The Washington herald., 1917-06-25
Army and Navy News
Best service Column I'm City. .
Sketch of another prominent army
Brig. Gen; Peyton C. March.

officer:
Brig. Gen. Peyton C. March.
Artillery Officer.
Born in Pennsylvania December 27
1854. and was appointed to the Mill
tlry Academy from the State in 1884
-Four years later he was promoted to
an additional second lieutenant Of
artillery and has followed that arm
of the service continuously except for
Few years in which he was detailed
to the Adjutant Generals Office. Dur
ing the Spanish-AmeTican war Gen.
March, while second lieutenant, was
commissioned a major Of volunteers
and rose to be a lieutenant-colonel.
Gen. March is recognized as the
greatest artillerist in the American
army and as such at the personal re-
quest of Maj. Gen. Pershing was de-
tailed by the Secretary OF War as
the commanding artillery officer with
the first forces to be sent to France
capacity for work. and his control
OF men. As colonel he was in COM
mand of the artillery forces on the
Mexican border during the recent dis
turbances; and while a strict discip-
linariaan, his command. almost to the
man. has requested that it be allowed
to accompany him to France.
During the Spanish war he was
chosen as the personal friend of the
late Col. John Jacob Astor as in
81 NNNOl lOi lllt ldllOlS ASlOF
terry. and after muster out of the vol
unteers returned to the regular SER
vice and was sent to the Philippines
as aide to Gen. Macarthur.
He was in command Of the Amer
lean forces in action at Tilad Pass,
Luzon, p. l.. in which Gen. del Pillar
was killed; during the same exDedi-
ton Gen. Venancio Concepsion. chief
Of stan to Aguinaldo, surrendered 10
the then Maj. March and Aguinaldo's
wife and her escort were captured
by his command
He was a member of the General
Stan Corps for four years and was
detailed as military observer with.
the Japanese army during the Russo
Japanese war.
President Wilson has just desig-
mated the Fine Arts Commission to
pass upon the design of monuments
and markers erected on burial lots
at the national cemeteries. Special
reference is made to the regulation
o. such structures at Arlington. One
OF the rules adopted in that connec
ton is the prohibition Of the erection
of anything in that cemetery at a
place or such a character as will de-
tract from the appearance of the
terminal Of the proposed memorial
bridge over the Potomac River 1t is
desired to have the designs of all
monuments of an approved character,
with confinement as strictly as possi-
BILE to the chara CteriStiCs of dignity
and simplicity. To that end it Is pre-
scribed that the dimensions II
ground shall in no case exceed seven
| feet in length or three and one-half
feet in width or four feet in height
for an officer below the rank of ma
| Jor; and seven feet in length, four
feet in width, and four and one-half
! fnRt in haiPht hptWnpn fhP rrahn- ~
major and brigadier general; and in
! case of an officer above the rank OF
! brigadier general seven feet in length,
| four and one-half feet in width, and
! Ave feet in height. For enlisted men
the dimensions shall not exceed six
! feet in length. three feet in width,
and three feet in height. Several
leading architects in this country
have, without cost to the government,
| recently furnished the quartermaster
| general of the army. who has charge
Of national cemeteries, designs con-
forming to these dimensions and, at
| the same time, representing the best
in the way OF form from a purely
| artistic point OF view. 1t is intended
that these designs shall be used as
! types for the suggestion of those who
wish to erect monuments.
An official representing the naval
contingent during the recent reunion
! OF veterans OF the Confederate army
| In Washington called at the War De-
partment during his stay here to as
I certain II some action could not be
4 taken to correct" the. official records
In the office OF the adjutant general
so ais to show the resignation" of of
| ncers OF the United States army and
navy who were dismissed or dropped
| from the military naval register at
the time of the civil war. The point
was made that in some instances of
! this sort officers were permitted to
resign, while in others, although they
submitted their designations, they
were dismissed. The point was made
that this was an unfair discTimina-
! ton. The appellant was informed
I that there was no way. even by legis-
| iation, to make this change in the
records: that the alteration was not
| a correction" in any sense, but
would be, on the contrary, a falsifi-
cation Of official records. It is, of
course, not q question Of discriminaa-
ton or OF individual injustice. but a
| matter OF preserving the records as
| they are, and the fiction of removing
! the entry OF dismissal Is not made
less 20 BY an act Of Congress,