Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1900-09-15
GENERAL CHAFFEE.
4 Man Of Whom the Whole Army
Justly Proud.

Dttll hbic " explain SdllSLhN WI lly' IL
halo Of romance has been thrown
around General Chaffee almost from
the time he wore shoulder straps, says
the New York Sun. II is said that
| he has been the hero of more romantic
| tales than any other officer in the
regular service since the civil war.
The general, perhaps. knows better
than anybody else whether the ma
jority of these stories Is true, and in
speaking of tWo or three of them one
day not long ago he said:
| Those yarns. like lot Of others 1
have heard told about me, are just
plain everyday damned lies. They
sound pretty enough, but they're all
rot. I'm no hero, and if the plain hard
truth were always told, there would be
mighty few halos stuck around the
heads of us army officers. We just go
ahead and attend to our business like
any other business, men. We're put in
certain places to succeed. If We do
succeed, there is no particular senes
in telling lot Of heroic lies about US
and if we fail-well. God help US
But as many stories as have been
told about General Chaffees valor 1t is
somewhat strange. that so far as he or
his iE.imate friends have ever heard,
no plain, ordinary biography Of him
has ever been written Or printed. 80
little is known. even in the service,
about his private life that one Of his
NEST intimate friends was unable -
tell the other day whether he had any
/ children. To sketch General ChaffceS
| life. minus its incidents. it not a Diff
cult task nor is it a long story. He was
/ born in GAINESVILLE, Ohio. in 1913. His
/ father was a farmer and the son had
| the ordinary advantages Of farmers
sons Of the time. He went to the dis
trict school. then he went to an aca-
denny and then he went to war. Hc
was ~ years old when the report ~ the
| firing IN Fort Sumptcr reached Xancs-
/ VILE and without consulting anybody
he just determined that the country
needed his services and he started of
| for the nearest recruiting station ana
| enlisted. not in volunteer regiment,
! but in the Sixth United States Cavalry
with which most OF his service in the
army has been connected, which sailed
on the same transport with him for
! China. He joined the regiment Is
Major-Gcneral Of Volunteers
Ii was not long after Chaffee enlisted
that the Sixth Cavalry saw plenty Of
active service. and it was not long be-
fore Chaffee showed that ne was not of
the stuff to remain a private. When
ever the regiment got into ascrmmaEe
Chaffee was sure 10 d. something or
other that won the attention VI the Off
GERS. and it was not long before he was
made sergeant, and when the war
was over he came out with a licuten-
ants shoulder straps and a brevet or
two for particularly gallant conduct on
particular occasions. He got his cap
taincy in 1867.
Almost Immediately after the war
Chaffee was sent g Texas with his
regiment to put down some bushwhac-
kers and borders thieves who We're
committing depredations in Texas and
Mexico. AS an Illustration NJ how
successfully he did his work. he has in
his collection Of trophies two large re
vovers which belonged to the two
leaders Of the gang, which We're taken
from them just before they We're
hanged After that he remained on the
frontier lighting Indians. whenever
they needed fighting. until 1876. Then
he was sent to New York for a year
on recruiting duty. Then he joined
the regiment in Arizona, fought the bat
tie of Big Dry Wash Canon against
the Apaches, and just 10 remind folks
that he was still on earth. distin-
guished himself once more. The Fed
eral troops were on one side Of the
canon ana the Indians on the other.
Chaffee was out in front Of the firing
line with scouts, and it may b. said III
passing that that is where Chaffee US
uaIly is when he has fight on his
hands. The Indians were dropping bull
lets across that canon in pretty lively
style. Suddenly one Of the scouts fell
about one hundred feet from where
Chaffee was standing. \ scout near
him said:
There goes 50 ana 50, poor fellow.
he's evidently done for
Chanee looked at the fallen soldier
very steadily for minute or two and
then noticed a movement Of the body
He's only wounded" he exclaimed
Come along and Well fetch him in"
To so out after the soldier meant to
expose himself ana the man whom he
had asked to accompany him to the
concentrated fire Of the redskins on
the opposite side of the canon That
didn't seem to concern Chaffee a par
ticle. Throwing himself fiat on the
ground, he CraWled toward the wound |
cd soldier. The scout followed. Slow
ly and somewhat painfully the two
men crawled along until they reached |
the wounded man. With great diff |
Guilty they half carried, half dragged |
him back within the lines. So thrilled |
were his men with the deed that had |
been performed that they quite forgot |
all about fighting Indians, stopped fir |
ing and began to cheer This made |
Chaffee furious. Almost dropping his |
end of the burden, he yelled out in |
tones that no man could fail to hear:
Shut UP that noise and go to shoot
ing"
There wasn't any particular fun in
lighting Indians in those days. because
officers and men We're likely to get shot
from ambush at any time by the par
ticular tribe that was on the Warpath.
ana there is little glory or romance |
for a soldier to lose his life from an
Indians rife aimed between bush
branches. But there were Indians to