Savannah and the Spanish American War

The Hiker

Savannah is a military town. We have had Fort Screven on Tybee Island, Fort Jackson, Fort Pulaski, and Fort McAllister in Richmond Hill. Today we have Hunter Army Airfield (training ground for the Army Rangers) and Fort Stewart in Hinesville. So it would be no surprise to learn that Savannah played a significant part in the Spanish American War.

We had a training camp called Camp Onward that reached from Thunderbolt to Forsyth Park. It was one of two training camps for the war in Georgia. Thirteen thousand men camped in the city waiting to go to Jacksonville to be transported to, not the War, but the occupation, of acquired land Puerto Rica and Cuba. The War had been so short, thirteen weeks, that most soldiers did not have time to complete training before it was over. Before shipping out the men of Camp Onward held a grand review for President McKinley. A large banquet was then held at the old De Soto Hotel for McKinley.

The other big event was the gigantic Thanksgiving Day dinner celebration hosted by the women of the city. How would you like to have thirteen thousand guests for Thanksgiving? By all accounts the event was a success.

Two prominent citizens of Savannah were generals who actually participated in the war: William Washington Gordon Jr. and William L. Grayson. Gordon would accept the surrender of Puerto Rico. Yet it was Grayson who would have his name attached to the Spanish American War Monument in town. This was probably because General William L. Grayson of Savannah was the only southerner who ever served as commander-in-chief of the United Spanish War Veterans (USWV).

After the War Camp Onward was used as a quarantine station for some of the returning regiments although it is not clear if it had retained that name. The last unit out of Camp Onward was a detachment of the 2nd U.S. Cavalry that left on 25 May 1899.

When it came time to memorialize the local efforts in the War one of the most prominent sculptors of war of the day, a woman sculptor named Theo Kitson, was used. Cletus Bergen, who has been called the ‘Dean of Savannah Architects,’ designed the base. The statue we have at the southern end of Forsyth Park has become the monument to represent the Spanish American War and is often referred to as ‘The Hiker’. This monument can be found in fifty-one other cities across the United States from Savannah to Los Angeles.

In a war that was said to reunite the country after the divisive Civil War, Savannah had played an important role. Savannah continues to this day to be in part a military town. We also were one of the first thirteen colonies and this war had renewed our loyalty to the Union we once left.
 
 which taunted hitters until it was the stands were recently demolished. The stadium is named for Savannah native, Spanish-American War hero, William Grayson, who led the drive to replace the hurricane-

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Gen. William L. Grayson

Camp Onward