Theodore Roosevelt Declares on the Eve of the Spanish-American War: “We want peace, but not an infamous or a dishonorable peace”

The late 19th century saw an explosion of knowledge, with all branches of science particularly benefiting. Flora and fauna of all kinds were studied and classified, and conclusions drawn based on the findings. A number of people were interested in birds, and while in the early years of the century Audubon identified and painted them, in the century’s latter years people, influenced by Darwin’s work on evolution, tried to understand the reasons for their structures and coloring. Two of these men, Abbott H. Thayer and J.M. Lester, developed similar theories to explain protective coloring in birds.

C.J. Pennock was a notable horticulturalist who took a significant interest in birds; he would soon write his opus "Birds of Delaware”. He had an idea based on his readings: why not apply the methods of protection birds had developed to create camouflage for naval vessels? So on April 6, 1898, according to a notation on his letterhead, he wrote to Pennsylvania Congressman Thomas S. Butler “suggesting the application of the recently advanced ideas on protective coloration in birds to the Navy”. At that time, there was no such thing as naval camouflage. Butler responded to him the next day saying he would “at once lay your letter before Secretary (of the Navy John D.) Long so that he may have the benefit of your suggestion. I am opposed to war, but at the same time I am opposed to the inhuman practices upon the men, women and children of Cuba. It is shown by the records here that there were more than 4000 persons starved to death in the last 15 months and that 1000 are starving to death every day. If these political murders cannot be prevented without war, war will have to come although no one would regret it more than I.” Butler hand-carried Pennock's letter to Navy Secretary Long who asked Butler to bring it over to his Assistant Secretary, Theodore Roosevelt, for response.

In April of 1897 Roosevelt had been appointed Assistant Secretary of the Navy as a reward for his tireless campaigning for the newly elected President, William McKinley. He foresaw that war could develop with Spain, as Spain's holdings in the Caribbean and its simmering war with Cuban nationalists just 90 miles off U.S. shores became ever more thorns in the side of American goals for the hemisphere. Then, on February 15, 1898, the U.S.S. Maine blew up in Havana harbor, the Spanish were blamed and an outcry for war arose. From that moment, Roosevelt believed that trying to prevent the war would be impossible. He sprang into action, moving ammunition, readying ships for action, and seeking to have Congress allow for enlisting unlimited numbers of sailors. On February 25, he even cabled Admiral Dewey to be ready if war were to break out, and gave him his order in that event: attack the Philippines. TR also made it known to the President and others that if war came, he wanted to leave his post behind a desk in Washington and head for the front.

So when TR had Pennock’s letter placed on his desk, the onrushing war was imminent; there would be no time to implement suggestions, however merited, at that exact moment. Typed letter signed, on his Navy Department letterhead, Washington, April 7, 1898, to Pennock, expressing his feelings about the war and approving of the idea of camouflage for the Navy’s ships. “Mr. Butler has just brought me in your letter. I have already had that idea suggested to me, and it seems to me to be an excellent one. At the same time there are difficulties in the way which would prevent our utilizing it offhand in an emergency like this. I want to try it later with some vessels, but now our work has to be rather of the rough and ready order. Permit me to say that I quite agree with the concluding paragraph of your letter, that we want peace, but not an infamous or a dishonorable peace; and I congratulate in having a Congressman who is giving practical effect to such feelings in the House.”

On April 20, 1898, President McKinley gave an ultimatum requiring that the Spanish government free Cuba in three days. On April 23, that ultimatum expired and the machinery was set in motion for an official declaration of war. Also on the 23rd, Secretary of War Russell Alger told Roosevelt of a proposed special regiment to be formed for the war; it would he known as the Rough Riders. When the war was commenced, he said, TR would be given the opportunity to command that regiment. Roosevelt expressed great interest. Congress declared war on the 25th, and that same day Roosevelt was officially offered the command of the Rough Riders, which he accepted.

Fate decided the rest, with the fame he gained as leader of the Rough Riders leading to his assumption of the presidency just three years later.

As for naval camouflage, TR was foresighted in his approval of the idea. Until the 20th century, naval weapons had a short range, so camouflage was unimportant for ships, and for the men on board them. Paint schemes were selected on the basis of ease of maintenance or aesthetics. However, in the very first years of the 20th century, the increasing range of naval engagements, as demonstrated by the Battle of Tsushima in the Russo-Japanese War in 1905, prompted the introduction of the first naval camouflage. Thus, seven years after he wrote this letter, Theodore Roosevelt became the president in whose administration naval camouflage was introduced.