Palestine daily herald. [volume] (Palestine, Tex.) 1902-1949, 1906-04-14
GEN. JOHN C. BATES
RELINQU|SHED DUTIES
TODAY AS CHIEF OF STAFF TO
HIS SUCCESSOR IN OFFICE,
GENERAL FRANKLIN BELL.
Special to the Herald.

Washington, D. c., April 14.-After
having served at the head of the
army, as chief of staff, with the rank
of lieutenant general for little less
than three months, Lieutenant Gen
eral John C. Bates relinquished his
duties today to his successor in office.
General j. Franklin Bell, who has re-
Gently been in charge of the staff col
lege at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas.
The retirement of General Bates
and the accession of General Bell
was marked by the usual reception to
the outgoing and incoming official.
This reception took place in the War
Department and vicinity.
General Bates will not reach the
statutory retiring age of Ga years I'M
til August &c next, and his retirement
today was in accordance with an ar
rangement made between himself,
General Chaffee, his predecessor in
office, and the secretary of war.
Deli. DIS Tie HCh SlllCl vi
staff is known by his brother officers,
is probably the most conspicuous OF
the younger men who made good in
the Philippines during the short cam
paign against the Spanish and the
longer insurrection of the Filipinos.
When the war with Spain broke out,
Bell, West Pointer, was a first lieu
tenant of cavalry, with twenty years
of service to his credit. He was
about the oldest first lieutenant in
the army, and except for extraordi-
nary promotion the most he could
hope for at the opening of the Span
ish war was retirement as a major.
He was promoted to the rank of
major of engineers in the volunteers
and assigned to Gen. Merritt's divis-
ion for service in the Philippines.
He went out in the second expedition
of troops in July, 1898, and almost
Immediately was made chief of the
intelligence. In that capacity, after
the fall of Manila, he conducted most
of the negotiations with Aguinaldo
and other Filipinos for General Otis,
who had succeeded General Merritt.
Transferred to MacArthur's COM
mand, he became scout master. He
picked out about twenty men, and
they covered the entire country in
trent of MacArthur's lines. He had
been wounded in the first days fight
ing around Manila, when the insur
rection,-began. but he dsd net let that
bother OF interrupt him. and was in
the field again in a week or less.
In the summer of 1899, the lieuten-
ant coloncy of a volunteer regiment
was offered him, but he declined it.
Soon afterward he obtained permits
sion to organize a regiment from
among the time-expired volunteers
who were then due to return to the
United States. He got the men who
would Keep shouting and shooting,
and presently began to demonstrate
the correctness of his theory that this
was all that needed to go anywhere
in the islands. In the general for
ward movement of the fall of 1899, he
operated on the left of MacArthur's
line, and the usual thing was for him
to report at night that he had cap
tured the town he had been sent to
reconnoitre.
He was made brigadier of volun-
teers and put in command of a north
lern district; with headquarters at
Dagupan. There he began the policy
of garrisoning every town of any
size or Importance in his district,
with the result that 1t was one of the
first districts selected for the Install
alton of civil government After he
had been made a brigadier of reg
ulars he was in command of the prov
ince OF Batangas There he put into
execution the policy of reconcentra-
ton camps which earned him very
bitter denunciation from senators
and others at home. The policy was
undeniably a success, however, and
accomplished more than anything
else to the ending of the revolution.
General Bell served five years in
the Philippines and came home a
brigadier general of regulars, to take
command of the infantry and cavalry
school at Fort Teavapuo,+b