rocknrolla
12-29-2010, 09:24
After reading TR's sticky 'A Message to Garcia', i became interested in knowing who Rowan was, and how he carried out his mission. After a little digging i came up with this:
How I Carried the Message to Garcia
By Colonel Andrew S. Rowan, USMA 1881
"Where," asked President McKinley of Colonel Arthur Wagner, head of the Bureau of Military Intelligence, "where can I find a man who will carry a message to Garcia?"
The reply was prompt. "There is a young officer here in Washington; a lieutenant named Rowan, who will carry it for you !"
"Send him!" was the President's order.
The United States faced a war with Spain. The President was anxious for information. He realized that success meant that the soldiers of the republic must co-operate with the insurgent forces of Cuba. He understood that it was essential to know how many Spanish troops there were on the island, their quality and condition, their morale, the character of their officers, especially those of the high command; the state of the roads in all seasons; the sanitary situation in both the Spanish and insurgent armies and the country in general; how well both sides were armed and what the Cuban forces would need in order to harass the enemy while American battalions were being mobilized; the topography of the country and many other important facts.
Small wonder that the command, "Send him!" was equally as prompt as the answer to his question respecting the individual who would carry the message to Garcia.
It was perhaps and hour later, at noon, when Colonel Wagner came to me to ask me to meet him at the Army and Navy Club for lunch at one o'clock. As we were eating, the colonel – who had, by the way, a reputation for being an inveterate joker – asked me: "When does the next boat leave for Jamaica?"
Thinking he was making an effort to perpetrate one of his pleasantries, and determined to thwart him, if possible, I excused myself for a minute or so and when I had returned informed him that the "Adirondack," of the Atlas Line, a British boat, would sail from New York the next day at noon.
"Can you take that boat?" snapped the colonel.
Notwithstanding that I still believed the colonel was joking I replied in the affirmative.
"Then," said my superior, "get ready to take it!"
continued here:
http://www.arlingtoncemetery.net/asrowan.htm
How I Carried the Message to Garcia
By Colonel Andrew S. Rowan, USMA 1881
"Where," asked President McKinley of Colonel Arthur Wagner, head of the Bureau of Military Intelligence, "where can I find a man who will carry a message to Garcia?"
The reply was prompt. "There is a young officer here in Washington; a lieutenant named Rowan, who will carry it for you !"
"Send him!" was the President's order.
The United States faced a war with Spain. The President was anxious for information. He realized that success meant that the soldiers of the republic must co-operate with the insurgent forces of Cuba. He understood that it was essential to know how many Spanish troops there were on the island, their quality and condition, their morale, the character of their officers, especially those of the high command; the state of the roads in all seasons; the sanitary situation in both the Spanish and insurgent armies and the country in general; how well both sides were armed and what the Cuban forces would need in order to harass the enemy while American battalions were being mobilized; the topography of the country and many other important facts.
Small wonder that the command, "Send him!" was equally as prompt as the answer to his question respecting the individual who would carry the message to Garcia.
It was perhaps and hour later, at noon, when Colonel Wagner came to me to ask me to meet him at the Army and Navy Club for lunch at one o'clock. As we were eating, the colonel – who had, by the way, a reputation for being an inveterate joker – asked me: "When does the next boat leave for Jamaica?"
Thinking he was making an effort to perpetrate one of his pleasantries, and determined to thwart him, if possible, I excused myself for a minute or so and when I had returned informed him that the "Adirondack," of the Atlas Line, a British boat, would sail from New York the next day at noon.
"Can you take that boat?" snapped the colonel.
Notwithstanding that I still believed the colonel was joking I replied in the affirmative.
"Then," said my superior, "get ready to take it!"
continued here:
http://www.arlingtoncemetery.net/asrowan.htm