Frederick Funston Frederick N . Funston ( September 11 , 1865 – February 19 , 1917 ) also known as Fred Funston , was a General in the United States Army , best known for his role in the Spanish - American War and the Philippine - American War . He received the Medal of Honor for his actions during the Philippine - American War . Early life and career . Funston was born in New Carlisle , Ohio , before his family moved to Allen County , Kansas , in 1881 . His father , Edward H . Funston , was elected to the United States House of Representatives . A slight individual who stood just tall and weighed only , Funston failed an admissions test to the United States Military Academy in 1884 , then attended the University of Kansas from 1885 to 1888 , but did not graduate . While there , he joined the Phi Delta Theta fraternity and became friends with future Pulitzer Prize winner William Allen White . He worked as a trainman for the Santa Fe Railroad before becoming a reporter in Kansas City , Missouri , in 1890 . After one year as a journalist , Funston moved into more scientific exploration , focusing primarily on botany . First serving as part of an exploring and surveying expedition in Death Valley , California , in 1891 , he then traveled to Alaska to spend the next two years in work for the United States Department of Agriculture . Cuba . He eventually joined the Cuban Revolutionary Army that was fighting for independence from Spain in 1896 after having been inspired to join following a rousing speech given by Gen . Daniel E . Sickles at Madison Square Garden in New York City . After a bout of malaria , Funston ' s weight dropped to an alarming 95 pounds and he was given a leave of absence by the Cubans . When Funston returned to the United States , he was commissioned as a colonel of the 20th Kansas Infantry in the United States Army on May 13 , 1898 , in the early days of the Spanish - American War . That same year , he landed in the Philippines as part of the U . S . forces that would become engaged in the Philippine - American War . Philippines . Funston was in command in various engagements with Filipino nationalists . In April 1899 , he took a Filipino position at Calumpit by swimming the Bagbag River , then crossing the Pampanga River under heavy fire . For his bravery , Funston was soon promoted to the rank of Brigadier General of Volunteers and awarded the Medal of Honor on February 14 , 1900 . Funston played a key role in planning and executing the capture of Filipino President Emilio Aguinaldo on March 23 , 1901 , at Palanan . The capture of Aguinaldo made Funston a national hero , although his reputation was somewhat tarnished when details of the capture became known . Funston ' s party , escorted by a company of Macabebe mercenaries , had gained access to Aguinaldo ' s camp by posing as prisoners of Macabebe scouts . In recognition of his capture of Aguinaldo , Funston was appointed a Brigadier General in the Regular Army at the age of 35 . Funston ' s capture of Aguinaldo saved his military career as he had been previously denied a commission in the Regular Army , and was scheduled to be mustered out of the volunteer service . In 1902 , Funston toured the United States to increase public support of the Philippine - American War and became the focus of controversy by stating , Mark Twain , a strong opponent of U . S . imperialism , published a sarcasm - filled denunciation of Funston ' s mission and methods under the title " " A Defence of General Funston " " in the North American Review . " Poet Ernest Crosby . . . also wrote a satirical , anti - imperialist novel , " " Captain Jinks , Hero " " , that parodied the career of General Frederick Funston . . . " , Funston was considered a useful advocate for American expansionism , but when he publicly made insulting remarks about anti - imperialist Republican Senator George Frisbie Hoar of Massachusetts , mocking his " overheated conscience " in Denver , just before a planned trip to Boston , President Theodore Roosevelt denied his furlough request , and ordered him silenced and officially reprimanded . Sideco house ( Emilio Aguinaldo ' seat of First Philippine Republic ) . The house had been the seat of General Emilio Aguinaldo ' s First Philippine Republic when he established it as his headquarters in San Isidro during the last part of his odyssey from the American forces . On the 29th of March 1899 , Gen . Emilio Aguinaldo arrived in San Isidro , Nueva Ecija and proclaimed the town capital of the First Philippine Republic . He stayed in this house which served as the de facto Philippine capitol . When the Americans occupied San Isidro , the Sideco house served as the headquarters of Gen . Frederick Funston who would later capture General Aguinaldo in Palanan , Isabela . General Aguinaldo ' s capture is said to have been planned in this house . It is now occupied by a Christian organization . United States and overseas again . In 1906 , Funston was in command of the Presidio of San Francisco when the 1906 San Francisco earthquake hit . Funston declared martial law in the city himself , although martial law was never officially declared . Funston attempted in defending the city from the spread of fire and , and provisioning its citizens with water , due to ruptured water mains . He therefore directed the demolition of buildings using explosives , including black powder , artilliery charges , and dynamite in order to create fire breaks , protecting the city . However Funston ' s orders often resulted in more fires . Immediately after the earthquake Funston declared martial law in effect , overriding the mayor ' s powers . General Funston gave orders to shoot all looters on sight . However , Funston ' s orders directly resulted in numerous cases of innocent shootings . " At the corner of Market and Third Streets on Wednesday I saw a man attempt to cut the fingers from the hand of a dead woman in order to secure the rings which adorned the stiffened fingers . " " One man made the trooper believe that one of the dead bodies lying on a pile of rocks was his mother , and he was permitted to go up to the body . Apparently overcome by grief , he threw himself across the corpse . In another instant the soldiers discovered that he was chewing the diamond earrings from the ears of the dead woman . . . The diamonds were found in the man ' s mouth afterward . " " The soldiers do all they can , and while the unspeakable crime of robbing the dead is undoubtedly being practiced , it would be many times more prevalent were it not for the constant vigilance on all sides , as well as the summary justice . " - from survivors ' accounts immediately following the 1906 Earthquake . Funston ' s actions were later assessed with a mixture of criticism and praise , but most criticism of his methods has occurred after the fact . Those who experienced and survived the tragedy first - hand were nearly universal in hailing him as a hero who did what was necessary in the face of utter chaos . Also in 1906 Funston successfully negotiated peace in Cuba . From December 1907 through March 1908 , he was in charge of troops at the Goldfield mining center in Esmeralda County , Nevada , where the army put down a labor strike by the Industrial Workers of the World . Then , after two years as Commandant of the Army Service School in Fort Leavenworth , he served three years as Commander of the Department of Luzon in the Philippines , then was briefly shifted to the same role in the Hawaiian Department ( 3 April 1913 to 22 January 1914 ) . Funston was active in the conflict with Mexico in 1914 to 1916 . He occupied the city of Veracruz , and later took part in the hunt for Pancho Villa , becoming a Major General in November 1914 . He later commanded US forces in Texas guarding the Mexican border from Seditionista raiders during the Bandit War . World War I and death . Shortly before the U . S . entry into World War I , President Woodrow Wilson favored Funston to head any American Expeditionary Force ( AEF ) . His intense focus on work would lead to health problems , first with a case of indigestion in January 1917 , followed by a fatal heart attack at the age of 51 years in San Antonio , Texas . In the moments leading up to his death , Funston was relaxing in the lobby of a San Antonio , Texas , hotel , listening to an orchestra play " The Blue Danube " Waltz . After commenting , " How beautiful it all is , " he collapsed from a massive painful heart attack ( myocardial infarction ) and died . Douglas MacArthur , then a major , had the unpleasant duty of breaking the news to President Wilson and Secretary of War Newton D . Baker . As MacArthur explained in his memoirs , " had the voice of doom spoken , the result could not have been different . The silence seemed like that of death itself . You could hear your own breathing . " Funston lay in state at both the Alamo and the City Hall Rotunda in San Francisco . The latter honor gave him the distinction of being the first person to be recognized with this tribute , with his subsequent burial taking place in San Francisco National Cemetery . After his death , his position of AEF commander went to General John Pershing . The Lake Merced military reservation ( part of San Francisco ' s coastal defenses ) was renamed Fort Funston in his honor , while the training camp built in 1917 next to Fort Riley in Kansas ( which became the second - largest World War I camp ) was named Camp Funston . San Francisco ' s Funston Avenue is named for him as is Funston Avenue in his hometown of New Carlisle , Ohio , as well as Funston Avenue near Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio . In Hawaii , Funston Road at Schofield Barracks and Funston Road at Fort Shafter are named after him . Funston ' s daughter , and his son and grandson , both of whom served in the United States Air Force , were later interred with him .