The Spanish-American War is often referred to as the first "media war." During the 1890s, journalism that sensationalized, sometimes even manufactured, dramatic events was a powerful force that helped propel the United States into war with Spain. Led by newspaper owners William Randolph Hearst and Joseph Pulitzer, journalism of the 1890s used melodrama, romance, and hyperbole to sell millions of newspapers.
From Cuba, Hearst's star reporters wrote stories designed to tug at the heartstrings of Americans. Horrific tales described the situation in Cuba--female prisoners, executions, valiant rebels fighting, and starving women and children figured in many of the stories that filled the newspapers. But it was the sinking of the battleship Maine in Havana Harbor that gave Hearst his big story--war. After the sinking of Maine, the Hearst newspapers, with no evidence, unequivocally blamed the Spanish, and soon U.S. public opinion demanded intervention.
Today, historians point to the Spanish-American War as the first press-driven war. Although it may be an exaggeration to claim that Hearst and the other journalists started the war, it is fair to say that the press fueled the public's passion for war. Without sensational headlines and stories about Cuban affairs, the mood for Cuban intervention may have been very different. At the dawn of the twentieth century, the United States emerged as a world power, and the U.S. press proved its influence.
The Spanish-American War was over in one year, 1898. Still, after American troops drove the Spanish from the Philippines, they began a struggle with Filipino insurgents anxious to throw out the conquering Americans and rule themselves. The resulting Philippine Insurrection lasted from 1899 until 1902, and a soldier from Taneytown, Sterling Archibald Galt, participated in it. Not only did he participate, but he also earned the Medal of Honor for his "Distinguished Bravery and Conspicuous Gallantry in Action against Insurgents."
Galt, born in Taneytown in 1866, came from a Scots Irish family. In 1880 he lived with his parents, Henry and Anna Eliza (Annan) Galt, on their Taneytown farm. By 1889 he lived in North Dakota, joining a state military unit in his early 20s. Nine years later, that unit became the 1st North Dakota Volunteer Infantry, and Private Galt was shipped to The Philippines. After a year of fighting, most of the regiment returned to the U.S., but Galt liked army life. So, as a sergeant major, he remained in the Philippines with the 36th Infantry, in U.S. Volunteers.
In Baliuag, Philippines, William H. Young chose Galt and several dozen other "specially qualified enlisted men" from the 1st North Dakota Volunteer Infantry Regiment, 2nd Oregon Volunteers, and 4th U.S. Cavalry. One historian wrote of the Scouts: "Always in front of the main column, the Scouts bore the brunt of the advance, reconnoitering and maintaining contact with the enemy." Young's men were designated to serve as Major General Henry Lawton's eyes and ears in the remote region east of the Candaba Swamp.
Though suffering high casualties early on, this free-wheeling outfit first gained fame at San Miguel de Mayumo in Bulacan Province, Luzon Island. Acting as the eyes and ears, they moved ahead of the central column of American troops through the swamps and jungles of Luzon Island. While under fire on November 9, 1899, Galt swam across the rain-swollen Pampanga River, holding a rope in his teeth. Upon reaching the other shore, he tied the rope to a tree and guided several hundred men nearly surrounded by the enemy through the water to safety. For that action, the United States awarded him the Medal of Honor in 1902. Tragically, he contracted malaria during those years in the tropics, which led to a medical discharge in 1901 and return to the U.S.
Sometime in 1902, Galt, now 36 years old and living in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, met Minnie Ashbrook, who would become his wife. He listed his occupation as "sales agent on their Ohio marriage license." He and Minnie were married in May 1903 and headed to Missouri. How dramatically his life had changed in two years!
By 1908 the couple lived in Harrisonville, a town now part of greater Kansas City, Missouri. What took them there is unknown, but at the age of 42, Sterling Archibald Galt succumbed to nephritis and was buried in Harrisonville's Orient Cemetery. Unfortunately, the couple left no children to listen to stories of their father's heroic actions, and much of Galt's life remains shrouded in mystery.
Many years later, the Cass County, Missouri, Genealogical Society, the Cass County Historical Society, and the Harrisonville Honor Guard organized a special Memorial Day service at Orient Cemetery to honor him and shared his full Medal of Honor citation.
