Nebraska Soldier Starts a War!

Here's an amazing little piece of trivia... the Philippine-American War is the only international war that was started by a Nebraskan. Pvt. William "Willie" Grayson (1876-1941) was an English immigrant from Beatrice, Nebraska who fired the shot that ignited the Philippine-American War, a conflict that would last for over three and a half years and claim over 4,100 American lives.

Pvt. Grayson was a member of Company D of the 1st Nebraska Volunteer Infantry Regiment. Grayson and the 1st Nebraskans had been experiencing extreme tensions with the Filipinos for over a month. The Filipinos seemed anxious to provoke the Americans into a hostile act, and strict orders were issued to prevent any action. Night after night they would cluster around and shout curses at the American outposts. One insurgent officer was particularly abusive. He would gather a crowd of drunken natives, and they would march down to the bridge for the purpose of harassing and scoffing at the American soldiers. They were encouraged by the apparently submissive attitude of the Americans, whom they had begun to look upon as cowards.

The incident that touched off the conflict occurred on the evening of Saturday, February 4, 1899. Grayson said: “About eight o’clock, Orville Miller and I were cautiously pacing our district. We came to a fence and were trying to see what the Filipinos were up to. Suddenly, near at hand, on our left, there was a low but unmistakable Filipino outpost signal whistle. It was immediately answered by a similar whistle about twenty-five yards to the right. Then a red lantern flashed a signal from blockhouse number 7. We had never seen such a sign used before. In a moment, something rose up slowly in front of us. It was a Filipino. I yelled ‘Halt!’ and made it pretty loud, for I was accustomed to challenging the officer of the guard in approved military style. I challenged him with another loud ‘Halt!’ Then he shouted ‘Halto!’ to me. Well, I thought the best thing to do was to shoot him. He dropped. If I didn’t kill him, I guess he died of fright.

Two Filipinos sprang out of the gateway about 25 yards from us. I called ‘Halt!’ and Miller fired and dropped one. I saw that another was left. Well, I think I got my second Filipino that time....” As they ran back to their post, Grayson shouted, “Line up fellows, the niggers are in here all through these yards.”

Filipino troops at San Juan del Monte exchanged fire with the American line at Sta. Mesa. The companies of the Morong Battalion under Captain Narvaez and Captain Vicente Ramos charged the American positions and pushed back the 1st Nebraskans and even captured an American artillery piece. By 10 o’clock at night the American troops were engaged for two miles from Pasig River north and west.”

Upon his return to the United States from the Philippines, Grayson settled in San Francisco, California and got married in October 1899. He acquired U.S. citizenship in 1900. He later worked as a house painter and an undertaker.

Troopers from K Company

Pictured here are Privates Charles D. Huffman (left) and Fred A. Molton of Troop K, Third U.S. Volunteer Cavalry. They proudly stand before their tent at Camp George H. Thomas, Georgia. These men along with the rest of Troop K were armed with the carbine version of the Krag-Jorgensen rifle. Both men are wearing what appear to be 1883 enlisted fatigue blouses, sky blue trousers, and the darker brown shade leggings. Pvt. Molton is wearing his campaign hat in the fashionable "Montana Peak" style. Troop K, like the Second and Third Nebraska, never saw combat.

Photo is from the Nebraska State Historical Society collection. Some of this information is from The Fighting First Nebraska: Nebraska's Imperial Adventure in the Philippines, 1898-1899 by Thomas D. Thiessen.

The U.S. Rifle Model 1889 "Trapdoor"

By the end of the American Civil War, the United States Army recognized the need to obtain a breech-loading rifle for its use. However, with the end of the war, funds were curtailed, and the army had an overabundance of muzzle-loading weapons left from the war. The “trapdoor” rifle denoting the method of opening the rifle at the top of the breech to load a cartridge, was developed and about 30,000 rifles were converted to “trapdoor” models, more properly called “Allin Conversions”. By 1868, instead of converting old weapons into “trapdoor” models, a new rifle was developed using the Allin “trapdoor” mechanism. This weapon was the U.S. Rifle, Model 1868. This weapon went through a series of minor modifications (1870, 1873, 1879,1880, 1884 and 1889, as well as a few more specialized cadet and officer varieties), and was used for thirty years.

At the outbreak of the Spanish American War, the current model was the Model 1889. This weapon was the main shoulder arm used by the volunteer troops at the outbreak of the war, in spite of its being outdated in comparison with the smokeless powder weapons that were becoming available. Incidentally, the Model 1884 rifle was the main weapon issued to Nebraska’s volunteers.

From the United States government’s standpoint, one major advantage of the Model 1889 was that it had many of these weapons in storage, and they could be readily supplied to the sudden influx of troops. Many of the existing National Guard regiments already carried this weapon, so it made sense to continue arming their enlarged regiments with the same weapon. The overwhelmingly major objection to this rifle was that it used black powder instead of the more modern smokeless powder. The black powder cartridge left a tell-tale cloud of smoke by which the shooter could be spotted and fired upon. Also, the smoke cloud required the shooter to wait until the smoke cleared before he could aim and fire again.

The weapon was a single shot whereas the newer Krag-Jorgensen and the Spanish Mauser rifles were magazine weapons. The United States, however, insisted that its magazine-equipped Krag-Jorgensen rifles be used as single shot weapons with the rounds in the magazine reserved only for emergencies. Still, in actual combat, the rate of fire of the single-shot Model 1889 “trapdoor” rifles was much slower.

The Model 1889 “trapdoor” rifle had an advantage in “take-down” power over the newer smokeless powder rifles such as the Krag-Jorgensen Rifle, used by some United States forces, and the Spanish Mauser because these weapons fired a smaller projectile. This difference in size and weight also meant that the average soldier could carry fewer rounds with him for the Model 1889 than he could carry for newer Krag-Jorgensen Rifle (one hundred .30 cal. cartridges weighed the same as sixty .45 cal “trapdoor” rifle cartridges). Lastly, the “trapdoor” rifles fired at a higher trajectory than did the more modern weapons, resulting in more difficulties in aiming.

This information was compiled by Patrick McSherry for the Spanish American War Centennial Website which you can visit at www.spanamwar.com.

Assemble for Federal Service!

Here is a great photo of Company A of the First Regiment assembling in the streets of York, Nebraska sometime in April 1898. Companies of the Nebraska National Guard assembled at their home communities before traveling to Lincoln or Omaha to be mustered into federal service. The First Regiment of the Nebraska National Guard assembled at Camp Alvin Saunders on the state fairgrounds in Lincoln on April 26 and 27. The First Regiment's muster-in was completed on May 10 as they became the First Nebraska Infantry, United States Volunteers.

Photo is from the Nebraska State Historical Society collection. Information is from The Fighting First Nebraska: Nebraska's Imperial Adventure in the Philippines, 1898-1899 by Thomas D. Thiessen.

Excellent Book on the Fighting First

I just recently received from Amazon.com my new copy of Inside the Fighting First: Papers of a Nebraska Private in the Philippine War. This book was published in 2001 and was edited by Thomas Solevad Nielsen with an introduction and commentary by Matthew Plowman. This book consists of the diary of Henry Thompson, the letters he wrote home, and a selection of those that he received as the Spanish American War wound down and the Philippine War revved up. Thompson, the son of Danish immigrants living near St. Edwards, Nebraska, wrote in English but his parents' letters (translated) were written in Danish. His letters have been skillfully edited and placed in the proper relationship to diary entries. The historical context is provided by Plowman whose commentary offers some knowledge of this little known war. The book includes numerous photographs from the Thompson collection. This book conveys an interesting insight into the differing mentalities of a combatant at the turn of the century and those on the home front. I have gotten about a third of the way through the book and am finding it very interesting reading.

The Third Nebraska at the Exposition

Here is a photo that I just came across this past week. It is from a book called Omaha's Trans-Mississippi Exposition by Jess R. Peterson from the Images of America series. The caption on the photo reads as follows: "With standing orders for deployment to the Spanish-American war theater, the Third Regiment of Nebraska marched along the East Midway. Approximately 1,500 soldiers participated in Military Dress exercises on July 16, 1898. The 10:00 a.m. parade circled the exposition Midway and ended when all participants reached the Grand Court." I think it's a wonderful photo and quite interesting to see Nebraska's soldiers at the great Trans-Mississippi Expo right in their own backyard.

This photo is courtesy of the Omaha Public Library.

Obituary of W. S. Orr, 1st Nebraska Volunteers

This image is of W. S. Orr (on left), who was killed in the Philippines during the Philippine American War. Below is his obituary. It is typical of that which would have been found in any American hometown newspaper of the times.

W. S. Orr's Body Brought Home

The government officials are sending all the bodies of the heroes who fell on the Manila battlefield to their respective homes, and the remains of W. S. Orr, the only Clarke county boy who gave his life for his country in the Spanish and Philippine wars, arrived in Osceola Monday at 10:45 a.m. It was taken to Mr. Bailey's undertaking room, but afterwards to the home of his mother, Mrs. Catherine Orr, in South Osceola. The funeral services were held in the M.E. church Thursday at two o'clock. The G.A.R. and Knights of Pythias orders attended in a body. Rev. McCorkle, of the M.P. church, delivered a brief eulogy upon the deceased, recounting his exemplary life as a son, brother, citizen and hero. The interment took place in Maple Hill cemetery under auspices of the Knights of Pythias, of which order the deceased was a member.

A few brief facts may be again given concerning Mr. Orr. He was a member of the 1st Nebraska, enlisting in Omaha, in June, 1898, after having worked on the Trans-Mississippi Exposition buildings a while as a carpenter. Nearly all know the severe service seen by his regiment. Mr. Orr wrote several letters to The Sentinel, describing his experiences, in the language of a student and scholar. They revealed the spirit of a zealous and sincere patriot, not afraid to do his duty. His company, A, was in all the active battles from the precipitation of the war, February 4, 1899, until his death, near Manila, March 30, 1899. In that time his regiment was on the firing line nearly all the time and saw much hardship. It was during the attack on Aguinaldo's capital, Malolos, and while within a mile or so of it, that he fell, pierced in the chest with a bullet. His company had advanced to the firing line at 11 a.m. The fatal bullet found its mark at an advance in the face of a severe fire three hours afterward. Mr. Orr met a hero's death unflinchingly. He did his duty bravely and well and holds a high place in the hearts of all who knew him. His father was a veteran in the civil war and received wounds from which he died some years ago, so the family may well be proud of its heroes who have so faithfully served their country. The aged mother, Mrs. Catherine Orr, lives in Osceola. Five sisters and two brothers also survive the deceased.

This article is courtesy of the Spanish American War Centennial Website which you can visit at www.spanamwar.com. The obituary is from the Osceola, Iowa newspaper.