During the Spanish–American War, he served on the hospital ship "Relief", transporting sick and injured soldiers between Cuba and Puerto Rico. He also served in the Philippines from 1902 to 1903, where he was in charge of the First Reserve Hospital in Manila. From 1904 to 1908, he served in California in command of the General Hospital at the Presidio of San Francisco. Following the April 1906 earthquake, with much of the city destroyed by the quake and ensuing fires, Torney was appointed medical chief for the city: he opened the military hospitals for city use and organized the creation of a field hospital and a refugee camp, and averted an epidemic.