Troops embarking at San Francisco

SUMMARY
This film shows troops of the First Regiment, California Volunteers, boarding the Pacific Mail steamer City of Peking to serve in the Philippine theater of the Spanish-American War. The film was shot at the Pacific Mail Steamship Company dock between 10:50am and 1:50pm on Friday, May 13, 1898. The dock was located at First Street between Brannan and Townsend streets, and is now a segment of First Street called Delancey Street in the newly-developed South Beach neighborhood. The camera is probably facing north, from the shade of the pier into bright sunshine. The film begins with flag-waving relatives in the foreground [Frame: 0108] that seem more interested in the camera than in the departing soldiers. The troops are seen climbing the gangplank with full travel kits and rifles [0787]. As the crowd watches the troops, at least one woman raises a handkerchief to her eyes [1059]. In the bright background between the ascending soldiers, troops are seen lining the ship's rails and a lifeboat is visible [1500]. On this midday, over a thousand troops boarded the City of Peking after marching across San Francisco from their bivouac at the Presidio army base. An estimated thirty thousand people watched the embarkation from the Pacific Mail dock and several nearby piers. After loading, the steamer pulled out into San Francisco Bay and re-anchored, awaiting the loading of two more steamers, the Australia and the Sydney, with the Oregon Volunteers and U.S. Army regulars. The fleet departed for the Philippines on Sunday, May 15. Built in 1874, the City of Peking was a long-serving 5,070-ton steamer of the Pacific Mail Steamship Company. The ship made 116 round trips between San Francisco and Hong Kong before being scrapped in 1920.
NOTES
Copyright: Thomas A. Edison; 22Jun1898; 38256.
Photographed: May 13, 1898. Location: Pacific Mail Steamship Company Dock, San Francisco.
SUBJECTS
Spanish-American War, 1898--Transportation.
United States.--Army.--Regiment, California U.S. Volunteer Infantry, 1st.
Soldiers--Transportation--California--San Francisco.
Transports--California--San Francisco.
Ships--California--San Francisco.
Piers--California--San Francisco.
San Francisco (Calif.)--History, Military--19th century.
Actuality--Short.
War (Nonfiction)--Short.
RELATED NAMES
Thomas A. Edison, Inc.
Paper Print Collection (Library of Congress)
CALL NUMBER
LC 65 (paper pos)
DIGITAL ID
lcmp003 m3a15951 hdl.loc.gov/loc...