Department of Transportation Federal Highway Administration New Jersey Avenue, SE Washington, DC Portrait of a General discussed the origins of the Spanish-American War and General Stone's participation in it.
In short, the explosion of the U. Maine in Havana harbor, attributed to the Spanish military, prompted President McKinley to ask Congress on April 11, , for permission to use American forces to end Spanish rule in Cuba. He also asked for , volunteers for the war, and would need officers to lead them. General Stone requested a leave of absence to serve under General Nelson A.
Miles, the Commanding General of the United States Army. On May 12, , the Times reported that General Stone had offered his services and that General Miles had recommended that they be accepted. Secretary Wilson "heartily acquiesced in the suggestion. Stone is now installed for temporary duty in the War Department. The Agricultural Department owns road-making machinery with which it has experimented, and this outfit has been placed at the disposal of the War Department. Nothing definite will be done by Gen.
Stone until word is received from Col. Ludlow of the Engineer Corps, who is now at Tampa, and is being consulted as to what is necessary. General Miles, the article stated, considered it "especially important" to be "fully equipped with supplies and the most improved machinery for the construction of roads and railroads, and also with experts in the use of such machinery and construction.
General Stone was appointed Brigadier General of United States Volunteers on June 8, consistent with his rank during the Civil War. He accepted the appointment on June While he was away, President McKinley brought his friend and former associate in Ohio, Martin Dodge, to Washington as Acting Director of the ORI. On June 24, the Times reported that General Stone, serving on General Miles' staff, "has prepared a manual for the use of troops operating in Cuba, covering the most expeditious means of cutting military roads through the tangled tropical vegetation, swamps, and underbrush" the army would encounter.
