Scope and Content Note
The papers of Robert Patterson Hughes (1839-1909) span the years 1876-1994, with the bulk of the material dating from 1898 to 1909. The collection consists of diaries, correspondence, photographs, writings, a printed memorial, and biographical material documenting aspects of Hughes's military career from his enlistment as a private in the 12th Pennsylvania Infantry in 1861 to his retirement as major general in 1903.
The bulk of the papers pertains to Hughes's service in the Philippines between 1898 and 1901. A series of six diaries kept between July 1898 and December 1899 chronicles Hughes's activities as inspector general of the Expeditionary Force from May 17 to August 1898, inspector general and provost marshal general of Manila from August 1898 to May 1899, and as commander of the Department of the Visayas after May 1899. A typed transcript is available for the first two volumes covering the period July to October 1898.
The papers also include a detailed account, accompanied by a hand-drawn map, of the Battle of Little Bighorn, written by Hughes to his wife on 30 June 1876. Hughes, then aide-de-camp to Alfred Howe Terry, arrived at the site of the battle on June 27th. His correspondence includes an 1893 letter from George D. Ruggles recalling the expedition's departure from St. Paul, Minnesota, to Fort Abraham Lincoln, North Dakota.