Guide to the Morris Cooper Foote Papers M2103
Franz Kunst
Department of Special Collections and University Archives
2016
Green Library
557 Escondido Mall
Stanford 94305-6064
specialcollections@stanford.edu
Language of Material:
English
Contributing Institution:
Department of Special Collections and University Archives
Title: Morris Cooper Foote papers
creator:
Foote, Morris Cooper, 1843-1905
Identifier/Call Number: M2103
Physical Description:
3 Linear Feet
(4 boxes, 2 map folders)
Date (inclusive): 1886-1913
Abstract: The papers of Morris Cooper Foote document his career in the United States Army during the Boxer Rebellion in Northern China
and the Spanish-American War in Cuba.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
This collection was purchased by Stanford University, Special Collections in 2015.
Preferred Citation
[identification of item], Morris Cooper Foote papers (M2103). Dept. of Special Collections and University Archives, Stanford
University Libraries, Stanford, Calif.
Conditions Governing Use
Foote's personal papers are public domain and there are no restrictions on use. Other material in the collection may be subject
to copyright.
Conditions Governing Access
Open for research. Note that material must be requested at least 36 hours in advance of intended use.
Foote Biography
Morris Cooper Foote was born September 16, 1843, at Madison Barracks, Sackett’s Harbor, New York, to Lyman and Mary M. (Cooper)
Foote. His great-grandfather was William Cooper, the founder of Cooperstown, New York, and his maternal great-grandfather
was Jacob Morris, who served as an officer in the Revolutionary War, whose father was Lewis Morris, a signer of the Declaration
of Independence. Foote was also the great-nephew of novelist James Fenimore Cooper. After his father died during the Mexican
War in 1846 his mother moved to Cooperstown with her children. Foote attended school here for a time, later going to Plattsburg
and to a Commercial College in Syracuse.
Foote enlisted in the New York Volunteer Infantry in 1861, beginning a forty year military career. He served throughout the
entire Civil War, and was present at the surrender of Lee at Appomattox. He was captured in April 1864 at Plymouth, North
Carolina and was held was a prisoner at Libby, Macon, Charleston and Columbia, escaping from the latter and taking refuge
on board the U. S. gunboat Nipsic. In December 1864, he was among the 600 officer prisoners of war placed under fire in an
effort to prevent the batteries on Morris Island from shelling the city of Charleston. He was the only officer hit, receiving
a slight flesh wound from a piece of shell. Foote published a memoir based on his Civil War experiences.
After the Civil War, Foote served with his regiment in California, Alaska, Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico, South Dakota, Colorado,
Wyoming and Nebraska. He commanded one of the two companies of the 9th U.S. Infantry that received the Territory of Alaska
from Russia in 1867, and was present when the Russian flag was hauled down at Sitka.
He was adjutant of the Black Hills Expedition under Col. Richard I. Dodge in 1875, and was in charge at the Brule Sioux Indian
Agency the next year. He served in the field against the Sioux in 1877 and in the Geronimo Campaign in 1886, witnessing Geronimo’s
surrender to General Miles at Skeleton Canyon, Arizona.
At the beginning of the Spanish-American War, Foote went to Cuba with the 9th U.S. Infantry, commanded a battalion at San
Juan, and was at the surrender of the Spanish Army in the city of Santiago in July 1898. The following month Foote received
promotion to the rank of Major and was ordered to Boston for recruiting duty, being unable to rejoin his regiment at the time
due to malaria.
In June 1900 Foote went to the Philippine Islands but was soon on his way to northern China with his regiment. China’s Boxer
Rebellion was an anti-foreign peasant uprising that had begun to escalate in the northern coastal province of Shandong. Hundreds
of Orthodox, Protestant and Catholic missionaries and many more Christian Chinese were massacred. The movement also resisted
growing imperialist tendencies in the area by European, Russian and American powers.
On June 17, the Boxers (also known as Yihetuan, or “Militia United in Righteousness”) began a siege of the Legation Quarter
in Peking, where many foreigners and Christians were sequestered. The United States, along with Great Britain, Russia, Germany,
France, Italy and Japan conducted a military expedition for the relief of the legations, sending 5000 troops for the purpose.
The international relief expedition, known as the Eight-Nation Alliance, marched from Taku to Tientsin, and then the seventy
more miles to Peking, raising the siege on August 4th. Foote was also present at the Battle of Tientsin, where the 9th infantry
suffered a ten percent casualty rate. Negotiations following the defeat of the Boxers allowed for various foreign powers to
administrate in certain territories, and in October 1900 Foote was ordered to return to Tientsin in command of United States
forces. He also represented the United States in the Tientsin Provisional Government, known as the “Conseil du Governement
Provisiors de Tientsin.”
Foote returned with his regiment to the Philippines in May 1901 and served at Basey, Samar, for some months. Later, as Colonel
of the 28th U.S. Infantry, he served in Cavite Province, near Manila, and also on the Island of Mindanao.
After being appointed a Brigadier General on February 18, 1903, Foote retired the following day. He moved to Europe and resided
in Geneva, Switzerland for two years. At the Hotel d'Angleterre, after recovering from double pneumonia and double pleurisy,
he passed away of heart failure on December 6, 1905. He is buried at Arlington National Cemetery.
Scope and Contents
The papers of Morris Cooper Foote (1843-1905) document the latter part of his career in the United States Army, especially
his service in Cuba during the Spanish-American War and in China during and after the Boxer Rebellion. Foote’s papers consist
of over 300 items, including manuscripts, journals, diaries, correspondence, official reports and documents, photographs,
maps, newspapers, printed ephemera, and related material. Extensive notes and transcriptions were made prior to accession;
some copies of which are filed in the collection.
During the Spanish-American War, Foote commanded a battalion on San Juan Hill with Theodore Roosevelt’s “Rough Riders” and
others. The collection includes Foote’s eyewitness account of the action. Foote was also stationed at various times in the
Philippines, and there are some photographs and correspondence from the Islands. The bulk of the archive contains manuscript,
photographic, cartographic, and ephemeral material documenting Foote’s service in Northern China following the Boxer Rebellion,
with his regiment, the 9th Infantry, during the China Relief Expedition at Tientsin (the nearest port city to Peking, presently
Tianjin), and Peking (presently Beijing).
Foote was commander of American forces at Tientsin, and was also the United States Representative of the Provisional Government
of that city. Correspondents during this time include Major General Adna R. Chaffee, Chief Secretary Charles Denby Jr., and
Adjutant General Henry Hiestand of the China Relief Expedition Headquarters in Peking, as well as communication from Allied
Supreme Commander Alfred von Waldersee. There is also a small amount of correspondence and other material about his family
and various financial investments.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
China -- History -- Boxer Rebellion, 1899-1901 -- Campaigns
Spanish-American War, 1898 -- Campaigns -- Cuba
Foote, Morris Cooper, 1843-1905
United States. Army. Infantry Regiment, 9th (1855-1957)
box 1, folder 1
General Orders and Circulars, War Department ; Personal and Post Orders
1898
Scope and Contents
Two binders of Army orders as bound by Foote.
box 1, folder 2
Private Journal
5/1/1896 - 10/20/1900
Box 3, Folder 11
Text of private journal [transcription]
5/1/1896 - 10/20/1900
box 1, folder 3
Private Journal
1/1/1886 - 4/30/1896
Box 3, Folder 9-10
Text of private journal [transcription]
1/1/1886 - 14/30/1896
box 1, folder 4
Correspondence to Foote re: investments, stock certificate, etc.
1888-1894
box 1, folder 5
Miscellaneous
Scope and Contents
Includes letter from Foote's son Francis, biographical notes on Peter Cooper, and other items.
box 1, folder 6
Notes for and draft of account of military service
1898
box 1, folder 7
Individual service report, Manila
6/30/1898 - 6/30/1900
box 1, folder 8
Individual service report, Boston
6/30/1897 - 6/30/1899
box 1, folder 9
Paper on Santiago Campaign and on Regular troops as compared to National Guard
1899-08
box 1, folder 10
Orders of Foote's transfer from Manila to Taku, China and four receipts
1900-06-29
box 1, folder 11
Retained copy of Foote's report of the Battle of Tientsin
1900-07-14
box 1, folder 12
Retained copy of supplementary report, Tientsin
1900-07-25
box 1, folder 13
Two telegraph receipts
1900-07-31
box 1, folder 14
Manuscript orders from Headquarters, Foote ordered to Tong Chow, China Relief Expedition
1900-08-19
box 1, folder 15
General Orders No. 10, China Relief Expedition, Peking
1900-08-26
box 1, folder 16
General Orders No. 11, China Relief Expedition, Peking
1900-08-28
box 1, folder 17
E.H. Conger note to Foote
1900-09-06
box 1, folder 18
General Orders No. 16, China Relief Expedition, Peking
1900-09-09
box 1, folder 19
Special Orders No. 60, China Relief Expedition, Peking: Foote to Tientsin
1900-10-16
box 1, folder 20
Proposals for the Council, outline of districts of the Conseil
box 1, folder 21
Lists of officers, roster of troops, commissioners, ordnance and explosives, Tientsin and Peking
12/25/1900 - 2/5/1901
box 1, folder 22
Denby to Foote re: rice distribution [undated, probably November 1900] ; Financial statement of Tientsin Provisional Government
1900-10-31
box 1, folder 23
Draft of Proposed Regulations For The Conveyance of Land in Tientsin Provisional Government Jurisdiction and related
1900-11
Scope and Contents
Text in English and French. Contains notes, memoranda and proposals made by various members of the Provisional Government,
including Mr. Emens, Mr. Rump, and Baron Gunzburg.
box 2, folder 1
District of Tientsin General Rules of Administration
box 2, folder 2
General Chaffee, China Relief Expedition Headquarters letter to Foote regarding council of provisional government
1900-11-02
box 2, folder 3
Denby letter to Foote re: Provisional Government officers, Tientsin
1900-11-13
box 2, folder 4
Drafts of Foote letters re: Provisional Government; New Regulations for the district; structure of government
1900-11-14
box 2, folder 5
Lewis R. Tucker personal letter to Foote
1900-11-16
box 2, folder 6
Provisional Government of Tientsin Native City reports
11-12/1900
Scope and Contents
Includes reports from the Chief Secretary's Department, Treasury, Judicial Department, Chinese Secretary's Office, and Public
Works Department.
box 2, folder 7
Adjutant General Hiestand, China Relief Expedition Headquarters, Peking letter to Foote re: loan to Provisional Government
1900-11-20
box 2, folder 8
Allied Supreme Commander Waldersee letter re: improvements to Peiho River, English translation
1900-1901
box 2, folder 9
General Chaffee, China Relief Expedition Headquarters, Peking letter to Provisional Council re: proposed changes to regulations
1900-12-8
box 2, folder 10
[British Army Captain Gerald Francis] Mockler letter to Foote in San Francisco with news from Tientsin
1900-11-17
box 2, folder 11
Roster of Allied Troops in Province of Pe-Chili, Army headquarters in East Asia, Winter Palace, Peking
1900-12-11
box 2, folder 12
Roster of Officers and Troops, China Relief Expedition
1900-12-1
box 2, folder 13
List of Ammunition etc. Sold to Messrs. Arnold Karberg & Co. From City Arsenal
box 2, folder 14
Adjutant General Hiestand, China Relief Expedition Headquarters, Peking letter to Foote with enclosed letter in English translation
from Field Marshal Waldersee to General Chaffee re: Tientsin Provisional Government
1900-12
box 2, folder 15
Telegrams from Chaffee and Heistand to Foote
box 2, folder 16
Military Order of the Dragon documents
1900-1901
Scope and Contents
"At meetings of the officers of the U.S. Forces, Peking, China, October 1st, 2nd and 3rd, 1900, a society known as 'The Military
Order of the Dragon' was organized."
box 2, folder 17
Statement of Strength of U.S. Forces in China
1900-02-01
box 2, folder 18
Receipts: Tientsin Club, Provisional Government Mess, Otsego Lodge, etc.
1901
box 2, folder 19
James W. Ragsdale, U.S. Consulate, Tientsin letter to Foote re: United States Concession in Tientsin
1900-02-27
box 2, folder 20
Ernest B. Barrat letters to Foote
2-4/1901
box 2, folder 21
Receipts: Provisional Government Mess, etc.
2-3/1901
box 2, folder 22
Charles D. Jameson (American Society of Civil Engineers) invitation to Foote
1901-04-03
box 2, folder 23
Letter to Pastors Wan and Ming in English translation, re: China, Boxers, etc.
1901
Scope and Contents
Enclosed envelope addressed to Col. Foote has inscription "D.E. Smith letters"
box 2, folder 24
General Chaffee, China Relief Expedition Headquarters, Peking letter to Foote re: corruption in Provisional Government
1901-04-02
box 2, folder 25
General Chaffee, China Relief Expedition Headquarters, Peking letter to Foote: follow up to last letter about corruption
1901-04-11
box 2, folder 26
Gouvernement Provisoire du District de Tientsin letter to Foote with enclosed memo from Chinese Secretary's Office regarding
wage scale for Chinese employees
1901-04-10
box 2, folder 27
Receipt for Pommard [Burgundy wine] paid by Foote to James Hirsbrunner
1901-04-16
Related Materials
There is an advertisement for Hirsbrunner in the Peking & Tientsin Times newspaper in map-folder 4.
box 2, folder 28
James W. Ragsdale, U.S. Consulate letter to Foote in Manila re: banner of appreciation from village outside Tientsin
1901-07-20
box 2, folder 29
A. Shaw letter to Foote
1901-02-28
box 2, folder 30
H. Bower letter to Foote
1901-04-08
box 2, folder 31
Major General George Davis to General Henry C. Corbin re: Foote's retirement, Manila
1903-01-22
box 2, folder 32
Adjutant General Heistand telegram to Foote re: promotion
1903-02-18
box 2, folder 34
Notebook with notes on Cuba, China, retirement
1898-1904
Scope and Contents
Includes journal entries, letter drafts, inventories, calculations, etc.
box 2, folder 35
Telegrams to and from Annie Foote
1900-1903
Scope and Contents
35 telegrams and their receipts from Foote to his wife Annie Elizabeth Murphy Foote in San Francisco, as well as some sent
in return.
box 2, folder 36
Private journal
8/1/1903 - 11/29/1905
Scope and Contents
Foote passed away a week after the last entry. Journal has some clippings, receipts, and a telegram inserted in the unused
portion.
Box 3, Folder 12
Text of private journal, Morris C. Foote Brig. Gen. U.S. Army [transcription]
8/1/1903 - 11/29/1905
box 2, folder 37
Miscellaneous correspondence
Scope and Contents
Includes letter from Foote to his wife Annie 4/1898 ; J.L. Pierson to Foote 11/29/1903 ; Sarah Pike Conger, U.S. Legation,
Peking invitation [undated] ; Foote's children Cooper and Francis to Foote 1901 ; Herman Ridder to Annie Foote 1/18/1912 re:
bond investment
box 2, folder 38
E.C. Bumpus letter to Foote re: his son First Lieutenant Edward A. Bumpus' death at Balangiga
1901-10-07
box 2, folder 39
Visiting cards
1901
Scope and Contents
17 calling cards and one printed invitation. Includes those of many of Foote's colleagues on the Provisional Government, as
well as Major Erich von Falkenhayn, future chief of German General Staff during World War One.
box 2, folder 40
General Orders No. 32 and No. 37, Ninth Infantry Headquarters, Calbayog, Samar, Philippine Islands
10-11/1901
Scope and Contents
General Orders No.32 concerns the attack on the 9th Infantry at Balangiga [often called the Balangiga Massacre, although the
reprisal attacks by the U.S. Army are also known by that name]
box 2, folder 41
Letters, telegram, etc. re: Foote's promotion and retirement
1902-1903
Scope and Contents
Foote to Adjutant General 12/25/1902 re: promotion and retirement ; H.S. Hull, War Department letter to Annie Foote 12/31/1902
; program for band concert honoring Foote 2/23/1903 ; telegram ordering General Foote to Manila 2/23/1903
box 2, folder 42
Correspondence, etc.
1901-1913
Scope and Contents
Includes letters and related re: Oakwood Park stock farm in Contra Costa County 5/24/1901 ; letter from G.P. Reese, Cooperstown
to Annie Foote [undated] ; Furlough Songs Of The Class of 1913 [printed songbook]
box 2, folder 43
Reglements generaux d'administration de la cite chinoise de Tientsin. Tientsin Press
1900
Scope and Contents
Printed rules for the administration of Tientsin.
box 2, folder 44
de Linde, A., Report of the Hai-Ho River Improvement And The Rivers of Chihli (Reprinted From Report of 1890). Tientsin Press
1900
Box 2, Folder 45
de Linde, A., Rapport Sur Les Travaux D' Amelioration Dans La Riviere du Hai-Ho. Tientsin Press
1900
Box 2, Folder 46
Appendix to Army Regulations, Edition of 1901, Showing Changes to December 31, 1902, and Orders and Circulars Relating Thereto
1902
Box 2, Folder 47
Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States Circular No. 34, in Memoriam Morris Cooper Foote
1906-9-10
Box 3, Folder 1
Waeber, Ch., Map of North Eastern China
1893
Scope and Contents
Four folded cloth-backed maps of northeastern China published in Hamburg by L. Friederichson and Co.
Box 3, Folder 2
Map of North Eastern China
1900
Scope and Contents
Folded cloth-backed map of northeastern China published in Washington, D.C. by the Adjutant-General's Office, Military Information
Division.
Box 3, Folder 3
Hermann, M., Reisekarte von Mittel-Europa [map of Middle Europe]. Glogau: Carl Flemming Verlag
1904
Box 5, item 1
Zones Internationales dans le Pei-Cho-Lil [map]
circa 1900
Scope and Contents
Blue-print map measuring approx. 12"x12" showing the International concessions in the vicinity of Tientsin and Peking. Rail
lines and rivers are outlined. Probably produced in the field by French engineers for the use of Allied forces.
map-folder 6
Tientsin to Peking China [map]
1900
Scope and Contents
Blue-print map measuring 29.5" x 12.5" showing route of U.S. troops in the China Relief Expedition, August 4-14, 1900.
Box 3, Folder 4
Cyanotype group portrait of seventeen Allied soldiers of various nationalities, possibly in Tientsin
Box 3, Folder 5
Photographs of beheading of two Chinese men in Tientsin
Scope and Contents
Series of nine prints measuring 3x4 inches documenting the execution of two Chinese men in a street in Tientsin before a crowd
of Chinese civilians and Allied soldiers.
Box 3, Folder 6
Photograph of company of Bengal Lancers escorting Count Waldersee on his arrival at Peking, before the Sacred Gate [Underwood
& Underwood stereoview]
1901
Box 3, Folder 7
Mounted cabinet image of unidentified steamship [stamped Nippon Artistmade Photograph]
Box 3, Folder 8
Series of seven photographs of Malabon, Philippines by J.M. Shera
Box 5, items 2-6
Group portrait of members of Tientsin Provisional Government
circa 1900
Scope and Contents
Five versions of the same photograph, one signed by all members and another reproducing the photo with the signatures. Mounts
are credited to Yamamoto (Tokyo) and J.D. Givens (San Francisco).
Box 5, item 7
Studio portrait of eleven China Relief Expedition officers
circa 1900
Scope and Contents
Mount indicates photographer Sanyu & Co., Tientsin. Officers are identified on verso.
Box 3, Folder 13
Newspaper clippings, notes, envelopes, handwritten Chinese documents
Box 3, Folder 15
Ordre du Double Dragon
1883
Scope and Contents
Book with text in Chinese and French and drawings of insignia. No publisher noted. Inscribed by Foote in Tientsin July 14th,
1900.
Box 3, Folder 16
Description from source of archive
Scope and Contents
Detailed notes on the collection, including many transcriptions (copies of some are also filed with original documents).
map-folder 4
Newspapers
1887-1905
Scope and Contents
Otsego Journal Vol.12 No. 9 6/22/1887 ; Boston Globe 5/23/1899 [one sheet with article on Foote] ; Peking and Tienstin Times
Vol.7 No. 48 4/6/1901 ; New York Herald, European Edition 12/8/1905 [obituary] ; Journal De Geneve No. 336 12/8/1905 [short
obituary]