Corporal Samuel T. Holden was a printer, Guardsman and patriot

Corporal Samuel T. Holden poses in his Missouri National Guard uniform shortly after enlisting with the Lamar City Guards, later redesignated Company C, 2nd Regiment, Missouri National Guard, in 1892. Holden transferred to Company H at Nevada after beginning his newspaper career with the Nevada Mail and later served in the Spanish-American War with the 2nd Missouri Volunteer Infantry. Courtesy of Jeremy P. Ämick

When the United States declared war against Spain in April 1898, thousands of Missouri National Guardsmen answered the nation's call. Among them was Corporal Samuel T. Holden, a skilled printer whose civilian career carried him across southwest and central Missouri before serving with the 2nd Missouri Volunteer Infantry.

His wartime service lasted less than a year, yet Holden's commitment to Missouri's citizen-soldier tradition spanned nearly seven years and reflected the close relationship between community service and military duty during the late nineteenth century.

Samuel T. Holden was born on March 15, 1857, in Lewis County, West Virginia, the son of James T. Holden and Hannah Dagen Holden. He eventually moved to Missouri where he learned the printing trade, the profession that would define much of his adult life.

His military career began in December 1892, when the Missouri National Guard reorganized the former Lamar City Guards into Company C of the 2nd Regiment. According to the State Historical Society of Missouri, the Lamar City Guards had originally been organized on May 15, 1883, and redesignated as Company D, 5th Regiment, on November 26, 1883.

Although the regiment was disbanded in 1887, it was reconstituted at Lamar in December 1892 before later entering federal service during the Spanish-American War. A surviving portrait of Holden wearing an early Missouri National Guard uniform appears to date from this transitional period. His cap bears the insignia “5 D,” identifying the former Company D, 5th Regiment before it underwent reorganization.

Shortly after joining the Guard, Holden's newspaper career took him to neighboring Vernon County. The Columbia Missouri Herald reported on January 19, 1893, “Sam T. Holden, now with the Nevada Mail, was in Columbia Tuesday to attend the Holden-Bihl marriage.”

By the following year, Holden had become one of the area's leading printers. The Warrenton Banner noted on October 26, 1894, “Sam T. Holden, a graduate of the Banner, who has been foreman of the Nevada Mail (Dick Speed's paper) for several years, will arrive here Sunday en route to Columbia, Mo., where he has secured a lucrative position on the Herald.”

The article reveals that Holden had advanced from apprentice to foreman, a position carrying considerable responsibility in an era when newspapers were composed by hand and presses operated mechanically.

Only a few months later, the Warrenton Banner again praised his abilities. Reporting on February 22, 1895, the newspaper wrote, “Sam T. Holden and Warren Chamberlin both have employment there. Apprentices of the Banner are never waiting for a job because they are first-class all-around printers.”

Another notice published in The Daily Mail on May 28, 1896, referred to “Sam Holden, of the Mail's job department,” confirming that he remained active in Nevada's newspaper community.

While Holden established himself as a respected printer, he continued serving in the Missouri National Guard. On May 12, 1898, following President William McKinley's call for volunteers, the 2nd Regiment was mustered into federal service at Jefferson Barracks as the 2nd Missouri Volunteer Infantry. The regiment departed six days later for Chickamauga Park, Georgia.

The Historical Annual of the National Guard of the State of Missouri described the regiment's arrival, "This regiment was sent to Chickamauga Park, Georgia, where it arrived on May 20, 1898, and was brigaded with the Ninth Pennsylvania and First New Hampshire Volunteer Infantry, into the Third Brigade, Third Division of the First Army Corps, under command of Major-General Brooks."

Soon after reaching camp, the regiment expanded to wartime strength. The annual recorded, "Soon after going into camp at Chickamauga, a special order permitted the recruiting of the regiment to the full quota of 1,337 officers and men."

The regiment quickly earned an enviable reputation for discipline. According to the official history, “From the time of muster into the present day... the Second Missouri has taken first rank in discipline and drill... as one regular army officer expressed, 'more like what regulars ought to be than regulars are.’” The account further praised the citizen-soldiers themselves, “The men have the nerve, muscles, and easy grace of trained athletes... and, though no braggarts, all take a pardonable pride in the good name and fame of the Second Missouri.”

Among those men stood Corporal Samuel T. Holden. Official rosters place him in Company H, headquartered at Nevada, Missouri, by the time the regiment entered federal service.

Like many volunteer regiments, the 2nd Missouri spent much of the war training while awaiting orders for overseas duty. Although rumors repeatedly circulated that the regiment would be sent to Cuba or Puerto Rico, those assignments never materialized. Instead, the soldiers drilled, guarded camps, endured sickness, and waited.

The official history observed, “The men are proud of their officers, and the officers are proud of their men, and each have high ideas of their duties and obligations to the other, and strive to perform and fulfill them.”

After leaving Chickamauga, the regiment moved to Lexington, Kentucky, before transferring to Albany, Georgia. Despite repeated expectations that the unit would see combat, the war ended before orders arrived. The regiment was mustered out of federal service between February 27 and March 3, 1899.

Within weeks of returning to civilian life, Holden again appeared in Missouri newspapers. The Columbia Missouri Herald reported on April 21, 1899, “Sam Holden, of Nevada, visited in Columbia this week.”

Holden continued working as a printer throughout his life before eventually settling in Warrenton, Missouri. He died there on December 27, 1924, at age 67. His Missouri death certificate recorded his occupation simply as printer, reflecting the trade to which he devoted his working life.

Following a coroner's investigation, the cause of death was listed as natural causes, possibly related to heart trouble. He was buried in Warrenton City Cemetery.

Although Samuel T. Holden never fought in the trenches or charged San Juan Hill, his story reflects the experience of thousands of citizen-soldiers whose readiness, discipline, and willingness to serve formed the backbone of America's volunteer army during the Spanish-American War.

For Holden, the composing room and the drill field were equally familiar. Whether setting type for Missouri newspapers or standing in formation with the 2nd Missouri Volunteer Infantry, he exemplified a generation of craftsmen who answered both the demands of their profession and the call of their country.  
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   Jeremy P. Ämick is author of the upcoming historical compilation “Voices of the Moreau.”