When President McKinley called for volunteer troops to fight against Spain, a wave of patriotism surged across the nation. Volunteer regiments formed, frequently drawn from National Guard units. Two-thirds of these 200,000 volunteers would spend the war in camps within the United States.

On July 9, 1898, Arizona Territorial Governor Myron McCord resigned to become colonel of a regiment of infantry to be recruited from the territory. When this unit was finally authorized, however, it was to include men from New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Indian Territory, as well as from Arizona.

McCord's regiment was called the First Territorial Volunteer Infantry. Unlike the celebrated Rough Riders of the First Volunteer Cavalry, very little is known of this unit. Perhaps this is because McCord's infantrymen sat out the war in training camps, fighting boredom and disease rather than the enemy.

Private-purchase coat-collar insignia worn by Quartermaster Sergeant Llewellyn A. Herring, Company H, First Territorial Volunteer Infantry.

The "Last Parade," January 25, 1899, Camp Churchman, Georgia.

Roster

The Arizonans mustered at Fort Whipple, then trained at Fort Hamilton near Lexington, Kentucky. Suffering "the coldest winter on record," they moved south to Camp Churchman in Albany, Georgia. In February 1899, the First Territorial Volunteer Infantry was discharged. Of the 1,308 men who served, eight died (of typhoid, dysentery, and meningitis) and twenty deserted.

Model 1874 U.S. Army mess kit used by Harry Packwood, Company A, First Territorial Volunteer Infantry.