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Spanish American War

This letter was written by Guy Barrage, in 1893, while he was aboard the USS Monterey. I know that Mr. Barrage was serving in the Navy during the Spanish American War, and the USS Monterey was pressed into service during that time, but I am not sure if he was on board her in 1898. Guy Barrage, went on to become a Rear Admiral. From the letter………I feel so blue tonight. I have been trying to fight against it but it does not seem to have any effect……..The McArthur came up to the yard this afternoon and the steward and Bing smiled upon me when they passed by……..Dr. Whiting asked if I had told “them” that he intended to call Friday. I wish I could write a decent letter tonight…….God bless you Mary and may he keep watch between thee and me…….

This letter was written after the Spanish American War, but has a significant connection to the war, in that it was written by a sailor aboard the USS Isla de Luzon. The Isla de Luzon, was part of the Spanish fleet, and in the Battle of Manila Bay, was scuttled in shallow water, after being hit three times. She sank there, and after sinking, the upper part of the ship was still above water. The ship was later repaired, and put into service for the United States, keeping her name, with the USS added. From the letter, August 1901…….She wrote this to me when I told her of my experience in China, revilee is what the bugler plays in the morning to wake up all hands. This is as true a thing that was ever wrote and when I read it, you can bet I thought of home and friends that I left at home and I hope that they will still be friends when I get home again. As far as I am concerned, I am in the best of health and hope you are the same. Last week we went along side a collier to coal ship and in doing so we bent two boat davits, and stove in our port six pounder gun spouson ?, they are now fixing the same and there is all kinds of hard work to do, we also tore our port bridge down trying to leave the collier. A few weeks ago as we were coming from a place called Bacaboladi, we had target practice with great guns, after setting the target we drew off to about two thousand yards and fired our first shot, a six pounder, when a Filipinoe sailed into firing line, we signaled for him to get out of the way, but he would not do so, so we kept up a firing when we were through after firing about 80 four inch, and 300 six pounders, we picked up the target we found that the goo goos or Filipinoes had tied to the target which was bust to hell but the goo goo boat was not harmed, one goo goo had died from fright the other one was so sick we took him to the hospital where he died the other day…….

This letter was written after the Spanish American War, but has a significant connection to the war, in that is written by a sailor aboard the USS Isla de Luzon. The Isla de Luzon, was part of the Spanish fleet, and in the Battle of Manila Bay, was scuttled in shallow water, after being hit three times. She sank there, and after sinking, the upper part of the ship was still above water. The ship was later repaired, and put into service for the United States, keeping her name, with the USS added. From the letter, June 1902.…..I can’t find words enough to express my thanks to the members of the club for saving my old place. You asked me if I quit “drink”. Yes, signed by “his royal ?” …..About six months ago a young man on this ship got drunk and fell off a dock in ? catblogan ? and broke his spinal column or back bone and died two weeks later. Last week a bugler got drunk, and while in a drunken stupor, drank two quarts of poison solution and died two days afterward and was buried last Thursday……The two above examples were enough for me. I have not touched a drink since last New Years, and don’t intend to until I get home. I think that it will be pretty near the first of 1903 before I get back in the United States and expect to get paid off on the tenth day of April 1903. I headed this letter Manila, although we are in a place called Olangopoo, it is sixty three miles from manila and the Spanish Government used it for a Naval Station. Every thing is either broken or rusted or shot to pieces during the bombardment in Sept. of 1898. This ship was surveyed and condemned, on account of her boilers and we are waiting to hear from the Navy Dept. at Washington to see whether we go to China or go to the states. ….The picture on the heading of this letter is entitled Excolta, which is the main street in Manila. The two men walking and the one on the right of the picture are soldiers. The carriage you see is called a caromenta. The ox you see on the extreme left is called a carabou, commonly called a water buffalo on account of it going into swamps and water holes…….