The Prince George's enquirer and southern Maryland advertiser. (Upper Marlborough, Md.) 1882-1925, 1908-12-11
NOT LIKE BEN BATTLE.

The only one-footed man who ever
served in the United States Army is
G. E. Wbitmore, an employe of the
fremont Hotel, Galveston, Texas, and
he also enjoys the distinction OF being
the champion military bugler of the
United States and of being the only
one-footed man who ever served in
the United States Revenue Cutter Ser
vice.
Whitmore, during the Spanish
American War, had his foot shot off
by the Spanish, but he was not in
jured and was only temporarily dis
abled. 1t was cork.
His service in the army lasted two
years, and he was in both the cavalry
and artillery branches Of the Govern
ment's fighting force. He served in
the Revenue Cutter Service eleven
years and two months and retired
only when more stringent regulations
made it impossible for the authorities
to further overlook the absence of
his natural foot.
During the thirty-two years which
he spent with the United States forces
Whitmore saw service in almost every
branch of the military and naval
forces. His service began when he
was thirteen years old. At that age
ne enlisted as an apprentice on the
Philadelphia, and was first assigned
to the gunboat Saratoga, under Fight
ing Bob Evans. He served under
Evans four years and rose to be chief
bos'n mate.
Whitmore's title as champion bu-
gler of the United States was won in
1900, when he was trumpeter at the
West Point Military Academy. He
blew 135 calls, ordered at random,
in one hour and thirty-fve minutes,
winning the prize, silver bugle This
he presented to the Military Acad-
emy, and it is there now among the
institutions relics.
During the Spanish-American War,
Whitmore served under Generals
Shafter and Wood, and it was at Sibo-
ney, on June 29, that his cork foot
was shot off and he was ordered by
wright for surgical attention.
Whitmore blew the last bugle call
that President William Mckinley ever
heard. At that time he was civilian
attached to the military force at the
Pan-American Eposition, and as Pres
ident Mckinley entered the Temple
of Music he sounded three fourishes.
announcing the approach of distin-
guished parsonage to the people
gathered within. Hardly had the
notes died away when Czolgosz's shot
rang out. Whitmore was near enough
to be an eyewitness to the assassina-
ton, and his testimony regarding the
occurrence is on file in Washington.
Whitmore's foot was torn off in
Galveston harbor when he was serv-
ing on the revenue cutter Galveston
in 1892. While wire rope was be-
ing unreeled it caught his foot and
tore the member off. After several
months in St. Mary's Infirmary here
he was able to get about and devised
a foot which enabled him to walk al
most as well as he formerly walked
with his natural foot.
In 1895, despite the absent foot,
Whitmore applied for admission into
the army and was examined person
ally by Surgeon-General Sternberg.
This examination was supplemented
by another in which experts of the
Johns Hopkins Hospital participated.
They pronounced him capable of do
ing military duty, and he was per-
mitted, on the authority of special
board, to continue his military ca
reer.-Houston Post.