The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1900-09-30
SAVED BY 4 SINGLE HERO
BRAVE LIEUT.. LAWToN STANDS BE-
TWEEN DEATH AND FAMOUS
NINTH INFANTRY
HE SURVIVES THE CONFLICT
Chinese WOHId Have wrought Com
pIete AnnihiIatiOn of the Regi-
ment-BOId Young OFFICER
Now in Hospital.

to save his regiment. The man is Lieut.
L. B. Lawton, and to his herosim the
famous fighting Ninth infantry proba-
bly, owes its existence today.
Every hero of every war in every age
has been praised for his absolute fear
less. foets, novelists, dramatists ami
historians have made this sentiment the
theme of their eulogies 1t is the mex
orable. tenet of the warrior lore of all
times and the very slogan of modern en-
listment.
On the morning of July 1S the allies
advanced to the attack of Tien Tsin, ana
therein was completed a series of dates
of such potential coincidence that haa
Lieut. Lawton been in the sIipbtes+ -.
gree superstitious he must have feIt an
aWesome fear of this unlucky day. His
nrst big fight was at the battle San Juan
hill' Cuba, on July l. 1898 His next big
engagement was at Zapote bridge. in the
Philippines, on the 18th of June, when his
namesake, Gen. Lawton, was killed, lust
thirteen months before the assault on
11en Tsin, which was on Friday, the Il. h
OF July just two years and thirteen
days after San Juan hill.
AT daybreak the allies, with force of
b,OOO men, principally Japanese the rest
being English and American, and a few
French troops, commenced the attack I'M
der command of Brig Gen. Durward the
British commander The japanese.
supported by the English, were sent for
ward to dislodge the big horde of Chi
nese holding the huge wall. some twelve
leet nigh and five feet wide, that sur
rounds Tien Tsin, and force the strongly
defended gate. The Chinese met them
with terrific bombardment and shortly
a1terWard the attacking army found it,
SELF subjected to a whitening crossfre
from fortified mud village to the right
zen. Ourward ordered the Americans for
ward to cover the British and Japanese
and stop this terrible flank fire
Then began the advance In which the
american losses were appalling Out Of
the 400 men in the Ninth who participated
there were lis killed and wounded, NOR
tally that has rarely been exceeded in
any of the fiereest conflicts made famous
In history.
The advantage Of position was all on
the side of the Chinese. They were Sc.
carely entrenched in a long row of low
mud houses, which fairly bristled with
Ioopholes. The streets between the houses
were heavily barricaded until the whole
presented the appearance of a long. low
fortress, from which a tremendous force
without
Tear OF suffering any loss whatever in re-
turn Directly in front of the village the
Pet-Ho river, deep and unfordable Of
fectually prevented a bayonet charge. and
away and beyond stretched fiat, swampy
rice fields that afforded absolutely ma
protection to the advancing Americans
with the exception of few widely sen
rateG bitches. 1t was across this deadly
IRE zone that brave Col Liscum led his
men until he was killed, with the regi.
mental colors in his hand.
The fight began as soon as the Ninth
made its formation. The Chinese had a
heavy outpost, and the first thing to be
done was to dispose of this, so the Amer
leans took up a position ready to sup
port the japanese along a road that ran
midway across the rice fields in the ia re
OF heavy artillery fire from in front
and the bullets of the Chinese infantry
on the walls of the city. The position,
enougn saoly exposed, was as good as
could be expected under the circum-
stances and the Americans made a stand
there until the Chinese in the mud vii
lage opened up their destructive rife fire
on the right flank, and 1t soon BEGAN
clear that this position could not be hell
without neavy loss of life
1t was then decided to attack the mno
village, and the troops We're wheeled
around ana started across the Intervening
thousand yards of open muddy field in
snort sharp PUSHES under a heavy fire
EVERY advantage was taken of the few
rice bitches, but it required four hours
OF hard and disastrous fighting To roo Oh
an entrenched position in some canals
and bitches directly opposite the loon
noleo nuts OF the mud village And there
the advance was stopped perforce and
the Americans, with ammunition randi,
running short, found themselves In !
more precarious position than before the
Nrron
no river was an unfordable barrier anf
retreat, with 5000 Chinese pouring in :
constant and accurate fire whenever
anything even remotely resembling a hui.
man being was in sight, was out of the
question, without submitting to com
plete humiliation The only recourse
was to lay low in the ditch until night.
1alI and retreat under cover of darkness
Tor the advance had resulted in sac
havoc.
On the first short swift rush men hat
been moved down by the dozen. Capt. E
v. Bookmiller, of Company G. wa.
brought to earth with bullet through
the right hip, While leading his men OF
the double-quick, and was carried to tn,
rear through perfect storm of riff,
balls.
At almost the same time Mai. Jane
Regan was shot through the body abov,
the hip and when he attempted to ris,
bCOelNSu dIOtner Dullet through the lef
arm, and for hours thereafter Law behine
small dixie. while the heavy cross-frt
plowed up the ground like hail In a ifs.
pond.
Every charge left a greater number q
dead and wounded behind. Just befor,
the last rush to the shelter of the rive
ditch brave Col. Ldscom was shot down
He was in the very fore front of battle
urging his men forward through tn,
leaden hail. AS the men rose for the flna
charge Sergeant German staggered ant
almost fell when the colonel turned ant
ordered him forward. He had been sho
through the body, and as he dropped tn,
colonel grabbed the standard and started
on again, only to meet with his owr
death wound five minutes later. An hou,
afterward he died while issuing the com
mand:
Keep up the fire on the loop-holet
huts''
The troops were now being subjected I,
heavy cross-flre from three points a
the same tirne-on tie left the artiller,
on the city halls, in front the Chinese
infantry and a heavy field piece and OF
the right the ceaseless rifle fire of til,
Mongols in the mud village The situa
ton was the most trying one imaginable
1t was right here that Lieut.. Lawto,
was called upon to test his theory O,
bravery to the utmost limit. He was ad
1utant Of the day, and his position re
Quired him to move about from company
to company issuing orders and encour
aging the men, and all the time 80 Celes
fe&s4 R1es-a TEnre0.Pi