Veteran of a Brief War

Robert Charles Suess (Beverly (Suess) Barton’s paternal grandfather), was a veteran of the brief Spanish-American War, which was primarily about Cuban independence from Spain, but ultimately also resulted in U.S. acquisition of the Spanish colonies of the Philippines, Guam, and Puerto Rico. (Cuba became a U.S. protectorate until its independence a few years later.) War was declared by Spain and the U.S. in April 1898. In May, Robert Suess enlisted in the 1st Texas Infantry as a private in Company C. His regiment traveled to Alabama for about a month, then to Miami for about 6 weeks, then to Camp Cuba Libre in Jacksonville, FL, where “an armistice put an end to the war's fighting less than a week after [the regiment’s] arrival”.

Robert C. Suess

He volunteered for war service, but ultimately served less than a year, did not fight, and may not even have traveled to Cuba.

Because the war lasted only 4 months (with an official peace treaty 4 months later), many U.S. soldiers never even left the U.S. to join the war. Robert Suess’s granddaughter Gloria (Suess) Roberts Loudon said, “[Robert Suess] was a veteran of the Spanish American War but like most of those veterans, did not get farther than the ports in the southern states apparently. This is when he learned some Spanish.” But the 1st Texas Volunteer Infantry did go to Cuba for 3 months, from December 1898 to March 1899, occupying Cuba until the treaty was in force. I don’t have any reason to believe that Robert Suess did not go along, but don’t have evidence either way. In any case, he did not fight in the war.

Robert Suess was honorably discharged as a corporal in April 17, 1899, and he moved back home with his mother in Houston, TX, and worked as a “tinker” according to the 1900 census.

Can you find Robert C. Suess?

This is a photo of his company pictured at Camp Cuba Libre, when he was there, so presumably he is in this photo.

Bibliography

U.S., Headstone Applications for Military Veterans, 1925-1963, Online publication - Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2012. Accessed 11/11/23 http://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?db=qgheadstoneapps&h=1474990&ti=0&indiv=try&gss=pt.  Original data - Applications for Headstones for U.S. Military Veterans, 1925-1941. Microfilm publication M1916, 134 rolls. ARC ID: 596118. Records of the Office of the Quartermaster G.

 McSherry, A Brief History of the First Texas Volunteer Infantry, The Spanish-American War Centennial Website. Accessed 11/11/23 https://www.spanamwar.com/1sttexas.htm

Peacock, B. H., Historical and biographical souvenir of the first Texas U.S. Volunteer Infantry : illustrated with scenes of camp life , Jacksonville, Fla., Camp Cuba Libre, October, 1898, compiled by B.H. Peacock. 64 pages : illustrations ; 16 x 25 cm. Jacksonville, Florida : , 1898. Electronic reproduction. Salt Lake City, Utah : FamilySearch International, 2012. Accessed 11/11/23 http://www.familysearch.org/library/books/idurl/1/179281