Realizing that scattered efforts and divided membership could never bring about the objects for which these various organizations were formed, three of them ---- “Spanish War Veterans,” the “Service Men of the Spanish- American War” and the “Spanish-American War Veterans”--- in 1904, amalgamated. The amalgamation agreement dates from April 18, 1904, and was ratified at St. Louis, Mo., the same year.

The officers who signed the amalgamation agreement for their respective organizations were Harold C. Megrew, Commander-in-Chief of the Spanish War Veterans; William E. English, Commander-in-Chief of the Spanish- American War Veterans; and George M. Moulton, Commander-in-Chief of the Service Men of the Spanish War.

The committees on amalgamation which drew up the agreement were composed of men who were and have since been prominently before the public. In addition to the three Commanders referred to above, there were on the committees, Maj. Gen. J. Warren Keifer of Springfield, Ohio, who, besides serving in the Civil War, where he attained the rank of Major General and was severely wounded in the Battle of the Wilderness, was also Major General of Volunteers in the Spanish-American War. He served many terms in Congress and was Speaker of the House in the 47th Congress. Gen. Nelson A. Miles was another member of the committee, and his public record with which all are familiar. Maj. Emmett Urell, Capt. Champ S. Andrews, Gen. Willis J. Hulings, Col James C. Coryell, Gen. John A. Wiley, Col. Edward C. Young and Maj. Lawrence M. Ennis were among the most outstanding members of the amalgamation committee.

The organization which grew out of the amalgamation of the bodies above referred to, became the “United Spanish War Veterans,” the present organization, and the only one the membership of which is composed exclusively of men who served during the Spanish-American War period.

In the city of Washington, D.C., in 1906, the Legion of Spanish War Veterans, which organization at that time was confined exclusively to the states of Massachusetts and New Hampshire, amalgamated with the United Spanish War Veterans. The amalgamation agreement was signed for the United Spanish War Veterans by Charles R. Miller, Commander-in-Chief, and by Frederick A. Walker, Commander-in-Chief of the Legion of Spanish War Veterans.

In May 1908, in Washington, the Veteran Army of the Philippines amalgamated with the United Spanish War Veterans, and the agreement was signed by Walter S. Hale as Commander-in-Chief of the United Spanish War Veterans, and Gen. D.H. Bandholtz as Commander- in-Chief of the Veteran Army of the Philippines. When this organization came into the United Spanish War Veterans every organization composed exclusively of men who had seen service in the Spanish War period was then under one head.

Since the above date the United Spanish War Veterans has constantly progressed. Its membership, of course, like all veteran organizations, for a period after the close of the conflict was small, but its active members were eager to be of service to their comrades, and as a result today the organization has within its ranks a larger percentage of eligible than any veteran body has ever had.

The approximate membership of the organization today is around 111,391 members. It has become a leading factor in the veteran movement; this condition is due to several causes. First, the members of the Grand Army of the Republic have all reached that age where they cannot successfully carry on the work that they have so nobly performed for many years, making it necessary for the duties to fall upon other shoulders. It was natural that it should fall to the next senior organization, that of the Spanish War period. Second, the men who composed the Spanish War Veterans, are now of that conservative age where they have a measure of judgment and discretion which enables them to weigh carefully all questions coming before them and give calm and deliberate consideration to the issues involved.

The National Headquarters of the organization up to 1923, as had been its custom since inception, was moved every year to the home of the Commander-in-Chief. After 1923, realizing that an organization, national in scope, should have a permanent office, it was established in the city of Washington, District of Columbia, where it has since remained.

Author Unknown – 1936

1. To unite in fraternal bonds through a national organization with state and local subdivisions those men who served in the military or naval establishments of the United States of America during the War with Spain and campaigns incidental and growing out of that War.
2. To honor the memory and preserve from neglect and oblivion the graves of their dead.
3. To assist former comrades and shipmates, their widows and orphans such as help, encouragement and protection.
4. To perpetuate the memories of the War with Spain, the campaigns in the Philippines and in China, and to collect and preserve the records of the service of the members.
5. To inculcate the principles of universal liberty equal rights and justice to all mankind, of loyalty to our country, reverence for its institutions, obedience to its laws and respect for its magistrates, to encourage honor and purity in public affairs and to discountenance whatever tends to weaken these sentiments among our people.

Section 1: The name of the organization created by the union of the National Army and Navy Spanish War Veterans National Association Spanish American War Veterans, and the National Encampment Service Men of the Spanish War, hereby united in one fraternal, patriotic and lasting organization, shall be “United Spanish War Veterans.”

Section 16: Camps shall be numbered by states, and those now in actual existence and active operation shall be given numbers in order of their original formation as former “camps” or “commands” in the organizations hereby united and consolidated.

The other sections of this agreement provide for details of the organization.

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