Two Veterans Day talks at Kearney Hall

Fort Phil Kearny/Bozeman Trail Association hosted two Veterans Day programs on Sunday, November 8. First speaker was HB Puckett, retired U.S. Navy officer who presented, “The Splendid Little War” The Spanish – American War, including Wyoming contributions.

Puckett illustrated his talk with slide show including maps and artwork about the war.

Puckett had a map of the islands that were involved in the war.

Cuba was a part of Spain at the time, and they were fighting for their independence. Spain retaliated against the ‘rebels’ with brutal measures. President William McKinley sent an American warship, the USS Maine, to Havana Harbor, as a friendly warning to the Spanish.

On the night of February 15th of 1898, the Maine exploded, and many felt the Spanish army blew the ship up. No one is really sure what happened, but later investigations concluded the cause was possibly a coal-bunker fire which ignited ammunition stored in the ship.

Whatever the cause, the sinking of the battleship catapulted America into waging war against Spain.

He said that Roosevelt was pushing sea power, and he was one of the people responsible for the build-up of the U.S. Navy.

To do this quickly during the war, the government had to incorporate commercial and even private yachts for the navy.

One private yacht even belonged to J.P. Morgan.

After commissioning ships, the army needed ground troops. At the time, there were only 28,000 troops. “That’s nothing,” Puckett said. Between April, and May, President McKinley called for 200,000 volunteers.

Puckett said that this painting wasn’t accurate, because the ships didn’t get that close together in battle, but he liked the painting.

Puckett’s talk included maps and information about the various battles of the war, including the battle of Kettle Hill, where Roosevelt’s Rough Riders were supported by the Ninth and 10th Cavalry units, the Buffalo Soldiers. Some of these black units came from Wyoming.

“They took Kettle Hill, which was a hot battle,” Puckett said. “Very aggressive fighting.”

Roosevelt then took San Juan Hill supporting the Hawkins brigade, which made a difference in the taking of San Juan Hill.

Puckett added about the Wyoming volunteers.

Wyoming troops also participated in the battle of Manila in the Philippines. Filipino nationalists pretty well had the Spanish bottled up by that point.

Following Puckett’s program, Susan Wells, retired Navy officer, talked about “Antarctica: US Navy & Wyoming Ties.” Wells’ story will be posted separately.

A large crowd attended the event.