8” x 4 ¾” souvenir ribbon in the shape of a flag. Red, white and blue pieces of the Cuban flag are stitched together. An additional small ribbon is attached to the top with a small brass bar reading “SOUVENIR”. Small ribbon reads, “SOUVENIR / CAMP / MACKENZIE / Augusta, Ga. / 1899”, with two small US flags stitched on it. Attached at the center of the Cuban flag is a small brass pin from a melted down captured cannon, measuring ¾” in diameter; “SOUVENIR CAPTURED CANNON MANILA, P.I.”, with a Span Am War soldier at center, with “2’’ OR U.S.V. / ’98 ‘99”.  Overall good condition, with moderate soiling throughout, and a few areas of fraying to stitching and edges.

The Second Oregon were among the first infantry units to be sent to fight in the Philippine-American War (1899-1902). They were also the first to return, arriving in San Francisco on July 13, 1899, where they were met with a hero’s welcome. When fighting between the United States and Spain broke out in April 1898, the U.S. Army found itself unprepared to fight an overseas war, the first in the nation’s history. The War Department put out a call for volunteers from the National Guard, including one infantry regiment from Oregon, which had one of the better equipped and disciplined guards in the nation.

In early May 1898, the entire Oregon National Guard assembled at Portland’s Irving Park, temporarily renamed Camp McKinley by Governor William P. Lord. One regiment was organized and designated the Second Oregon Volunteer Infantry Regiment—the first volunteer regiment had been organized in the 1870s to fight the Modoc Indians. More than 1,300 volunteers from all over the state served with the Second Oregon. On average they were 25 years old, 5 feet 8 inches tall, and weighed 148 pounds. Most were single; fewer than ten percent had graduated from college. Their professions were quite varied; many were farmers, but more were clerks, students, or laborers. Fewer than half were members of a church.

On May 11, 1898, the volunteers boarded a train bound for San Francisco, stopping at Salem, Eugene, and other towns along the way, where they were met by crowds of supporters and brass bands playing Civil War songs. The Second Oregon Volunteers spent twelve months in the Philippines, securing Manila before fighting against Filipino independence fighters in the countryside. Sixty-one men from the regiment died, disease accounting for more than two-thirds of the fatalities. Three received the Congressional Medal of Honor, the nation’s highest military award. Source: The Oregon Historical Society

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