mokin
Member
I came across a Spanish-American War monument, erected in 1900, depicting a soldier with a .30-40 Krag.
This piqued my cuirosity because to my knowedge, the Krag wasn't in general use during the war.
A little research indicated that two of the units named on the monument, the 3rd Regiment Volunteer Cavalry "Grigsby's Rough Riders", and the 2nd Regiment Volunteer Cavalry "Torrey's Rough Riders" did not see combat, and never left the U.S. The remaining unit named on the monument,
the 1st South Dakota Regiment Volunteer Infantry was deployed to the Phillipines and briefly served under General MacAurther. However,they were not issued the M1896 Krag rifle. What I found really interesting was mention of dissatisfaction among the troops with the M1896 Krag. Not for its' weak action but an appearent lack of knock down power (I can hear them grousing about it now...).
So, I've been thinking about the monument, the men it honors, the people who commissioned it, the public sentiment at the time, and the choice of using the .30-40 Krag - a high velocity (for the time), small(er) caliber round in a rifle with a higher cyclic rate... you probably get the picture.
Anyway it is a cool monument. I've never seen a monument to the men of the Spanish American war or a .30-40 Krag depicted in a monument before and I thought I'd share.
If you're interested, here is link to some good stuff. Enjoy.
http://www.spanamwar.com/1stSouthdakota.htm
So, I've been thinking about the monument, the men it honors, the people who commissioned it, the public sentiment at the time, and the choice of using the .30-40 Krag - a high velocity (for the time), small(er) caliber round in a rifle with a higher cyclic rate... you probably get the picture.
Anyway it is a cool monument. I've never seen a monument to the men of the Spanish American war or a .30-40 Krag depicted in a monument before and I thought I'd share.
If you're interested, here is link to some good stuff. Enjoy.
http://www.spanamwar.com/1stSouthdakota.htm