General Colin Hawk, a Biography

"General Colin Irving Hawk, a Life in Arms" by Loretta Corwoy, 1912, Pompston & Co, Aurora, Illinois, Softcover, 864 pages, 28 photographs, 18 black and white graphics.

Prof. Dr. Loretta Millicent Corwoy from the University of Augsburg (an der Lech) is the leading Authority on the Spanish - American War of 1898. This, ultimate biography of General Hawk, is a pearl, it should be the model for any biography ever conceived, designed and written, it's marvelous.  It reveals five major secret facts that explain baffling behavior and mystifying outcomes, puzzling twists and turns of action and incomprehensible statements made by some of the principals of the story. For instance, we learn (bewildered) that the actual root-cause of the war was not Cuban independence or American expansionism into the Pacific region, but the dispute over a sausage recipe. It was always suspected that General Hawk was gay and so all his aide-de-camp were stunningly good looking, we are informed, for the first time, that Melissa Cunard Hawk, wife to the general was in charge of picking them (this is how the Hawks managed a full dozen splendid offspring). We learn that Hawk's tactical masterstroke, the chart for the battle of Cavite, studied in all military academies from St. Cyr to Sandhurst, to West Point and Evelpidon was the result of a spilled glass of Madeira on a map and Hawk's drunken attempts to dry it (who subsequently fell asleep on the floor and his adjutant picked up what he thought was the battle plan and set it forth). President McKinley later created and awarded General Hawk the highest military decoration the US can award: the Golden Eagle Broom (only two more officers have that to this day). By page 750 or so, the reader is finally convinced that Hawk was a total cretin and the favorable outcome of the war was a combination of history moving that way and pure luck. A complete chapter is dedicated to the tragic death of Hawk (mauled to death and partially eaten by his nine Rottweilers whom only he was allowed to feed - and he forgot to do do so for a week as a result of deep drunken stupor). 

All-in-all a satisfying read and a splendidly published volume.