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  NEENAH-MENASHA MILITARY HISTORY
                        i_898-1955
THE close of the Civil War brought a period of thirty years free of the
threat of war, and the Twin Cities enjoyed it along with the rest of the
nation. However, the sinking of the battleship, Maine, in the harbor
at Havana on February 15, 1898, ended this era of peace, and marked
the beginning of the Spanish-American War.
  Neenah and Menasha had no units engaged in this war. Evidently
only seven or eight Twin City men served in the Armed Forces during
                S. A. Cook armory, headquarters for Company I.
this war, but there are no formal records available and memory has
dimmed in recollection, even among three of this number who are
alive today. These three are Col. J. B. Schneller, Bart Homan and
Thomas F. Thomsen. Two of the others, now dead, were Clifford
Lansing and Hans Lauritzen.
  The first organized military unit in the Twin Cities following the
Civil War was formally organized in 1899, with J. B. Schneller as
Captain. Three years later, in 1902, this unit became a part of the
Wisconsin National Guard and was designated as Company I in the
old "First Wisconsin" infantry regiment. It was the predecessor
unit