Spanish-American War Volunteers in Company G

Ypsilanti volunteers never saw action in the Spanish-American War, arriving in Cuba after hostilities had ceased. Only one member of Company G, the majority of whom consisted of Ypsilantians, was lost: corporal Guy Loyal Tuttle, who died on July 27, 1898 of illness in Camp Thomas at Chickamauga in Georgia, where sanitation was poor. Guy was the son of farmer and Civil War cavalry soldier Nelson Tuttle. Guy's middle name came from his grandfather, Constant Loyal Tuttle, the son of Revolutionary soldier Ebenezer Tuttle. Guy's body was returned to Ypsilanti and is buried in Union-Udell cemetery.

Wilbur J Tuttle was Guy's cousin, the son of John C Tuttle who was the son of Constant Loyal.Everett Wiard was the third son of George and Ann Wiard. George was the son of Lyman Wiard, who arrived in 1826 and bought 80 acres just east of town that formed the basis for a multigenerational apple orchard/cider/vinegar business.The commander of Company G was U-M law school graduate Fred Green. After the war, he remained active in the National Guard and served as city attorney. Around the turn of the century he went into business, becoming partner and then owner of the Ypsilanti Reed Furniture Company, which in 1903 moved to Ionia in order to use prison labor there. Fred later ran for and won first the mayorship of Ionia, an office he held for fourteen years, and then governorship of Michigan, serving from 1927 to 1931.The company portrait, in omitting Guy Tuttle, probably was taken after the men returned home (click for larger image).