Scope and Content Note
The papers of Roswell Randall Hoes (1850-1921) span the years 1799-1912. The Hoes Papers relate to the Spanish-American War and its aftermath as it affected United States policies. Hoes began early in his navy career to gather material such as official and unofficial Spanish-American War books, pamphlets, legislative bills and speeches. His papers cover overseas military operations as well as their administrative and diplomatic aspects. Also included is material on native customs, institutions and political movements.
The papers consist of miscellaneous papers, pamphlets, and clippings, including handwritten bound volumes of which only one is in Spanish. One contains engineering data on board the Olympia (cruiser); another comprises copies of requisitions endorsed by Admiral George Dewey and Captain Charles Gridley while the ship was at Manila or in Far Eastern waters. There is a book of handwritten notes and transcripts of legislation relating to events leading to the establishment of the United States Naval Academy in 1845; another volume consists of Hoes's notes on a century of history of the United States Navy Chaplain Corps and its personnel from 1799 to 1899. A few letters signed by Hoes while serving on board the Kearsarge (battleship) in 1900 and several additional folders of unrelated miscellany relate to his collecting interests.
Material on Cuba contains correspondence and documents concerning General Leonard Wood's tenure as governor general of Cuba and a United States Senate committee's inquiry into his conduct during the American occupation. Correspondents in the Cuba file include Marcus Alonzo Hanna, Henry Moore Teller, Estes G. Rathbone, Elihu Root, Theodore Roosevelt, and Wood’s family members and military colleagues.