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Archives On The Air 82: Oatmeal And The Spanish-American War—The Richard H. Wilson Papers

Captain Richard H. Wilson was an American soldier during the Spanish-American war. He wrote a one-hundred-page manuscript about his experiences in Cuba.

Wilson saw very little combat. Most of his accounts are of interactions with Spaniards, Cubans and other soldiers. In one anecdote, he recounts making oatmeal in a tomato soup can.

“I ate a liberal portion of the sodden mass, and it seemed to me then, as it seems even now, the sweetest morsel that I ever ate. Its ambrosial flavor still lingers on my palate, although, strange to say, I have never since been able to find any oatmeal that has the same peculiar excellence. Possibly the growers of oats and manufacturers of oatmeal have lost the art of producing the divine cereal that I enjoyed so much on that occasion.”

Read more about his service in the Spanish-American War in the Richard H. Wilson papers at UW’s American Heritage Center.