New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1922-07-22
mayor Rowan, the Messenger
10 Garcia Rewarded Wnh
D.S.N - Years after Exploit
spanish American War
Hero Who Had Dropped
out of Sight Located
in West and Remembered


rowan retired, OF 1886 Vallejo Street,
RUSSIAN Hill, San Francisco. Calf
VINO carried a messages to Garcia
MS famous exploit Of the Spanish.
! american War was rewarded bv the
Army Board q Medass. and pecora-
tons with a Distinguished sery;co
cross and Silver Star citation.
10 Secretary Of War Weeks ia at
tslbuted the investigation which re-
suited in this action. ALTHOUGH mil.
mons OF americans aa.. se.,rd of "a
Message 60 Garcia" immortalixnd in
Eioert Hubbards CLASSIC essay If tAat
titie, the bearer OF the messare Mad
dropped from sight and few knew his
identity. This WAS largely duo, it has
Just been learned, to the lack Of anv
oihclal records OF secret matters of the
war OF 1895. Rather accidentally. II
is understood, Secretary Wee.,s ress7,t.
Y learned TIE name OF the Officer
through Senator Shortrid..e, Of Coli
fornla, but before any action could be
TAKEN by the decorations board a re-
port OF the exploit was required. 40 il
was asked of the officer himself. Major
Rowan's account is simple story, free
from any heroics.
Major Rowan's Account
con April 8, 1898, was on dutv in
the office Of military information. ad
Jutant's generals Office, War Depart
ment, Washington, D. c." says Rowan.
Major Arthur L. Wagner, adjutant
general, was in charge. At noon of
that day Major Wagner informed me
shat at conference between President
mckinley and Secretary of War Alger
Z I'd 30
to Eastern Cuba, in case of war. to as
certain the military conditions existing
In that region which was likely to be-
come the theater Of war, and that 7
had been selected for the Job"
Major Rowan got his Instructions
he was to proceed to Jamaica by the
first ship, make his own arrangements
to get to Cuba and to start for the lat
ter place when he received a cipher
message. Major Wagner cited to him
the cases of Nathan Hale and Lieuten-
caught with dispatches on them, as
! reason enough why he should carry his
by memory. Rowan left Washington
at midnight that day and sailed from
New York the next noon
~ reached Kingston, Jamaica, British
West Indies" he says, "on the steam
ship Adirondack. On April % l re-
ceived the cipher, Join Garcia as soon
as possible At 10 a. m, dressed as an
English hunter, left Kingston, crossed
the island and reached Saint AIMS BAY
about ] a. m. Here boarded a small
sail boat and by daylight had passed
BEYOND the neutral waters of jamaica
Nightfall Of April 23 our small craft,
manned by three Cuban sailors, one or
derby, and myself, Apr oachei the terri
torial waters of Cuba, hab;tually
guarded at that period by tho enemy
patrol. We kept we'll off until dark
and then made the best of our way
to the nearest point of the shore.
Walked Through Forest
"The next morning I proceeded
could be procured At one camp 7
found number Of deserters from the
Spanish garrison at Manzanillo, and
from them got some statements of
doubtful value concerning conditions
in Manzanillo. About noon May /, hav-
ing crossed the Sierra Maestro range.
l reached Bayamo, the insurgent head
quarters, where / was identified
through my escort as Delegado Ameri-
cano, commissioned by the American
War Department as a man of conf
dence-a term which suffers in trans
lation, but which in this instance
served only to solder our mutual pur-
pose of acting promptly in an emer-
gency.
II was the first to impart the news
that the United States had declared
war against Spain"
Delivered Message to Garcia.
He followed this by delivering his
message orally to General Garcia. saw
Ing that he was there solely on mill
| tary mission to learn as much as DOS
sible Of the military situation in east
ern Cuba, how many troops the Spanish
had, how they were armed and fed.
country, roads and sanitation. After
| five-hour conference, he says, General
Garcia announced that he had decided
to send him back to the United States
from the north Cuban coast, accom-
panied by three of his ablest and most
trusted officers. They, the general
said, could put at the disposal Of the
American War Department as much
information as he himself possessed.
THE promptness with which I &C
cepted the generals challenge to start
| at once seemed to impart an air of
confidence" says Rowan. "At s %. M,
accompanied by General Collazo, Colo,
mel Hernandez and Dr. Vieta an expert
in tropical diseases, / left the Cuban
headquarters"
The trip, he says, roughly followed
astride the Nth meridian. On the
west side Of Nanati inlet, in a swamp
the guides drew out small ships boat,
| too small for all Of them, and the
party had to be reduced to six. who
had to sit upright for several days and
nights. They made their way out of
the harbor that night under the guns
of the Spanish fortress and into the
limits of the Spanish patrol. By day
! light they were out of sight of the
island and on their way to, Nassau,
where, with the help of the American
| Consul, they were able to board a
schooner for Key West.
| After recounting the thanks he re-
ceived from General Miles. the Presi-
dent and the Secretaryapf War, Colonel
Rowan makes reference to the COM
plete lack of information about Cuba
and conditions there from which this
country suffered at the. time it went
into the war
The Distinguished Service Cross was
awarded for the extraordinary heroism
displayed by Major Rowan in deliver
ing the message to General Garcia and
securing secret information OF great
value relative to the existing military
conditions in Cuba.
The Silver Star citation was awarded
fors gallantry in action during the Phil
ippine Instruction.
Mathematical Car,,;na ~,