The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1898-07-03
FISH'S GRANDSON
THE YOUNG MAN WHO FELL
4. AT ia |au1s1NA
Ancestry of q Soldier
Boy Who Wore Only the Insignia
of a sergeant4e4Falls in the War
Which Finishes the Work His
Grandfather May Be Said to Have
Begun. a.


Grandfather May Be Said to Have
begun. y, a.
a ttes
1t Is an interesting historical coin
cidence that the first volunteer soldier
OF the United States army of invasion
70 raH on the soil of Cuba, in the cause
OF the freedom Of her people, bore the
honored name of Hamilton Fish. This
coincidence becomes the more striking
Wnen IL ls known that this young man
was the grandson of the statesman
bearing that name whose high minded
Amerlcan1sm. clear sense Of duty and
diplomatic skill, operating and prevail
ing IN the cabinet of President Grant
just quarter of a century ago, had
me ehe erect OF averting war with
SPAN, which, had it then been under
taken, would doubtless have resulted
prematurely in the independence Of
Cupa, at that time, instead Of under
more thoroughly appreciated condi-
tlons twenty-five years later.
Except for the ancestral name which
tnls young trooper bore to so honorable
a death, and the fact OF the existence
OF the relationship above noted, his fall
in battle with the Spaniards would be
no more notable than that of any one
OF ms comrades who met similar fate.
ne was a young man, of excellent
training and superior education who,
following the inclinations Of a brave
spirit, had already experienced many
or the Vlclssttudes of life unclaimed
70 any particular vocation or locality
HIS tendency was in the direction Of
harmless adventure; and 1t was, nc
Doubt, due to the pursuit.. of this free
line OF life that he found himself, at
last, in the ranks of Roosevelt's rough
riders. He was possessed Of soldierly
physique and his conduct proved him
10 be man of splendid courage. But
the same was true of many, or all, of
those who bit the dust by his side. He
must have measured, in advance of his
enlistment, the nature of the perils he
was likely to encounter in the particu-
lar service of his country in which he
embarked. He was merely a non-com-
m1ssioned officer and a citizen soldier
of the republic, counting only as a
single individual in the vast democracy
OF humanity. Aside. from his name and
family associations there was nothing
to distinguish him from his compan-
ions Who marched with him to their
death in the anibuscade at La Quisina.
lie leaves behind him a saddened
household and g. large circle Of sor-
rowing friends but so, doubtless, did
many, or all, of those who persisted in
their own blood that day In the Cuban
Jungles. He died the heroic death OF a
brave soldier, with his face to the foe.
The humblest man in the ranks did
equally aus much, and the most slxillful
leader of the highest grade in the en-
tire army could do no more
Yet, Notwithstanding this natural
and, seemingly, cold process of evening
up and leveling out the claims to in
dividual merit, of those who died to-
gether on that occasion, and the equal
lzation of their posthumous honors.
something like distinction insists, after
all, upon strangely attaching itself to
the case of young Mr.. Fish, If we take
one view Of it, and bluntly state it,
primary, distinction, and a highly cred
liable one exists for ehim,-in the fac.
that with. the strongest political and
highest quality of family influence at
his command, which. if, exerted, would
DOUBTLESS, haNelsseGured for him a pres
1dental commission appointing hinas TO
an ornamental grade in the service, he
manfully entered the ranks and brave
~ rrontedf the enemy and fell in the
very van of the conflict -.
- But the more pronounced element OF
distinction Which seems to call for
recognition is mystical rather than
reai-fndeed, it seems almost to par
take of the supernatural. For under
Its influence one cannot fail to asso-
clate the deStinies of Cuba with those
or the United States, with which they
nave been more or less closely inter
linked throughout almost half jcen-
fury of time. The New York C'fn1es
very appropriately alludes' to this con
dition when 1t says There is a stern
and sad consistency in the fate that
doomed young Fish to fall in the war
winch finishes the work his GRANDPA
Their may be said to have begun" 1t
is here that this mystical relationship
so strongly reveals itself To HamiI-
ton Fish, secretary of state in the
cabinet of President Grant, more than
to any other man, living or dead Spain
was indebted, though reluctantly on
his part, for the prolongation of her
tyrannical and barbarouS domination
over Cuba during the twenty five years
between 1873 and 1898; and his own
blood, drawn from the heart and ar
teries of his grandson, representing
that same army of the United States,
whose egerness, a quarter Of CEN
fury ago, his power had been so act
i've in restraining. was the first to
sprinkle the soil of the beautiful Queen
of the Antilles in its new baptism of
liberty. Mr.. Fish had been instru-
mental in the preservation Of peace.
though he longed5 for the independ-
ence of Cuba.r- Thus the blood of the
ing for and triumphant at last in the
attainment of peace, at a time when
there existed strong provocation to
conflict. comes to be shed, twenty-five
years later, in vicarious martyrdom,
by a scion of the third generation
bearing of right the very name of him
whose grace and skill, and high sense
of honor and justice, alone had insured
the withholding Of the merited decree
and execution of righteous judgment
against Spain at time when the en-
tire world would have fervently echoed
and re-echoed with an almost unani-
nous amen.
The first administration Of President
Grant, beginning March 4, 1869, was
early called upon to consider the then
existing relations between Spain and
her Cuban colony. The instruction,
which began in September, 1868, was
already fully developed; and strong in
flueEces were exerted upon the new
administration to secure recognition Of
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