Spanish-American War Regiments

This was once the summer camp of Michigan’s National Guard. Here in 1898 the five regiments which were recruited in the state during the war with Spain were organized. Ten men volunteered for every one who could be accepted. Two of the units, the Thirty-third and Thirty-fourth Michigan Infantry, saw action in Cuba during June and July 1898, in the fighting around Santiago. The Thirty-first Regiment served in the occupation of Cuba. The Thirty-second and Thirty-fifth remained in the United States. Of the nearly 6,700 men who served in these regiments 250 were fatalities. Most of these deaths resulted from disease, not from battle action.