Vilas County news. [volume] (Eagle River, Vilas County, Wis.) 1896-1927, 1900-01-29


against the Fllipinos had been in ac-
cord with each other, military success
would not have been so long delayed
and we should not have excited the p1t-
fen. hostility our methods have excited
From the very beginning Of hoStlll1eS
the prevailing idea seemed to be that
the only thing to do was to drive Inc
natives into the sea- destroy thelr
gardens and burn their homes behlnd
them. This idea was exclusive, we
might say. until the arrival of the late
Mai.-Gen. Henry w. Lawton. How
ever, as late as May 25 saw at Calum-
nit. writes a returned Virginlan, With
in stones throw of the depot, being
consumed by fire, heap or rice That
did not contain less than 5000 bushels,
and that same day cavalrymen were
digging in the ashes, endeavoring to
get a little feed for their ponies Upon
inquiry [ learned that this rice had
been ordered burned by one of our Of
ficers-in the face of the fact that the
United States was then at a large daily
expense on account of rice needed for
its soldiers and for horse feed.
General Lawton was opposed to this
unnecessary destruction of property.
From the time of his arrival his chief
efforts were to pacify the Filipinos, and
on account Of these efforts, had Gen
eral LawtOn been in supreme COM
mand, hOstilities in the Philippines
would doubtless have ceased months
ago and our country not been destined
to lose it's best general at the hands of
sharpshOOter.
AS early as the San Isidro campaign
the FilipinOs had begun to recognize in
General LawtOn a friend rather than
an enemy Though saving of his men,
that he continually exposed himself
never seemed to occur to him. The day
of the taking Of BaIinag MAY p for
several hours he was accommodating,
practically alone, almost into the lines
of the enemy and in plain view. That
day, as usual, he rode black horse at
least twice as large as the Filipino
pony, carried with him his great white
Eighth Army Corps flag and wore a
tall white helmet. The Second OregOns
were just entering the city of Balinag
when General Lawton rode up. His
attention was called Immediately to
the fleeing procession of not less than
10000 FilipinOs, consisting of soldiers
and their families, passing along a
road mile and a half from us, and
into which for the past five minutes
Colonel Summers had kept 2-10-inch
guns warm throwing ShTapne1.
Stop that firing" in his stentorian
voice the general demanded instantly
on putting up his glasses. Il see a
white flag"
In entering a town always the first
thing General Lawton saw to was the
appointment of a provost marshal, and
a man seen going in a house without
permission was placed Immediately I'M
der arrest. In my company alone 20
men were arrested the day we cap
tured Balinag for helping themselves
80 a pile of abandoned mangoes.
At NOrzagaroy Colonel Summers had
orders to wait several days until
joined by General Lawton with the
rest of the brigade While waiting the
colonel thought he was making the
bSOI uoC VI ulo LIIllC Ny CdpIUI Ing dI1u
burning to the ground the pretty little
city Of Agnot, a few miles farther
down the Quingua river. When Gen
eral Lawton arrived and learned that
this town, where he had expected to
quarter his troops, had been destroyed
he appeared greatly provoked, and is
sued an order strictly prohibiting any
burning of property The very next
morning his attention was called to a
fire in the suburbs of Norzagaroy.
Sending for the colonel in command of
troops quartered there he ordered the
fire to be put out Immediately. The
colonel seeming a little slow carrying
out his order, General LawtOn turned
TO his assistant adjutant general and
said:
Major Edwards, have that nre put
out if it takes a whole regiment; if
YOU can't do it, then place the colonel
under arrest"
On the goth of April, with the loss of
four men, including an officer,
wounded, the capture of San Rafael
was effected. The same day General
Otis ordered General Lawton to turn
the town back to the enemy, explain
Ing that a representative of General
Luna was present to ask for terms of
surrender. So General Lawton with
drew his forces to Moronco, where we
waited in idleness, until several days
afterward it was learned that General
Otis had refused the representative any
satisfaction other than unconditional
surrender and the representative of
Luna left the governor-gen-
erals palace with tears stream
ing down his face. In con-
nection with this Major Edwards was
heard to remark that had General
Lawton been able to deal directly with
this representative the war would have
been ended