This book details the uniforms and weapons of the American, Spanish, Cuban and Filipino forces involved in the United States Army's first overseas war. In 1898 the USA took the decision to intervene in the Cuban war of independence against Spain, and to expel the last vestige of European colonial rule from the Americas. This also led to the US acquiring rule over the Philippine Islands; and there, US troops were sent into the jungle to fight a “colonial” war of their own, against Filipino insurgents unwilling to exchange one master for another. The text is illustrated with rare early photographs and color plates.

It has been termed an insurgency, a revolution, a guerrilla war, and a conventional war. As David J. Silbey demonstrates in this taut, compelling history, the 1899 Philippine-American War was in fact all of these. Played out over three distinct conflicts—one fought between the Spanish and the allied United States and Filipino forces; one fought between the United States and the Philippine Army of Liberation; and one fought between occupying American troops and an insurgent alliance of often divided Filipinos—the war marked America's first steps as a global power and produced a wealth of lessons learned and forgotten. In A War of Frontier and Empire, Silbey traces the rise and fall of President Emilio Aguinaldo, as Aguinaldo tries to liberate the Philippines from colonial rule only to fail, devastatingly, before a relentless American army. He tracks President McKinley's decision to commit troops and fulfill a divinely inspired injunction to "uplift and civilize" despite the protests of many Americans. Most important, Silbey provides a clear lens to view the Philippines as, in the crucible of war, it transforms itself from a territory divided by race, ethnicity, and warring clans into a cohesive nation on the path to independence.

This book details the uniforms and weapons of the American, Spanish, Cuban and Filipino forces involved in the United States Army's first overseas war. In 1898 the USA took the decision to intervene in the Cuban war of independence against Spain, and to expel the last vestige of European colonial rule from the Americas. This also led to the US acquiring rule over the Philippine Islands; and there, US troops were sent into the jungle to fight a “colonial” war of their own, against Filipino insurgents unwilling to exchange one master for another. The text is illustrated with rare early photographs and color plates.

The National Guard's origins trace back to the militia of the first settlements in America. Since its inception in 1636, the National Guard has played vital role in the nation's defense from the Revolutionary War to the most recent conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan. The utility of the National Guard has been questioned since the late nineteenth century, but political pressure from the states has always been sufficient to maintain a National Guard. This monograph examines the National Guard's performance as the primary source for state volunteers in the Spanish-American War and Philippine Insurrection 1898-1899. While the Regular Army generally viewed the National Guard as less professional and incapable of defending the nation, the results from the National Guard's preparation for the Philippines supported the Regular Army's disdain for them and seemed to indicate a likelihood of failure in combat. However, actual results from the Philippines lead to a different conclusion about the National Guard. This conclusion supports the National Guard as an operational force instead of the strategic reserve as they had been used since World War II. This change in the National Guard's employment is even more critical because of the economic and security challenges the nation faces.

The Philippine-American War of 1899-1902 was a dramatic, world-changing conflict that shaped the century to come and revealed the early stirrings of America's drive for global power.

An A–Z encyclopedia covering the principal battles and campaigns, key military and political figures, and the political maneuvering during the Spanish-American and Philippine-American Wars. America's adventure into colonialism began with the destruction of the U.S. battleship Maine in 1898, presumably by a Spanish mine. The four month war against Spain that followed—the shortest declared war in U.S. history—resulted in the U.S. acquisition of the Philippines, Puerto Rico, and Guam. The young giant of the Western Hemisphere was transformed into a colonial power, and the balance of power in the world was changed forever. In this chronicle of an era that has escaped the attention it deserves, military historian Jerry Keenan explores America's war with Spain and the violence that followed. He shows how the United States muddled the administration of the sprawling Philippine archipelago, guided by a policy that President McKinley called "benevolent assimilation." Within a year, the United States was fighting a war against Philippine nationalists—a three year conflict that would give American soldiers their first bitter taste of counterinsurgency warfare in an Asian jungle.