Brookings weekly register. (Brookings, Brookings County, S.D.) 1898-1903, 1899-08-24

~ @ colonel was
dead did the
men realize what soldier he was and
how completely the leader makes or
mars q command.
1t was the old story over again with
the Nebraskans and their soldierly
colonel He was West Pointer, n
regular with good record who had
been picked out by some one In author
ity to lead the first soldiers Of Ne
braska In battle. Like all novices, the
soldiers thought all considerations
should weigh except the essential one
Of discipline. Perhaps they wanted n
lenient colonel to give them a good
time: perhaps a bandbox soldier to
show off and to show them off before
schoolboys and women.
OF course the volunteers didn't know
| the kind Of man fortune and official
good sense had sent them, but when
,, he was dead on the field Of battle they
| found out that he had died doing a
| little repetition act In the line Of dar-
| ing deeds. Here's a little scene from
| the campaign against Victoria and his
Arizona Apaches In the eighties, with
Stotsenburg at the forefront. The
Apaches had splendid position, and
with carbines were giving a troop OF
| colored cavalry, which had cut into
| their trail, hot time. In fact, the ne.
groes were surprised at the Apache
tactics and on the point Of getting
| xryhaf Stntonnhtrrfs
dashed in from an opposite side Of the
plain on the flank of the Indians. The
modest soldier always declared that
| he didn't know there were any Indians
In that part of the country, or he
would have taken another route. II
| this is true, he must have been sur
| prised when he and a sergeant and
eight troopers ran plump into 40
Apaches in a close gully. The first
hostile shot knocked the sergeant over.
| and the troopers took to cover like
| good border fighters. Stotsenburg,
however, picked up his wounded man
and carried him TO shelter behind a
| bowlder.
Then" said a comrade of those
days, "he turned in with his handful
| Of men and conducted a campaign Of
his own for the benefit OF an arroyo
, full of Apaches. The rest Of his regi-
ment came up in time to bury the In
| dians."
The next scene shows Colonel Stot-
senburg coming to the rescue Of com
In ha Dhilinninnc Ono do "
when Stotsenburg was absent from his
command in Manila the famous scout
| ing detachment of Major Bell discov-
| cred Filipino ambush cleverly laid in
| horseshoe form and encircling a rice
| field at the edge OF a wood. Bell had
| but 40 men, and one was killed and
| five wounded at the first Filipino vol
| ley.
The Americans skirmished for points,
| then, finding themselves outnumbered,
retired, closely followed by insurgents.
| The wounded were carried along and
| two of their bearers hit in this service,
but the body of the dead scout was
left within the insurgent lines. Major
| Bell asked for help to recover the
body and punish the Fflipinos. but the
| Nebraska battalion which came up In
| response was checked by the enemy's
| yoIleys from behind well laid trenches.
| Artillery was then sent for, and while
waiting the sun Frustrated more men
than Filipino bullets. 1t was a dead
lock, with the Filipinos holding the
best end. Then Stotsenburg came to
| the front and was hailed, much like
| Sheridan at Cedar Greek, with the en-
thusiastic cheers Of his men They
had learned that he was the man for
any crisis. The colonel was quickly
followed by the Second battalion. which
he had ordered forward as he passed
through camp, and he at once led a
| charge Of the whole force.
Colonel Stotsenburg went in at the
head Of the ltne and was shot dead.
with bullet through the breast, before
| he reached the insurgent trenches. The
| Nebraskans rushed on fiercer than ever
| after the fall Of their colonel, and just
| as they mounted the works the FIJI
| pinos broke and ran. The result OF the
| charge was to clear the enemy from
| the Jungle and open a road to Malolos.
| II cost the Nebraskans 10 per cent OF
their number. and the death of one
| who was 'lion in battle"
| A Nebraskan fired the first shot In
the Filipino war, and no doubt the time
y "a AN IN