Leon Bonner
| Date and Place of Birth: | Date Unknown New York, NY |
| Date and Place of Death: | February 15, 1898 Havana Harbor, Cuba |
| Baseball Experience: | Amateur |
| Position: | Manager's Assistant |
| Rank: | Seaman |
| Military Unit: | US Navy |
| Area Served: | Caribbean |
Leon Bonner was from New York city. During
the latter part of the 19th Century he served as a seaman aboard the USS
Maine (ACR-1), the United States Navy's second commissioned battleship.
Bonner was assistant to the ships' baseball team manager, Charles
Eirmann, and in Florida, in December 1897, the team defeated a team from
the cruiser USS Marblehead, 18-3, to earn the title Navy baseball
champions. Their next game was scheduled with an all-star squad in
Havana, Cuba, and the Maine arrived in Havana Harbor in January.
On February 15, 1898, Marine Corps Fifer C.H. Newton, the ship’s bugler
and the ball team’s third baseman, blew taps as the Maine bobbed
listlessly in Havana Harbor. Shortly afterwards, the Maine blew up,
killing 261 of the crew, including Leon Bonner and all but the baseball
team’s right fielder, John Bloomer.
Two months after the loss of the USS Maine, on April 25, 1898, saw the
start of the Spanish-American War, during which the rallying cry,
“Remember the Maine! To Hell with Spain!” was frequently heard.
Date Added: February 25, 2013
Can you add more information to this biography and help make it the best online resourse for this player? Contact us by email
Read Baseball's Greatest Sacrifice Through The Years - an online year-by-year account of military related deaths of ballplayers
Baseball's Greatest Sacrifice is associated with Baseball Almanac
Baseball's Greatest Sacrifice is proud to be sponsored by
