Evening star., 1899-03-20
SOLDIERS OF SPANISH WAR
Organization Formed of the Survivors of the
Recant Conf ct at Arms.
ETacement of the Lines Which Pre-
viOusIy Divided the Sections
The Officers Chosen.

effort will be made to establish in this city
a branch of an order recently founded and
which will be known THE Service Men
of the Spanish War"
The founders of the society made choice
of the designation Service Men as equal
ly distinctive of the men who waited In
vain for orders to the front, and the more
favored ones who experienced the exciting
scenes of actual conflict. The boys in their
teens, of whom there We're thousands in the
service, can scarcely be classed as vet
erans," but were fairly service men, and
doing duty wherever orders demanded it.
There were thousands more who endured
with impatience the dull routine of the
camp through wearisome months, who were
certainly service men," but would hesitate
to wear the designation of veterans cas-
THE Service Men of the Spanish War"
conceived by Captain Wilson l. Davenny,
cOmmissary on the staff of Brigadier Gen
eral John a. Wiley, was organized at Camp
Hamilton, Ky, November D, 1898 The or
ganization was Incorporated under the laws
of Kentucky. and a constitution was SUBJ
sequently formulated and adopted.
The plans and purposes of The Service
Men are fully set forth in a circular is
sued by Captain Davenny, which in part is
as follows:
at is Il just cause for national rejoicing
that the intelligence and vaIor of American
soidiery speedily and spieudidly over
and sea; that Porto Rico and Hawaii have
been brought under the flag of American
freedom, and that the ;--rogant rule of
Spain in the far-away Phi mes is broken.
These achievements make Tor the expansion
of our national life. The widening of Amer
lean influence and The uplifting of human-
ity.
Sectional Lines ObIiterated.
Peace has come and with it the oppor-
tunity of retrospecting the blessings that
sponse, Chief among them and better even
than territorial expansion was the COM
plete effacement of all sectional lines-the
baptism of the whole people with the pur-
est flame of patrotiSm-that made the men
who wore.the blue and the gray kindred in
the face OF a common foe. comrades all
beneath their countryS flag.
.Nothing San make more certain the per-
petuity of our free institutions than the
complete and perfect cohesion of our own
people, and out Of the crucibIe of armed
conflict and the comradeship that is born
around the campfire may come the very ele-
ment most essential to the best develop
meat of cur Incompatible country.
The Grand Army of the Republic for
more than generation has kept alive the
love for the flag. and the music of III,
l Mon has been playing ever since the men
Were marching in 1860. The Confederate
veterans. TOO. have kept the campfires
burning, and in memory have lived again
the hardShips Of their campaigns: huf7 the
iatlIGde OF birth is now forgotten and the
soldiers Of the north and Gf the south as
ie!IoW-comlades of camp end field. are
joined IN It common song of triumph over
tyranny.
1t IS therefore fitting and proper thai
the feeling Of fraternity So happjly horn
should be given substantial expression and
nio4deo INTO permanent form, and it is to
this end that the society to he known ~.
Inc Service Men of the Spanish War is
organized. IT'S purposes are purely social
ana patrlotlGi TO cement The friendshi,s
formed in the war with Spain and to foster
realty to Ouf free institutions: to Weld into
a new brotherhood the yaufg men as well
as the older ones who stood together for.
human liberty under the stars and strjpes
in the dawn of a rev century"
rnns Proposed.
The plan of organiza ion provides for
local and state camps and Il national camn.
to be constituted by representatives elected
annually in the local camps The first
caHp organized, and known as Henry Clay.
No. !, which is located at feying. on. X;
VIII De the supreme body only until the first
assemblase of the cDresgiltativcs to The
national encamomcnt
The charter list of the Org;i nizarion hc,,4
the names IF Brigadier General John A.
" hey, Colonel Robert W. Leonard. l2tll
Regiment. New York Volunteer Infantry.
Lieutenant Coicnel Robert ". Banks ri
Regiment. Mississippi Volunteer Infantry;
Colonel G. W. Gunder, 1t0th Regiment, In
dlana olunteer Infantry: Colonel Thomas
j. Smith, 30 Regiment X kentucky Volunteer
infantry: Colonel Myrnn H. McCord 1st
regiment. Territorial Volunteer infantry
Colonel W. H. Caffee 2ti Regiment. Mis-
souri, Volunteer Infantry: Colonel William
\. Pew Jr.. Sth Massachusetts, Volunteer
Infantry: Colonel Il. y. Spiln1an, lst Regi-
mcnt. West Virginia Volunteer Infantry.
Colonel John S. Gambler. Sd Regiment
georgia Volunteer Infantry, and other line
and staff officers. Most notable on the list
is the name of Major General Joseph Whae-
ier who affixed his autograph in character
1suc fashion during the peace jubilee in
Atlanta.
List of EIisibIes.
Though the charter list bears only the
names OF officers, the constitution OF the
organization provides that every officer,
army or navy, commissioned between the
date Of the declaration of war and the sign
ing of the treaty of peace at Paris, and
every enlisted man honorab}y mustered out
Of the service is eligib.e to membership in
the organization"
One of the promoters of the new organ
iZation said:
idea of effacing old-time sectional differ
ences is so happily cxempified in the per
sonnet or the corps of officers selected for
the parent camp. Colonel leonard the
commander. and Colonel Gunder the treas
urer, were on the federal side of the con-
fiict of the Cos. while Vice Commander
Banks and Surgeon Griffith. saw service
the confederate side of the line"
1t is stated that caraps of the service men
are being organized in several of the states,
ana that the volume of correspondence that
has already claimed the attention of the
auJutant would make it appear that its
plans and purposes appeal to those who
may not farly claim to he veterans and
yet who may have been as bravely ready
in the camp as if called to the firing line
on the field of battle.