Spanish American War
Even though Columbus was Italian, from Genoa in fact, the country he sailed for was Spain. So, this journey will start with Columbus but pivot towards Spain.
I have taken a photo of every statue in Central Park whether it be artistic or historic. Yet I overlooked a monumental statue just 20 feet from the Merchant’s Gate at 59th Street and 8th Avenue. I’ve walked by that 76-foot statue and never once thought I should snap its picture and learn his story – not of his life, but the story surrounding the installation of the towering figure.
Columbus Circle is the starting point from which highway distances are measure from New York City. The statue was erected in 1892 to commemorate the 400th anniversary of Columbus’ landing in America. There has been some controversy over the statue. Some people wanted it removed because of the explorer’s treatment of native peoples. A commission was established to review if any New York City monuments, especially this one, should be removed. It was decided not to remove the statue but rather to place it on the National Register of Historic Places. Only an earthquake will remove it now.
Looking across the street, Columbus sees another magnificent structure - The Monument to the USS Maine and the participants in the Spanish American War.
A little background on the USS Maine. It was built just across the river there in the Brooklyn Navy Yards. She was designed as an armored cruiser and later re-designated as a Battleship 2nd class. The Maine was as long as a football field and while built of wood, had twelve inches of nickel-steal armor plate covering her. At the time She was so modern that the ship generated its own electricity. The people of Key West were amazed when the crew decorated their ship with Christmas lights.
On March 21st, less than two months after the explosion which occurred on February 15, 1898, the Sampson Board of Inquiry found that the ship sunk due to the explosion of a mine under the bottom of the ship. They held Spain responsible. And so, we went to war.
- Of the 26 officers, 290 sailors and 39 marines on board, the Navy lost 266 souls.
There are other statues and monuments remembering “The Maine!” Did you know that the response to that expletive was: “And the Hell with Spain!”
Anyway, there are at least 50 copies of the Alice Ruggles Kitson statue which remember the participants in the Spanish American War. One of these statues can be found in Madison, New Jersey where my goddaughter, Melissa, lives. The statue is called “The Hiker.” He also represents the soldiers who fought in the Boxer Rebellion and the Philippine Insurrection.
The first copy was made in 1906 for the University of Minnesota.
We next travel to Washington D. C. for additional Spanish-American War Memorials. This first monument in the Arlington Cemetery is dedicated to those who served in the Spanish American War.
There is also a USS Maine Mast Memorial where the remains of the 229 sailors and marines are interred.
I didn’t know there were others until I had a conversation with the Paterson County, New York Historian, Larry Maxwell, who pointed me in the direction of the Greenwood Union Cemetery.
Newell Wade Rising was sailor from Portchester who enlisted in the Navy in 1896 and was serving as a coal passer on the USS Maine when the Ship exploded in the Havana Harbor. I looked up the duties of a coal passer. In addition to hauling 140-pound buckets of coal to his fireman, he also had to go inside the boilers and clean them.
Maxwell also said I should look at the Summerfield Park in Portchester for another tribute to Rising. And I did. There I came across this monument, a ten-inch shell which weighs 1,000 pounds. It is a relic from the USS Maine –
Like many of his comrades who died in the explosion, Newell Rising’s remains were never identified. He was buried as an unknown, either alongside the USS Maine Mast Memorial at Arlington National Cemetery or in the USS Maine plot at Key West Cemetery in Florida.
This relic and plaque are right next to the Disconsolate Soldier
Members of Veterans Organizations wanted another statue to represent the sacrifices of the Portchester villagers who served in “This Splendid Little War.” So, they commissioned, Karl Illava, to create this 9’6” statue called “Big Soldier” by the Press. You can almost feel his exhaustion. According to the sculptor: “I would not compromise on a statue which is to give a realistic conception of war. The day of the waving flag statue is past and, so far as I am concerned, there is nothing more typical of war than the tired and disillusioned solder.”
This famous sculptor also designed the 107th Regiment Statue on 67th street and 5th Avenue in Central Park. Here he likewise portrayed war not in all its glory but with the sentiment that “War is Hell.”
So, our journey today started on the west side of Central Park, went across the Hudson to Madison, New Jerrys, down the turnpike to Washington D.C. back again to Westchester, New York, and ended on the east side of Central Park. Hope you didn’t get whiplash.
It all started when…
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