District, serving in that capacity until 1898. On the eve of the Spanish–American War, Train was ordered to the auxiliary cruiser , and became her first commanding officer when she was commissioned on 8 April 1898. Train then took command of the battleship on 19 April 1898, commanding her during the war. She participated in the blockade of Santiago de Cuba but missed the Battle of Santiago de Cuba because she was away coaling. Promoted to captain on 22 November 1898, Train became a member of the Board of Inspection and Survey on 14 May 1901 and served as its president from January 1903 to February 1904. Promoted to rear admiral, Train became the commander-in-chief of the U.S. Asiatic Fleet on 30 March 1905. During his tour, he was involved in various ways with the last weeks of the Russo-Japanese War of 1904–1905, and after the decisive Japanese defeat of the Imperial Russian Navy in the Battle of Tsushima Strait in May 1905 units of the Asiatic Fleet escorted three fleeing Russian cruisers into Manila Bay in the Philippine Islands, where he ensured that their crews were well taken care of during a lengthy stay until they were able to return to Russia. In November 1905, Train was at the center of a diplomatic dispute while with a group of American officers on a pheasant-hunting expedition near Nanking, China, when he accidentally shot a Chinese woman with birdshot, inflicting minor injuries on her. A mob of hundreds of Chinese villagers formed around Trains party and attacked it, pushing Train into the mud, seizing the officers guns, and taking Trains son, Navy Lieutenant Charles R. Train, hostage. When 40 United States Marines landed to rescue the officers, the villagers attacked them with pitchforks and the Marines fired two shots. Local Chinese officials refused to return the officers guns, but Train and his companions were able to extricate themselves without further injury to anyone. The governor of Nanking later apologized for the mobs actions, returned the American officers guns, and punished the ringleaders of the mob. Personal life The son of Charles Russell Train, Train was married to the former Grace Tomlinson (1850–1942). They had three children. Death Train planned to retire from the Navy on 14 May 1907 upon reaching the mandatory retirement age of 62, but, before he could, he died of uremia in Yantai (known to Westerners at the