United States Army, 1st North Carolina Regiment, Company M photograph album

During the last decades of the nineteenth century threats of hostilities escalated between Spain and the United States over troubles in Cuba. On April 11, 1898 President McKinley met with Congress for authorization to intervene and Spain declared war on the United States on April 24. North Carolina was one of the first states to respond to President McKinley's call for troops and Charlotte supplied three companies -- A and M of the 1st Regiment, the first to be formed in the state, and Company A of the 3rd Regiment, which was comprised of African-Americans. Most of the members of Company M enlisted in Charlotte on April 27 and were mustered into service at Camp Bryan Grimes on May 2. The regiment was sent to Jacksonville, Fla., for training, arriving there on May 23. Meanwhile, in Cuba, the months of June and July saw the heaviest fighting of the war in Santiago de Cuba. Although a temporary suspension of hostilities was agreed upon between the countries at war in August, the United States government required American troops to remain combat ready in case warfare erupted in Havana during the winter season. In October, the 1st Regiment moved to Savannah, Ga. in preparation for transportation to Cuba. Finally, on December 7 the regiment broke camp and boarded transport ships bound for Havana, Cuba. The Treaty of Paris that ended the war was signed on December 10, 1898, yet the United States government continued to send troops to Cuba. The soldiers of the 1st Regiment arrived in Cuba on December 11 and established Camp Columbia seven miles from Havana. The author of the Roster of the North Carolina Volunteers in The Spanish-American War 1898-1899 states that the members of the 1st Regiment were the first American soldiers to arrive at Havana. These regiments were largely peace-keeping forces, although they continued to hold combat drills. A large part of their mission involved acting as the occupation forces while the Spanish evacuated Cuba. The company mustered out in Savannah on April 22, 1899. [For further information, see North Carolina. Adjutant General's Dept., Roster of the North Carolina Volunteers in The Spanish-American War 1898-1899 (Raleigh, N.C.: Edwards & Broughton and E.M. Uzzell, 1900).]