July 22ND
and on July 27TH the regiment embarked
aboard troop transport ships the City of Washington
and the Seneca, and sailed for Puerto Rico.
Arriving in Puerto Rico on August 2ND, the
ships first entered Guanica harbor, then were
immediately redirected to Ponce harbor where the
transports spent the night until being ordered to
Arroyo, about fifty miles east. At Arroyo, the regiment
disembarked, while the guns of the auxiliary cruiser
USS St. Louis, cruiser USS Cincinnati, and
gunboat USS Gloucester shelled the hills beyond
the town.
The regiment established a permanent camp close to
Arroyo and from there performed picket duty on the
Patillo, and Guayama roads, and the road leading into
the mountains.
Company I was detached to garrison the town of Arroyo,
and would not rejoin the regiment until it departed
Puerto Rico.
On August 6TH, the brigade advanced on and
captured the town of Guayama, however, the 4TH
Pennsylvania was held in reserve and did not take an
active part in the battle. On the following day, the
regiment's Springfield Trapdoor rifles were replaced
with the new Krag-Jorgensen .30 caliber rifles.
On August 13TH, the regiment prepared to
mount an attack on Spanish forces which were strongly
entrenched in the mountains north of Guayama. Two
battalions of the regiment advanced to the iron bridge
about a mile north of Guayama while the regiment's third
battalion remained at Arroyo to cover the town. During
the engagement, the 4TH Pennsylvania’s second
battalion was ordered to invest heights overlooking the
Cayey Road and Company B was ordered to move into the
town to take possession of the barracks and public
buildings. While all of these movements were
progressing, news arrived that peace had been declared,
the engagement was suspended, and the regiment moved
into camp on the Ponce Road, just south of the town.
On August 28TH, the regiment, consisting of
twelve hundred men, twenty-eight army wagons, ten ox
carts and the regimental ambulances, was ordered on a
two day march to Ponce. With the cessation of
hostilities, orders were issued directing the 4TH
Pennsylvania to return to the United States, however,
the commanding officer Colonel David B. Case, apparently
reluctant to relinquish his war command, acted to have
the orders countermanded. His officers reacted by
threatening to resign and the enlisted men circulated a
petition to countermand the countermanding orders. As
the anger among the men in the regiment grew over the
prospect of delaying their return home, General Brooke
responded in league with the troops and he confirmed the
regiment would return to Pennsylvania as ordered.
The 4TH Pennsylvania
embarked on the transport City of Chester on
August 31ST and September 1ST, the
ship weighed anchor, and the regiment returned to the
United States, arriving in New York on September 6,
1898. During the regiment's term of service, it lost 3
officers and 32 men to disease, and three additional men
were disabled. When the regiment mustered out it
reported its strength at 45 officers and 1,211 enlisted
men.
These wooden trunks - whether acquired by an officer via
private purchase such as this one offered here, or the
US Army’s standard footlocker which began to be issued
to each soldier from the mid years of the Western Indian
Wars - were a standard piece of necessary furniture in
officer’s quarters, the enlisted barracks, and of
course, tents – none of which provided closets. When
the enlisted men during this period were on campaign or
in transit from one post to another, they were limited
to carrying their authorized complement of uniforms and
equipment in knapsacks, haversacks and blanket rolls.
Officers, on the other hand, were authorized a certain
amount of personal baggage, the amount dependent on
their rank – i.e. lieutenants were allowed less than a
colonel. Even with that limitation, this trunk would
have been well within the weight and size Lt. Fisher was
allowed for an overseas deployment.
The trunk still retains the majority of the original
brick red paint, typical in color and consistency of the
paint used on antique trunks originating out of the
Northeast. The paint is stable on the surface and is
not peeling or separating. “LIEUT.
J. B. FISHER; Co. I 4TH PENNA. VOL.”
is painted in gold paint on the front panel in
1 ¼” high characters and this identification shows all
the age and wear consistent with the balance of the
trunk and is, no doubt, original to the period of use.
The trunk measures 36” long, 14” wide, and 14” high, and
appears to be made of oak. The walls of the trunk are
assembled with hand cut mortise and tenons and all the
joints are very solid. The lid is constructed in the
“picture frame” style with a slightly raised central
panel. The trunk is overall very solid with no loose
joints, severe cracked or splintered wood that affect
the integrity of the piece, and no rotten places in the
wood. There is some separation in the bottom planks due
to aging as can be seen in the photos. As these trunks
were made from wide planking, the separation is very
limited and is now stable. Each end is fitted with a
heavy weight iron drawer pull-style handle, both still
firmly attached. The lid is mounted on three iron strap
hinges, all still firmly attached with no play, and it
is secured with a hasp and loop for attaching a padlock.
The handles, hinges, and the hasp appear to be original
to the trunk from its earliest days.
Due to the brief duration of the Spanish American War,
items identified to officers who actually served in one
of the overseas theaters of operation are fairly scarce,
making this trunk particularly appealing. Enhancing its
value is not only the owner’s documented service in a
unit which served in Puerto Rico during specific actions
described in the historic record, but this trunk
accompanied him in the company’s baggage train to an
important part of our Nation’s new empire.
(0303) $550
SHIPPING: The footlocker has a shipping
weight of 25 pounds, and a billable weight of 67
pounds. The cost to ship this trunk within the
continental United States via UPS is $160.00. I will
pack it and prepare it for shipping at no additional
cost for the materials, time or labor necessary to
properly secure it. You will pay only what UPS charges
to get it to you and to insure it. I think that’s a
pretty good deal. |
