Yankee HERO - Frederick Funston, Expedicionario in the Cuban Liberation Army 1896-1897
Volume 3 of the Becoming Frederick Funston Trilogy
Book 3 of 3
Historical Non-Fiction
By:
Clyde W. Toland
This book concludes Clyde Toland’s acclaimed Becoming Frederick Funston Trilogy with a vivid account of the young Kansan’s most dramatic and defining chapter. Set amid Cuba’s 1895–1898 war for independence from Spain, this volume follows volunteer Fred Funston as he throws himself into the struggle for Cuban freedom—serving with grit and versatility in the artillery, infantry, and cavalry.
Toland traces Funston’s transformation from a spirited, undersized Allen County farm boy into a battle-tested hero whose commitment to Cuban liberty never wavered. Through meticulous research and a deep understanding of the Funston family, Toland brings to life the letters, loyalties, and personal sacrifices that connected the Cuban front to the prairies of Kansas. The result is a narrative rich in humanity as well as history.
Grounded in rigorous scholarship and written with clarity and insight, Yankee HERO offers an essential, long-overdue contribution to the story of a courageous—and sometimes controversial—American figure. Toland’s masterful study secures Funston’s place in United States historiography and provides a powerful finale to this remarkable trilogy.
“With ‘Yankee Hero,’ Clyde Toland brings to a close his Becoming Frederick Funston Trilogy about the early adventurous life of the future national hero, U. S. Army Major General Frederick Funston. Set in Cuba during its 1895-1898 war of independence from Spain, ‘Yankee Hero’ follows volunteer Funston as he fights for Cuban independence in multiple roles as a member of the artillery, infantry, and cavalry.
Clyde Toland has traced a short in stature, rambunctious, adventuresome Allen County, Kansas, farm boy into a war-weary hero. Fred Funston became dedicated to freedom for Cuba in the war against Spain. Interest continues for a reader as Clyde Toland has maintained an understanding of the Funston family and how important letters were—back and forth to family and friends—even from the battlefield in Cuba to Allen County. Hats off to Clyde Toland for ‘Yankee Hero’ and a greater understanding of a small but greatly important part of our history.”
-- Nancy Kassebaum Baker, United States Senator from Kansas, 1979-1997
“Such notable historical publications as this biography of Major General Frederick Funston, U.S. Army, 1865-1917, rest on two essential cornerstones: thorough research and lucid presentation. Clyde Toland has carefully and successfully incorporated both in his latest study of this courageous, colorful—and sometimes controversial—Kansan. Toland’s work is an important and long-overdue contribution to United States historiography.”
-- Thomas W. Crouch, University of Texas at Austin, PhD in history, retired civilian historian for the United States Air Force, and author of the ground-breaking works, A Yankee Guerrillero: Frederick Funston and the Cuban Insurrection, 1896-1897 (1975) and A Leader of Volunteers: Frederick Funston and the 20th Kansas in the Philippines, 1898-1899 (1984)