Description
First edition of Life of John Robert Monaghan: The Hero of Samoa by H.L. McCulloch.
Octavo, [6], 415pp. Blue cloth, title in gilt on spine. Frontispiece portrait with tissue cover. Complete with 7 full page black and while photographs, and two maps. Clean text throughout, no extraneous marks or bookplates.
(Bolander, 28) A scarce history.
Ensign John R. Monaghan (March 26, 1873 – April 1, 1899) was an officer in the United States Navy, and a graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy.
After serving aboard several ships—including Olympia, Monadnock, Alert, and Philadelphia—he was sent with a multinational force to the Samoan Islands during the Second Samoan Civil War in 1899.
On April 1 at Vailele, his unit was ambushed; when his commander, Lieutenant Philip Lansdale, was wounded during the retreat, Monaghan seized a rifle to try to assist him and remained behind, ultimately killed while defending his superior. His alleged “steadfast” stand inspired a monument in Spokane, Washington, and two U.S. Navy destroyers were later named in his honor.
