El Paso daily herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1881-1901, 1899-04-04
CAREER OF MACARTHUR
Wisconain's Boy Soldier Who Is
Now at Manila.
OUR YOUNGEST MAJOR GENERAL.

He Won n Medal of Honor In the
Civu War When Eighteen and Led
n Famous Charge When Nineteen.
Commanded n Fighting Regiment.
lone Wisconsin man, General King,
got in his work at Pasig river, and
General Otis has another in reserve If
needed. " said a man from the Badger
State. II mean the youngest major gen.
eral of the line of the army today, Ar
thur Macarthur. We know Arthur Mac
Arthur out in the northwest, for he was
our boy hero of the civil war and was
decorated with medal of honor at 10
and was the permanent commander OF
q fighting regiment at 10. We Badgers
challenge any state to match that rec
ord. We thought he should have a gen.
erals star at the end of it, buthe wears
twin stare on his shoulder straps now
all right.
First as to the boy Arthur, then
the soldier Macarthur. Arthur came to
our camp-the Twenty fourth Wiscon-
sin, known as the Milwaukee regiment
with an appointment from Governor
Solomon as adjutant Now an adjutant
is or ought to be the colonel's right
hand man in battle as well as in camp.
He has to boss captains and Heutenants
as well as common soldiers, all in the
name of colonel of course But the boy
Arthur was only II then, a STRIPPING in
size and with stripling's effeminate
voice and manners. To make a long
story short. the little adjutant became
a laughing stock solely on account Of
what nature hadn't done for him up to
that time 1t was too bad. but soldiers
are soldiers and the army is a rough
place.
lone bit of camp gossip had it that
the colonel said one day. in fit of dis
gust that he'd ask Governor Solomon to
send him a wooden man or any old thing
for adjutant and take the boy back to
Milwaukee and put him in an army kim
dergarten. If the colonel did say that it
was the the best thing he ever did for
the regiment. We were in quiet camp
at Louisville then and hadn't struck the
fighting Well. the boy heard what the
colonel said. or was alleged to have said,
and there were no more mincing and fall
setto commands on parade drill. Arthur
changed to a man in night, and can
imagine how it was with him. for l
to blame. though, for he naturally sup
posed that a uniform and stage poses
made soldier. and there were others OF
the same way of thinking in the camp
at that time. heads older than Arthur's.
well, in the case of Arthur, it
didn't take long to prove the truth of
Davy Crockett's saying about battlefield
courage Pluck. said the border hero,
I'LL g
beard; otherwise goat would be a bet
ter fighter than any man. We got into
our first good fight at Stone River.
with Sheridan's division. Somehow i
have forgotten the details of it. Our
colonel and lieutenant colonel were not
on hand. and the regiment was handled
that day by Major Hubbard and the boy
adjutant, Arthur Macarthur. 1t was
fight and retreat, then rally and make
stand until thanked, then retreat again.
rally again and fight again, from day
light until dark
Finally. when the ammunition was
all used and the ranks down to frag
ments, Little Phil ordered what there
was left of the division back to the rail-
road intrenchments. Our remnant look
ed like the parts of a sail which a gale
of wind leaves clinging to the spars
when it strips a vessel of its canvas,
Just fringe of men on each side of the
flagstaff. But, say. that boy Arthur
was in his element and proved to be
anything else than a Kindergarten.
The regiment lost fully half of the four
hundred and odd men carried into bat
tie. and that days bloody work made
the beardless adjutant a hero in the
eyes of the whole brigade. Our COM
mandant. Major Hubbard, devoted a
paragraph of his official report to the
praise of little Arthur Macarthur. Said
he, TO the adjutant of the regiment l
am more than indebted for his aid and
efficient service rendered during the
engagements. l bespeak for him an
honorable career.
''Sheridan's great fight in the west
was at Mission Ridge, and the Milwau-
kee boys We're in the heat of the charge
that carried the line up the height 1t
was a sort of San Juan hill impulse
which moved our whole division up. for
the orders We're simply to capture the
enemy's works at the base of the hill
and then halt. Well. that order was
carried out literally. The men rested
for breath a bit and then was heard
the cry. We can't live here; we must
go forward. and forward we went
Wagner's brigade. on the left of us,
was actually turned back midway of
the ridge by staff officer carrying out
the instructions to the letter. but Sheri-
dan saw that we ON the right were in
for it and sent Wagner forward again.
Just before that Sheridan had told a
staff officer from headquarters, who
came to inquire by what authority the
troops were charging the main heights.
4 didn't order them up. but we are
going to take this ridge