Daily inter mountain. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1881-1901, 1901-04-26

About the middle of July, 1861 young
man, 10 years old, with pleasant face,
freckled and bronzed from laboring In
the harvest field.w alked into the recruit
ing office in Warren, o., and told the re-
cruiting officer that he desired to enlist
in the army. An hour after that he was
& private in troop X, Sixth United States
cavalry. This young man was Adna X
Chaffee. The president sent to the sem
ate recently, among the nominations for
the highest places in the army. the name
of Adna r. Chaffee to be major gen.
eral in the regular army. 1t was the
name of the private soldier of forty years
ago. He may be commanding general
of the army before he leaves the serv-
ice.
General Chaffee is now in China In
command of the American troops. He
has risen to his present position by the
constant display of soldierly qualities
blended with rare good fortune. When
congress adjourned in 1898 1t moved
General Chaffee up from the grade CT
brigadier general of volunteers to maj
or general Of volunteers That was for
ganont conduct on the field of bat
tie.
General Chaffee received his commits
Kinley at the outbreak Of the war; He
was then lieutenant colonel inthe Third
United States cavalry. General Chaffee
has been in active and continuous army
service for forty years including the en-
tire period Of the civil war and numer-
Gus Indian campaigns. His promotions
from rank to rank up to his present one
were all earned by gallant conduct on the
field of battle. At Ell Caney, July 1, Cen
eral Chaffee commanded brigade con-
sisting of the Seventeenth, Seventh and
Twelfth infantry, which opened this fight
and bore the brunt of it, and to his lead
ership the victory won that day was
chiefly due. His force moved on the
heights very early in the morning. en-
countering a heavy fire from the enemy,
and losing many men. An eye witness
of the struggle says that when the fight
ing was hottest and American men were
falling fast, General ChafYee dashed
about with his hat on the back of his
head like a magnificent cowboy. urging
the men and crying to them to get in and
help their country to win victory"
1t was at Ell Caney that General Chafee,
leading the charges from block house to
block house, was dubbed by the Spani-
ards THE Man in Shirt Sleeves" This
name was given because he wore no
coat during the fight. He was wounded
at Santiago. A bullet pierced his foot
He was also wounded at Gettysburg
and Chickamauga. For his daring work
in the Indian wars he was four times
breveted by congress.
Chaffee won his first lieutenancy on the
battlefield of Gettysburg, and was moved
up to the grade Of captain for gallant
Cub
seauent promotions to the rank of major
and of lieutenant colonel successfully.
were earned in engagements with Indi-
ed at one time as inspector general with
General McCook, and later still as SUBJ
director of the cavalry school at Fort
Riley, Kan.
General Chaffee is the idol Of his men.
One of his favorite commands when in
a hot chase after Indians used to be:
Follow me. men, and every man that's
killed I'll make a corporal"
In the fight at Ell Caney several COM
panies were detailed to dig trenches
and the Spanish sharpshooters were
potting at them from tree tops and
clumps of bushes on the hiilsides. Pres
entity the firing became SO severe that
the men were ordered to drop their
tools and return it. About this time
Gen. Chaffee came along on foot looking
over the situation. In the bottom of
one of the trenches he saw a soldier
living fiat on his face, while the mani
next to him kicked him in the intervals
of firing. AS the general walked over
lie heard the kicker address the pros
trate soldier in a savage whisper:
"Get up, you fool. Here comes old
Chaffee. If he sees you you're done
for
Whats the matter with that MANI"
asked Gen. Chaffee Of the speaker. lis
ne wounded?'
mo, SIR" said the soldier, saluting.
I'he PROSTATE man made no motion.
Sum- then?" asked the general, for
there were many cases of collapse from
heat under the bitter glare of the Gu
ban afternoons.
Il don't know, SIR" replied the SOL
der in embarrassment.
All this time the bullets We're whis-
Ting around the soldier. who had risen
from his crouched posture and was
standing at salute.
Don't stand there and expose your
self, my man." said Gen. Chaffee kind
IL. although he himself had been stand
Ing in full range all the time. Now he