Charles made it back home to the homstead outside of Sauk Centre, Minnesota. Company D and the rest of the First Minnesota Regiment mustered at Fort Snelling on April 29, 1864. Those who did not decide to re-enlist were discharged from duty on May the 5th. Fort Snelling was approximately 120 miles from their homestead. Unfortunately, due to logistical issues, the army paymasters were behind in paying their soldiers once they completed their tours of duty. So Charles, along with a lot of other soldiers were cash poor and had just enough supplies to make it back to where they lived, let alone finding the wherewithal to pay for transportation. It would take several months for the Union to catch up with all the of the soldier’s salaries. Since it wasn’t as if Charles wasn’t used to walking, it was all he seemed to do was march from one place to another. So he just set out and started walking home. It took him approximately 10 days to reach his destination. Some nights, he slept out under the stars, and on other occasions, he was lucky enough to find a nice family that was willing to put him up for the night in their barn. If they had enough food to spare, they would even feed him.
When he finally got home, his wife Emily and son Albert greeted him with much joy and fanfare, while his stoic father, Gustav, just hook his hand and said it was good to have him home. His mother, Brigitta, was a little more effusive and gave him a hug and a kiss on the cheek. Just like that, he was back into the swing of things. There just wasn’t any time for resting on your laurels back then. There was always a crop to plant, or a field to plow, or some animal to slaughter or something to repair.
The seasons passed, and just like that, Gustav at the age of 72 and his beloved bride died a few months later at the age of 66. So charles became the patriarch of the family since Hans moved to New York after he served his time in the navy. He never made any attempt to contact his family in Minnesota. Emily, Charles’s spouse died the same year that their only son got married in 1885. So she missed out in the joy of seeing her grandchildren walk the face of the earth. Albert married 17 year old Josephine Brown. They had two sons and one daughter. Their second son ,Papa Thomas, would go on to pass the Anderson genes and bloodline to his son ,Grandpa Gordon.”
Carrying on the tradition established by Charles and Hans, Albert Anderson went on to serve in the military. This was quite an imposition on his part because he had to travel 1300 miles to reach San Antonio, Texas, so he could volunteer for service in the Ist US Volunteer cavalry. What was worse that he had never ridden a horse prior to as his family said was a hair brained scheme and was sure to get his dumb ass shot off. Second of all he was too old, but he would not be disuaded, he after all had been raised on stories told by his father as he single handedly freed all of the slaves, or so it seemed. He figured the best way to learn to ride a horse was by doing it, so he purchased a likely mare. He didn’t dare buy a stallion. He wasn’t that foolhardy. He was right by the time he made it to San Antonio he was a passable rider. He could even gallop without falling off the horse. I have a complete roster of the Rough Riders, and there were two Andersons who road with Teddy Roosevelt, so I decided to use my poetic license and add a third Anderson to the roster. Besides the way I look at it, you can never have too many of the fighting Andersons on your side.
How crazy Albert got the idea to volunteer was all the hoopla that was raised by the sinking of the battleship of the USS Maine in Havana Harbor on February 15, 1898. To quote my mother that just burned Albert’s ass. He knew that Mckinnely would never take this lying down, so he decided to volunteer in the cavalry. He figured since he hated to walk, he was much better off riding. He read in the newspapers that Teddy Roosevelt was organizing a rag-tag unit of fighting men in San Antonio. By the end of March, he made it there just in time to get a cursory amount of training in riding and charging in a formation. It was a miracle that he arrived their in time. From the very onset, it became apparent that he would need a second horse so he could alternate back and forth between the two horses so that he could cover more miles.
Since the Spanish-American War was one of our lesser known wars, I have included some information about some of the key characters and the events that surrounded it.
When the US declared war on Spain in April 1898, Theodore Roosevelt abandoned his position as assistant secretary of the US Navy to set up a volunteer cavalry. Roosevelt recruited men of all types of backgrounds across the country to join the First US Volunteer Cavalry, popularly referred to as the Rough Riders. Roosevelt recruited Leonard Wood to become the colonel of the volunteer cavalry, while Roosevelt took the lieutenant colonel position. Roosevelt was a former New York National Guardsmen and had great leadership skills. He was excited at the opportunity to join the war, as he saw great potential in what the victory over the Spanish-American War could hold for the US and its position as a world power.
Once Roosevelt announced that he was establishing a volunteer cavalry, more than 20,000 applications to join the regiment poured in. Roosevelt even recruited some of his acquaintances and friends he had met previously through work and school. Among the men recruited were Native Americans, sheriffs and policemen, Texas Rangers, cowboys, and former ivy-league students and athletes.
The Rough Riders were one of the three volunteer cavalry regiments authorized by Congress. Recruits for the Rough Riders were mustered throughout the Midwest and West, including Native American territories, New Mexico, Arizona, and Oklahoma. Roosevelt was initially allowed to recruit 780 men, but it was later raised to 1,000 men. Roosevelt traveled to San Antonio, Texas, where more recruits were gathered and established a training base. The Rough Riders would spend a little over a month preparing for battle in San Antonio before departing to Tampa, Florida, where they would leave for Cuba.
Spain had established territories in Central and South America since colonial times. Spanish exploration of the Western Hemisphere began in the late 15th century. By the 19th century, Spanish possessions in Central and South America began to seek independence. Cuba had been fighting for its independence from Spain since 1868 when the Ten Years’ War began. The last war of liberation for Cuba was the Cuban War of Independence, which ended in 1898 upon the defeat of Spain in the Spanish-American War.
Political leaders in the Philippines followed suit as they made attempts to break away from Spanish rule in the 1890s. Puerto Rico sought independence from Spain between the 1880s and 1890s. The US already had interests in Cuba and other territories in Central America prior to the 1890s. Gaining control over these territories meant that the US would become a world power as it would have primary control over the Western Hemisphere. The US had invested tens of millions of dollars to acquire land in Cuba for American sugar interests, which helped fund Cuba’s revolutionary war efforts. However, President Grover Cleveland announced that the US would take a neutral position in the conflict between Cuba and Spain in June 1895.
In December 1896, President Cleveland reversed his decision to get involved in the war when Cuba was placed under martial law, and the people were moved under Spanish military jurisdiction in February 1896. President William McKinley took office in March 1897 during a time of restlessness and indecision on whether the US would intervene in the Cuban-Spanish conflict. On February 15, 1898, the battleship USS Maine exploded while anchored in Cuba’s Havana Harbor. At the time, it was almost certain that the explosion was caused by the Spanish. The USS Maine was sent to Cuba as a means of protection for US interests just a month prior to its explosion. The US Navy conducted an investigation of the explosion and determined that it was caused by a detonated mine located below the ship.
The explosion of the USS Maine directly led to US involvement in the war between Cuba and Spain and prompted the start of the Spanish-American War. Congress passed a joint resolution on April 20, 1898, which acknowledged Cuban independence and demanded Spain give up its possession of Cuba. This demand acted as an ultimatum. Upon Spain’s refusal to give up Cuba, any diplomatic ties between the US and Spain were severed. Just two days after the passing of the joint resolution and Spain’s rejection of the ultimatum, the US placed a naval blockade in Cuba and called for 125,000 military volunteers to prepare for war. The following day, Spain declared war on the US. Congress responded by voting to go to war with Spain on April 25.
Theodore Roosevelt and Leonard Wood had very little time to prepare their volunteer regiment, as the first battle in the war began on May 1, just six days after the war was declared. From the end of April to the end of May, Roosevelt and Wood recruited and trained the Rough Riders before they departed for Tampa to await further orders. Roosevelt described the men he recruited in his book entitled The Rough Riders, stating they all “possessed in common the traits of hardihood and a thirst for adventure.”
Commissioned officers attended officers’ school during training, while non-commissioned officers received similar schooling. The Rough Riders were trained in marching, skirmishing, and firing. Horses were purchased for the men, about half of which were unbroken. The Rough Riders were responsible for mastering the horses and then participating in horseback drills. Roosevelt noted that a great amount of training was accomplished within two to three weeks, and the men were taking to their duties and drills fairly quickly. They trained every day up until they received orders to transfer to Tampa. Their rifles, saddles, and other equipment didn’t arrive until just days before they received orders by wire to travel to Tampa by train on May 29.
It took about four to five days for the men to arrive in Tampa. After all the training was done, some men were left disappointed as they were notified that four troops had to stay behind in Florida along with the horses. There were eight troops taken in total, each consisting of 70 men.
On June 7, Roosevelt received orders that they would depart from Port Tampa the following day to begin their expedition to Cuba.
The men sailed through the West Indies and past Guantanamo Bay before sighting the Santiago Harbor. On June 22, they received orders to make their landing at Port Daquirí in Santiago de Cuba. Prior to leaving for Cuba, the Rough Riders were paired with the First and Tenth Regular Cavalry. Altogether, they formed the Second Brigade led by Brigadier General S.B.M. Young. The horses the Rough Riders were authorized to bring to Cuba were thrown overboard to swim to shore. The regiment set up camp in a Cuban village called Siboney. They were scheduled to head toward Santiago at sunrise.
The Rough Riders had their first encounter with gunfire at the Battle of Las Guásimas. They also got to experience the hot and humid heat of the tropical climate. The Rough Riders trekked through thick jungle vegetation on a narrow trail. The Spaniards were set up at a junction of the trail and a valley road. The Rough Riders began their advance up a steep hill, battling with the intense heat. Some men didn’t make it along the way due to severe exhaustion and were left behind. At this point, there were less than 500 Rough Riders due to the loss of men up the hill and the others left behind at the shore to guard the baggage.
The regiment spent a little over an hour marching before they were halted. They had received word from Colonel Wood, who was ahead of the regiment, that they ran into a Spanish outpost. They filled their magazines and prepared for battle. The Rough Riders and the regular cavalries managed to push the Spaniards back and caused them to retreat from their position toward San Juan Hill. Victory in the Battle of Las Guásimas was important for the regiments to continue on their way to Santiago, located just downhill from where the Spaniards had set up their junction The Rough Riders lost eight men in Las Guásimas, and the First and Tenth cavalries also lost eight men. A total of 52 men were wounded.
The Battle of San Juan Hill caused the Rough Riders to earn their notoriety. Their advancement up Kettle Hill to the Spaniard’s San Juan fortification was one of the bloodiest battles in the war that led to US victory. On June 30, the Second Brigade received orders to ready themselves to march toward Santiago. The regular cavalry began their advancement before the Rough Riders. Lieutenant Colonel Dorst gave the Rough Riders orders to advance to support the regular cavalrymen.
On July 1, 1898, Theodore Roosevelt led his men in the charge up San Juan Hill. Bullets zipped by as Spanish guerillas were shooting down at them from perches. The Spaniards were using smokeless gunpowder, which made identifying their positions difficult. The Ninth and First Regiments joined the Rough Riders, with the Third, Sixth, and Tenth Regiments following closely behind. Approximately 490 men were involved in the charge up Kettle Hill, according to Roosevelt’s account in The Rough Riders. Although US regiments are believed to have suffered the most losses in this battle, they remained victorious. The regiments pushed the Spanish back, forcing them to retreat, and the US regiments raised the American Flag over San Juan Hill as a symbol of their victory.
After the Rough Riders and regular cavalry captured San Juan Hill, several more victories were achieved by Cuba and the US in the battles that followed. By July 3, the city of Santiago de Cuba was surrendered to American and Cuban forces. Peace negotiations began by the end of July 1898. In August, a cease-fire agreement was signed. On December 10, 1898, the Spanish-American War officially came to an end with the signing of the Treaty of Paris. The treaty established Cuba’s independence from Spain. It also forced Spain to surrender its possessions of Puerto Rico and Guam to the US. Spain sold their possession of the Philippines to the US for $20 million.
The Rough Riders returned home from the war in August 1898. Even before the Rough Riders entered the war, they received recognition from media outlets, such as The Sun and The Evening Star. Theodore Roosevelt received national attention for his efforts in leading the Rough Riders in the charge up Kettle Hill. He caught the eye of New York political leaders, specifically Thomas C. Platt. Roosevelt was encouraged to run for the New York governor position under the Republican Party. He won the election and served as the governor of New York from January 1899 to December 1900. Platt quickly withdrew his support of Roosevelt as governor once he realized that Roosevelt was implementing policies he disagreed with. To prevent Roosevelt from tampering with New York’s corrupt political arena, Platt pushed him to run for vice president. Roosevelt was elected Vice President under President William McKinley, which led him to be sworn in as president following McKinley’s assassination in 1901.
While Roosevelt “made is bones” ( To make one’s bones is an American English idiom meaning to take actions to establish achievement, status, or respect.) fighting in the Spanish American War, our Albert became somewhat of a celebrity in good old Sauk Centre. Of course, now he had stories of his own to tell his children and grandchildren, one especially would cut his teeth on his grandfather’s stories of valor, “Grandpa” Gordon Anderson. His drive was so strong that he eclipsed all of his prior ancestor’s military achievements. The only one who did not serve in the military was “Papa” Thomas. He was deemed physically unfit due to a heart murmur and flat feet. The Andersons were represented in the military by his older brother Johan Anderson, who volunteered and fought overseas in World War I. Unfortunately, wasn’t killed in the battles of the Meuse-Argonne on October 26, 1918. More than 1 million American soldiers took part in the Battles of the Meuse-Argonne in France’s dense Forest of Argonne and along the Meuse River, making it the American Expeditionary Forces’ biggest World War I operation.
There was a draft implemented in the United States during World War I and was called the “Selective Services Act.” It required all men between the ages of 21 and 30 to register for the draft when the war began, and later expanded to include men between 18 and 45 years old; this allowed the government to conscript men into military service during the war. But as I previously mentioned, Johan did not wait for the draft.