Second Army Corps (Spanish–American War)


The Second Army Corps was a unit of the United States Army raised for the Spanish–American War.
A defining event of the Spanish–American War was the typhoid fever epidemic of July to November 1898. The Army consequently undertook a series of mass-retreats and attempted evasions. The Typhoid Board concluded that only one of the five army corps stricken with epidemic typhoid succeeded in suppressing the disease actively, the 2nd Army Corps. In the wake of two fruitless relocations and months of casualties, commanders finally managed to impose an effective latrine-policy. A three-part strategy of draconian defecation-management, mass-disinfection, and flight received the Typhoid Board's imprimatur as the principal, recommended method for suppressing existing epidemics.

Second Army Corps

The corps was constituted May 7, 1898; on May 16, Maj. Gen. William M. Graham was assigned to the command and the troops which were to compose the corps were ordered to Camp Alger.
After the declaration of war McKinley revised that arrangement and approved the organization of eight army corps, each of which was to consist of three or more divisions of three brigades each. Each brigade was to have approximately 3,600 officers and enlisted men organized into three regiments and, with three such brigades, each division was to total about 11,000 officers and men. Thus the division was to be about the same size as the division of 1861, but army corps were to be larger. The division staff initially was to have an adjutant general, quartermaster, commissary, surgeon, inspector general, and engineer, with an ordnance officer added later. The brigade staff was identical except that no inspector general or ordnance officer was authorized.
In mid-May the volunteers were moved to a few large unfinished camps in the South, and when they arrived only seven instead of the eight projected army corps were organized. Two army corps, the Fourth and Fifth consisted of regulars and volunteers, while the others like the Second Corps were made up of volunteers.
Before the new army completed its organization and training, it was thrust into combat. About two-thirds of Fifth Army Corps, in the form of one dismounted cavalry division and two infantry divisions, sailed for Cuba in June 1898. Expeditions also were mounted for Puerto Rico and the Philippine Islands, in which partial army corps provided the troops.

Corps headquarters

The following troops were attached to Second Corps Headquarters:
Brigadier General Francis L. Guenther, U.S. Vols., who had joined the troops at Camp Alger about the 15th of May, 1898, was assigned to the Command of the 1st Division. Being absent on sick leave at the time of the arrival of Major General Matthew C. Butler, U.S.V., Brigadier General Guenther was relieved from the Command of the 1st Division and assigned to the Command of the 3rd Division.
On September 15, 1898, Samuel B.M. Young, Major General of United States Volunteers took command of the division.

1st Brigade, 1st Division

Brigadier General Joseph W. Plume U.S.V.
The troops assigned to the 1st Brigade, 1st Division at various times included the following:
Brigadier General George A. Garretson, U.S.V. took command on June 8, 1898.
The troops assigned to the 2nd Brigade, 1st Division, at various times were as follows:
Brigadier General John P. S. Gobin, U.S.V. took command on June 24, 1898.
The troops assigned to 3rd Brigade were the following:
The 13th Regiment Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry, Colonel Henry A. Coursen, Commanding, joined at Camp Alger, Va., May 19, 1898, with a strength of 36 officers and 603 enlisted men.
The 12th Regiment Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry, Colonel James B. Coryell Commanding, joined at Camp Alger, Va., May 19, 1898, with a strength of 36 officers and 603 men.
The 8th Regiment Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry, Colonel Theodore F. Hoffmann Commanding, joined at Camp Alger, Va., May 18, 1898, with the strength of 41 officers and 770 men.
The 15th Regiment Minnesota, Volunteer Infantry, Colonel Harry A. Leonhaeuser, Commanding, joined at Camp Meade, Pa., September 18, 1898, with a strength of 46 officers and 1,256 enlisted men.

2nd Division

Brigadier General George W. Davis, U. S. Vols. took Command May 29, 1898.

1st Brigade, 2nd Division

Brigadier General Mark W. Shaefe, U.S. Vols. took command June 30, 1898.
The troops assigned to the 1st Brigade were:
Colonel John W. Schall, 6th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry took command by May 31, 1898.
The troops assigned to the 2nd Brigade at various times were:
Brigadier General Nelson D. Cole, U.S.V. took command June 20, 1898.
The troops assigned to the 3rd Brigade, 2nd Division, were:
The 3rd Division of the Corps was never fully organized. On June 7, 1898, Brigadier General Francis L. Guenther, U.S.V., was assigned to the command of the 3rd Division, but he was absent sick since May 25, 1898, and never exercised the command.

First Brigade

On June 9 the separate brigade was assigned as the First Brigade, Third Division.

Separate Brigade

Brigadier General Henry M. Duffield, U.S.V. took Command June 15, 1898.
The troops assigned to the Separate Brigade were:
Recruit Detachment of the Separate Brigade, Camp Alger, Va., June 27, 1898, after the rest of the Brigade was sent to Cuba.
On August 2, 1898, the Second Brigade was organized composed of the:
The troops of the Second Brigade were returned to their states for muster out September 7 and 8.

Camps

Camp Alger

was established May 18, 1898, near Falls Church, Virginia, and about 1 miles from Dunn Loring. General Graham arrived May 19 and assumed command. The troops commenced arriving the May 18, and by the last of that month there were 18,309 officers and men in camp. On the last day of June there were 23,511 officers and men, on the last day of July there were 22,180, on the last day of August the troops present at this camp. Total number of troops that went to Camp Alger 31,195.
The number of deaths at Camp Alger from May 18 to October 11, 1898 was 71.

Typhoid

This death rate is not abnormal, and, judging from it, the locality can not be considered unhealthful. The Seventh Illinois Regiment, which was encamped there during the whole time, lost but one man up to the 14th day of December, a record probably not equaled by any other regiment in the service. The establishment of Camp Alger is justifiable upon the report as to the suitableness of the site, but considering the scarcity of water and the want of facilities for bathing, we are of opinion that it was very undesirable, and was not abandoned too soon.

Thoroughfare Gap

On August 2, 1898, the 2nd Division of the Second Corps marched to Thoroughfare Gap, 80 miles distant, and remained in camp there for about one month.
The number of deaths and at Thoroughfare Gap was 34.

At war

Only two brigades of the 2d Army Corps saw combat in the Spanish–American War. They left for Santiago de Cuba to reinforce Gen. Shafter's army. An armistice having been reached between the U.S. and Spain ending the war’s fighting on August 12, 1898.
The Separate Brigade, 3rd Division 2d Army Corps, under command of Brigadier General Henry M. Duffield, left Camp Alger June 15, 1898. They soon saw action in the Battle of the Aguadores, Cuba. After which the brigade was transferred to the Fifth Army Corps as a provisional brigade, where it remained until the close of the war.
The Second Brigade, First Division of the Second Army Corps, commanded by Brigadier General George A. Garretson, left Camp Alger July 5, 1898.
This brigade was instead sent to fight in the Puerto Rico Campaign in the Battle of Yauco and the Battle of Guayama.

Camps continued

Camp Meade

Battalion 2nd Regt. U. S. Vol. Engineers, Capt. A. H. Weber, Commanding, joined at Camp Meade, Pa., August 12, 1898, with a strength of 7 officers and 180 enlisted men. Capt. Weber was made Acting Chief Engineer of the 2nd Army Corps September 17, 1898. The 2nd U. S. V. Engineers also built Camp McKenzie, Augusta, Georgia before being sent to Cuba on November 23, 1898.
Camp Meade was established August 24, 1898, near Middletown, Pennsylvania. Early in September the remainder of the corps was transferred to the camp.
The number of deaths in this Camp Meade to October 11, 1898 was 64.

Winter camps

In November Camp Meade was discontinued and the troops not mustered out, distributed to the various camps in the South. The Second Army Corps was directed to hold itself in readiness to proceed to the island of Cuba, with headquarters at Habana; First and Second Divisions at Habana; Third Division at Mariel. This order for service in Cuba was not carried out.
General Graham was relieved November 2, 1898, by Maj. Gen. Samuel B.M. Young, U. S. Volunteers, and the troops were moved to camps in the South, General Young making his headquarters at Augusta, Ga., the distribution being as follows:

Camp McKenzie

Camp McKenzie, Augusta, Georgia, was originally named Camp S.B.M. Young, after Major General Samuel B.M. Young, U.S. Vols, Commanding Second Army Corps, who had a leadership role in the operations around Santiago. He was to be the camp's commanding officer.
Camp Fornance, Columbia, South Carolina, was named for Captain James Fornance of the 13th United States Infantry Regiment who was mortally wounded on July 1, 1898, near Santiago, Cuba, and died of his wounds on July 3. The Camp was abandoned in March 1899.
Third Brigade, Second Division, 1st Rhode Island, 2nd Tennessee, 1st Delaware

Camp Marion

Camp Marion, Summerville, South Carolina, was named after Brigadier General Francis "Swamp Fox" Marion of the Revolutionary War.
Second Brigade, First Division 14th Pennsylvania, 3rd Connecticut, and 9th Ohio

Camp Wetherill

Camp Wetherill, Greenville, South Carolina, was established in November 1898, was named for one of the first soldiers killed at the Battle of San Juan Hill, Alexander M. Wetherill. Photographs of the camp can be view in the Greenville County Library System digital collections.
Headquarters Second Division
First Brigade, Second Division, 203rd New York, 2nd West Virginia, 4th New Jersey
First and Second Brigades of the Second Division, Second Army Corps were designated as the 3rd Division of the 5th Army Corps, but was later reassigned to the 2nd Army Corps.

Camp at Spartanburg

Camp Haskell, Athens, Georgia.
Discontinued January 21, 1899.

First Separate Brigade

January 16, 1899, the troops at Macon, Ga., and the troops at Albany, Ga., were made a separate brigade of the Second Corps.
Under the command of Brig. Gen. Royal T. Frank, U.S. Volunteers.
Under the command of Brig. Gen. William J. McKee, U. S. Volunteers
February 1, 1899, the Second Army Corps was ordered to be reorganized and consolidated into two camps, one at Augusta, Ga., and one at Greenville, S.C., the corps to consist of three separate brigades.
General Young remained in command until May 3, 1899, when the Second Corps was discontinued, all of its subdivisions having been disbanded.

Second Corps Badge

General Orders No. 99, War Department, Adjutant-general's Office, Washington, July 15, 1898.
When the land forces of the United States are organized into army corps, divisions, and brigades, the same will be designated by the following symbols, flags, and pennants, and badges, made according to description and designs in the office of the Quartermaster-General:
;Symbols
Second Corps, a four-leaf clover.
The corps symbol is worn by enlisted men in the form of a small badge on the front of the campaign hat or in the center of the crown or the forage cap, and upon the left breast by officers. It is of felt of the color designating the division to which the wearer belongs.
Officers and enlisted men belonging to a corps and not attached to a division will wear the corps symbol, of the proper size, In red, bordered in white one-sixteenth of an inch and edged in blue one-thirty-second of an inch. If preferred, officers and enlisted men are authorized to wear the proper badge made of gold or yellow metal enameled in the proper colors.