In every war the percentage of deaths from disease is greater than of deaths on the battlefield, and the Spanish war was no exception. Of the hundreds of Massachusetts young men who volunteered and answered the call of President McKinley for troops, 292 were called upon to sacrifice their lives for their country.
Of this number, but nine were killed or died of wounds on the battlefield, the remaining 283 dying of disease or meeting death in an accidental manner.
The First Massachusetts Heavy Artillery lost one man during its term of service; the Second Massachusetts Infantry had nine killed or died of wounds received in battle and 89 died of disease; the Fifth Massachusetts Infantry lost nine men during its term of service; the Sixth Massachusetts Infantry lost 26 men during its term of service; the Eighth Massachusetts Infantry lost 31 men, and the Ninth Massachusetts Infantry 125 men. The Naval Brigade, during its term of service, lost two men, making the total number of men who were killed, died of wounds or disease, 292.
Of this number, as the foregoing list will show, the Eighth Massachusetts Infantry contributed the lives of one officer and 30 enlisted men, to which might be added the name of Private Charles A. Currier of Company B, who died soon after being transferred to the Hospital Corps, U. S. A.
The great majority of these men died in the hospitals in the south, far from home and friends. They gave up their lives willingly to their country's cause, and who isthere to say that theirs was not as much a hero's death as that of the men who fell while bravely charging through the Cuban jungles or up the steep slope of San Juan Hill.
The roll of honor of the Eighth is as follows:
May 28, 1898.—Private Herbert O. Burnham of Company D of Lynn, of pneumonia, at regimental hospital, Chickamauga Park, Georgia.
May 29—Private Clarence L. Bartol of Company C of Marblehead, of heart disease, at regimental hospital, Chickamauga Park, Georgia.
June 11—Corporal Clarence R. Stewart of Company M of Somerville, of pneumonia, at regimental hospital, Chickamauga Park, Georgia.
June 13—Private Timothy O. Lamprey of Company B of Amesbury, of appendicitis, at Third Division Hospital, Chickamauga Park, Georgia.
July 18—Private Harvey Dunn of Company L of Lawrence, of typhoid fever, at Third Division Hospital, Chickamauga Park, Georgia.
August 2—Private Frank A. Hinckley of Company I of Lynn, of typhoid fever, at Third Division Hospital, Chickamauga Park, Georgia.
August 4—Corporal John M. Doran of Company G of Gloucester, of typhoid fever, at Third Division Hospital, Chickamauga Park, Georgia.
August 7—Private Walter D. Thompson of Company I of Lynn, of malarial fever, at Third Division Hospital, Chickamauga Park, Georgia.
August 19—Musician Spencer S. Hobbs of Company K of Danvers, of typhoid fever, at Third Division Hospital, Chickamauga Park, Georgia.
August 26—Private Joseph Pocket of Company I of Lynn, of typhoid fever, at Third Division Hospital, Chickamauga Park, Georgia.
September 2—Sergeant Frank E. Draper of Company M of Somerville, of typhoid fever, at Third Division Hospital, Chickamauga Park, Georgia.
September 3—Private Kenneth G. Constine of Company B of Amesbury, of typhoid fever, at Third Division Hospital, Chickamauga Park, Georgia.
September 6—Private John F. Dottridge of Company D of Lynn, of typhoid fever, at John Blair Gibbs General Hospital, Lexington, Kentucky.
September 6—Sergeant Fred Thomas of Company F of Haverhill, of typhoid fever, at Sternberg General Hospital, Chickamauga Park, Georgia.
September 6—Corporal George Patten of Company B of Amesbury, of typhoid fever, while on furlough at Amesbury, Massachusetts.
September 7—Sergeant John F. Balch of Company A of Newburyport, of typhoid fever, at Third Division Hospital, Chickamauga Park, Georgia.
September 13—Private Henry A. Deasy of Company H of Salem, of typhoid fever, while on furlough at Kingston, New Hampshire.
September 15—Private Michael J. Hayes of Company I of Lynn, of dysentery, at Third Division Hospital, Chickamauga Park, Georgia.
September 17—Corporal John H. Nichols of Company H of Salem, of typhoid fever, at John Blair Gibbs General Hospital, Lexington, Kentucky.
September 18—Private Rolvin G. Coombs of Company B of Amesbury, of typhoid fever, at John Blair Gibbs General Hospital, Lexington, Kentucky.
September 19—Private George F. Walen of Company G of Gloucester, of typhoid fever, at John Blair Gibbs General Hospital, Lexington, Kentucky.
September 22—Private John F. Hanson of Company L of Lawrence, of typhoid fever, at John Blair Gibbs General Hospital, Lexington, Kentucky.
September 22—Private George O. Cook of Company D of Lynn, while on furlough at Dorchester, Massachusetts.
September 24—Corporal Henry Higgins of Company B of Amesbury, of typhoid fever, at John Blair Gibbs General Hospital, Lexington, Kentucky.
September 30—Private William B. Cahoon of Company G of Gloucester, of peritonitis, at John Blair Gibbs General Hospital, Lexington, Kentucky.
October 8—Private William H. Florence of Company C of Marblehead, of bright's disease, at John Blair Gibbs General Hospital, Lexington, Kentucky.
October 10—Private William D. Curley of Company G of Gloucester, of typhoid fever, at John Blair Gibbs General Hospital, Lexington, Kentucky.
October 20—Private Thomas Sweeney of Company B of Amesbury, of malarial fever, at John Blair Gibbs General Hospital, Lexington, Kentucky.
October 24—First Lieutenant Francis H. Downey of Company I of Lynn, of pneumonia and fever, at St. Joseph's Hospital, Lexington, Kentucky.
March 3, 1899.—Private Lewis F. Channell of Company F of Haverhill, of typhoid fever, on board the U. S. Hospital Ship "Missouri," off Cuba.
March 15—Private Charles W. Benson of Company C of Marblehead, of malarial fever, on board U. S. Hospital Ship "Missouri," off Cuba.
August 9—Private Charles A. Currier, U. S. Hospital Corps, formerly member of Company B of Amesbury, of exhaustion following typhoid fever, on board U. S. Hospital Ship "Relief" off Ponce, Porto Rico.