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The “Patria Battalion” was reborn in February of 1998 in preparation for the centennial of the Spanish-American War. The primary drive behind its formation was to fulfill the need for accurate portrayals of the Spanish colonial land forces that served in Cuba, Puerto Rico, Guam and the Philippines prior to and during the Spanish-American War.

The organization has come a long way from its humble beginings in 1998 but we still have a long way to go. Today the unit is headquartered in Illinois but also has members in Ohio. Members of the unit travel throughout the United States to take part in living history and battle re-enactments.

Unlike the American Army there is little information that is readily available here in the U.S. or Spain concerning the various aspects of the Spanish colonial army which fought in the Spanish-American War. This lack of information has made the accurate portrayal of the Spanish difficult but quite rewarding. A lot of progress has been made in the last three years but those of us portraying the Spanish have a lot more work to do before we can consider our portrayal to be more than adequate.

Events in which the unit has participated (not a complete list, of course):

Filming projects in which the unit has participated:

The group's mission:

Our mission is not only to give the public a chance to see the uniforms, equipment and weapons of the Spanish colonial army of 1898. It is also to provide a glimpse at the human aspect of what so many times history only refers to as “the enemy.” In the end we are all still men.

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