On April 21, 1898, the war with Spain was commenced, and on April 23, 1898, the President issued a call for troops. California furnished, under this call (between May 6 and May 11) two twelve-company regiments (First and Seventh California Volunteer Infantry), one regiment of eight companies (Sixth California Volunteers), and the First Battalion of Heavy Artillery (four batteries), and a Signal detachment; all of the above being furnished from the National Guard of California, excepting three batteries of heavy artillery, of which arm of the service California had none among her National Guard. (1)
The First Battalion of California Heavy Artillery, United States Volunteers, as a whole, was the only military body recruited from the citizens of the State of California not belonging to any of the various State militia organizations, excepting of course, those members of the National Guard of California who, for the most part, made up the officer corps.
The battalion originally consisted of four batteries, and the intention of the government calling it into existence was to man the magnificent fortifications which protected the metropolis of California from attacks by sea.
It is, perhaps, not generally known that the United States government feared an attack on our own shores by the Spanish fleet. To counter this threat the coast defenses of California were one of the most complete and invulnerable of any of the constructed defense which dotted the coast lines of the entire country, and that millions of dollars had been spent in the construction of emplacements and the disposition of the modern artillery or guns.
The attack by Spanish war vessels upon our shores, which, although projected, never came, is owed to the successes of our own Naval fleet beyond the seas. This threat, however, prompted the call for volunteer artillerymen of more than ordinary intelligence and education who might be drilled to in the art of heavy artillery warfare. Interestingly enough, college graduates, lawyers, doctors, electricians, machinists and engineers vied with wealthy men's sons, clerks and laborers in an endeavor to enlist.
Two batteries, A and B, were recruited in San Francisco by Lieutenant-Colonel Dennis Geary (2), formerly second in command of the old Second Regiment of Artillery, National Guard of California, and Major J. B. Lauck (3), a former National Guard officer with an enviable reputation as a light artillery Captain, won by hard engagements in the Civil War. Both of these men worked untiringly to select the best recruits that could be obtained.
Battery C was originally recruited in Sacramento, and had as its original members Troop B, National Guard of California. The troop officers comprised the first officers of the battery. Company D was recruited in Los Angeles by Captain Henry Steere, at one time Captain of Company A, Seventh Infantry, National Guard of California, and for years an ardent student of the science and the art of war.
Battery C was the only military body, recruited outside of San Francisco, in the entire State of California that actually saw service in the Philippines, while the battalion, as a whole, was the only military body recruited from the citizens of the State not belonging to any of the various State militia organizations, excepting of course, the original recruits of Battery C, who numbered scarcely ten percent of its members.
With enrollment completed, the batteries were ordered to rendezvous in San Francisco. Here, the Governor was to make his appointments. To the credit of the Governor James H. Budd, a former member of the California National Guard himself, it can be said that he withstood the most seductive blandishments of politicians who sought preferment for their friends and constituents, and early announced his intention to appoint none but men of experience. (4)
The reputation of the battalion had become so generally known, that retired National Guard officers of high rank and years of experience vied with each other in a struggle for even the rank of a second lieutenant. Youthful officers of the Civil War elbowed younger men who had been taught military science at military schools. Men of the best families used every known influence to secure a commission in the California Heavy Artillery. With this material to select from, therefore, it is not to be wondered at that the officers selected were remarkably high in the scale of intelligence and experience, and that throughout their service they maintained an esprit du corps recognized whatever change threw them. They were particularly proud of this.
The battalion maintained the highest standard of honor and courtesy, efficiency and discipline, so dear to the hearts of the West Point graduates, which was evidenced, over and over again, by the outspoken commendation of the officers of the regular establishment, with whom they came in contact. They had none of the National Guard prejudices, in so far as their relations with the enlisted men were concerned, to overcome, and the result, in so far as the relations between officers and men existed, was a perfect understanding based on mutual respect.
As selected, the original officers of the battalion were as follows:
Major Frank S. Rice, Commanding (Major, Third Brigade, National Guard of California), was a graduate of West Point, and an honor graduate of the artillery school at Fort Monroe. For sixteen years he served as an officer in the First Artillery, U.S.A., from which regiment he retired. He joined the National Guard of California and at the outbreak of the war he was Major and Inspector of the Third Brigade, National Guard of California.
Dr. A. J. Pedlar, Captain and Assistant Surgeon (Lieutenant-Colonel and Surgeon on the Staff of the Brigadier-General commanding the Third Brigade, National Guard of California). Captain Pedlar had been connected with the militia for years, and had served in the State Senate as the representative for Fresno.
First Lieutenant and Adjutant John A. Koster (Lieutenant Colonel, Second Artillery, National Guard of California, retired), graduated from the South Carolina Military Academy and was Captain of Cadet Battery C, South Carolina volunteers troops, before moving to California where he became Captain of Light Artillery, Battery A, National Guard of California, and served in various other capacities in the State service, from Lieutenant to Lieutenant Colonel, retiring as such.
Dennis Geary, Captain (Lieutenant Colonel, Second Artillery, National Guard of California, retired), had served for years in the regular army, leaving the service for civil life as Sergeant-Major of the First Artillery. He subsequently became Sergeant-Major and advanced through the ranks to Lieutenant-Colonel of the Third Infantry, National Guard of California, and afterward served as Lieutenant-Colonel of the Second Artillery, National Guard of California, retiring as such.
Thomas F. Barry, First Lieutenant (Colonel of the Third Infantry, National Guard of California), while attending the University of California, of which he was a graduate, was Captain of the Cadet Battalion. He subsequently rose to the rank of Colonel, Third Infantry.
Joseph B. Morse, Senior Second Lieutenant
Arthur P. Hayne, Junior Second Lieutenant (Professor of Viticulture of the University of California).
Captain J. T. Hay (Lieutenant Colonel and Assistant Adjutant General, Third Brigade, National Guard of California).
Herbert I. Choynski, First Lieutenant (Colonel, National Guard of California, Staff of Governor Budd).
George R. Huie, Senior Second Lieutenant (formerly Lieutenant, Light Battery A, National Guard of California).
Frank Sprague, Junior Second Lieutenant
Battery C C. Cook, Captain (formerly Captain, Troop B, Cavalry, National Guard of California).
Kay, First Lieutenant (formerly First Lieutenant, Troop B, National Guard of California).
Boden, Senior Second Lieutenant (formerly Lieutenant, Troop B, National Guard of California).
Junior Second Lieutenant (formerly Lieutenant, Troop B, National Guard of California).
Henry Steere, Captain (formerly Captain, Company A, Seventh Infantry, National Guard of California).
J. W. F. Diss, First Lieutenant (Major and Inspector, First Brigade, National Guard of California) had formerly risen through the ranks to that of Captain, Company G, Ninth Infantry, National Guard of California, and later Captain, Company G., Seventh Infantry, National Guard of California, before being promoted to the rank of Major, First Brigade, N.G.C., retiring as Chief Engineer with the rank of Colonel. (5)
George L. McKeeby, Senior Second Lieutenant
Alfred E. Mackenzie, Junior Second Lieutenant
At San Francisco the officers joined their batteries, and the battalion was marched to Fort Mason where it went into quarters and the preliminary work of making soldiers out of the raw recruits. The organization was sent to the Presidio, where it occupied the quarters formerly used by the First Infantry, U.S.A., which regiment had, but a few days before, departed for Cuba.
The First Battalion of California Heavy Artillery, United States Volunteers, as a whole, were kept busy learning the many duties of a soldier, and receiving and issuing all kinds of clothing and equipment. The men applied themselves diligently and intelligently to their work, and their progress was rapid.
Hardly had the battalion made itself at home in its new site when Batteries A and D were attached to the Eighth Army Corps, and made a part of the Philippine Islands Expeditionary Forces. Battery C was ordered to Fort Canby, Washington, at which place it continued to do garrison duty until it was mustered out. Subsequently Battery B was sent to Fort Baker, at Lime Point, at which place it held until all danger of a shore attack by the Spanish fleet was past, when it too was mustered out.
From the date of the assignment of Batteries A and D to the Expeditionary Forces until the departure of their last detachments from San Francisco, the battalion was rent asunder as no other organization has ever been.
The first detail left San Francisco on May 24, 1898, on the transport ship CITY OF SIDNEY, with the first expedition of American troops made up from the men of the 1st Brigade of the United States expeditionary forces, under the command of Brigadier-General Thomas N. Anderson, U.S.V., which included the 1st California Infantry, on the CITY OF PEKING, the 2d Oregon, and a battalion of the 14th, sent to the islands beyond the seas.
This first unit consisted of fifty men, twenty-five of whom belonged to Battery A, and twenty-five to Battery D, and all of whom were selected because of previous military service, or mechanical ability.
It was thought that with the taking of various strongholds of the Spaniards in the islands, the American forces would come into possession of much valuable ordnance, and the artillerymen would be needed to care for it, and even to man the captured cannon for use against the enemy. Captain Geary, of Battery A, commanding.
On June 29, 1898, one member, Sergeant R. B. Parsons of Battery D, sailed on the transport NEWPORT, on special duty with Major Charles McClure, assigned to duty as Chief Paymaster of the Department of the Pacific and Eighth Army Corps, with headquarters at Manila.
Another detachment of twenty-five men, thirteen from Battery A and twelve from Battery D, under the command of Second Lieutenant Arthur P. Hayne of Battery A, sailed on the transport SCANDIA on August 26, 1898, as special guard to three million dollars in United States government specie, sent to the islands for the purpose of paying the troops.
The main portion of Battery D, under the command of Captain Henry Steere, accompanied by Second Lieutenant George L. McKeeby, sailed on October 16, 1898, on the transport SENATOR. Two days later, on October 18, 1898, the main portion of Battery A under the command of First Lieutenant J. B. Morse of Battery A, accompanied by Second Lieutenant John F. Lucey of Battery D, sailed on the transport VALENCIA. Another detachment of twenty-five men, twelve from one battery and thirteen from the other, sailed on the transport OHIO on October 25, 1898, under the command of First Lieutenant Moss of the First Washington Infantry, U.S.V.; while on November 6, 1898, the commanding officer of the battalion, with headquarters, staff and the remaining portions of the two batteries, under command of First Lieutenant J. W. F. Diss of Battery D, accompanied by Second Lieutenant John A. Glass of Battery A, sailed on the transport CITY OF PUEBLA.
Two days later, November 8, 1898, Dr. W. J. Hanna, who had succeeded Dr. Pedlar as Assistant Surgeon of the battalion, set sail on the transport NEWPORT, with a complete supply of medical stores.
Taken all in all, this command was virtually among the first, and likewise among the last of the original Expeditionary Forces to start for the Philippines.
After the destruction of the Spanish fleet by Admiral Dewey, the holding of Manila Bay was a military necessity. The American fleet was some 7,000 miles from an American port, and among all the hundreds of Asiatic ports which would have been available to them in time of peace there was not one which was open to an American war-vessel. It was therefore a military necessity to hold the bay and the naval docks and shops which had been wrested from the Spanish. To this extent, Admiral Dewey's duty was clear –hold Manila at all cost.
Of all the branches of the service none was more widely scattered and less frequently together as a unit than the artillery regiments. This was equally true of the volunteer artillery organizations of the First Battalion of Heavy Artillery, California U.S.V. The command participated in many battles and engagements, but, chief among them were after the two batteries were reunited on December 11, 1898, when they were brought together in Cavite, the site of the Spanish navy yard, and the point at which the first American flag was unfurled in the Philippines by Captain Dion Williams, commanding the Marines of the United States cruiser BALTIMORE.
At that time Battery A consisted of three officers and one hundred and eighty-two men, and Battery D of four officers and one hundred and eighty-four men. The loss of one officer in Battery A was occasioned by the assignment of Lieutenant Hayne to duty as Aide on the staff of General Wheaton.
Cavite had been the headquarters of the Filipino insurrectionists, and it was here that the nationalist leader Aguinaldo resided, surrounded by his secretaries and satellites. Naturally the residents of the town, who numbered some five thousand, were more or less imbued with insurrectionist ideas, and it was anything but an easy task to prevent an uprising. Toward the latter part of the year the native element began to exhibit renewed signs of uneasiness.
It was here in Cavite that Light Battery A, Wyoming Artillery, under command of Captain H. A. Clarke, and Troop A of the Nevada Cavalry, under command of Captain F. M. Linscott, were added to the battalion and the whole comprising the garrison of Cavite, under the command of Major Rice.
The reputation of the battalion as a military body had preceded it, having been brought to the attention of Admiral Dewey by the officers of the regular army who had been at the Presidio and observed it, and it was at his request that the battalion was assigned as his special support to protect the old Spanish navy yard. (6)
Shortly after the arrival of the battalion at Cavite, the Eighteenth Infantry, U.S.A., was ordered to Iloilo, being replaced by a battalion of the First Tennessee Infantry, U.S.V., and the battalion of Wyoming Infantry. These were in turn succeeded by the Fifty-first Iowa Infantry, U.S.V., under the command of Colonel John T. Loper.
It was about the first of February, 1899, that the insurgents commenced massing their forces at San Roque, a town of equal size of that of Cavite and separated from Cavite only by a narrow artificial causeway about six hundred yards in length. Immediately thereafter sentries and outposts were established by the battalion at the outskirts of San Roque. Batteries were placed opposite the approach from the causeway separating the two cities, and the battalion was made ready to move at a moment's notice. Gatling guns were placed on bastions, and field pieces were trained on the block-houses of the insurgents, while the gunboats MANILA and CALLAO were anchored close inshore in readiness to lend assistance in case it was needed.
Sentries patrolled the streets in hourly expectation of an uprising among the native inhabitants. The desertions from work at the navy yard by Filipino laborers at a time when their services were most needed clearly indicated the coming outbreak. Scarcely a night passed that there was not some episode to stir the blood and keep the sentries on the alert.
The actual outbreak at Manila took place on February 5. From that time until February 8, the command slept on its arms, the officers abandoning their quarters and passing the nights with their men on the line. On the afternoon of the 8th, Admiral Dewey came ashore from the OLYMPIA, accompanied by his Flag Lieutenant and his Private Secretary. After consultation with the District Commander, it was decided to demand of the insurgents the evacuation of the town of San Roque, and Lieutenant John A. Glass of the artillery battalion (who had succeeded to a vacancy in Battery A, caused by the resignation of First Lieutenant Thomas F. Berry, prior to the departure of the battalion from San Francisco) was sent with a flag of truce and an escort to the insurgent commander, General Estrella, who had been appointed Governor of the province of Cavite by Aguinaldo, presenting the Admiral's demand, which demand was coupled with the ultimatum that unless the demand was complied with before nine o'clock of the following morning, the town would be bombarded.
The next morning, at half-past seven o'clock, a party of three, headed by the Mayor of San Roque, came over and begged for further time. This the Admiral, who was again ashore, refused, and the delegation immediately returned. A white flag was then hoisted over the block-house, but, as was subsequently determined, this was only a bluff, intended to draw the advance of our troops into a trap. Shortly thereafter the town was set ablaze by the insurrectionists.
The entire garrison at Cavite was promptly called to arms, and two battalions of the Fifty-first Iowa Infantry, U.S.V., the Wyoming Light Battery and the Nevada Cavalry, with Batteries A and D of the California Heavy Artillery (the latter being in charge of two sections of Gatling guns) were despatched across the causeway. Every passage through San Roque was a seething mass of flames, and in order to gain entrance to the town it was necessary for the troops to flank it by moving along the sea shore. The men fought their way through the flames of the burning city in pursuit of the retreating enemy, dragging their heavy guns by hand, and skirmishing whenever the opportunity afforded.
The artillery battalion, accompanied by the cavalry troop, and flanked by the infantry, took the town of Caridad, several miles beyond, and passed the town of Dalhican beyond, from which there was a narrow causeway leading to the mainland. (7) Here the battalion halted, and after being joined by the infantry and cavalry, set up camp.
The next morning it was discovered that the enemy had strongly entrenched themselves across the causeway, about 1,500 yards in advance. Orders were received from headquarters restricting a further advance. Owing to the limited number of men available, the men were set to work throwing up entrenchments and defensive works. Breastworks and lines of communications were constructed, for the most part of the time under a dropping fire from the insurgent lines. Gatling guns were placed in position, and field pieces were also trained upon the enemy's works after the exercise of much effort in dragging them through the yielding sand. Here the battalion stayed for four months, in the midst of pestilential swamps and disease-breeding jungles, held under orders from Major-General Otis from making any advance.
For sixty-nine consecutive days the battalion was under fire, and the splendid discipline of the men under such trying circumstances, held in check by orders from Manila, and guarding a point which the authorities considered one of the most dangerous in the entire island by virtue of its being the key to the advance on the navy yard, was marveled at by all.
On several occasions, the Filipinos advanced to within 300 yards, and the battalion opened fire on them. Each time the call to arms was sounded the entire garrison was on the firing line in less than four minutes. Desultory fire was kept up between the outposts, and each time, the insurgents were compelled to retreat to their encampments.
On one occasion in March, a scouting party of four men was sent out to reconnoiter the enemy's position. The party advanced to within fifty yards of the insurgents' lines before being discovered; the party's retreat being covered by a portion of the battalion's outpost guard, under Second Lieutenant McKeeby.
Another incident occurred on June 14, at ten o'clock in the morning, when white flags were seen on the beach near Rosario and Salinas. At half-past three in the afternoon a party of fifty, under command of Second Lieutenant John A. Glass, was sent out. They passed the first line of defenses and approached a point near Salinas, where they found the insurgents in a second line of strong entrenchments. The party returned, and on the following morning a party of eighty, equally divided between Batteries A and D, under command of Captain Geary, started at seven o'clock for Novaleta. The insurgents opened fire after the party had proceeded only a short distance. The artillery got under cover and poured in a cross fire upon the enemy, completely routing them, and returned to camp.
On June 16, the entire battalion, under Major Rice, left camp with orders to scout the country in the direction of Novaleta, leaving as a reserve one battalion of the Tenth Pennsylvania Infantry, U.S.V., which had been ordered up for the purpose. The battalion scouted the roads leading to San Francisco de Malabon, Cavite Viejo, Salinas and Novaleta, and beyond. At Novaleta, Battery D, under command of First Lieutenant J. W. F. Diss, met a spirited resistance, finding the enemy strongly entrenched. A volunteer scouting party was organized, consisting of Sergeant Coyne, Privates Hurley, McCloskey, and Walters of Battery A, and Privates Snyder, Waltz, Murray, Hawkins, Myrick and Howard of Battery D, with orders to connect with General Lawton's right flank to inform him of the position of the battalion.
On June 17th the battalion, with four companies of the Tenth Pennsylvania Infantry, U.S.V., marched to Caridad. On the 19th, by order of the Department Commander, the battalion and two companies of the Tenth Pennsylvania Infantry, received the surrender of the town of Rosario.
From that time the insurgents began to move, and day after day the battalion took to the field in earnest, scouting the country along the line of General Lawton's advance, furnishing valuable intelligence information, and encountering many experiences.
On July 1, 1899, the battalion returned to Cavite, having been relieved by a battalion of the First Montana Infantry, U.S.V., and a battery of the Sixth Artillery, U.S. Army, and began preparations for the homeward voyage.
Prior to the departure of the battalion from Cavite on the homeward voyage, a number of men of both batteries were, at their own request, discharged, some to re-enlist for further service in the islands, some to enter business life in the new American possessions, and for a few, to explore the unknown regions of the islands.
First Lieutenant J. B. Morse of Battery A, who had succeeded First Lieutenant Thomas F. Barry, received a commission as Second Lieutenant in the Ninth Infantry, U.S. Army, but died in the hospital at Manila of dysentery while the battalion was en route back to the United States. Captain Henry Steere of Battery D, was taken ill early in May, 1899, and the command of the battery devolved upon First Lieutenant J. W. F. Diss. On July 9, 1899, Captain Steere having been recommissioned a Captain in the Thirty-sixth Infantry, U.S.V., Lieutenant J. W. F. Diss was promoted to the rank of Captain of Battery D, and First Sergeant Frank Willard was appointed Second Lieutenant to fill the vacancy caused by the lineal promotions.
In Battery A, Second Lieutenant A. P. Hayne was commissioned First Lieutenant to succeed Lieutenant Morse; Lieutenant Glass became Senior Second Lieutenant, and First Sergeant D. J. Keohane was commissioned Junior Second Lieutenant. Prior to the departure of the battalion for the Philippines, Second Lieutenant Alfred E. MacKenzie of Battery D resigned, being succeeded by John F. Lucey, who had been Captain in the Sixth California Infantry, U.S.V., but who resigned to accept an inferior rank in an organization going to the front. The Sixth Infantry was afterwards mustered out without seeing foreign service.
Captain William J. Hanna, Assistant Surgeon, succeeded Captain Pedlar, who remained in San Francisco when the command left for the Philippine islands. Dr. Hanna was Assistant Surgeon of the Third Brigade, National Guard of California, prior to his volunteer service, and was a physician of high standing in Sacramento, his home town.
The first week in July the U.S. Amry Transport SHERMAN brought the 6th U.S. Infantry to Negros, who began to relieve the California companies as fast as she could unload one set of soldiers and embark the other. This was quite an undertaking, and consumed about ten days.
On July 26, the SHERMAN finally put to sea and, after a brief stop in Japan, anchored outside the Golden Gate on August 23.
On the morning of August 24, the SHERMAN became the center of the finest Naval parade known in the history of that harbor. All the boats in the bay were decorated with flags and crowded with enthusiastic friends of California's returning troops. That night came a grand display of fireworks on land and water. The morning of the 25th the California Heavy Artillery, U.S.V., along with the First Regiment, California U.S. Volunteer Infantry, landed at the Folsom-street Wharf, with all the men wearing their khaki uniforms and equipment. From there they marched to the ferry building, where they had a chance to see their relatives.
All of Market street and the line of march had been handsomely decorated by the citizens of San Francisco. Enormous crowds packed the streets, and greeted the returning Californians.
For the next three days all of San Francisco took a holiday, and thousands from other cities of the State joined the crowds. From the first moment of entering the bay, till the final muster-out, the people of San Francisco treated every member as royalty. In the weeks that followed, the old members of the companies of the National Guard banqueted the returning volunteers by companies; later, receptions by the University of California to her returned students and alumni; also a dinner in San Francisco by the Stanford Alumni Association, and a reception at Stanford University for its part acted as host at dinners, luncheons and theater parties.
Arriving at San Francisco the battalion went into camp at the Presidio, where it was mustered out on September 21, 1899, having been in the service sixteen months and eleven days.
Even though the California Heavy Artillery, U.S.V., along with the First Regiment, California U.S. Volunteer Infantry, was mustered out of the service of the United States, and ceased to exist as a organization on September 21, all its members were notified that they would receive a warm welcome back in the National Guard of California, from which most of whom had volunteered for the Spanish-American War.
California can be proud of the service of these men. Their reputation, both at home and in the field, was equal to that of even the best trained regulars in that war and are a credit to both the National Guard of California and the State of California.
(1) On April 23, 1898, the President issued a call for 125,000 troops, of which California's pro rata was 3,238 officers and men. California furnished, under this call (between May 6 and May 11) two twelve-company regiments (First and Seventh California Volunteer Infantry), one regiment of eight companies (Sixth California Volunteers), and the First Battalion of Heavy Artillery (four batteries), aggregating 3,343 officers and men; and a Signal detachment of 3 officers and 20 men, or 128 more men than her pro rata; all of the above first call being furnished from the National Guard of California, excepting three batteries of heavy artillery, of which arm of the service California had none among her National Guard. The second call for 75,000 troops (of which California's pro rata to be furnished was 1,943 officers and men) was issued by the President on May 25, 1898, and under this call California furnished 1,016 recruits to fill up to the maximum number allowed by law the companies already in the field (under the first call), and one complete regiment (the Eighth California Volunteers) of twelve companies, and 1,294 officers and men, aggregating 2,310 officers and enlisted men, or 367 more officers and men than her pro rata under the second call, or a total of 495 more officers and men under the first and second calls than the pro rata required of this State. In addition to the above troops furnished to the United States Volunteers, California furnished 12 officers and 80 men to the United States Auxiliary Naval Forces, for the protection of the Pacific Coast. This makes a total of 48 companies furnished by California to the General Government, of which 44 companies were taken from the National Guard of this State.
(2) Dennis Geary, Lieutenant-Colonel, Second Artillery, National Guard of California, retired, had had years of experience in the regular establishment as a non-commissioned officer in the artillery service, from which he had served in the regular army, leaving the service as a Sergeant-Major of the First Artillery, U.S. Army, under General W. M. Graham. He subsequently became Sergeant-Major and rising through the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel of the Third Infantry, National Guard of California, and afterward served as Lieutenant-Colonel of the Second Artillery, National Guard of California, retiring as such. He was commissioned a Captain, California Heavy Artillery, U.S. Volunteers.
(3) Major J. B. Lauck had never lost his interest in military affairs, and had constantly kept in touch with the National Guard as an officer in some capacity or other from the day he tearfully witnessed the mustering out of his cannoneers in 1865. Before the commissions were issued, much to his regret, Major Lauck had, for business reasons, to decline the Captaincy of Battery B. It was a great blow to his hopes and ambitions, from which he never fully recovered.
(4) Henorable. James Herbert Budd, Governor of California (1894-1898), was born at Janesville, Rock County, Wisconsin, on the 18th of May, 1851, and descended, on both paternal and maternal sides, from families that were represented in the American Revolution and the War of 1812. His parents were Joseph H. and Lucinda M. (Ash) Budd, both of whom were natives of New York. He moved to California in 1859 with his parents, who settled in Stockton; attended the public schools in Stockton and Brayton College, Oakland, in 1869; subsequently entered the University of California at Berkeley, in which he completed a course by graduation with the class of 1873, the degree of Bachelor of Philosophy being then conferred upon him. In 1873, he married to Miss Inez A. Merrill, a native of Connecticut, and a daughter of M. H. and Celinda A. Merrill. James Budd served as a first lieutenant in the California National Guard and was subsequently promoted to major of the line; serving as a lieutenant-colonel on the Governor's staff in 1873 and 1874; deputy district attorney in 1873 and 1874; studied law; was admitted to the bar in 1874 and commenced practice in Stockton; elected as a Democrat to the Forty-eighth Congress, 1883-1885; declined to be a candidate for reelection in 1884; appointed police and fire commissioner of Stockton in 1889; member of the board for drafting the city charter in 1889; Governor of California, 1894-1898; resumed the practice of law in San Francisco; died in Stockton, California., July 30, 1908.
(5) John Wallace Fox Diss, son of Frank Andrew Jackson and Elizabeth Cornelia (Allen) Disss, was born September 33, 1860 in San Francisco and was educated in the public schools of San Francisco. He married Amelia Guest, of Los Angeles, on January 23, 1923. He was employed with the San Francisco Examiner until 1889, becoming the western correspondent of the Chicago Horseman and for the New York Turf, Field and Farm, before engaging in the orange growing business in Redlands, California, in 1889. He served as the county clerk, auditor and recorder for San Bernardino County, from 1894 to 1898, and was a member of the Redlands Union High School District before becoming an insurance broker in Los Angeles in 1907- with offices in the Pacific National Bank Building, Los Angeles. He was a Republican, Mason and Protestant. J. W. F. Diss served for 30 years in the California National Guard –member of Co. F., 1st Infantry., Captain, Co. G., 9th Infantry. and Maj. and Inspector. 1st Brigade, N.G.C., retiring as chief engineer with the rank of Col. He also served in the Spanish-American War, 1898-1899, discharged as a Captain, Battery D, 1st California Artillery, U.S.V., serving in the first Philippine expedition. Awarded all decorations of artillery arm of military service. He was a member of the Naval and Military Order of the Spanish-American War (commander California commandery), U.S. War Veterans, Masonic Veterans of Pacific Coast (life member), Redlands Horticultural Society (secretary and treasurer), Redlands Chamber of Commerce (treasurer). He was a member of the Jonathan Club (charter member).
(6) After its capture, on May 1, 1899, the Spanish navy yard at Cavite had been made the base of supplies for all of the ships of the Asiatic Squadron, and tons of ammunition and millions of dollars worth of other valuable property were stored in the arsenal, all at the mercy of the foreign and native residents comprising the town. After Aguinaldo's withdrawal from Cavite, Battery D occupied his old headquarters and palace as a barracks, and maintained possession of the place, even when in the field, until the battalion embarked, preparatory for the homeward voyage, in July of the following year. In addition to its other duties, a portion of the command performed provost work for the military district of Cavite.
(7) Historically, the causeway, at Dalhican,
was the place where insurgents, in former rebellions, had massacred
the Spaniards by the hundreds by luring them onto the narrow causeway
and then mowing them down.
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Who's Who in America, 1910-1911, Vol. VI, A. N. Marquis & Company, Chicago, 1911.
W.P.A. Research Project, The California National Guard History, California Military Museum, Sacramento, Cal.
To learn more about other battalions, regiments and companies of the California National Guard and U.S. Volunteer in the Spanish-American War visit the following web site: California Military History Online