Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1899-10-24
BIC MAN WITHOUT FEAR.
LAwrox, FIRST or OLD INDIAN
FIGHTERS At MANILA.

q LAwT0N, FIRST or OLD INDIAN
|, FIGHTERS At MANILA.
Il or the men, who, having long sine
: waged with the Indians on our westerI
frontier, sought service In tho Philip
pines, foremost stands Lawton-facil'
: principe.
Away bsck In the sixties and seven
ties, writes Gen. Charles King, when oul
infantry and cavalry we're scattered Al
} over the territories, there were names
] that were ever prominent, ~ Their
, were regiments that seemed forever
destined to be In the thickest Of thu
: fighting.
u We bad famous fighters to lead n
, against the hostile tribes In Crook
Miles, Merritt and Mckenzie, but there
were younger soldiers who bore the re
spousibilities Of active command oi
scout and battle through the lndl.r
J country, and Il was In them our inter
ests as subaltsrns and contemporaries
} were msinly ceutered.
For long time, several months al
, least. the Indian fighters Of the old days
had few representatives In Manila. Our
tlreless corps commander, Maj. Gen
Otis, u 10 true, had once outgenersled
Sitting Bull on the Yellowstone. Our
lst division commander, Maj. Gen. An
derson, had had long experience against
the Indisns OF western Texas, and along
the Columbia.
Only two regiments Of regular infant
~ we're with us when the Filipino war
broke out--the lith and 33d-both IA
nous as Indian fighters, and but few Of
the men who led their stalwart detsch-
meuts In old Arizona and Wyoming days
remain with them.
And 90, just 40 In the old days Of the
decade Immediately succeeding the civil
war, We nov speak Of Lswton among
the Indian fighters At Manila ss fore
most, and the only attribute he seems to
have outgrown 10 caution.
His keen eyes have lost nothing OF
their fire and his stride nothing Of lie
scope or elasticity. He can outwxlk
and outride many youngster even now,
and to say he Is tireless puts IL altogether
too mildly.
He came to my headquarters the day
after his assignment TO the command OF
the Let division, and we rode out TO the
lines together, he on big black Ameri-
can horse, and on little runt OF q
Filipino pony. The contrast Was so
funny the soldiers on guard could hard.
| ly keep from laughing; some Of them
didn't--After we had got q few rods
away.
The line had been selected when we
had only n small force with which to
hold II, but by the time Lawton arrived
the 20th and 22d infantry had been sent
to reinforce us and the 4,h came with
him, so he decided 70 push farther out to
where long and moderately high ridge
crossed the front from the Pssig toward
Overshine's left.
The Filipino camps, We knew, were
not far over that ridge, and their out
posts could sweep It with their msusers
from distance, while my volunteers
with their hard-kicking springnelds
could not reach them. The regulars,
however. came with their long-ranged
"krags," and about the frst thing Law
ton did was to order the selection OF
dozen crack shots from each company
| Ia the lst brigs aud for these he OBJ
tained our latest model Of magazine
rife.
This placed us on better terms with
''the little brown men, and now Lawton
vas ready for an aggressive move.
The first time Lawton reconnoltered
that ridge chip OF the old block, =
gallant little fellow in his early teens,
followed his fathers movements on q
Filipino pony and took his baptism OF
fire from the insurgent msusers far
more coolly, I dare say, than did the
devoted wife and mother, three miles
away In Manila, the news that her boy
had more than one close shave that
afternoon.
A day or two after he rode the old
line with me TO "get acquainted" rs he
said, with the officers OF the lst brigade,
and after we had reached Haystack
Knoll and the esrthworks Ia advance Of
Cemetery Height, what did he do bat
dismount, straddle the trenches and 90
stalking out over the rice fields straight
towards little height that had never
been without It's Filipino sharpshooters
until our fellows got their Krags, and
might still hsrbor batch Of them.
He got over ground like stag hound,
with long, springy strides, aud, ordering
dozen Cslifornians 10 follow and 10
.cover" the front as quickly ~ possible
I chased after him. He reached the top
without turning hair and proceeded to
climb and stand erect on big rock at
the summit mark that could be seen
for miles around. I got there "bl0wnn
and rebukeful.
After I've minutes' survey he slid
down and again strobe away toward the
ridge that spanned the horizon directly
10 the south. Only our scouting parties
had crawled thither before. Our Cali
forniaus looked concerned ut his utter
neglect Of all prccaution, as / pushed
them ahead on the run, but the trail was
narrow and crooked, the underbrush
thick and they could not rush ahead as
fast as he could, even on unobstructed
ground.
Just a. luck would have It, not Fiji
pino happened to be lurking along there
that afternoou-yet every second ex-
pected TO hear the crack Of q mauser or
the sudden rush from their lair Of an
armed party bent on our capture.
Once at the top We could see clear
over TO Csvita, across the bay, and the
country toward PsranaQue lay unfolded
before our eyes. Even 40 we stood there,
the mellow notes Of . Filipino bugle
came floating on the breeze from clump
Of bamboo perhaps 1000 yards away, and
there lay the insurgent outposts. Far to
the west we could descry the stout little
earthwork built by Hswthorne's gun
ners around q. beautiful grove on the
extreme right Of my line, with the
trenches stretching away to both tanks,
and then the Cslif0rnians came bursting
their way through the underbrush, hot,
sweating and saying swear words soto
voce over the unwonted speed and difi-
Guilty Of their push through the jungle.
L4wton smiled grimly but said moth
Ing as we studied the ground through
our field glasses.
Then the horses were brought up by q
belsted orderly, and, mounting, We rode
out eastward toward the bluffs overlook.
ing the delta Of the Pasig and the pictur-
esQue towns on the islands below. The
Californians we're far from their base and
couldn't keep up with Lawton's huge
black horse. Ny pony had 70 trot or
lope, and before long we were far from
any supports, with only one orderly and
two revolvers.
All the line to tho Pasig bluffs and
back the way we came, not a Filipino
rifle cracked, but the North Dakotas had
caught eight of us from their bivousc
close TO the river, and had sent out .
skirmish line 70 see what was up. Law
ton commended their wstchfulness,
designated points for their pickets TO