Matthew Westfall's Blog, page 3

Lieutenant Colonel John H. Beacom

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Lieutenant John H. Beacom, 42nd Infantry, presided over the trial of Teodorico Novicio. The rebel leader was charged with burying alive USS Yorktown sailor Ora McDonald following the ambush of Lieuntenant Gillmore’s cutter.

Roll Call – The Gillmore Party Rescue Expedition – December 18, 1899

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Gillmore the Aeronaut

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A great shot of Commodore James C. Gillmore Jr. (left), on July 23, 1912, as he prepared to fly as a passenger in a newfangled Army biplane at College Park, Maryland. Having lived through the ages of sail and steam, the commodore was able to experience, albeit briefly — for his daring escapade lasted just five minutes in duration — the age of flight, the advent of which transformed the very nature of war. Source: US National Archives.

A Signal Corpsman’s Captivity

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Corporal John D. Saulsbury, Signal Corps, a 22-year-old native of Darien, New York, was assisting Private Leland S. Smith photograph General Lawton’s advance into northern Luzon., when, on October 20, 1899, they were caught up in the crossfire between American and Filipino positions, turned around in the ensuing confusion, and captured by insurgents. Smith went on to join the Gillmore Party prisoners, while Saulsbury was held separately in the province of Tarlac by General Gregorio del Pilar’s forces. Here is Saulsbury, wracked with dysentery and wasting away, weeks after his liberation on Christmas Day, 1899.

The Gillmore Party Prisoners in Manila

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On January 6, 1900, a contingent of the liberated Gillmore Party prisoners — US Army soldiers and a mix of British, American and Canadian civilians — reported to the Governor-General’s Palace in Manila. Note that Private Elmer Honnyman, 1st Nevada Cavalry (far right), is handcuffed and chained, and presumably a guard stands outside the frame of the photo. Honnyman and several other liberated prisoners were arrested for desertion and other comes upon their return to Manila.

Construction drawings for the USS Yorktown

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A Crazy Span-Am War Campaign Hat Found Buried in the National Archives

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Lieutenant Gillmore’s Cutter

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The USS Yorktown’s Deck Log – April 12, 1899

 

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What started as “clear and pleasant” Wednesday, April 12, 1899 for the USS Yorktown soon deteriorated into one of the worst debacles experienced by the US Navy in years. Here’s a page from the ship’s deck log on the day of the ambush of Lieutenant Gillmore’s cutter. Note the list of names of the missing men, appended as an entry after the fact.

A Research Trip to Baler

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