Teddy Roosevelt amid flags

by

By James Breig

Civil War vets listen to TR speak in Rockford, IL
Civil War vets listen to TR speak in Rockford, IL

This year could be called the eye of a hurricane of war anniversaries. Americans are in the middle of marking the 200th anniversary of the War of 1812, the sesquicentennial of the Civil War and the 70th anniversary of World War II.

Roosevelt election piece
Roosevelt election piece

This is also the 115th anniversary of one of the USA’s shortest conflicts: The Spanish-American War. Ignited in April 1898, the war ended in August. Despite that brevity, the hostilities ranged from Cuba in the Atlantic to the Philippines in the Pacific. They also cemented the reputation of Theodore Roosevelt as a man of action.

When he returned from leading his legendary Rough Riders in the assault on San Juan Hill in Cuba, TR began a whirlwind rise: He was immediately elected governor of New York, became vice president just two years later and, with the assassination of President McKinley in 1901, entered the White House.

In 1903, the fifth anniversary of the war he had fought in, Roosevelt visited Rockford, Illinois, to dedicate a war memorial to Army and Navy veterans of both the Civil War and the Spanish-American War. A newspaper headline declared: “Stars and Stripes Are Flung to the Breeze as the Chief Executive Pronounces Words of Dedication.”The article said that “the formal act of dedication was performed when the chief executive of the nation with a movement of his hand set loose the Stars and Stripes.”  The flag above the memorial building, which had originally flown from the mast of a ship during the Civil War, “for a moment seemed to hesitate and then triumphantly spread itself to the breeze amid the cheers of [the] persons who filled the platform, the grandstand in front of the Presbyterian church and a thousand chairs in the street.”

TR speaks amid banners
TR speaks amid banners

During his stop-over 110 years ago, Roosevelt also reviewed thousands of children, each of whom held a flag. Then he rushed off to give another speech in Joliet, where he was driven along a “route profusely decorated with flags.”

(Next week: A remarkable flag journey connected to Teddy Roosevelt.)

James Breig is a veteran author who specializes in history. His most recent book is “Star-Spangled Baseball: True Tales of Flags and Fields” about the links between the sport and flags. He is also the author of a nonfiction book about WWII, "Searching for Sgt. Bailey: Saluting an Ordinary Soldier of World War II" and co-author of "The Mystery of the Multiple Mothers," a novel. All three are available at www.amazon.com. His articles have appeared in newspapers and national magazines, including the Colonial Williamsburg Journal (search for them at www.history.org/journal) and History Magazine. He has won many national awards for his opinion writing, media columns and feature articles.

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