Christopher Dunnigan: At 15, He Added Three Years to His Age to Fight in the Philippines

A teenage Christopher Ambrose Dunnigan (standing) with a fellow soldier in a San Francisco studio, 1898, shortly before they shipped out to the Philippines. NPS Photo / FOVA 281703

A war that made a world power

The Spanish-American War, fought from April to July 1898, marked America's rise as a global power. It grew from U.S. economic interests in Cuba, a desire for territorial expansion, and humanitarian concern over Spain's harsh rule in the Caribbean. Tensions boiled over after the USS Maine exploded in Havana Harbor on February 15, 1898, and in April war was declared, with fighting in Spanish territories in the Caribbean and the Pacific, including the Philippines.

Fifteen, and enlisted

In June 1898, Christopher Ambrose Dunnigan, 15, lived in Vancouver, Washington, with his mother, stepfather and three sisters. That month he added three years to his age and enlisted in the U.S. Army at Vancouver Barracks, in the heart of the city. Days later, Company G of the 1st Washington Volunteer Infantry left for Fontana Barracks in San Francisco; under General Thomas Anderson, it sailed for the Philippines in October 1898.

By the time the company landed on November 22, the war with Spain was over. The Treaty of Paris gave Guam, Puerto Rico and the Philippines to the United States. But Filipinos who had fought for independence from Spain turned against the new American rule, and under Emilio Aguinaldo they rose in the Philippine-American War of 1899–1902, a conflict of fierce battles and guerrilla warfare.

A Spanish flag Dunnigan kept. NPS Photo / FOVA 281704

Letters from the trenches

Dunnigan faced trench warfare and tropical disease. He wrote home to his ten-year-old sister, Anne. On February 22, 1899:

"There was one man killed this morning and three wounded. The dead man belonged to the 2nd Oregon Regiment and the three wounded ones belonged to Company E & H of our Regiment."

Two days later, on a discarded cartridge box:

"We are in these trenches 7 days today and have been attacked nearly every day since we got here but we beat them back every time..."

His discharge papers list battles at Santa Ana, Cainta, Morong, Calamba, Taguig and near San Pedro Macati.

A soldier for 25 years

When Company G came home to Vancouver on November 4, 1899, Dunnigan — just shy of 17 — was the regiment's youngest. He wasn't finished:

Corporal Dunnigan while stationed in Cuba. NPS Photo / FOVA 281703

Dunnigan in 1917. NPS Photo / FOVA 281703

He retired in 1923, at 41, after 25 years. In September 1942 he joined the U.S. Coast Guard Reserve for full-time wartime duty, guarding the Kaiser Shipyard in Vancouver.

Dunnigan married Frida in 1912, with whom he had a son in Portland, Oregon; after their divorce in 1917, he married Bessie Frederick and had three more children. From 1922 the family lived in downtown Vancouver, where he died on September 10, 1960.

Dunnigan with his mother and three sisters in Vancouver, Washington. NPS Photo / FOVA 281703

The collection

Dunnigan's documents, photographs and artifacts were donated to Fort Vancouver National Historic Site in 2024 and processed by Tara Gibbs of American Conservation Experience under museum curator Meagan Huff. They show the experiences of soldiers who served at Vancouver Barracks, and the ties between the post and the city.

Sources

Based on "Christopher Ambrose Dunnigan: An American Soldier in the Philippines," National Park Service, Fort Vancouver National Historic Site, quoting Dunnigan's 1899 letters in the park's museum collection; a work of the United States government in the public domain.