The Worcester spy. [volume] (Worcester, Mass.) 1898-1904, 1899-12-21

DERoNlMo ASKED FOR LAYTON,
as he admired him, and he said that he
wanted to make terms. But Cantain
LaWton refused and said that he must
surrender as prisoner of war. Law
uoWn his arms and trust to the presi-
uent of the United States. Then Gero-
hI4o surrendered. But Natchez who
nau kept out of reach. said that he
wanted TO go to the White Mountains
-, ~ d liionth. Geronimo followed and
go Ieu WIN MN. Then the old chief
s, otu zen. Mlles that he had left the re-
serVatlon because there was a conspir-
@cy on loot to get away with him.
On Sept 8 Gen. Lawton's troonars
IeIt win Geronimo and his band for
fort Marion, Florida, and the peonIe
VI the territory began to breathe free
~ again. A few hours after Ieavine,
| roFl Bowie, Gen. Drum, acting score.
tdFy OF war, sent Geographic orders TO
Capt' LaWton to stop with, his prison
CTS az the southwestern military head
qudIt eIS IN San Antoine, Texas, until
uete termination was reached as to what
Ptoceuufe could be taken against them
IL was supposed in Washington that
tney mad surrendered on the condition
tIaC Ihey should not be given up for
trlal IN Arizona or executed bv the
troopers The atrocities which thew
had committed, terrible as thew were
We're not such as to bring them with
III the jurisdiction of the court martial.
Whlch IS very limited nor would the
civil courts in the absence of witnesses
meet the requirements in the case. all
lHouSh their guilt was notorious. and
although this had no recognition in the
! T.,
solution. Gen. Miles claimed that they
We're entitled to the treatment
| given prisoners of war and said
that Lawton had pledged Gero-
| nlmo guardian against i'm
| mediate death at the hands Of the
| troopers. Neither Geronimo nor
| Natchez could be induced to surrender
until this was promised them. Elk
| nausted as they were, they would no
doubt have fought to the bitter end
and much more blood would have been
shed before they could have been ex-
terminated. Capt. Lawton undoubtedly
used his best judgment at that time In
any event, the territory was relieved of
them and that was the point to be
gained.
The glory of that campaign in Ari-
IONA and Mexico that brought about the
surrender belonged more to Gen. Law
ton than to any other officer in the
army. Hunting Indians in the arid
mountain regions or on the alkali plains
in the scorching heat of midsummer
leaves but one place hotter for man
to reach
Lawton was one of those who always
held that there is but one good Indian
and that is dead one, After the cam
paignS against Geronimo's band. who
We're the worst element of the Apache
tribe, and that tribe was bad enough,
they were allowed to return home again
to their reservations until they at last
arrived at the conclusion that the gov
eminent was afraid of them It required
the bravery and ability of man like
Gen. LaWton to convince them to the
contrary.
After their removal to Florida, even
that did not have the moral effect it
should have had among the Indians.
They simply drew the inference that it
was bad thing to be caught, but not
bad thing to go out on raids. Indians
learn only from example, and
IF LAWTON COULD SPEAK TODAY
he would say that Geronimo and Nat
ches should have died in the closing
summer days of 1886 at Fort Bowie.
Gen. LaWtOn was ready and willing
ness nor distance nor danger were Sc
curity against him. His experiences and
his work in the Geronimo campaign
were only the primary labors that re-
suited in the surrender of Santiago and
the rapid following of the end of the
war. In Cuba from the landing of the
expedition at Daiquiri on June % until
the surrender, July H. Lawton was al
ways in the advance and always on the
right of the army. 1t was LaWtons div
ison which fought with small arms
against the enemy at Ell Caney; which
so astounded the foreign military at
taches by it's achievement in capturing
the place. 1t was Lawton and his men
who made the long and harrassing
march after that fight to the aid of the
first division at San Juan. 1t was Law
ton and his men who hurried to close
avenue after avenue by which aid
might reach the beleagured foe in San
tiago or before ToraPs sorely pressed
troopers might escape.
1t was not until Lawton was across
Ell Cobre road that Shafter felt abso-
lutely certain that the Spanish force
in Santiago was in his power. No man
will probably ever know, outside of
those directly concerned, but it can be
safely asserted that
LAYTON WAS NOT ONE OF THOSE
to advise Shafter that it might be wise
to retreat after that first days fighting.
Lawton was not that sort of a soldier.
IIe Yves not only brilliant soldier,
but he was one of the most magnificent
physical figures in the military world
With phenomenal vitality, he would go
days and nights on a stretch without
food. drink or sleep. longer than could
any other officer in the United States.
And then, at the close, he would fight
any number of men to standstill. Big
of heart as he was broad of shoulders,
he had a terrific temper when reused,
but when calm he was as easy and gen
tie as a child. Taking no sort of care
of himself, he was yet so splendidly
endowed by nature that never in his
career was there any perceptibie weak
ening of his forces. The picture that
has been made by an able correspond
ent who wrote of Gen. Lawton, was the
same last view l had of him at the
close of that famous Indian campaign.
HE stood on the government reserva-
! ton at San Antonio, surrounded by
wild and savage Apaches, whom he had
/ hunted off their feet. Near him, taci-
turn, but of kindly visage, stood young
/ Chief Natchez, almost as tall as he. In
! tent close by lay Geronimo, the medi
! cine man. groaning from a surplus
usage Of fresh beef eaten raw The
so1at figures of the hereditary enemies
4 of the whites grouped about him came
only to his shoulder. He lowered above
them. stern, powerful, dominant-an
incarnation of the spirit of the white
man whose war drum has beat around
I the world.
"CIad in a faded, dirty fatigue jack
/ ct, greasy flannel shirt of gray,
i trousers so soiled that the stripe down
the leg was barely visible broken noots
/ 80, L, e.cntn ln,nrA that Shad-