The Bemidji daily pioneer. [volume] (Bemidji, Minn.) 1904-1971, 1916-03-24
4 4 4, X X X \
BROADER GENERAL =
JOHN J. PERSH1NG, >
- IMAM OF SORROW > ,
n n ~ y r. ~ r II II II II II II II i

whose beautiful wife and three baby
girl children. were burned to death
in a fire that destroyed their home
in San Francisco, August q, 1915
Many and picturesque are the tales
told of this Beau Brummel of the
army; handsome, dashing soldier;
brilliant and bloody in battle, equal
ly brilliant in lbloodless conquests;
hero of romance and strife; lin
guist, diplomat, scholar; a man who
won his rank as much through
peaceful. conquering of his enemies
as through daring. leadership in mill
tary campaigns against them.
Talks to Enemy.
Pershing and the Philippines. are
synonymous. It was. Pershing, then
Captain Pershing of the First. later
the Fifteenth Cavalry-who drew the
task Of subduing the, fanatical Moros
ION, Mindanao and :. Jolo. He was
given 1900 men-and free. reign.
Not one of those men was sacrificed
in battle. Instead of beginning a
war Of determination. against the
Moros, Capt. Pershing began a study
Of their language. He soon mastered
their tongue. He assembled the
Moros, fanatical Mohammedans, on
Fridays Gheir Sundays and. taking
texts from Koran, talked to them on
with the United States
government. In this way, without
fighting a single, battle, he won all
but two Of the mountain tribes, and
was concentrated a .Datto by the sui
tans of the tribes. -
But with the two tribes who
spurned his efforts at peaceful con-
quest, he, showed relentless E. and
crushing. power Their strong noun
tain forts fell before his oo@n@sllas onslaught
until forty had % l. been captured and
their last stronghold :, taken One
hundred and seventy-five Moros paid
the extreme penalty in battle for
their, folly. =, Only 13 American SOL
diers were wounded, none killed.
His conquest in Mindanao resulted
in ,Pershing's appointment as adju-
itants general, OF, that t., island and. Jolo,
and Colonel Roosevelt, then presi-
dent, surprised the. entire army: Of
ganization BY promoting him. over;
the heads. of S6922sr ranking, officers to
be seay lbrigadieqr; general.
~, lis Promoted. ~s~~
But his promotion came only after
bitter struggle that threatened for
time to nblacken him forever He
had married the daughter t.of Sena-
tor Warren@of Wyoming a year be-
fore his promotion, in January, 1905.
The wedding was one. of the most
brilliant social affairs in the history
Of the capitol. Angry criticisms
arose, some charging that the pro-
motion was due TO- favoritism:, Roose-
welt asserted. that he did not recall
at all the fact that General PERISH
ing was a son-in-laws of Senator War
rem when he promoted him.
OF his three little baby. daughters
who were burned to death when his
wife lost her life, one was born in
Toxic, Japan, In 1905, while ), the
then Captain Pershing was military
attache to the, Japanese embassy; !:
one was born in Baguio, Philippines.
in 1908, and the youngest was horn
in Zamboango, Philippines, in 1912.
General Pershing's first fighting
experience was against. the Indian
outlaw, Geronimo, on a punitive ex-
petition into Mexico in the late
eighties. He later fought against:
the Sioux Indians in the Dakotas,
served as military instructor of: ca
diets at the University of Nebraska;
and as administrator of affairs in the
provinces of Mindanao and Jolo, PHIL
ippines Islands. He speaks almost
every modern language, as we'll as
the tongues of many Indian and Phil
ippine tribes. General Pershing was
sent to the Mexican border in 1al 2,
and served continuouslysth there. W.