Needom N. Freeman

Needom N. Freeman recorded the perspective of an enlisted American soldier. Born in Barrettsville, Georgia, in 1874, he worked on a farm and attended the village school before joining the United States Army. A Soldier in the Philippines follows his service from 1898 to 1900 with the Twenty Third Infantry, beginning with training at Fort McIntosh and continuing through the Philippine American War. Freeman distinguishes his perspective from accounts by officers, emphasizing the discipline, marches, uncertainty, and labor experienced by enlisted men. F. T. Neely published the volume in 1901, and its title page credits him as N. N. Freeman, a United States Army private. The narrative remains valuable primary testimony because it describes campaigning, occupation, military discipline, and daily life from the position of a rank and file participant.