Rowan, Andrew Summers, LTC

Rowan, Andrew S.
Captain, U.S. Army
Home: Union, West Virginia
19th Infantry
Date of Action:  May 1898
General Orders No. No. 38, W.D., 1922

Citation:

The Distinguished Service Cross is presented to Andrew S. Rowan, Captain , U.S. Army, for extraordinary heroism in action in connection with the operations in Cuba in May, 1898.

At the outbreak of the Spanish-American campaign Lieutenant Rowan, under disguise, entered the enemy lines in Oriente, crossed the island of Cuba, and not only succeeded in delivering a message to General Garcia, but secured secret information relative to existing military conditions in that region of such great value that it had an important bearing on the quick ending of the struggle and the complete success of the U.S. Army.

http://apps.westpointaog.org/Memorials/Article/2920/

http://www.foundationsmag.com/rowan.html

http://www.arlingtoncemetery.net/asrowan.htm

CLASS OF 1881

Rowan’s army career was, for the most part, unremarkable: garrison duty at various posts in the United States; some survey work in Central America; a Washington assignment in the Adjutant General’s Office; appointment as military attaché to Chile; staff service in Puerto Rico and Cuba during the War with Spain; some time in the Philippines; a year teaching military science in Kansas; and retirement as major after thirty years service. There was one spectacular break in the routine. Early in 1898, Rowan was dispatched on a secret mission to obtain information on the strength of rebel forces in Cuba from their leader, Gen. Calixto Garcia. Rowan landed on the island the day Spain declared war, found Garcia, and returned with the information in eleven days. Rowan’s exploit inspired a much–reprinted and much–translated 1899 pamphlet by Elbert Hubbard, Message to Garcia, that made the officer’s name world famous.