Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1914-04-22
MAJ. BUTLER'SL
RECORD OF BRAVERY
"Ideal American Soldier" Com.
manding American Marines at
Vera Cruz Is a Pennsylvania
.Sfeeiol to The Telegraph

Sfeeiol to The Telegraph
Washington, D. c., April 22.-Major
Smedley d. Butler. commanding the
marines at Vera Cruz. is the son of
Representative Thomas s. Butler, of
West Chester. He is known in the
corps as "Gimlet Eye" and the Flight
ing Quaker" His engagement yes
terday marked his fifteenth expedition
and the forty-fifth time he has been
under fire.
Colonel Roosevelt once character
lied Butle as the ideal American SOL
der" He equipped himself and his
men. numbering 1000, for this par
ticular work by special training in
Panama. There the marines learned
to build railroads and bridges and run
locomotives. In his latter days at
Panama Major Butler instituted a
school to teach the marines Spanish.
Most of the officers and great num-
Der of men can readily understand the
language spoken in Mexico. In the
last ten days. since Major Butler ar
rived at Mexico, he has travelled in
plain clothes in many sections and is
familiar with the lay of the land from
Vera Cruz to Mexico City.
putlCl tflc pCol hHON IL
young officer in the marines, the most
experienced, the best tactician and the
most daring. He has the record of
the Pekin and Philippine campaigns,
and the recent rebellion in Nicaragua,
to guide him in what will be similar
campaign in Mexico,
Begins to Fight as a Boy
AT the outbreak of the Spanish War,
when less than II years of age, young
~ ~; Sx. hA ~, IL
left the Haverford grammar school,
and, against the will of his father,
took a competitive examination for
lieutenant in the marine service and
passed second in class of more than
200. AS a second lieutenant Butler
served in the war on board Admiral
SIMPSONS flagship, the New York.
After the war he was assigned to
duty in the Philippines as first lieu
Battalion, and later. during the Boxer
troubles in China. he was ordered to
join the Pekin relief column with
Company a of the same battalion.
Major Butler, who was then not 20
years old. distinguished himself so re-
in China, particularly in the
attack on Tientsin, in which he was
wounded, that he was promoted "for
eminent and conspicuous conduct" to
u
He was shot in the thigh at Pekin
while supporting Riley's battery. After
recovering from that injury he made
one of the most daring fights of the
outbreak before Tientsin. With an
other officer, Captain Harding, he car
ried an injured marine seven miles,
being forced to drop the injured SOL
dier occasionally to defend them
selves from the Cinnamon.
At Tientsin, on July 13, 1900, Major
Butler and Captain Lemley, of the
marines, both were wounded. Butler
was shot in the left leg. making it
useless. and Lemley in the right. They
were on the field with no conveyance
to take them to the hospital. They
tied their wounded legs together and
in that way walked to the hospital.
While at Tientsin he became i'll from
typhoid fever. but recovered when
taken to sea by Admiral Remey on
the flagship Brooklyn.
Refused Victorian Cross
Butler is said to be the only Ameri-
can soldier upon whom the English
sought to confer the Victorian Cross
for bravery. While fighting with the
forces of England and Japan Butler
rescued an enlisted man under a rain
OF fire. This government would not
permit him to receive the decoration.
Before going to Panama Butler
the marines in Nicaragua.
He was there for three years and had
many narrow escapes. In the last
three years he and his men were at
Camp Elliot, in the Panama Canal
Zone. There they prepared to man
the rairload from Vera Cruz to Mexico
City.
Pennsylvania Officers
Many other Pennsylvanians and
Philadelphians are in the list of off,
GERS now at the front, or who will
probably be engaged. Among them
are Captain William, Reeves Rush.
commanding the battleship Florida;
nantCommander Henry Croskey
Muslin, acting captain of the battle
ship Mississippi, and Lieutenant-C Com
mander Arthur Barnes Keating, Of
Philadelphia, who is the executive off,
Ger of the dreadnought Arkansas, Ad-
miral Badgers flagship.
Lieutenant-Co Commander Muslin is a
son of Mrs. William F. Lloyd, of Ger
His wife is a sister of
General George Barnett,
commandant of the marine corps.
Commander Muslin is a brother-in-
law of Marshall Earl Reid. the aviator,
and has taken great interest in that
sport.
Others on the list of men of Penn
sylvania who are speeding to the Mex
ican waters are:
John Gaylord. lieutenant
on the battleship Virginia.
William Norris. lieutenant COM
mander on the battleship Florida.
Lieutenant Charles Thomas Hutch
ins. torpedoboat destroyer Beale.
Lieutenant Hiram Leech Irwin, bat
tleship Rhode Island.
Lieutenant james Steret Wood, bat
tleship Georgia.
Junior Lieutenant Paul Ernest
Skicher. the Rhode Island.
Ensign Roland Marcy Comfort,
curiser Tacoma.
Ensign Charles Hamilton Maddox,
new dreadnought Utah.
Ensign Lawrence Towsend, the
Utah.
Ensign Franklin Speakman Stein
wachs. cruiser Chester.
Ensign Scott Bartlett Macfarlane,
battleship Vermont.
ARMY BILL IN CONFERENCE
By Associated Press