The Guthrie daily leader. [volume] (Guthrie, Okla.) 1893-1996, 1911-03-16
CARTER WON
HIS SPURS As
4 FIGHTER
As a Boy In the Civil War,
The Army Commander Wen
Recognition

dtn. WlllldUl III. carter VINO was plcA-
ed by President Taft to command
the army division assembled al Fort
Sam Houston Tex, gives him the I'M
ique distinction among the major
ger erals OF the army of never hay-
ing served as a volunteer. That rec
ord does General Carser an injus-
tice. however, for before he was l3
years old he join the ARMY OF the
Cumberland ais volunteer and won
recognition for gallentary in action by
carrying a message across the front
Of the line OF fire. The recognition
for that hazardous undertaking came
to him in 1868, when he was old
enough TO take It. in the form of an
Appointment to West Point. But be-
cause he Was Only a schoolboy and
not enlisted in the army General
Carter is denied official record OF
his service ii the Civil war
General Carter was born in Ten
nessee and lived there until he join
ed the army. In hotbed of seces-
sion his family remained true to the
| Ufion. When the opportunity came
To see a little of war, young Carter
slipped Out of school one day and
marched off with the Army of the
| Cumberland He was too young for
a soldier, but he did the best he
could BY carrying messages for the
officers and grabbing a musket when
ever he could and pepperlng away
al the Corfederates.
When He Won Medal of Honor
The taste of fighting that he had
there gave him desire to follow a
military life and when his gallantry
In action was brought to the notice
OF the war department he immediate
" was Offered ar appointment to
Wes, Point. He was graduated in
1873 served for a time III the English
Infantry and then transferred to the
cavalry, which was more to his lik.
ing. He Joined the Sixth, which was
then stationed In Arizona There
he had plenty of opportunity to show
that fearlessness which had won him
a commission and that he was fully
equal to the occasion Is attested By
the fact that he wears medal OF hon
or bestowed by congress for heroic
exploit in the Apache campaign,
where General Leonard Wood, then
a young army surgeon, won similar
! recognition.
The formal army record shows that
| General Carters medal was awarded
him for distinguished galantry in ac-
| tion against hostile Apache Indians in
recuing, with voluntary assistance of
two soldier the wounded from
under a heavy fire"
Rescued Wounded Under Fire.
In fight on Cibicu creek the sol
diers, leaving several badly wounded
men on the ground behind them, had
been driven along to a place of shell
ter by the Apaches No sooner were
the troops safely lodged tnan voun.
teers were called to bring in the
wounded men Lieutenant Carter was
one of those who volunteered, and in
the face of a calling fire from the
| Indians, who were protected behind
the rocks on the hillside, he went
forth with two companions, and. one
by one brought im the wounded men.
Strange to say, not member of the
volunteer party was hit by an Indian
bullet In the many trying minutes
they were under fire.
Not long after the Cibicu creek
fight the White Mountain Apaches,
Nho were supposedly friendly, left
the reservation and took to the war
path. Fort Apache, an isolated post
was cut off by the Indians, and for
week the members of the garrison,
OF whom Carter was one. fought hero
ically to hold off the swarming foe
Death was the least thing feared.
There weGe women in the garrison,
and this leaves nothing to be said in
further explanation of the horrors
that would follow capture During
the siege Lieutenant Carter bore his
share Of the vigil and the fighting
| For week the command managed to
hold off the Apaches, and then aid
came and the weary and wasted troop
was relieved
The Last Fight with Indians.
Garter served sixteen years with
the Sixth cavalry i'm Arizona and New
Mexico at a time when troops sci.
dom spent week in garrison.
When the Sioux war in the Dakotas
broke out in 1890, Carter was in com.
mand of a troop and with II he was
ordered to the scene of action. where
he fought in the last battle with
the Indians on the plains. His troop
with one other was sent to the re-
lief OF a command which had been
surrounded and which was trying
to fight off the swarming Sioux
The relieving troops came i'm on
the flank OF the Indians after swim
m.ng the White river. which was fin
ed with floating ice, and. executing
a charge, drove the Sioux from the
rayines in which they had crept to
break out to assault the cavalry.
The arduous service when Captain
Carter had gone through in the field
brought him staff appointment In
1891 when he was appointed major
and ass stant adiutant general. He
served in the adjutanl generals de.
paroment until 1902, when he was an
pointed a hrigadier general in the
regular army Two years before that
he had been appointed a brgadier
general OF volunteers and IN the phil.
ippine insurrection he saw his share
of the fighting in the field. Since
then he has served on command of
various departments OF, the army at
home and in the Philippines ana on
the general staff the organization
Of which he was one OF the guiding
figures
General caatel Nas quoted wiaelyi