The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1900-08-20

MANILA, July 21-Sfnce the gallant
General Lawton's sword is sheathed FOX
ever his trusted scouts are disappearing
from the Philippines. Some of these nc
brought with him from the States. having
employed them in the days Of Indian
warfare. and some he selected from the
troops here, and trained them himself.
Whenever he wcLt on an expedition
against the rebels he took with him these
men of the ranks he trusted, and before
he fell their names had become known
throughout the island of Luzon.
Some of these men, such as Young ,oi
Minnesota, and Harrington, of Oregon
have gone TO join their dead leader; o-heis
unable to find such another hero as the
man they loved, have returned to America.
One OF these latter is Scout Marshall K.
Nelson, who left a week ago for his home
in San Antonio. Tex.
He was called to the Philippines at the
request of General Lawton, with whom
he had served with such credit as to win
fame throughout the West. Nelson had
also served with Generals o. O.~Howard
and Crook in the Southwest. Though not
yet sixty years old, he has been in the
service of the flag for forty years.
His father was noted lawyer in the
States. and was at one time Minister te
Chilli. where the great scout was tom.
When the Stars and Stripes fell from
Fort Sumter the young man joined the
Federal army, and has followed the iag
ever since.
When General Lawton went against &c,
ronimo and his horde of savages Marshall
Nelson was his most trusted scout. When
Geronimo sued for peace there were but
four persons cognizant of the conditions of
the treaty-Groyer Cleveland, General
Miles, General Drum, and Marshall Mel.
son. While the War Department contains
the records they have never become a mat
ter of general history
Nelson Joined General Lawton here in
September. was with him from Nueva Viz
eaya to San Miguel. undergoing all of the
hardships incident TO oze of the most ar
duous campaigns of the war. and was with
him ct the time of his death. Since then
he has been with General Bates. serving
in the campaigns of Cavite Province in
January, the Camarines in February, and
Mindanao in March and April
The only break in Nelson's long service
was right after the civil war, when he
engaged in Journalism at Cheyenne, Wo.,
publishing the first number of the News
papsr that now has great prominence
in the politics of that State. He was a
great friend of Bill Nye, the founder of
the Laramie Boomerang who subse-
quen,ly became famous as a Wit and lee
.urer
Two of Lawton's scouts who gave their
lives most CALAMITY under his leadership
were a gigantic Minnesotan named Young
and a small. silent Oregon man named
Harrington.
These men were bosom friends. and the
tale of their last great fight together is
thus told by correspondent of the Ma
Mia American
"on May u, 1899. General Lawton felt
that it was necessary 10 send an apollo
getic telegram to General Otis in Manila
for having captured the town of San Ilde-
fonso, when his orders had been not 10
bring on an engagement with the enemy,
but only TO develop their position
Much to his surprise. he had to send
another message of a similar character
within twenty-four hours; for San Miguel,
where it was suspected that the insurgent
6regorio del Pillar would put up his great
est resistance, fell before the onslaught
Of seventeen scouts led by Lawton,s trust
ed man, Scout Young.
These seventeen scouts had been Sc
lected from the oregons. Minnesotas. and
North Dakotas- They started at daylight
from Colonel Summers headquarters at
San Ildefonsc. supported by company Of
the Second Oregon and one of the Thir-
teenth Minnesota. The entire command
was under Captain Birkhimer. of the Third
Artillery, assisted by Captain Case, Of the
Second Oregon.
"A nile and a half out of San Miguel The
scouts struggled through the high-tasseled
jungle grass Of the marsh. calling to one
another now and then, as they almost lost
the sense of direction in the tangled maze. |
II was an odd sensation; moving for
ward. peering with anxious eyes into the
distance before for some moving human
hgure; waiting for the crashing volley
and the whir OF the high-keyed bullets.
At last il came. The prolonged smart
OF the Filipino army swapping, bitNg, in
ereasing in volume, until one was ready |
TO decla'e that the enemy numbered thou
sands instead OF a scant 400.
The stNuts, hundred yards apart dis
as If swallowed up by the earth. |
l tseemed as II they We're all killed Ut
the first yolley.
But no, As the fire slackens a head
slowly rises 10 the right; the eyes are
looking straight forward, and the neck is
slowly bent until the cheek is laid on
the rifle-stock. One man rises to his knee /
10 get greater elevation. and then The in i
surgents let loose a ieadeu torrent and |
every man has disappeared again.
Z" Boys, / want you TO move up twenty !
yards. Pass Che word along the line |
II is Young's stentorian voice giving the /
command. Come on now and the line /
of men. so far apart, stand up and ruu |
onward and lie down.
Tho support and the reserve are far in !
the rear. marching steadily forward in an
attempt TO oyertake the sprlnting scouts |
At I 600 yards the Mauser bullets intended |
for the evasive leaders come down on the |
reserve like rainstorm Everybody |
lodges and some scatter; men always do |
a little lodging when they cannot see or !
locate the enemy /
q" Oh. On, I've got IT. gasps Ericsson. |
a hig Minneso;an. and he stsggers in a |
little circle and then lurches toward the |
rear.
Chinese Iitter-bearers rapidly carry the
wounded man off, and from the captain, |
far behind, rings out the command
Get ready to move APP The scouts
have got 'em on the run Take your in |
terval, Steady there. meni Steady. there,
Don't fire; the sco.its are in front of YOU
and the skimish line swings across the
open field with the captain.
1t is true enough: the scouts have
broken the centre Of line Of several hun
1red men. who outfanked far to the right
and left. and the whole body OF retreat
Ing insurgents are running like greyhounds
oyer the last open field. trying TO reach the
cover OF the buildings in The town. There
stand our men. pumping their Krags like
machines AT little punches OF blue cotton