Three Splendid Little Wars: The Diary of Joseph K. Taussig, 1898-1901

NOTE: NO FURTHER DISCOUNT FOR THIS PRINT PRODUCT --OVERSTOCK  SALE-- Significantly reduced list price The book reprints a diary found in the Naval War College archives of Joseph K. Taussig, later a distinguished U.S. naval officer, kept when as a naval cadet (midshipman and junior officer) he participated in the Spanish-American War, Philippine Insurrection, and Boxer Rebellion.  The text is supported by helpful editorial notes and introduction, as well as by numerous period photographs and the diarist’s sketches of the scenes and events. In this new volume covering the years 1898 to 1901, Dr. Cherpak has made a significant contribution to American naval history with the publication of these diaries. Vastly different in approach and sophistication of observation from those of more senior officers, these diaries capture the viewpoint and growing professional understanding of a young man during his very first experiences of wartime operations. In the years between 1882 and 1902, the U.S. Naval Academy did not use the titles “Midshipman” or “Passed Midshipman” for officers and naval engineers in training, employing the term “Naval Cadet” until the more traditional title was restored on 1 July 1902. During these years, the Naval Academy’s academic program lasted six years. The first four years were spent at Annapolis, the next two at sea. In part 1 of this book, Taussig writes while still in the first phase of his education at Annapolis. Taussig’s very rough and impressionistic notes of his first experiences of naval operations during the Spanish-American War, in 1898, are interesting for the manner in which they document some of the typical attitudes and interests of a novice, while also providing the modern reader with a fascinating viewpoint on the war.In part 2, Taussig has already finished his Annapolis years (in early 1899) and is beginning his two years of required sea duty before returning to Annapolis to take his final examination and to await a vacancy for promotion to ensign. During the entire period recorded in part 2 Taussig is still a naval cadet and has yet to take hisfinal promotion examination. He does that, but only in mid-1901, after the commanding officer of USS Culgoa (in the final entry printed in this book) allows him to proceed to that step, with the words, “An Excellent Journal. Approved.” In part 2 Taussig’s journals for 1899–1901 contrast with his first journal for 1898, as he records his observations of two more wars, the Philippine Insurrection and the Boxer Rebellion, observations that document his growing professionalism and his increasing interest in and understanding of the naval profession.Taken as a whole, Taussig’s diaries in this volume provide a valuable glimpse of the initial stage of a naval officer’s professional military education just a little over a century ago. When compared and contrasted with the diary that the same man was to keep in 1917, in command of a destroyer during World War I (The Queenstown Patrol), Taussig’s early journals and diaries can be seen as substantively marking the first stages of the development of an officer’s professional understanding.Taussig built on these initial experiences and developed his professional understanding when, as a captain, he became a student at the Naval War College in 1919, staying on for two years as an instructor in tactics in 1920–21. Returning to Newport after two additional periods in command, he became head of the Naval War College’s Strategy Department in 1923–26 and chief of staff to the President, Naval War College, in 1927–30, before becoming a flag officer in 1932. In the light of these further experiences and the advanced professional education that Taussig would eventually acquire, the diaries published in this volume provide insight into the basic professional military education at the entry level in the early twentieth century. Other products produced by the U.S. Navy, Naval War College can be found here: https://bookstore.gpo.gov/agency/621