Thomas, Dale (Hrsg.) The Philippine Insurrection 1899-1902

The Journal and Letters of Quartermaster Fred Tuttle, US Navy

The previously unpublished letters and diaries of Quartermaster Fred Tuttle offer a personal, unvarnished insight into the Philippine Insurrection of 1899 to 1902 and the brutal methods used by the US Navy to suppress it. With the USS Vicksburg as his mobile headquarters, General Jacob Smith pursued a scorched earth policy, burning villages and executing prisoners. Tuttle, who served aboard the Vicksburg, witnessed the capture of Emilio Aguinaldo, the leader of the uprising, and the suppression of the rebellion in the southern islands. Back in the United States, the Philippine uprising was at the centre of a debate between imperialists and anti-imperialists, with both President William McKinley and Senator Albert Beverage throwing their considerable weight behind the former group. Beverage believed that the United States should annex the Philippines, as he considered its inhabitants to be uneducated and incapable of governing themselves. Mark Twain, on the other hand, argued that it would violate the principles of the Declaration of Independence and corrupt the democratic institutions of the United States if the United States were to rule another nation without its consent. Away from the debating chambers and opinion columns, Fred Tuttle's fascinating eyewitness account reveals in shocking detail what imperialist policy meant on the ground.