A document and letter related to General Henry T. Allen (1859-1930) and his military command in the Philippines, including: 

1. Typed letter by William August Kobbé. Zamboanga, Philippine Islands, 5 May 1900. 1 page, 4to, 8 x 8 7/8 in. 

2. Autograph letter signed by Henry T. Allen. Catbalogan, Samar, [Philippine Islands], 30 June 1900. 2 pages, 4to. With original envelope with 5 June 1900, Philippine cancel, and 3 red 2-cent stamps. Two additional cancels to verso. 

General Henry Tureman Allen (1859-1930) was a career United States Army officer. A graduate of West Point, he gained recognition when he explored the Copper River in Alaska in 1885, an accomplishment that Nelson A. Miles compared to that of Lewis and Clark. After serving on the staff of General Miles, he served as a military attache to Russia (1890-1895), where he met the recipient of this letter.

At the outbreak of the Spanish-American War, he commanded Troop D of the 2nd Cavalry and impressed Theodore Roosevelt. After a bout of malaria, he transferred to the 43rd Volunteer Infantry as a Major and was placed in command of the 3rd Battalion on the Island of Samar, where he recruited locals to serve in the Philippine Scouts to fight insurgents. From there he wrote to Herbert Pierce, a military attaché in St. Petersburg. The letter is one of introduction for Frederick Palmer of Collier's magazine, who presumably was coming to interview Pierce.

The letter opens with a detailed military account of Allen's time on Samar, looking ahead to his military governorship of Leyte, and his opinion of the American political handling of the Philippines: "I have had command of it with two battalions (8 companies) until now. Tomorrow I start for Leyte adjoining island of twice the population of this one, where I take command of the flying column, 5 companies of infantry, Johnson scouts (white), and gasser's native scouts that are organized there. I look forward to considerable sport and plenty of hard work. General [Mojica] is at Lukban of Leyte and has about 5 to 600 organized soldiers. I have lost out of my command on this island 32 killed and 29 wounded and missing, but we have killed upwards of 700 insurgents. The situation out here is improving slowly but will be a long time before we finish with the robber bands and before less than 60,000 soldiers are properly required to pin down the group. Now comes China, but hurrah for McK. & Roosevelt. Lodge's arguments on the retention of the Philippines are full of unanswerable logic." 

Also included here is a typed document by Brigadier General William August Kobbé recommending Allen for a promotion for "personal gallantry and professional zeal in the attack and pursuit of insurgent forces under General Lukban, at Catbalogan, Samar, January 27th to 29th 1900, resulting in his defeat the destruction of his arsenal and stores and the capture of his military chest with a large sum of money." 

A very scarce and fascinating set of documents from the Philippine-American War.   

[Manuscripts, Documents, Letters, Ephemera, Signatures, Autographs] [Spanish American War, Spanish-American War, Cuban War of Independence, USS Maine, Remember the Maine, Philippine-American War, Philippine Revolution, Rough Riders, Battle of San Juan Hill, Theodore Roosevelt, Teddy Roosevelt]