 Complete the following phrase:  From 1894 to 1896, he was a colonel on the military staff of New York Governor Levi P. Morton. Shortly after the outbreak of the SpanishAmerican War in 1898, Astor personally ficed a volunteer artillery unit known as the Astor Battery, which served in the Philippines. In May 1898, Astor was appointed a lieutet colonel in the U.S. Volunteers and served as an officer on the staff of Major General William Shafter in Cuba, during the 