The Indianapolis journal., 1899-02-23
NEW HERO OF MANILA
SKETCH OF THE CAREER OF BRIG.
GEN. ELWELL STEPHEN OTIS.
Earned a COIOneIey I'm the Civil War
with Savage Indians.
Rochester IN. " Letter in Chicago Times


! splendid campaign against the savage hordes
of Aguinaldo in the Philippines gives him
niche in American history close to that oc-
cupied by George Dewey, is product Of
Rochester, and the people of the city are
proud of the new hero of Manila. And well
they may be- There was no need of a great
victory in the far-away China sea to ac-
quaint the people of Rochester with the
really great character of the general. They
have known him since he was a boy at
school, and they have had ever in mind his
achievements during the civil war and the
heroism he displayed when he was fighting
the Indians in the West. General Otis is a
soldier in whose hands the simple natives Of
the Philippines are boys play. Almost his
entire military work has brought him in
contact with savages-not such savages as
are found in the new American possessions
in the Orient, but the brave, crafty treach-
erous, cruel North American Indian, foe
who is never to be trusted until he is dead
The military hero of Manila was born in
Frederick City, Nd, in 1893. While he was
yet a baby he was brought to this city, and
here ne spent his youth and young manhood.
He studied in the Rochester University, but
was never noted for the excellence of his de-
pertinent. In fact, he was a ringleader
among the mischief makers, but, unlike the
celebrated Dewey, he was always shrewd
enough to escape punishment. After his
graduation he entered the law school at
Harvard, and was just beginning to get on
in his studies when the civil war came along.
Young Otis volunteered as captain Of a New
York regiment, rose to be q colonel, was
wounded at Chapel House, almost died in
the hospital, returned to the front, was
present at the fall of Richmond, and re-
turned to his home in 1860 general OF
brigade.
House passed through the left side OF his
nose, through the roof of his mouth, and
made its exit through the back OF his head.
That wound never completely healed. Inc
result has been an insomnia from which he
has suffered more or less for thlrty-hVe
years When he undertook the work OF re-
Stunning his studies in law after the war he
found that it was impossible, owing to this
wound, to do either himself or his profess
sion justice. An out of door life was a sine
qua non of health for him. He gave up the
law and returned to the army as lieutenant
colonel of the Twenty-second regular in
fantry. 1t was while with that command
that he saw most of his Indian fighting.
A HARD FIGHT WITH SIOUX.
The colonel of the regiment happened to
be absent when the Sioux went on the war
path under Sitting Bull, and the command
of the regiment fell to Otis. During the
famous campaign of the red men, when
Sitting Bull was making his name terror
with which parents frightened their chill
dren, Otis was constantly brushing up
against the savages and the Indians could
never get any satisfaction out of the big
chief from Rochester" On one occasion
Otis was taking a train of wagons down the
Yellowstone in the vicinity of Fort Buford.
Suddenly his command-which consisted of
detachment of two companieS-was sur
rounded by large number of Indians, who,
by messenger, demanded that Otis sur
render the wagons and the provisions. If
he would consent to this little request, the
red man was kind enough to explain, he and
twenty of his men would be allowed to
escape without torture. If not-well, the
colonel could imagine the alternative.
Tell you what you do" replied Otis.
You go back and tell your people they can
have all the wagons and the provisions they
can take"
In the fighting that followed Otis bore
himself like hero The savages would not
give the white men chance to engage them
in pitched battle, and, as their numbers
were vastly superior to those of the whites,
Otis had hard time in keeping up the
courage of his soldiers. Their small success
so enraged the Sioux that they set fire to
the grass and tried to burn out the troops,
but never did the fire of the soldiers slacken
and many q red hide was punched. Otis,
ordering his men not to cease firing, beat
out the flames in the grass with the help of
few men and then peppered away at the
Sioux with renewed Vigor. Two days of
this fighting satisfied the Indians desire for
army provender and Otis conducted his
wagons safely to port.
At another time Otis was sent to REIN
force Col. Reno on the Yellowstone. Reno
was following up Sitting Bull and Otis
assisted in the chase until the OLD chief was
compelled to get out of the country across
into the British possessions. On this expedi-
ton Otis showed himself commander the
like of which Is seldom seen. Whenever it
was necessary to make a camp the colonel
took his ak and went to work as if he had
been a common soldier He never asked any
of his men to do work IN which he himself
was not ready and willing to take hand.
No hot ,fF4~
of being who should the private as a
machine or as a servant never entered into
his head.
A DEMOCRATIC OFFICER.
There is little doubt that General Otis is
the most democratic officer in the army.
His ways are not always relished by the
West Point men, and in the old days at
tempts were made to boycott him, but he
paid no attention to these despicable tao
tics. When he first went to the famous
Twenty second the younger officers in the
regiment descended to petty tricks, which
were passed over by Otis as if he had not
seen them. The juniors, while of course
obeying orders, refused TO make an equal of
Otis socially. They thought they could
crush his spirit by declining to have any,
thing to do with him outside of duty. This
was their right, it is true, and the new Of
flcer did not interfere with them. Otis at
that time is said to have remarked, "A sol
dier is soldier, whether from the ranks or
from the academy" and the young officers
soon learned that Colonel Otis's ideals of
the soldier were far above their own, West
Pointers though they We're
When on the march OTIS would have moth
ing in the way Of comforts which the COM
mon private was not supplied with. AS he
shared the labors OF the soldier, SO he
shared the soldiers fare. He ate the same
| food, was ever in those places where there
! was most danger, and slept with the same
kind Of a blanket rolled about him that
covered the meanest man in the ranks. 1t
was these things that gave him such tre-
mendous influence over the men, He was the
most inspiring officer in the army. How
| could men accept their situation with any
| thing but pleasure when they saw their
| commander working beside them in way
| which made the difference between him and
! them only a matter of shoulder straps.
The regiment was once sent to General
| Miles at Fort Keogh with train of sup
| plies, Otis following On the way 1t was at
| tackled by the Sioux and twice turned back
| When Otis overlook the regiment he placed
| himself at its head, and, resuming the
| march, he said: This time we will not turn
! back The Indians kept up a running fight
| on the regiment which would have been
massacred had IT not been for Otis's STRAIT
| egy. In the afternoon the Indians made be-
and desired to quit They suddenly with
| drew and, to all appearances, had disap-
| peared, leaving the whites to their own de-
| vices. But Otis knew enough or the Indian
| character not to be deceived by any such
ruse. When night came he personally su-
| perintended the camp and had everything
| in readiness for an attack. He knew the In
| dianS would descend on the regiment when
| they thought the men were asleep. 1t was
no trouble for the lieutenant colonel to re-
main awake, as he was a victim of in
somnia anyway but he urged his men to
| their handQ