Spanish - American War Nurses Memorial The Spanish - American War Nurses Memorial is a memorial in Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington County , Virginia , in the United States that commemorates those American nurses who died in the Spanish – American War in 1898 . The rough - hewn , grey granite memorial was erected by the Order of Spanish - American War Nurses on May 2 , 1905 . It stands in the southwestern corner of Section 21 , where the first Spanish - American War nurses are buried . The memorial should not be confused with the Nurses Memorial . This tall marble figure of a nurse in a nurse ' s uniform and cape was erected in 1938 . It also stands in Section 21 , a short distance away . It is screened from the northern part of Section 21 by a copse of trees . Nurses in the Spanish - American War . The Spanish - American War was a ten - week conflict that occurred in the spring and summer of 1898 . Cuba had been waging a war of independence against Spain since 1895 , an effort largely supported by the United States ( which had extensive economic interests on the island ) . To ensure the safety of American citizens and property in Cuba , the United States sent the battleship to Havana in late January 1898 . The " Maine " exploded and was destroyed with large loss of life on February 15 . American newspapers whipped up war fever , and held Spain responsible for the ship ' s destruction . The United States Congress enacted a joint resolution demanding independence for Cuba , and President William McKinley signed it into law on April 20 . In response , Spain severed diplomatic relations on April 21 . The same day , the United States Navy began a blockade of Cuba . Spain declared war on April 23 . On April 25 , Congress declared that a state of war between the U . S . and Spain had existed since April 21 . The Spanish - American War began on April 25 , 1898 , and ended on August 12 , 1898 . Cuban and Spanish dead vastly outnumbered American deaths . While 2 , 910 American military personnel died during the war , just 345 were combat deaths . The rest died of disease . The U . S . military barred women from serving in any capacity prior to the war . Although the Army had 791 nurses , they were all male , and far too few to provide the medical care needed . Soldiers resisted being transferred from combat units into the nursing corps , and few volunteers signed up for medical duty . Congress quickly authorized the military to hire female nurses — but on contract , not as military personnel . The army reached out specifically to the Daughters of the American Revolution ( DAR ) , a patriotic society , to recruit women nurses . Dr . Anita Newcomb McGee , one of the medical doctors practicing in the United States , was asked to lead the DAR ' s recruitment effort . Of the 1 , 563 nurses recruited for the new Nurse Corps , most served in hospitals in the United States . Only 76 were sent to Cuba , 30 to the Philippines , nine to Puerto Rico , six to Honolulu , and eight served aboard the hospital ship " USS Relief " . It was the first time in American history where nurses were fully accepted in military hospitals . Although no nurses were killed in combat , 140 died of typhoid and 13 from other diseases . ( One of the 13 died of yellow fever after being experimented upon by the army . ) Since nearly all the nurses died in the United States , most were sent home to their families for burial . A handful died overseas , and were buried there . On July 8 , 1898 , Congress enacted legislation authorizing the repatriation of American dead , and appropriating funds for this purpose . Additional legislation was enacted on February 9 , 1900 ; May 26 , 1900 ; and June 6 , 1900 . Many of the dead were buried at Arlington National Cemetery , either because their families desired it or the remains could not be identified . The first Spanish - American War nurse to be buried at Arlington National Cemetery was Anna H . Campos , who died in Cuba on September 2 , 1899 . Her remains were repatriated about May 1900 . By February 1901 , the military had repatriated a few of the bodies of nurses who had died overseas . For families which wished it , or where remains went unclaimed or unidentified , the bodies were buried at Arlington . These nurses were buried in what is now Section 21 . Over time , more military nurses were buried next to them , creating a " nurses ' section " . The U . S . Army Quartermaster Corps had control of Arlington National Cemetery at the time . In late 1906 , Brigadier General Charles F . Humphrey , Sr . , Quartermaster General , gave permission for any Army nurse who wished to be buried at Arlington National Cemetery with military honors . Creating a memorial . In June 1899 , Dr . Anita Newcomb McGee co - founded the Order of Spanish - American War Nurses to ( among other things ) commemorate the service of contract nurses during the Spanish - American War and serve as an advocate for nurses within the U . S . military . At the founding convention in August 7 , 1899 , Order members agreed to sponsor a $ 10 , 000 " Nurses ' Monument " ( $ in 2018 dollars ) to military nurses at Arlington National Cemetery . Order dues were 25 cents ( $ in 2018 dollars ) , and the organization proposed that any dues money left over after the organization ' s expenses were paid should go toward the monument . By October 1 , an additional $ 158 . 75 ( $ in 2018 dollars ) in contributions had been raised . Approval for the memorial was not quickly forthcoming . A memorial committee was established by the Order of Spanish War Nurses , chaired by Miss Esther Hasson of New York . But by November 1901 , the Secretary of War Elihu Root had not yet given approval for the memorial . Fundraising , too , was going slowly , and only $ 265 . 63 ( $ in 2018 dollars ) was in the order ' s memorial fund . The order received word that the Army had set aside a site near the western corner of what is now Section 21 for the memorial in late 1902 . But this decision was not a formal one . In the late summer of 1903 , however , Dr . McGee received assurance from Secretary of War Root and Quartermaster General Humphrey that the order could erect a memorial in Section 21 . However , General Humphrey requested that order erect a simple , artistic monument rather than anything elaborate . Choosing a design . At the order ' s annual meeting on August 22 , 1903 , the Order of Spanish - American War Nurses debated the nature of the memorial they wished to erect . The original intent of the order was to honor all trained nurses , untrained " immune " nurses , Catholic sisters , male contract nurses , and any enlisted hospital corpsmen buried in the section . But none of these were actually buried at Arlington in the section assigned for the memorial . In fact , by July 1903 , only two immune nurses and two soldiers were buried in Section 21 . President McGee said members had expressed their disinclination to commemorate all nurses from all wars buried at Arlington , and the order was barred from erecting a memorial to itself . McGee proposed that the memorial honor all female nurses from the Spanish - American War ( whom she called " our comrades " ) , or just trained female nurses . She asked the delegates to consider the issue , and make an explicit choice when it voted the following day . Later that day , the Committee on Monument issued its report to the membership Committee chair Esther Hasson noted that several designs had been submitted , including one from Tiffany & Co . ( although the process for requesting designs was not reported in the media ) . The cost of the more elaborate memorials was in the $ 3 , 000 range ( $ in 2018 dollars ) . However , Hasson said , Quartermaster General Humphreys had indicated in July 1903 that the Army ' s preference was for a simple stone memorial with an inscription , a design which would cost less than $ 1 , 000 ( $ in 2018 dollars ) . The committee noted that this eliminated any memorial incorporating a bronze tablet , bas - relief figures , or elaborate carving . The committee noted that its preference was for a simple monument approximate in size and cost to that suggested by the Army . The Monument committee submitted a resolution proposing that the monument fund be raised to $ 3 , 000 ( $ in 2018 dollars ) ; that a committee of three be appointed by the chair to produce a monument acceptable to the committee and the Secretary of War as quickly as possible ; and that this monument be dedicated to " deceased army nurses in the National Cemetery at Arlington , Virginia " . The motion passed . The chair immediately appointed Miss Amanda J . Armistead , Miss Isabelle J . Walton , Miss Edith H . Rutley to the Special Committee on Monument . On August 23 , the Special Committee on Monument made an verbal report to the order ( the contents of which were not revealed in the media ) , which was followed by vigorous discussion . But the members voted to delay action until next annual meeting in September 1904 . By November 1903 , the memorial fund stood at only $ 346 . 66 ( $ in 2018 dollars ) . The 1904 annual meeting of the Order of Spanish - American War Nurses was scheduled for early September at the Louisiana Purchase Exposition in St . Louis , Missouri . However , at the request of Dr . McGee , the meeting was postponed until November 7 , 1904 ( although the meeting location was not altered ) . When the order met in St . Louis , the membership voted unanimous to erect a nurses ' memorial with all due speed . But no design for the monument was chosen . The total cost of the memorial was also not reported , but Dr . McGee requested that each member donate $ 2 ( $ in 2018 dollars ) to bring monument fund to amount needed . By November 1 , 1904 , just $ 187 ( $ in 2018 dollars ) had been raised , bringing the monument fund to $ 546 . 84 ( $ in 2018 dollars ) . By mid - December 1904 , the Special Monument Committee of the Order of Spanish - American War Nurses had yet to choose a design , even though many members favored the figure of a nurse . Time began to press on the Order of Spanish - American War Nurses . More than six years had elapsed since the monument was first proposed , and donations were only trickling in . Eighteen months had passed since the Secretary of War gave his consent to erect a monument , and there seemed little reason to believe that more time would allow the order to construct a grander memorial . In early 1905 , the order contracted with Barclay Bros . , a granite company in Barre , Vermont , to produce the memorial . Dedication . The dedication for the Spanish - American War Nurses Memorial was set for 3 : 00 P . M . on May 2 , 1905 . The Order of Spanish - American War Nurses established a dedication committee to plan the memorial ' s unveiling . The committee had great difficulty in getting speakers to commit to the ceremony , and in setting a program . They were successful , however , in persuading Colonel Charles P . Morton , commander of the 7th Cavalry at Fort Myer , to provide a military band . The dedication ceremony was not elaborate , but it was symbolic . A temporary pole made of bamboo from the Philippines was erected next to the memorial , and palm branches from Cuba and Puerto Rico were bunched about its base . At the top of the pole was a laurel wreath festooned with red , white , and blue ribbons . Around the foot of the monument , more palm branches were spread . An honor guard of 25 veterans from the Washington , D . C . , chapter of the Spanish War Veterans stood around the memorial . Dignitaries at the event included Dr . Anita Newcomb McGee ( who presided over the ceremony ) ; M . Emmett Urell , Colonel , USA ( ret . ) , past commander of the Grand Army of the Republic ; Dr . Clifford Cox , commander , Spanish - American War Veterans ; Mrs . Emily N . R . McClean , president , Daughters of the American Revolution ; surviving Civil War nurses from Washington , D . C . ( all members of the National Association of Army Nurses of the Civil War ) ; Colonel Morton and several U . S . Army and U . S . Navy officers ; and a representative from the Embassy of Japan . A marquee was erected near the memorial site to shelter them . The dedication ceremony was simple . Father Thomas McGuigan of St . Patrick ' s Catholic Church provided an invocation . Dr . McGee spoke briefly , followed by Dr . Cox . A poem by Rudyard Kipling was read , and then 15 - year - old Klotho McGee ( Dr . McGee ' s daughter ) unveiled the monument as the 7th Cavalry Band played the " The Star - Spangled Banner " . Mrs . McLean delivered a lengthy address as the highlight of the ceremony . An Army chaplain gave a benediction , and a bugler from Fort Myer played " Taps " . About the memorial . The Spanish - American War Nurses Memorial is located along the southwestern edge of Section 21 in Arlington National Cemetery . Porter Avenue runs southeast - to - northwest in front of the memorial , while Lawton Avenue is a short distance to the north . Porter and Lawton Avenues meet McPherson Avenue near where the memorial lies . The Battle of the Bulge Memorial is a few feet away to the northwest . The memorial consists of a single rough - hewn , grey granite boulder approximately wide , across , and high . At the top of the memorial in solid granite is a Maltese cross , the insignia of the Order of the Spanish - American War Nurses . The insignia is on both the front and rear of the memorial . On the front of the memorial are carved in bas - relief several palm branches , which lean to the left and shade the panel below . A laurel wreath lies atop the palm branches . The wreath has a bow at its base . One of the long , trailing ribbons of stone appears to be loosely draped over the right side of the panel , where it wraps around the base of the palm fronds . The other trailing ribbon appears to be loosely draped to the left of the panel . The wreath , fronds , and ribbon partially obscured the top , upper left corner , and upper right corner of the panel . Below the wreath and fronds is a sunk panel with inscription " To Our Comrades " . On the rear of the monument , the Maltese cross insignia is at the top . A third of the way up from the ground , a bronze plaque is set into the rough - hewn grey granite . It reads : " In Memory of the Women Who Gave Their Lives As Army Nurses In 1898 . Erected by the Society of Spanish American War Nurses . " The memorial was dedicated to 13 nurses who died in the Spanish - American War . It is one of three Spanish - American War memorials at the cemetery . The other two are the Spanish - American War Memorial and the Rough Riders Memorial . A fourth memorial , a copy of the statue " The Hiker " , stands on Memorial Drive outside the cemetery ' s boundaries .