Haggerty Concord-Related Spanish-American War Collection, 1894-1937 (bulk 1898-1899)
Vault A65, Unit D2
EXTENT: One container.
ORGANIZATION: Single series.
HISTORY: The Spanish-American War was waged between the United States and Spain from April 25th to August 12th 1898 as a result of American intervention in the Cuban War for Independence. American attacks on Spain’s Pacific possessions also led to involvement in the Philippine Revolution (1896-1898) and eventually the Philippine-AmericanWar (1899-1902).
When war was declared by Congress on April 25th, President William McKinley immediately called for volunteers. Most Concord men went out with Company I of the 6th Regiment, known as the “Concord Company.” At first, almost to a man, every qualified male in town enlisted before it was decided that married men should be excused from service. The final roster totaled 106 men and three officers, 45 of the men and one of the officers were Concordians, and included six or seven young men who, though still in high school, were allowed to enlist. 16 additional Concord men served with other organizations to which they were already attached.
Company I of the 6th Regiment, under Captain Cyrus H. Cook, was sent to train at the Muster Grounds in Framingham, Massachusetts before leaving on May 20th for Camp Alger, Virginia. Following that they transferred to Charleston, South Carolina where they boarded the U.S.S. Yale, arriving in Santiago on July 11th. The city surrendered within days and the Yale, with its crew of enlisted men and officers, was sent to Puerto Rico where they landed at Guanica on July 25th and dealt with a token resistance by the Spanish forces. On August 12th a protocol was signed, bringing the 113 day war to an end.
Illness and death from tropical diseases such as typhoid fever and malaria was a major problem for American troops, as was hunger in a number of the camps.
The war over, Company I was relieved and returned to Boston. They returned to a rousing Concord welcome on October 27th. Among those Concordians who served under Captain Cyrus H. Cook were John O. Algeo, Jr., George Bell Algeo, Ralph P. Hosmer, Charles P. Gage, John W. Hagerty, George G. King and Theodore L. Smith.
Three Concordians did not return and are honored with a memorial located in Monument Square. Corporal Ralph P. Hosmer, Private Charles A. Hart and Private George E. Adams, members of Company I, 6th Massachusetts Infantry, died at Utuado, Puerto Rico.
SCOPE & CONTENT: The collection consists of booklets on the Concord Artillery, an enlistment books, reports, muster rolls and pay rolls, a sick report notebook, Captain Cyrus H. Cook’s record/letter book, a manuscript diary, information on Concord’s participation in the Spanish-American War from the 1899 Concord Town Report, a small collection of photographs, information on the Concord’s Spanish-American War Association, and a book that commemorates the U.S.S. Maine, which exploded and sank in Havana Harbor on 15 February 1898.
SOURCE OF ACQUISITION: Donated to the Concord Free Public Library by Margaret L. Haggerty, 1983
RELATED COLLECTION: Dee/Algeo Concord-related Spanish-American War Collection, 1898-1962 (bulk 1898-1899).
PROCESSED BY: C. Manoli-Skocay, June 2014.
Container List
Folder 1: Concord Artillery, 1894 & 1904
Souvenir, Concord Artillery, now, Company I, Sixth Infantry, M.V.M., 1804-1894, 1894; Committee to Arrange for the Observance of the 100th Anniversary of its Charter and Organization, 1904.
Folder 2: Enlistment Book, April-May 1898
Enlistment book, Woodward’s Regiment of U.S. Volunteers, April-May, 1898.
Folder 3: Reports: morning reports and remarks, May 1898-January 1899
Morning reports, May-June 1898; Remarks, June 1898-January 1899; Return of Captain Cyrus H. Cook, Company I, 6th Massachusetts Regiment of Infantry, September 1898.
Folder 4: Pay rolls, June-October, 1898
Pay rolls (3), Company I, Sixth Regiment Mass Volunteer Infantry, June 1898, July & August 1898, September & October 1898.
Folder 5 : Sick Report , 17 August 1898-13 October 1898
Sick Report, 17 August 1898-13 October 1898
Folder 6: Muster rolls, September-October 1898
Muster-Out Roll, Company I, Sixth Infantry, M.V.M., 1898; Muster roll, Company I, Sixth Massachusetts, Volunteer Infantry, 1 September 1898-31 October 1898
Folder 7: Captain Cyrus H. Cook Record/Letter book, 29 September 1898-18 April 1899
Captain Cyrus H. Cook Record/Letter book, 29 September 1898-18 April 1899
Folder 8: Manuscript diary, 21 June 1898-24 August 1898
Manuscript diary (diarist unknown), 21 June 1898-24 August 1898
Folder 9: U.S. Treasury Department, pay records, undated
U.S. Treasury Department, pay records, undated (3”x 5” leatherbound booklet)
Folder 10: 1899 Concord Town Report and Related, 1899
Concord Town Report, extracts relating to Concord and the Spanish-American War, April 1899; Statement included at the Concord Town Meeting honoring Captain Cyrus H. Cook, his officers, and the men who fought, as well as those who died, during the Spanish-American War, 6 April 1899
Folder 11: Photographs, 1894/95-1937
Company I, officers and non-commissioned officers, ca. 1894-95; Company I, 6th Infantry. M.V.M., taken at Camp Framingham, 1 June 1896; Company I, 6th Infantry, squad, June 1896; Company I, 6th Infantry, squad, 1897; 2 related images, undated; trifold card showing the three Concordians who died serving with Company I, 6th Infantry during the Spanish-American War (1898), ca. 1898; Reunion or gathering, Company I, 6th Infantry, 30 May 1937 (photograph by Jim Tolman);
Folder 12: Spanish-American War Association, 1913-1916
Spanish-American War Association, 1913-1916
Spanish-American War Association of Company I, 6th Massachusetts Infantry U.S.V., 1913-1916
Folder 13: Emeterio S. Santovenia. Memorial Book of the Inauguration of the Maine Plaza at Havana, 1928.
Emeterio S. Santovenia. Memorial Book of the Inauguration of the Maine Plaza at Havana, 1928.
fc2014 Concord Free Public Library, Concord, Mass.
Not to be reproduced in any form without permission of the Curator of the William Munroe Special Collections, Concord Free Public Library.
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Mounted 25 June 2014. rcwh.