PVT Elmer E. Lambert

1st Battalion 22nd Infantry

Private Elmer Lambert 1898-1901

Private Elmer E. Lambert, Company F 22nd Infantry 1901
The back of the photograph has written:
Discharged November 18, 1901 Fort Logan, Colorado
"No Más" Soldier ( No More Soldier )

In the above photo Lambert is wearing the Model 1895 forage cap
and the dark blue campaign coat with white cardboard collar
used as a dress coat, which was popular from 1874-1903.

Photograph made at the Emory Ground Floor Studio
in Omaha, Nebraska

Photo from the webmaster's collection

Elmer Ernest Lambert was born on March 17, 1878 in Northfield, Rockingham County, New Hampshire.

He enlisted in Company F of the 22nd Infantry on November 19, 1898 at Concord, New Hampshire.
His civilian occupation was listed as Stocking loader. His enlistment record indicated he stood 5 feet 6 ¼ inches tall,
had dark brown hair, blue eyes and a fair complexion.

Lambert joined Company F on November 26, 1898 at Fort Crook, Nebraska. He sailed with the Regiment to the
Philippines in March 1899 and took part in the operations and campaigns of the 22nd Infantry on the Island of Luzon.

The rigors of combat and campaigning in the harsh tropical environment caught up with Lambert and in October 1899
he was admitted to the hospital at Cabanatuan. He was released from the hospital but re-admitted on November 8 and
remained there until December 17 when he rejoined his Company. He was in the Field Hospital at Angeles from May 20
to June 13, 1900 and again from July 12 to August 21. He was admitted to the Base Hospital at Dagupan on October 20, 1900
and appears to have remained there for some time. His family relates that he was sent to Hawaii for recovery and eventually
back to the United States.

In orders dated July 13, 1901 Lambert was transferred to Company I of the 23rd Infantry at Alcatraz Island, California,
his transfer taking effect on July 15, 1901. He was honorably discharged as a Private on November 18, 1901 at Fort Logan,
Colorado with a character reference of Excellent.

The following comments are from Elmer Lambert's grandson David,
as related to the 1st Battalion webmaster in the summer of 2013:

Elmer Lambert was born in and enlisted from Northfield, NH, and married Fannie there in 1903 - as starchy an old Yankee
as she appears in the picture. They moved in 1923 to Lexington, MA, where he died in 1957. Both his grandfathers
served in the Civil War. Thomas Blake (6th Wisconsin Infantry, part of the “Iron Brigade”) was mortally wounded at Laurel Ridge,
near Spottsylvania. The other, Joseph Lambert, emigrated from Canada at about age 20 and enlisted in 1861 at age 43
(6th New Hampshire Infantry, Co. A). Also in Company A, Joseph lost his oldest son and three of six in-laws to disease or action
during the war. Elmer wouldn’t have been very naive about the risks of army life when he signed up. In addition to enlisting
a few months under age, he also shaved a few years off later to rejoin for WWI at 39. He was apparently waiting in New York
to be shipped out when the Armistice was declared.

We don’t have any stories from his service other than guard duty. In the Philippines, he was assigned to watch one high-value prisoner
who was jailed in a cage made of train rails. He also told of the escape of an Alcatraz inmate imprisoned for killing another soldier.
The fellow had himself nailed in a small box and shipped as freight to the Presidio hospital. He was released on a San Francisco dock
by a confederate but was later recaptured when his tattoo was recognized. That occurred in October 1900, but I’m not sure
if Elmer was there at the time or came shortly thereafter. Among his cufflinks and other jewelry, there is a hat insignia for Co. I
of the 23rd Infantry, with whom he may have served while at Alcatraz. However, your discharge picture has him dressed as a 22nd,
which he doubtless considered his true outfit. Elmer would have worn the uniform when he marched in Lexington's Patriots Day parades.
That state holiday commemorates the Battles of Lexington and Concord (both he and Fannie had ancestors at the North Bridge fight).

Elmer was listed in the 1900 census as being in the Philippines with the 22nd that year, but developed a serious case of dysentery,
recuperated in Hawaii, and finished out at the San Francisco Presidio as an Alcatraz guard (possibly with the 23rd Infantry,
who returned from the Philippines in 1901). This probably explains why he was back in the States and mustered out
before his regiment returned to San Francisco in March of 1902. The census has him in Co. B (?) and probably overstates his age,
as he embellished that a bit to enlist a few months before turning 21. We think he was born March 17, 1878.
The attached is a family photo, taken at another time, for comparison (with the studio address of your photo).

The listing from the 1900 census:

Name -----bbirth-year ---age -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Elmer E Lambert 187(7) 23 1900 Armed Forces - Foreign Countries Philippines B Company 22nd Infantry, Armed Forces - Foreign Countries

------------

Family portraits of Elmer (left) and his wife Fannie (right)

Photos from the Elmer Lambert estate courtesy of his grandson David Lambert

Souvenir poster for Company F 22nd Infantry 1898-1899 belonging to Elmer Lambert

Private Elmer Lambert's name is listed in the left column of the poster.

The poster indicates Colonel Harry C. Egbert killed at Malinta and Private George J. Marks drowned at Cabanatuan.

Of the names listed on the poster five more would lose their lives during Company F's service in the Philippines:

Private George H. H. McLean died of Intestinal Intussusception in a hospital in the Philippines on December 5, 1899.

Private Taylor Johnston died of Pleurisy in the Base Hospital at Dagupan on February 23, 1900.

Private Samuel C. Wilson died from Malaria in the Base Hospital at Dagupan on June 22, 1900.

Private William P. Miller drowned in the Rio Grande de la Pompanga at Calumpit on November 12, 1900.

Private Daniel Newport would return with Company F on the 22nd Infantry's subsequent deployment
to the Philippines and was killed in action near Ipil on the Island of Mindanao as a Corporal on May 3, 1905.

Two Corporals listed on the poster Corporal Martin Burckhart and Corporal Fred J. Winter were awarded
Certificates of Merit for heroism in an engagement with insurgents at Mount Corona on the Island of Luzon
on July 22, 1900. Winter's Certificate of Merit would later be changed to the Distinguished Service Medal.

1st Lieutenant David L. Stone, listed on the poster as commanding Company F at the time of the poster was awarded
a Silver Star Citation for heroism at Mount Corona and went on to have an illustrious Army career attaining the rank
of Major General before retiring in 1940.

The 1st Battalion website is grateful to David Lambert, grandson of Elmer Lambert,
for honoring his grandfather's memory and sharing the above photos and information with our website.

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