page_title: USS Maine Mast Memorial
section_title: 1899 reburials at Arlington National Cemetery
hierarchical_section_title: USS Maine Mast Memorial / 1899 reburials at Arlington National Cemetery
caption_attribution_description: English: Burial of the dead of the USS Maine at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington County, Virginia, in the United States on December 28, 1899. Crop of original stereocard, with image defects removed.
context_page_description: The USS Maine Mast Memorial is a memorial honoring those who died aboard the USS Maine on February 15, 1898, after a mysterious explosion destroyed the ship while at anchor in Havana Harbor. It is located in Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington County, Virginia, in the United States. The memorial consists of the main mast of the battleship set atop a circular concrete burial receiving vault designed to resemble a battleship turret. The memorial has occasionally been used to hold the remains of important individuals, such as Lord Lothian and Ignacy Jan Paderewski.
context_section_description: The press reported that there were 147 graves at Colon Cemetery, although since there were believed to be 166 bodies it was also assumed that some coffins contained more than one body. In October 1899, Representative Charles A. Boutelle sponsored successful legislation that appropriated $10,000 to have the U.S. Navy repatriate the bodies buried at Colon Cemetery. Boutelle wanted them reinterred at Arlington National Cemetery near the field where the dead of the Siege of Santiago were buried. With the Spanish–American War over, Spanish law no longer barred disinterment in Cuba. By mid-November, as plans for the disinterment proceeded, the Washington Post reported that reburial at Arlington was not yet official.
  On November 27, President William McKinley ordered the  USS Texas to proceed to Havana and bring the dead home. The Texas would return to Hampton Roads, Virginia, where they would be transferred to a special train of the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway (the C&O) for their trip to Rosslyn, Virginia. At Rosslyn, caissons and an honor guard would bring the bodies the short distance to the cemetery, where the coffins would be placed under tents prior to burial. McKinley also made Arlington National Cemetery the official resting place for the dead. The Texas was anticipated to arrive back in the United States on December 15. But the ship didn't even depart until December 13, and arrived in Havana on December 17.
  Disinterment of the dead at Colon Cemetery by U.S. naval personnel began on December 17, 1899. There was little ceremony as the wood coffins were brought to the surface. Each grave held from one to 20 caskets. Each body had been packed in lime (believed to encourage rapid decomposition of flesh). In some cases, the lime had hardened into a solid cake, requiring the workers to break the body free (which distressed some of the workers). The remains were transferred to tin-lined wood coffins, where they were placed on a bed of lime and charcoal, with more of each substance packed around them before the coffin was sealed.
  Errors in the original body and coffins counts quickly became apparent. Father John P. Chidwick, the Roman Catholic chaplain aboard the Maine at the time of its destruction, had overseen the original interments in February and March 1898. He now also oversaw the disinterment. Chidwick's records showed that there should have been 154 coffins, but only 151 were recovered. Additionally, Chidwick's list of the dead showed two unidentified bodies were unaccounted for. Several reasons for the discrepancies were offered: Clerical errors, errors made by the overburdened Chidwick, and more than one body in the same casket. Chidwick, Colon Cemetery officials, and Cuban authorities were convinced, however, that no bodies had been lost. Disinterment also revealed a new problem: At the time of burial, identified remains had a number painted on the exterior of the coffin that corresponded with a name on Chidwick's list of dead. But by the time of disinterment, the numbers on many of these coffins were unreadable. Identified remains thus became unidentified. Another problem was the way the dead were buried. As bodies were buried at Colon Cemetery, the row and grave number was supposed to be noted for each casket. Unfortunately, the cemetery superintendent only noted which row each identified body was in—not the actual grave number. This, too, made it sometimes impossible to determine in which grave identified remains laid. Some casket numbers were readable, however. Those bodies which still could be identified had their names painted on the exterior of the new coffin. The old coffins were burned.
  Disinterment ended at 10:00 P.M. local time. The 151 coffins were taken to Machina Wharf and held under guard overnight. Early the next morning, the coffins were placed about two small steamships, which took the dead at 6:00 A.M. to the Texas. The coffins were arranged on the Texas's afterdeck in groups and covered in canvas. Many American flags and wreaths evergreens and artificial flowers were placed on the canvas covering
caption: Galax leaf wreaths decorate the coffins containing the dead of the Maine on December 28, 1899
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