Wauwatosa news. [volume] (Wauwatosa, Wis.) 1900-1948, 1905-10-28
A GROWING OPPORTUNITY,

a
the United States army, have an oppor-
tunity to do the most graceful thing high
raak officers have done in many years,
if. indeed. ever,
Behind these three 0ilicerS-below them
in date Of commissions and in Ranbcr
of eases, rank-stands Il cluster of sol
diers who stood the test of the Civil war.
who have been through various Indian
campaigns, and who won new honorS
and new glory for their country IN t1ba.
| Porto Rico ana the l,hiiipplheS, an 81
whom we're PASSED ~, side-trarhed,
! jumped when Gems. Grant, Bell and
! Funston were made brl@IdlerS by the
! late President Mckinley.
At the time Of their promotion To the
rank Of brigadicr- general Grant and
| Funston held no rank in the regular
army. hence it will be seen that they
we're not only lifted over the heads of all
of the colonels. observation-disclosures, ma
! iors captains and first lieutenants, bur
| all of the second lieutenants III the regu-
| lar Army-many hundreds of officers, IN
| Gliding a large number who had been in
| the service through the Civil war, Indian
and the Spanish-American wars.
| Gen. Bell was a captain when he was
made n brigadier. and consequently
! jumped all of the colonies, lieutenant
| cOlonpls and majors, as well as all OF
| the captains of the army whose commits
sions were older than his. lie Is
superb soldier in all respects, and would
make an excellent major general but he
| is young and can well afford to wait for
promotion. But for his good fortune in
| being vaulted over the heads of his
seniors he would still! be captain Of
cavalry with the star of Il brigadier ut
| least dozen years away.
! Gems Grant and Funston We're civil
| ians when the Spanish-American war
came. making demand for an enlarged
army and an increase of generals.
| 1t is true that Gen. Grant was Il grad
uate Of West Point, but he left the army
within few years Of his graduation as
"A lieutenant.
Without a thought or desire to
pluck from them any of their louors. it
must he said Of both Gems. Grant and
Funston that to be landed from no rank
in the army to hrigadier, within two
ranks Of the highest title in the United
States army was a stroke of good for
tune not easy to oycrestmate. They
We're given great prizes; great honor was
bestowed upon them. That they apprc-
ciated the prize and honors need not be
doubted.
In the natural course. Gen. Grant
would succeed Gen. Samuel s Sumner
as a major general when he retres Fea-
ruary q, 1906. Then would come Gen.
Bell for the two stars of Il major gen
eral when Gen Chaifec retres next
April. and following him for a like hon
or would he Gen. Fred Funston to sue
coed Gen. Bates.
Before the and Of 1906. if given pro-
motion in their regular turn, these three
extremely lucky men. two of whom
iumned to stor over the heads of ev-
cry officer in the army and the other
x,,l.a &
captains and all of his other seniors un-
der the rank of brigadier, will he major
generals, next to the highest rank in the
army
No matter how much it might please
the army and the public To see these
three officers. with national regulations
and hosts of admirers, all of whom have
many more years to Serve-Grant. nine
years; Bell, fifteen, and Funston. TWEEN
ty-four-before they reach the retiring
age. given the higher rank. n much COW
eted grade, would not the army and
the public prefer to see them stand aside
and have like promotion given TO such
civil. Indian and Spanish-Amcrican war
veterans, such splendid soldiers. grand
characters, as Brighten. Frank ID. |
Baldwin, who has been serving since
September, 1861, who has fought in !
scores of battles. was voted medal of
honor by Congress- as Brighten !
Theodore j. Wint. who has served over
fortyfour years. has to his credit the |
Civil war, all of the Indian wars since
1860, the war in Cuba, where he re- !
ceved shot that will make him limp
all of the way to the grave, the war in
China and the war in the Philippines: |
as Brighten. Jesse NJ. Lee. who has
been III service since 1861. always
model soldier whether down south. on
the plains. in Cuba. China or the Philip
Vs.-r.- -