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"Louisville's Most Historic Inn" |
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(Article on General Lawton, our
"Uncle Henry," in the Philippines
Spanish American War, From Leslie's Weekly, Jan 6, 1900, page 10 & 11)
Cover Photo:
MAJOR-GENERAL H. W. LAWTON, — HE DIED FOR HIS
COUNTRY
General Lawton as Warrior, Statesman, and Man
Elegant Tributes from President Schurman of the Philippine Commission, and the Rev. Peter MacQueen,
A Hero whom the Nation Mourns
Thumbnails of photos, pages 8 & 9 from this issue
Thumbnails of photos, pages 14 & 15 from this issuePart 1. J. G Schurman's Remarks
(go to part 2)I REMEMBER well the day the transport brought General Lawton into the harbor of Manila. I happened to be lunching with Admiral Dewey on the Olympia, and the transport passed so close by our port-holes that we could almost recognize the individuals on the deck. The admiral immediately ordered the band to play "There'll be a hot time in the old town to-night." which had come to be regarded as the American national air in the Philippines. Next day I called upon the general and Mrs. Lawton, with both of whom I had very intimate and delightful relations in the months which followed. And it was with the keenest sense of personal loss and sorrow that I learned that General Lawton was no more.
J. G. SCHURMAN, PRESIDENT OF THE PHILIPPINE COMMISSION,
AND OF CORNELL UNIVERSITY.What a splendid man he was! Very tall and of commanding presence, erect, full of nervous energy, tireless, indomitable, he seemed like a very force of nature. No work wearied him; no task was too great for him. Where others needed time for preparation he was ready on a moment's notice. Even the lack of means which prudence might prescribe as essential for the attainment of ends would not deter him from undertaking them, and what Lawton undertook everybody felt he would
succeed in doing. As examples, I may mention his expedition last spring to Santa Cruz and the eastern end of the Laguna de Bay, and the still more astonishing expedition immediately after to San Isidro; in the province Nueva Ecija, in which, without roads and with almost no transportation, he made his way with a small force for seventy miles in the heart of the enemy's country.
His similar achievements in the province of Cavité at a later date, when with only a hundred men he held at bay 2,000 Tagalogs on the bridge of the Zapote River, and with a re-enforcement of marines finally routed them, will never be forgotten by those who saw or heard the immediate descriptions of Lawton mounted on his huge charger, with his white helmet a mark for every sharpshooter, calmly leading his men, and encouraging, exhorting, or otherwise influencing them when they showed symptoms of demoralization and wanted to retreat. But his soldiers believed in him, and the very fact that Lawton was their leader was itself a victory-bringing re-enforcement. So it was always. He was a dashing, irresistible fighter, who never lost his head—at once the inspiration of his own men and the terror of the enemy.But his brothers-in-arms will do fuller justice than I can In in this hastily-penned tribute to Lawton's achievements as it soldier and commander. It is, however, within my own experience to add that as the army in the Philippines longed for his coming, so they received him with unbounded confidence and paid him to the end loyal and unwavering homage. It was a fine example of the influence of personality, of the way in which one man diffuses himself through thousands, and with-out diminution of his own power communicates to every one within the circle of his influence a new and larger force. Equally I may be allowed to say that Lawton was an object of terror to the insurgents and of confidence to the Filipino people. They felt and recognized his greatness, and they realized that the victorious general was also a wise and humane man.
It is this side of Lawton's character on which I delight to dwell. While we had no greater fighter in the Philippines, it is also true that Lawton, like his colleague, General MacArthur, was a great lover of peace and concord, and believed that war, if necessary, was only one of the instruments to be used in the pacification of the Filipinos. He discerned that we should have not only to subdue the insurgents by force of arms, but also to satisfy the intelligence and aspirations of the Philippine peoples in the matter of civil and political rights and the exercise of autonomous governments. And no sooner had he wrested towns and provinces from the grip of the insurgents than he put forth the most strenuous efforts to secure the people in their persons and property, punishing severely any of his own soldiers who might be guilty of even petty offenses against the Filipinos, so that the latter should realize that the American flag meant equal justice to natives and to Americans. He encouraged them to set up municipal governments, so far as possible leaving municipal affairs in the hands of the natives.
And what he did in this way for these towns he desired done throughout the entire archipelago. He believed as I believe that the suppression of the insurrection and the conferring of civil and political rights on the inhabitants should go hand in hand. Great fighter though he was, he clearly recognized that military government could never satisfy the aspirations of the people, and he discerned, too, that it was not only humane in itself and just to them but prudent policy on the part of the American authorities to demonstrate to the Filipinos that our sovereignty had no object but their good, that our interests lay in their happiness, and that, far from desiring to limit the field of their political action, we wished to extend it to the utmost possible reach of their capacities. For Lawton the flag meant peace, order, justice, and self-government in the Philippines. And he know human nature well enough to recognize that the latter cannot permanently be separated from the other three, and is from the beginning more wisely cultivated and developed in connection with them.
As I said before, l love to think that this splendid embodiment of the military power of the United States in the Philippines was also the champion and advocate of the spirit of conciliation. Since Americans and Filipinos must in the meantime live and walk together, Lawton insisted that from the very
outset, there should he mutual understanding and sympathy, and the appreciation and forbearance which these inevitably entail.I have said something of Lawton as a warrior and statesman in the Philippines. Back of all remains the man. He was open as the day, absolutely without guile, an ingenuous and transparent soul. He was true as steel, so that friends and acquaintances anchored to him. A man of the purest honor and integrity, you knew that though he was subject to our mortal weaknesses he could do nothing unworthy. His officers admired and loved him. It would not be proper to draw the veil from the privacy of that domestic life which he enjoyed in Manila. But I may he excused for saving that it was a home full of sunshine and of innocent and natural enjoyment. The heart of the American people will go out in sympathy to the sorrow stricken widow and the fatherless children over whose bright lives this great and mournful eclipse has come.
And with the sympathy of the American people they will at least have the consolation of remembering that the hero fell in the place which in conflict he had always chosen for his own — at the front of his ranks and in the eye of danger. Yet one cannot help feeling regret that our hero's work was so prematurely cut short, and that he has not been spared to fulfill the great duty which awaits us in the Philippines — the pacifying of the inhabitants, the binding up of their wounds, and the establishment under the stars and stripes of that golden age of liberty and justice for which the Filipinos have still to look forward.
J. G. SCHURMAN..
Cornell University, Ithaca, N.Y.
Leslie's Weekly Added this: (as remarks to the photo pages that accompany these articles)
With Lawton at Santa Cruz.
THE EXPEDITION TO SANTA CRUZ AND BEYOND—SCENES AND INCIDENTS IN A BRIEF BUT NOTABLE CAMPAIGN IN THE PHILIPPINES
WHEN General Henry W. Lawton fell dead before his men on the firing-line at San Mateo, with an insurgent bullet in his breast, the United States lost not only one of the pillars of its strength in the Philippines, but one of the truest soldiers and most able and valiant leaders who ever served under its flag. General Lawton was a veteran whose service in arms ran back through some of the greatest battles of the Civil War, but his strong qualities as a soldier came out most conspicuously in the brilliant and successful campaign which he led against the Apache chief, Geronimo, in 1886. When the war with Spain broke out he was soon in the thick of things, as his habit was, and won new laurels for himself in the sharp and decisive battle at El Caney, and in other engagements.
Fresh from the scenes of strife and victory around Santiago, Lawton went to the Philippines to lead again the boys in blue into the smoke of conflict. From the time of his arrival at the islands, in February, l898, until his lamented death on December 19th, he was, constantly in the field of action—here, there, and everywhere—moving rapidly and striking quick, decisive blows after the fashion which he had learned so well in the border wars of the West. It was not long after his arrival that he was ordered to lead the expedition which resulted in the capture of Santa Cruz, on April 10th, l898.
Santa Cruz is the capital of the province of Laguna, and it lies on the west shore of the bay of that name, about thirty miles from Manila as the crow flies, or about forty miles by the nearest land route. This city was one of the main strongholds of the insurgents at the outset, and repeated attacks made upon our lines from that point had rendered it advisable to reduce the town to subjection. An advance upon Santa Cruz would also cut in between the forces of the insurgent general, Pilar, and those of Aguinaldo, and would help, it was believed, to weaken the enemy's line of defense. A staff artist and correspondent of LESLIE'S WEEKLY accompanied General Lawton's column in this movement, and we are thus able to present some new and striking sketches illustrative of the scenes and incidents of that notable episode in the life of the fallen hero.
The troops, numbering altogether over 2.000 men, left Manila on April 8th and landed from their cascoes next day on the shore of the bay about two miles above Santa Cruz, under a brisk fire from the enemy. An advance was made at once to the outskirts of the city. Early on the morning of the 10th the movement on Santa Cruz itself began, the troops, crossing the narrow stream in front of the town at several points, in the face of a spirited and determined resistance. General Lawton, as usual, commanded in person at the most dangerous and critical point on the line of attack, this being at the bridge shown in our sketch, leading to the principal Street and the heart of the town. Company G, of the Fourteenth Infantry, were the men who crossed this bridge with him, and they met with a hot fire every step of the way. But the insurgents fell back before the steady advance of our men, and were soon retreating from Santa Cruz through the swamps that stretch westward from the town, while General Lawton took up his quarters for a time in the mayor's palace.
The next day our troops moved in in the direction of Pagsanjan, noting as they went the bodies of numbers of the insurgents who had perished in the swamp between Santa Cruz and that town.
The expedition terminated at Paete, about ten miles farther up the island. While the troops halted here an event occurred characteristic of General Lawton's peculiar methods of action. Accompanied by several members of his staff, he went, out from Paete on a scouting expedition, his whereabouts during the two following days being wholly unknown to any one at Paete. On his return the troops were ordered by General Otis back to Manila.
Several times during this incursion into the enemy's country General Lawton exhibited those traits of independence and resourcefulness which made him so efficient and successful in every campaign he undertook. At one point in the advance beyond Pagsanjan it became necessary to signal to the gun-boats in the bay, and General Lawton performed this service himself, ascending to the top of a church-tower for the purpose. He was always doing unexpected things, and his men were always kept on the qui-vive not knowing what sudden move their intrepid leader might be making next. He was a strict disciplinarian, and worked his men up to their full limit of endurance, but as he imposed no tasks nor sacrifices on them that he was not ready and willing to bear himself, they admired and loved him and were prompt to follow wherever he led the way.
Our full-page sketch represents General Lawton and his staff, The British consul at Manila, and our artist and correspondent, standing under the arch of the principal street entering Pagsanjan. The British consul acted as the interpreter and guide on this expedition. One of the interesting objects seen in Pagsanjan was a Memorial stone erected in the market square containing four inscriptions, as follows:
"Alos Martiris de la Patria."
"Proclamacion de la lndependencia, 12 Julio 1898, 29 Sept. 1898
"A. L. Liberador de Filipinas. E. Aguinaldo
Pa Gsangnen a la Libertad, 14 Novembre, 1896, 11 Junio, 1898.This was evidently a monument erected by the insurgent leader to signalize various important events in what he doubtless fondly hoped would mark a successful struggle for a dictatorship in the Philippines.
Part 2. Peter MacQueen's Remarks
Lawton the Fighter.
PERSONAL RECOLLECTIONS BY THE REV. PETER MCQUEEN
OF THE NOBLE SOLDIER ON THE FIELD OF BATTLE.WEST SOMERVILLE, MASS., December 23d, 1899. — I feel that the death of General Lawton is a personal affliction. He was, to my thinking, the best and noblest soldier in the army. Every-body liked him, all the reporters praised him. The soldiers held him in their highest regard. All officers are not popular around the camp-fire. This man was. "Wait till Lawton comes," said the husky volunteer from the West; "he'll rip this insurrection up the back." At Santa Cruz Lawton charged across the bridge at the head of the men himself. Most generals have their head-quarters a mile behind the firing-lines. Lawton's headquarters was usually a mile ahead of the firing-line.
I saw him wade the Norzagary River where other men were swept away by the current. At this point he had been two days without food. He had a wet sandwich in his pocket and sat down on the bank of the river to eat his humble fare. That night I sent him down a chicken which I had picked up in my foraging tour, and the British consul, who was with him, told me that he paid the natives full price for it. This shows that Lawton was very careful in his dealings with the natives. Major Edwards, the adjutant, called us reporters up one day and asked us if we had receipts for all the chickens which we had. There was a twinkle in his eye as we told him that the owners of the chickens had gone away before they were able to get a receipt. But all these incidents show how strict General Lawton was in his endeavors to have the natives treated kindly. He had great hopes for the Filipinos. The last time I saw him, he said to me: " I have met men and women among the Filipinos who would grace society in any country in the world. I predict that when peace comes and the liberal government which the Americans will give these people, that they will be one of the most peaceful, prosperous, thrifty races on the globe."
There are no words with heart enough and soul enough to praise this noble, generous man. He was as brave as Achilles and as modest as a girl. Of all the generals in the Philippines, Lawton has done the most to quell the insurrection. He dealt the heaviest blows to the enemy in the field, and yet he was the most thoughtful of non-combatants when the fight was over. His first expedition was to Laguna de Bay. On that occasion he was the first to cross the Lumban River—rowing himself over in a canoe. In five days he took the towns of Santa Cruz, Pagsanjan, Lumban, Loňgos, and Paete. He captured six small gun-boats of the enemy, and did this with a loss of only five or six men. His next expedition was his famous march to San Isidro. Oftentimes, on this famous campaign, Lawton would take the rifle from the palsied hand of a dying soldier and keep on firing in the soldier's place. One day we lost twelve out of twenty carabao bulls, who were dragging the provision wagons, and Lawton discovered that we had a wagon-load of Apollinaris water. When Lawton was told that this was for the officers he said, "I am an officer, and I want none of this nonsense on the battlefield. Off with it." The luxury was thrown out on the fields.
In Lawton's Paranaque campaign he brought his cannon up to within forty yards of the Filipino trenches. It was at Zapote Bridge, near Paranaque, that Lawton met Pio del Filar in a terrible life-and-death battle. He told me afterward that Pilar's men had given him the hardest tussle of his life. In looking over my papers to-day I find the following entry for June 11th, 1899: "At about three o'clock in the afternoon, General Wheaton's brigade, headed by General Lawton, who, in his white clothing and helmet, on a big, black horse, was a shining mark for the enemy's sharpshooters, circled to the south of Las Pinas, encountering a large force of Filipinos among the trees. General Lawton had a narrow escape. In the first volley of the enemy the horses of three officers near the general were shot from under them. General Lawton was often begged not to wear a white helmet and light clothes, but he wore them every day. His position on the firing-line, however, was not a reckless one. It was the ideal bravery of a perfect soldier. He wished to be upon the ground himself, so that he could the better place his attack.
At Las Pinas, Otis kept telegraphing him; but no one was able to find the general. At last a message came from the "palace": "Where is Lawton ?" The grizzly fighter sent back in reply: " At the front firing-line with his men, where he ought to be."
He was an ideal man in his family. Mrs. Lawton is one of the most charming women in Manila. She is the leading American woman in the Philippines to-day. In all good, kind, true and tender ways she is the best friend the soldiers have. She has organized a committee of ladies to do volunteer Red Cross work in the hospitals of Manila. Many a poor soldier will mourn with this devoted wife. Mrs. Lawton is exceedingly popular with the American ladies of Manila. She is an ideal wife and mother. With her children, three girls and a boy, she is to be seen driving out each day on the Luneta. The Lawtons drive in a plain American carriage, with far less pomp and pride than many a second-lieutenant. Her little boy has followed his father to the firing-lines quite often. When Wheaton was besieging Pasig, Lawton came up from Manila with his son to inspect the lines. As the bullets were hissing all around I heard the little fellow ask, " Papa, where are all these stinging-bees ?"
For about three weeks I was with Lawton on the firing-lines. He was such a mark for bullets that I finally concluded to go back with the artillery and write memoirs. A week later I met the general, and he inquired: "Where have you been ?" " Back there writing a book," I replied. He laughed, and -said: "I notice that you literary men have lots to write about when things get hot up here."
I shall long remember Lawton. He was a kind, good friend to me. Full many a cheering word of his I keep among my treasures. His modesty and manliness shall live with me like sweet forget-me-nots in Memory's garden. The noble gentle-woman, who is to-day a widow in that far-off land, will have the heart-beating sympathy of every American man and woman in the world. She often was with her heroic husband on the firing-lines. It was the glory of Lawton and his wife to exhibit in their domestic affection the simple, honest traits which make the republic great. In the fierce tide of battle, in the wild bivouac of life. I shall esteem it as an honor to the end of my days that I have known this truly American family. Their courage, constancy, and love were shining traits in Manila society. Even in the chaos of martial law this tender home of Lawton grew like a root of roses growing undefiled amid the riot of a battlefield.
PETER MACQUEEN.
Thumbnails of photos, pages 8 & 9 from this issue
Thumbnails of photos, pages 14 & 15 from this issue
