Martinsburg herald. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1881-1920, 1899-03-18

Ygf1 a the reports s,.a and
In battle the aid carries orders under
fire and often guides or leads the col
umn on q charge. Washington was an
aid when he saved Braddock's army
from destruction at Monongahela. Nell
son A. Miles won his first promotion as
an aid to General Howard, and Custer
first gained distinction on the staff Of
Mcclellan. A Spanish revolver in the
hands of a wounded don, who lay welt
ering in his blood near San Juan block
house, made a staff hero out of Lieu
lars. Young Ord was the son of Gen
eral e. O. G. Ord, a well known army
1eader who died of fever in Havana
some years z The generals name
sake, Lieutenant E. 0. G. Ord of the
Twenty-second infantry, served in
Cuba also.
Garesche Ord was on the staff of
General Hawkins. He was conspicuous
all the morning in the bloody San Juan
basin, where he risked his life more
than once to get information about the
Spanish positions and the ways to get
at them. When the Sixth and Sixteenth
regiments reached the fording place
following, not leading, the general and
his stafford was just coming from
the front, where he had climbed a tall
tree for a good look at the blockhouse.
boys, you Fan take it in 80 minutes"
he said. 1t was three hours or such q
matter before these troops crossed the
Spanish trenches. and when they did
Ord was one of the foremost.
There was another staff officer con-
s~picuous at the ford. and before noting
what happened TO Ord it is well to have
a glance at General Skaters imam for
the hour" Lieutenant J. d. Miley.
When these same troops of Hawkins
began to cross the creek, the Spaniards
were pouring in Mausers at a very
lively rate, and Miley stood on the bank
nearest the Spanish lines. He is a tall,
slim fellow of about 80, a sober, earn
est schoolmasterish sort of a soldier who
wouldn't laugh without the best of
causes. He stood in view of the line in
direct range of the bullets, swinging
his hands and clapping them gleefully
while he kept up a fire of comment TO
encourage the men. THAT all right"
(Meaning the bullets overhead. 1.-the
Spanish are simply wasting their am
munition, that is all. Soon it got too
hot for him even, and he strobe away
under the bank, saying with n smile,
I'D better be getting out of it, though"
There was more work for Miley to do
that day as Skaters representative,
and he is to be met with all along the
line in the narratives of the soldiers.
There is a story afioat in the army
that Ord said to a comrade that morn
ing, TN come oat Of this a colonel or
a corpse, " but his companion officers
deny this and say it is unlike Ord. He
was capable OF rashness under excite
ment, but not given to braYado. The
story Of Ord's gallantry and death was
given me by his companion officers of
the Sixth. After the brigade had
been under FIRE a couple of hours or
more, il reached the shelter Of a
bench in the hillside well toward the
crest. Some confusion in the lines took
place owing to the thick high grass,
the barbed wire fences and other OBJ
structions, and Ord, seeing a detached
band of men a little ahead of the rest
making ready for the final rush, asked
Hawkins permission to join it. Haw-
kins assented under the spur of the
prevailing excitement, but said after
ward that he had it on his lips to re
,an %An x--.l. TT1---var h. l.I 80
and Ord kept on at the head of all.
When the handful reached the trench,
Ord saw q wounded Spaniard, and with
gestures told his men to take good care
of the luckless foeman. Evidently the
Spaniard misunderstood the gesture,
and the words were also unintelligible
TO him. He drew a revolver and shot
Ord dead. Ord's companions shot the
Spaniard, a natural act of revenge I'M
der the circumstances.
Lieutenant Miley received praise out.
side of the report of his immediate com
mander, General Shafter, a fact which
makes the mention all the more en-
phatic. General Kent, who led the in
fantrv nj San Juan hill, says that he
often saw Miley delivering orders under
fire with great unconcern. Miley was
the bearer of truce dispatches and ac-
companied Shafter when he talked with
the Spanish generals. He it was who
received the honor Of hosting the
American flag over the governors pal
ace on July II, and found arrival at the
last moment in the shape Of a NEEDLE
some newspaper correspondent, who
tried to rob the army of honor won at
the cannon month.
Miley wa one Of the three American
commissioner who negotiated the sur
render Of Santiago, the others being
General Wheeler and General Lawton.
There is an army story told TO Illus
trate the remarkable influence at head
quarters of This comparatively Young
aid-de-caInI When the Spaniards sur
rendered. there was ;. Spanish gunboat