Bowman H. McCalla

Rear Admiral Bowman Hendry McCalla (June 19, 1844 – May 6, 1910) was an officer in the United States Navy, who was noted for his roles in the Spanish–American War and putting down the Boxer Rebellion. Biography Bowman H. McCalla was born in Camden, New Jersey on June 19, 1844. He was appointed midshipman on November 30, 1861. McCalla's courage and leadership during his career often earned him great, and due, respect among his fellow officers. In the spring of 1885, during the Panama crisis of 1885, McCalla led an expeditionary force of 750 seamen and marines which landed at Panama to protect American treaty rights when the revolution there threatened to block transit across the isthmus. As commanding officer of USS Marblehead, from September 11, 1897 to September 16, 1898, he took part in the blockade of Cuba and was responsible for the cutting of submarine cables linking Cienfuegos with the outside world, thus isolating the Spanish garrison there, in May 1898. In June 1898, he led the invasion of Guantánamo Bay.