It is a little surprising how few high-resolution photos of the Spanish-American War there are out there on the net. I did find one archive at The LOC: http://www.loc.gov/rr/print/list/picamer/paSpanAmer.html ... Of interest here is the scan about 3/4 of the way down the page (look for LC-USZC4-7934). There is a 45 MB high-resolution TIFF version of that one available for download. Unfortunately there is no legend to accompany the photo.

[That photo does have a caption. See below. - Dave]

"1898. Colonel Roosevelt and his Rough Riders at the top of the hill which they captured, Battle of San Juan. Photo by William Dinwiddie."

Thanks for taking a closer look. I have been reading about the Rough Riders and see that Troops C, H, I and M were left in Florida with the horses when the other eight Troops went to Cuba. They were reunited after TR got out of Cuba, and was going to New York. I am now going to spend some time looking for some of these faces in other published photos in hopes of finding likely matches.

A close examination of a higher resolution scan confirms that the 2nd man from the right, 2nd row does indeed have a "C" on his insignia. The smiling soldier on the far left (not in the rocking chair) has an "L". The chap sitting in front of him has a "USV" but no identifiable troop designation on his collar.

It's not as tortuous as it might appear at fist glance. If you look closely, the flowers are in front of her, creating an illusion that her waist is impossibly narrow.

From Francis Lee's records: "August 7, sent to Reg Hospital. From there sent same day to private hospital at Islip, L.I." and enrolled on the thirtieth day of April, One thousand eight hundred and ninety-eight, to serve two years, or during the war, is hereby discharged from the service of the United States, by reason of the muster out of his regiment. Given at N.Y. City this 5th day of Oct., 1898." Signature appears to be JGC Caleb. I can send you scans of these documents if you wish.

Two more photos of F.L.Morgan here.

The second man from the right in the second row appears to be Francis Lee Morgan, Saddler, Troop C. I have seen several photos of this man before and after his time with the Rough Riders.

http://www.bartleby.com/51/a.html

Three of the men in the photo have visible U.S. Cavalry insignia on their hats, but only the one on the hat in the lap of its owner is legible. He served in the 1st U.S Cavalry, Troop K. The New York Times archive retains several articles from 1898 listing wounded soldiers who were sent from Camp Wickoff to various hospitals in New York and Long Island. Some of those articles list men from the 1st Cavalry, Troop K. The small hospital building in the background appears to have been built in the early to mid-1880s (it is in the so-called Stick or Chalet style popular at that time). The nurses' inflated sleeves are definitely in fashion for 1898, the year of maximum sleeve inflation.

Maybe it's Heaven. The glowing figures, the flowers, the beautiful house--could be!

To further the points made earlier, these soldiers are wearing the M-1899 cotton tunic, and the two standing on the far left are in blues dating from the 1880's. This picture cannot be later than 1912, as we switched uniforms again at that date.

I agree with the others on the era of the attire -- my first thought on seeing the photo was of TR's Rough Riders. Also, the balloon sleeves on the women's dresses date from the late 1880s/early 1890s.

I am in agreement that this appears to be cavalrymen. The hat badge appears to have an "8" over the crossed sabers. My vote also goes to the Spanish-American War era.

Nobody grows mustaches like that anymore. Sigh.

I think if it were on record somewhere, that thumbprint in on the left could help us!

They are uniforms of the Spanish-American war. Most are wearing the 1898 khaki uniform and the insignia on the hat in the lap of the soldier in the front row is U.S. Cavalry. It looks like 1st Cavalry, which would mean they served in Cuba, but I can't quite make out the troop letter underneath.

I don't think the visible waist is the actual waist; I think the flower from the bush is blocking our view.

Dave, If we could have a Shorpy closeup of the hat in the lap of the man in the front row, we will discover the cavalry regiment and troop. I tried to rhyme this like Dr Seuss but stumbled at the end.

I'm with Larry. The ladies are wearing 1890s clothing, so Spanish American fits the bill perfectly. Gotta love those sleeves!

The lady on the far right must have had an industrial strength corset to have a waist that tiny! HOW did she breathe?

It may be Spanish American War Volunteer Cavalry unit in convalescent quarters, perhaps on eastern Long Island, South Fork.

The uniforms would lead me to believe they are Spanish-American War veterans. There are several pictures of Teddy Roosevelt dressed in a similar uniform.