The Cost of a Splendid Little War

Hospital train, Pullman sleeper

When sick troops were brought back from the Caribbean, a hospital train transported them from Florida to New York, Georgia and Virginia hospitals. The Army initially leased sleeper cars from the Pullman Car Company, but these cars were difficult to disinfect due to the plush cloth interiors and were replaced with less comfortable tourist cars. The train carried 4,704 troops during the war with only five deaths. This model is accurate except that the actual bunks did not have curtains.

Army Ambulance

Horse-drawn ambulance wagons were used by the Army during the Spanish American War. Army doctors had redesigned the standard ambulance after the Civil War. This pattern essentially did not change until the introduction of motorized vehicles in World War I. Unfortunately, the poor condition of roads in the Spanish colonies meant that the few ambulances that were shipped were of little use.