Krag Carbine Help..........(Pics)

[jon_norstog]

Glad the deal worked out. Now the interesting part begins, researching the history that goes along with that carbine. Please keep us updated.
Chuck

target,

I'll second that. The gun is a nice one, but in this case the story may be even better. Who was your friend's grandfather? What unit was he in? Looks like Cuban service. Did he leave any letters or a diary?

jn

[m1903rifle]

Any possibility that the bolt is original to the carbine since it is one of the early ones?

[target-panic]

target,

I'll second that. The gun is a nice one, but in this case the story may be even better. Who was your friend's grandfather? What unit was he in? Looks like Cuban service. Did he leave any letters or a diary?

jn

Out of respect for his family, I'd rather not post his name on a public forum. Not sure what harm it would do, but just in case.........I'll refrain....

He served in the 34th Mich. Infantry Company "M", but I'm told by his grandson that according to his pension records he also served in at least one Cavalry unit........I'll believe it when I see it in writing. Although he does have an old service photo of him mounted on a horse. The grandson has opened up access to me to copy or photograph anything that he has, and as soon as I get a chance I will. There are a bunch of Medals, and I'm sure that they will help me piece this story together. It may be wishful thinking on my part, but I am quite certain that he was in Cuba during the period that this carbine would have been used. I also am told that he served in the Phillipines (SP?) I know sometimes family lore gets streached a bit, so I'll keep plugging away and see what I can verify. I do know for a fact though that this carbine has been tucked away in the back of a closet for many years! That's kind of cool all by itself.

He was also a member of a group called the "Hannah Rifles", but I've not been able to find out much about them on the internet.

I've also been talking with some members of this forum who've been a great help so far, and may be able to help me find information going forward.

I think I'll keep this thread going and update it with new information as I find it. If anyone has any suggestions for sources of information, please shoot me a P.M. and I'll check it out.

Thanks!
Geo....

[target-panic]

Any possibility that the bolt is original to the carbine since it is one of the early ones?

Don't know......I asked the same question.

[jon_norstog]

The 34th Michigan shipped on two transposrts, the Harvard and the Yale. Half of the unit landed June 30, 1898 and the other half came ashore July 1. They missed the main assault, but were moved up on the 2nd to help defend the heights.

I've read some mean-spirited things written by RAs about the 34th. Their leadership didn't have much experience in the soldierly arts of setting up a camp, keeping the latrines from getting out of hand, maintaining sanitation, etc.

Private martin Hoban wrote "We were marched around into a gully and prepared to go into the pits... holy smoke, it was hot! Four men dropped wounded the first thing.... By this time we were all under cover. We laid in the gully two hours and the bullets were getting thicker and thicker all the time. The only thing that saved us was that we had Springfield rifles with black powder and the regulars using smokeless powder would not let us go into the pits with them. We were marched back behind a big hill, where we were comparatively safe and allowed to rest. We lay down and slept just as peacefully as if we were at home and the bullets were flying around us to beat the band."

jn

[target-panic]

Michigan Regiments Join the War
On April 20, 1898, President McKinley signed a joint resolution for war with Spain. On April 23, a call was issued for 125,000 volunteers. On May 25, a second call was issued for 75,000 men. Among those valiant volunteers, were the men that made up the 31st, 32nd, 33rd, 34th and 35th Michigan Volunteer Infantry.

Michigan Governor Hazen S. Pingree ordered out the National Guard, but due to federal law, each individual was required to volunteer as an individual. Practically all of the members of the National Guard volunteered, in total, over 4,800 men.

The men were mobilized at Camp Eaton in Island Lake; currently Island Lake State Park in Brighton, Michigan. In May 1898, the 31st and 32nd Regiments were sent to Chickamauga Park, Georgia, and Tampa, Florida, respectively. The 33rd and the 34th were sent to Camp Alger, near Washington, D.C. After the second call by President McKinley, the 35th Regiment was organized and sent to Camp Meade, Pennsylvania.

Soldiers Encounter Typhoid and Yellow Fever
The men in the southern camps suffered tremendously from sickness. Typhoid fever broke out at Chickamauga and the 31st Regiment was moved to Knoxville, Tennessee until it was sent to Cuba in January 1899. The 31st performed guard duty until April 1899 and disbanded in May 1899. In total, 20 men died from sickness while in service.

The 32nd Regiment never left the United States. They were encamped in Fernandian, Florida, but while being transported to Cuba, their ship collided with another and they were forced to disembark. They were later transferred to Fort McPherson, Georgia and disbanded between October and November 1898. In total, 20 men also died of disease.

The 33rd and 34th Regiments arrived in Cuba via the “Paris” and “Harvard” transport ships. They were assigned to General Duffield’s brigade, famous for defeating the Spaniards at Santiago. While they did not participate in the San Juan Hill fighting, they were engaged in the attack at Aguadores. Three men of the 33rd died of wounds, but yellow fever broke out in the camp at Siboney and 50 men died. The 34th Regiment suffered the most. Eighty-eight deaths were recorded with a large proportion of the deaths due to yellow fever.

Soldiers' Homecoming
The 33rd Regiment reached Detroit in September 1898 and disbanded between then and January 1899. The 34th Regiment disbanded between September 1898 and January 1899. The 35th Regiment never saw foreign service and although it remained in the United States, 23 of its men died from disease.

[5MadFarmers]

He served in the 34th Mich. Infantry Company "M",

He was also a member of a group called the "Hannah Rifles", but I've not been able to find out much about them on the internet.

Title: The Hannah rifles: Traverse City's brave boys of '98 ; their letters, diaries and correspondence during the Spanish American War.
Publisher: Con Foster Museum
Length: 25 pages

====

"If You Could See How Happy We All Are, You Wouldn’t Worry At All:
The War of the Hannah Rifles, 1895*-1898” for Michigan Historical
Review, Central Michigan University, Mount Pleasant, Michigan,
April 1996.

====

"During his senior year in high school Mr. Nerlinger was a member of the Hannah Rifles, a military organization, which later became Company M, Thirty-fourth Michigan Volunteer Infantry. He went to Cuba with this company in 1898, during the Spanish-American war." - The city of Detroit, Michigan, 1701-1922. By Clarence Monroe Burton, William Stocking, Gordon K. Miller, 1922.

Sounds like the guy's history is more accurate than normally found.

[chuck in idaho]

5MF
You never cease too amaze me with the information you dig up, thank you for taking the time to help target-panic out.
Chuck

[jon_norstog]

Yeah, 5MF,

That bit about the Hannah Rifles really floored me. Where do you come up with that stuff? The RA officer who had such a black eye for the 34th Michigan was Lt. John H. Parker, who was in charge of the V Corps Gatling gun detachment. The two units were bivouacked next to each other.

Parker wrote a book, "the Gatlings of Santiago" which is a gold mine of SAW information. He generally didn't have much use for the volunteers, though. You can read what he said in Chapter 9 of his book. My own thought about the volunteer units is they were as good as their officers and NCOs. The 34th Michigan lost a lot of men to disease, men who might have lived if someone in the chain of command had just had even a little real soldiering experience.

Target Panic, your friend's grandfather was mustered out in late 1898, maybe January 1899. If he went to the Philippines, it was probably with another unit.

jn

[sdkrag]

It was fairly common for trrops that were signed up for Vol. units in "98" to reinlist for the PA. The roster of Grigby's Cowboys listed a number that were mustered out in the fall of 1898 and ended up in the PI in both Volunteer units and RA regiments. SD sent cavalry in 1899 0r 1900. No horses, just men and Krag carbines. There are several stereo views that picture them in the trenches.