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Contact Info
Home Town Humboldt Bay
Last Address Naval Academy Cemetery Section 2, Lot 222B
Date of Passing Apr 12, 1928
Official Badges
Unofficial Badges
Additional Information
Last Known Activity:
Edmund BeardsleyUnderwood
Commandant (and therefore acting-Governor) of American Samoa
Captain Underwood was in command of the USS Colorado (August 1908) when the 13,680 ton armored cruiser ran ashore at Double Bluff in Puget Sound, twenty five miles north of Seattle. In 1910 Captain Underwood was "Elected for Retirement" by the Elimination Board.
He was retired with the rank of Commodore, 15 November, 1910.
Other Comments:
Edmund Beardsley Underwood (1853–April 12, 1928) was a Captain in the United States Navy. Born in California, he graduated from the United States Naval Academy in 1873. He was Commandant (and therefore acting-Governor) of American Samoa from May 5, 1903 to January 30, 1905. He retired in 1910 as Commodore.
Capt. Edmund B. Underwood was at the time of his retirement the commanding officer of the receiving ship Independence (1814) at the Mare Island Navy Yard. Capt. Underwood was born in California, but was appointed to the naval service on June 26, 1869 at large. He served on the monitor USS Miantonomoh (BM-5) during the Spanish War.
Spanish-American War
From Month/Year
April / 1898
To Month/Year
August / 1898
Description The Spanish–American War (Spanish: Guerra hispano-estadounidense or Guerra hispano-americana; Filipino: Digmaang Espanyol-Amerikano) was a conflict fought between Spain and the United States in 1898. Hostilities began in the aftermath of the internal explosion of the USS Maine in Havana harbor in Cuba leading to United States intervention in the Cuban War of Independence. American acquisition of Spain's Pacific possessions led to its involvement in the Philippine Revolution and ultimately in the Philippine–American War.
Revolts had been occurring for some years in Cuba against Spanish rule. The U.S. later backed these revolts upon entering the Spanish–American War. There had been war scares before, as in the Virginius Affair in 1873. In the late 1890s, US public opinion was agitated by anti-Spanish propaganda led by newspaper publishers such as Joseph Pulitzer and William Randolph Hearst which used yellow journalism to call for war. The business community across the United States had just recovered from a deep depression, and feared that a war would reverse the gains. They lobbied vigorously against going to war.
The US Navy battleship Maine was mysteriously sunk in Havana harbor; political pressures from the Democratic Party pushed the administration of Republican President William McKinley into a war that he had wished to avoid.[9] Spain promised time and time again that it would reform, but never delivered. The United States sent an ultimatum to Spain demanding that it surrender control of Cuba. First Madrid declared war, and Washington then followed suit.
The main issue was Cuban independence; the ten-week war was fought in both the Caribbean and the Pacific. US naval power proved decisive, allowing expeditionary forces to disembark in Cuba against a Spanish garrison already facing nationwide Cuban insurgent attacks and further wasted by yellow fever. Numerically superior Cuban, Philippine, and US forces obtained the surrender of Santiago de Cuba and Manila despite the good performance of some Spanish infantry units and fierce fighting for positions such as San Juan Hill. Madrid sued for peace with two obsolete Spanish squadrons sunk in Santiago de Cuba and Manila Bay and a third, more modern fleet recalled home to protect the Spanish coasts.
The result was the 1898 Treaty of Paris, negotiated on terms favorable to the US which allowed it temporary control of Cuba and ceded ownership of Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Philippine islands. The cession of the Philippines involved payment of $20 million ($575,760,000 today) to Spain by the US to cover infrastructure owned by Spain.
The defeat and collapse of the Spanish Empire was a profound shock to Spain's national psyche, and provoked a thorough philosophical and artistic revaluation of Spanish society known as the Generation of '98.[ The United States gained several island possessions spanning the globe and a rancorous new debate over the wisdom of expansionism. It was one of only five US wars (against a total of eleven sovereign states) to have been formally declared by Congress.
My Participation in This Battle or Operation
From Month/Year
April / 1898
To Month/Year
August / 1898
Last Updated: Mar 16, 2020
Personal Memories
Memories Spanish-American War, 1898-1899
After the sinking of armored cruiser Maine in Havana harbor 15 February 1898, Miantonomoh recommissioned 10 March 1898, Captain Mortimer L. Johnson in command. On 21 April, the United States and Spain severed diplomatic ties, leading to the Spanish-American War. The following day, President William McKinley ordered Rear Admiral William T. Sampson to blockade ports on the northern coast of Cuba.
After fitting out at Charleston, S.C., Miantonomoh joined the blockading force 5 May to serve until the blockade was lifted 14 August, the day after hostilities ceased. Miantonomoh returned to Charleston 29 August and to Philadelphia 1 October. She decommissioned at League Island 8 March 1899.
