Wigwag flags in Cuba

Wigwag flags go ashore in Cuba during the Spanish-American War in 1898. At the time the war started in April of that year, the Signal Corps had only eight officers, 50 enlisted men, and $800 to its name. It got an appropriation of about $600,000 to get it through the end of the year. (The Army today has about 65,000 Signal soldiers.)

The General Service Code--the ones and twos indicated by the flag-waving--actually remained in use by the U.S. Army until 1912.