The Filipino American War as seen by diarists in real time with some additional commentary and sourc

No paper until July 26th, so wrote on anything and copied it from these notes to this book –Dec. 27, 1899. Wish it would not rain so hard.

DEAR CHAUNCEY: Your letter dated June the 7th reached me on June 23, while we were camped near Blockhouse number Cinco, not far from the Baligbalig [Balic-Balic] road which goes into Manila from the trenches. The next day being one of my most memorable of days, —my birthday,—I had made arrangements to visit the city and have a little dinner with a few gentlemen at the Army and Navy Club, 38 Calle Marina Erminita (of which I am a member), but we got orders to pack up and move. So our battalion under charge of Captain Oltenhead moved about four miles to the north, and we have been here since then. The rainy season is upon us, and it rains hard every day late in the afternoon for two or three hours. Last night it started to rain and it is raining very hard just at present. We are camped in snug tents three hundred yards in front of the Cabocan [Caloocan] station. There is no town here, but there are four or five car shops, and some large nipa barracks are being erected here for the use of a regiment or so during the rainy season. From Cabocan [Caloocan] the railway goes into San Fernando, which is about fifty miles from Manila. Our troops hold this last city, which is one of the most important points in the island of Luzon. Last year there was heavy fighting here and all along to San Fernando. Aguinaldo is entrenched about San Fernando and has tried to force our lines there, but he cannot last long and has few sympathizers in the island. There are a number of islands in the Philippine group, but the only trouble is in and around one or two provinces of the island of Luzon. This camp is almost five miles by rail from the city, and the trains run like Cape Cod trains, —once a day. The steamer did not stop at Honolulu, but we were hustled across as fast as possible and only camped a day in the city before going into camp near part of the trenches which guard the city on the land side for eight or ten miles. The volunteers are being shipped home as fast as possible. The news here of operations, etc., oftentimes does not appear in the local papers until four days after they occur, so that you get the news quicker than we do, by means of the cable. By cracker, how it do rain, as the Amherstites say; but I have got a ten by twelve wall tent, and the fly sheds water pretty well. I sleep on a “gold medal” cot, —that is, a canvas cot which folds into a hand bundle and is an excellent thing for the field. Besides this, I have three blankets, an old blackboard as part of a floor, a candlestick consisting of an empty (too bad) pint bottle of infandel claret, my dress suit case, which still holds together, pail, wash basin, soap (I thought I would mention it, although it is not often used by certain classes of the population), canteen (which gets very cool and sweet at night), haversack, a bolo or native knife (a relic of our Bacoor campaign, June 13), field glasses, and a blanket roll. This roll is a heavy piece of canvas about seven feet square and arranged to be used as a hammock, shelter, and bed; it is an indispensable article for an officer to have in the field because one’s blankets, cot, and clothes can be rolled up in it. Lastly I have a fine rain coat and a pair of rubber boots which are just the thing in such a climate. I am writing this seated on my cot, and using the seat of a fine cane chair which one of the men found in camp and gave to me. You can picture to yourself an individual perfectly healthy and ready for anything. I have seen Dalton several times. We took our examination for promotion together. All the officers are well with the exception of Donovan and Connolly, who are wounded.

Manila, Luzon Island – Entry made in parlor of No. 2 Calle Santa Elena, Tondo Dist.

I am reminded of some incidents related by Bro. Wm Eletson regarding Admiral Dewey Bro. E. served four years on the “Olympian” hence had numerous opportunities to see & hear the Admiral before & after the battle of Manila bay, May 1st1898. That great victory over the dons, brought the fame and the concomitants of fame – danger from enemies and ditto from friends. The Admiral minimized his chances from both. Many baskets of champagne, the finest cakes & the best of other table dainties were sent the American hero by his admirers but he would not drink and eat the presents sent if he could. Enemies might poison the wine and cake.

The Admiral’s mail was bulky yet but few letters ever reached his eyes. Time was required for more valuable work than reading letters written by people who had no good reason for writing them.

Officers who presumed upon their rank to gain access to the presence of the great [_____] without a good excuse for taxing his time, frequently retired crest fallen without seeing him.

The Admiral was easy of access to writers of the Press, and he was very affable to their kind ___ – book authors. Wise Admiral!! This I learned from Ike Russel who at one time owned & edited the Manila “American Soldiers.” Dewey would give literary people a place at his table occasionally.

When Dewey came ashore measure were taken in advance to guard his person from would-be assassins.

One day he was coming ashore in his launch. Seeing a small boat pulling in his direction, the Admiral exclaimed: “Coxswain, is that boat coming towards us?” “I think it is, sir”. “Then put back to the ship.” This last is from Bro. Eletson as near as I remember his story.

The Admiral is no coward, but prudence caused him to not give Spaniards an opportunity to arrange themselves for the destruction of their fleet.

Two chapters in Deuteronomy, prayer, then cooked breakfast.

Remained at home all day, overhauling my Diary for the past year securing statistics of work done by me. A tedious job.

The Filipino letter carrier bro’t me a N.Y. War Cry & letter from Lt.-Col. Wm Evans S.F. date May 26thcontained Postal Order No. 93664, Sta. B.S.F.; 4 weeks’ salary $36 U.S. coin.

Two A. Bat’y, Utah Light Artillery men called this evening. Desire to rent rooms for 6 men. Expect to be mustered out tomorrow.

24 If a man marries a woman who becomes displeasing to him because he finds something indecent about her, and he writes her a certificate of divorce, gives it to her and sends her from his house, 2 and if after she leaves his house she becomes the wife of another man, 3 and her second husband dislikes her and writes her a certificate of divorce, gives it to her and sends her from his house, or if he dies, 4 then her first husband, who divorced her, is not allowed to marry her again after she has been defiled. That would be detestable in the eyes of the Lord. Do not bring sin upon the land the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance.
5 If a man has recently married, he must not be sent to war or have any other duty laid on him. For one year he is to be free to stay at home and bring happiness to the wife he has married.
6 Do not take a pair of millstones—not even the upper one—as security for a debt, because that would be taking a person’s livelihood as security.
7 If someone is caught kidnapping a fellow Israelite and treating or selling them as a slave, the kidnapper must die. You must purge the evil from among you.
8 In cases of defiling skin diseases, be very careful to do exactly as the Levitical priests instruct you. You must follow carefully what I have commanded them. 9 Remember what the Lord your God did to Miriam along the way after you came out of Egypt.
10 When you make a loan of any kind to your neighbor, do not go into their house to get what is offered to you as a pledge. 11 Stay outside and let the neighbor to whom you are making the loan bring the pledge out to you. 12 If the neighbor is poor, do not go to sleep with their pledge in your possession. 13 Return their cloak by sunset so that your neighbor may sleep in it. Then they will thank you, and it will be regarded as a righteous act in the sight of the Lord your God.
14 Do not take advantage of a hired worker who is poor and needy, whether that worker is a fellow Israelite or a foreigner residing in one of your towns. 15 Pay them their wages each day before sunset, because they are poor and are counting on it. Otherwise they may cry to the Lord against you, and you will be guilty of sin.
16 Parents are not to be put to death for their children, nor children put to death for their parents; each will die for their own sin.
17 Do not deprive the foreigner or the fatherless of justice, or take the cloak of the widow as a pledge. 18 Remember that you were slaves in Egypt and the Lord your God redeemed you from there. That is why I command you to do this.
19 When you are harvesting in your field and you overlook a sheaf, do not go back to get it. Leave it for the foreigner, the fatherless and the widow, so that the Lord your God may bless you in all the work of your hands. 20 When you beat the olives from your trees, do not go over the branches a second time. Leave what remains for the foreigner, the fatherless and the widow. 21 When you harvest the grapes in your vineyard, do not go over the vines again. Leave what remains for the foreigner, the fatherless and the widow. 22 Remember that you were slaves in Egypt. That is why I command you to do this.
25 When people have a dispute, they are to take it to court and the judges will decide the case, acquitting the innocent and condemning the guilty. 2 If the guilty person deserves to be beaten, the judge shall make them lie down and have them flogged in his presence with the number of lashes the crime deserves, 3 but the judge must not impose more than forty lashes. If the guilty party is flogged more than that, your fellow Israelite will be degraded in your eyes.
4 Do not muzzle an ox while it is treading out the grain.
5 If brothers are living together and one of them dies without a son, his widow must not marry outside the family. Her husband’s brother shall take her and marry her and fulfill the duty of a brother-in-law to her. 6 The first son she bears shall carry on the name of the dead brother so that his name will not be blotted out from Israel.
7 However, if a man does not want to marry his brother’s wife, she shall go to the elders at the town gate and say, “My husband’s brother refuses to carry on his brother’s name in Israel. He will not fulfill the duty of a brother-in-law to me.” 8 Then the elders of his town shall summon him and talk to him. If he persists in saying, “I do not want to marry her,” 9 his brother’s widow shall go up to him in the presence of the elders, take off one of his sandals, spit in his face and say, “This is what is done to the man who will not build up his brother’s family line.” 10 That man’s line shall be known in Israel as The Family of the Unsandaled.
11 If two men are fighting and the wife of one of them comes to rescue her husband from his assailant, and she reaches out and seizes him by his private parts, 12 you shall cut off her hand. Show her no pity.
13 Do not have two differing weights in your bag—one heavy, one light. 14 Do not have two differing measures in your house—one large, one small. 15 You must have accurate and honest weights and measures, so that you may live long in the land the Lord your God is giving you. 16 For the Lord your God detests anyone who does these things, anyone who deals dishonestly.
17 Remember what the Amalekites did to you along the way when you came out of Egypt. 18 When you were weary and worn out, they met you on your journey and attacked all who were lagging behind; they had no fear of God. 19 When the Lord your God gives you rest from all the enemies around you in the land he is giving you to possess as an inheritance, you shall blot out the name of Amalek from under heaven. Do not forget!

Remained at home all day, overhauling my Diary for the past year securing statistics of work done by me. A tedious job.

Weather is fine. In the morning I was on guard all night. We are waiting for orders to load and our chests are all piled up. The Montanans are to take our place. The bay is very rough therefore we didn’t load anything.

Cool today & the rain has ceased. Rio is finally flowing to the sea, instead of visa versa. On guard tonight.

Manila, Luzon Island – Entry made in parlor of No. 2 Calle Santa Elena, Tondo Dist.

One year ago today I embarked on the steamship “Newport” & sailed out of San Francisco harbor. An eventful year has passed into eternity and I have during the best part of two days been exploring my Diary to learn what use I made of the time. An epitomized resumé may prove helpful: Souls-professed conversion: 45, Do sanctification 10; swore in 6 recruits.

War Crys (San Francisco) circulated 3928 copies. Account was kept of these. Many more, including foreign Salvation Army publications, Tagalog New Testaments and Spanish Protestant literature, were put into the hands of the people.

Literary Work – Wrote 34 articles for the Salvation Army and secular press viz. San Francisco War Cry 21; Toronto, Canada do, 1; New York City, London, Eng. do. 1; Manila “American Soldier” (secular) 4 New York “Harbor Lights” (monthly) 1; London, “All the World”, 3; Melbourne, Australia, “Victory” (monthly) 2. Up to May 27th’99, the S.F. War Cry printed 25 by cutting the articles & by His process still have several. The New York Cry, reprinted some, ditto New York Swedish, ditto The California Chinese War Cry, No. 14 for Feb. 1899.

Additional to above I kept a Diary (large) in which was covered 1.049 pages and a small one (Vol. IV) from June 29th’98 to Dec. 31st’98 pages 186, making a total of 1,235 pages.

Letters written (copied) 450 pages.

Religious Meetings – led s.s. “Newport” 6 on Pacific Ocean; Honolulu (S.A. hall) 1, street 1 = 2; Dewey’s fleet, Manila bay, 6: Philippine Islands, open-air services, 7: Indoor services in No. 2 Calle Santa Elena, tents & various other shelters, 77 Hospital meetings indoors, 4; Prison services indoors, 17 Total meetings on sea & land, in houses & open – air 119, Bible classes taught on transport “Newport”, 8. on land – Manila 1; total 9. Visitation. Visits to hospitals in Mania & Cavite. 36 – American and Filipino. Visits to prisons, 2, visits to soldiers in barracks, camps, outposts on battle fields in trenches etc. in Manila, Paranaque, Camp Dewey, Ft Rice Cavite, La Loma cemetery, Caloocan, Apalit and San Fernando, 97 –Visit to Christians on H.M.S. “Powerful” I; total 136.

Note: Visits are not counted under this head when services were held. They are entered as services in such cases.

Miles Traveled. Visiting men in the trenches & in various towns caused much travel & took much time. Boats – steam, row boat etc. 807; railroad, 440; in carromatas, quilez’, mule team, etc. 51: walked, 52, total 1350 miles; steamship. San Francisco to Manila via Honolulu, 6,500. Grand total of miles traveled 7,840.

Additional to meetings, visitation, writing of articles etc. I had my own cooking to do, dish washing, bed making & other work which claims time & strength. So at the end of this year I raise my Ebenezer & say to the glory of my God, “Hitherto hath the Lord helped me.” He has protected me from danger on sea & land, supplied my every need & used me.

X X X X

After breakfast went down to the Port Captain’s neighborhood, then to post office. Cashed $36, postal note from S.F. The Utah artillery men embarked & I missed saying good-bye to Bro. Ackarett. Was sorry.

Wrote & copied 4 letters: Lt.-Col Wm Evans, Lewis, Armstrong & S.A. Foreign Secretary Bro. Andrew J Smith, Cavite & Private C. Scott, called. Conversation & prayer together. Scott hopes to assist me in Bilibid prison Sunday next.

To God the Father, Son & Holy Ghost, be praise eternal, amen

It has rained all night heavily but the morning was clear and we started to load our chests on cascos. At 4 p.m., we had them all on the ship. Also, C, H, I and E Companies went aboard. The rest were left at Cavite to wait until the arrival of the Montanan Regiment. The Senator is not a large boat, but much more convenient than the Zealandia. Our sleeping quarters are better and have more room below but less deck room.

Hot. Have been interpreting a good deal lately, & all the Filipino CITIZENS come to me with their troubles. Last night a force of insurrectos came into Ti Pas [Tipas] & took all their rice –sacked the pueblo and collected cedula under penalty of death. Had a mess of fish for dinner.

The weather is fine and everyone is in good spirits. At 1 p.m. we raised anchor and ten minutes later sailed leaving the Hancock with the Nebraska Regiment and the Utah Battery behind. As soon as we left the bay, the sea got very rough and before suppertime, most of the boys were already seasick. Of course I got sick but was alright in three or four hours. Most of us went to bed right after supper. The sea is very rough all during the night.

Wrote to Carrie Crawford. Several canoe loads of amigos came down Rio in a.m. from Arizona. No guns, so Maj. sent back.

My DEAR PADRE: Your letter came with several others, and I could picture to myself the circumstances and surroundings under which it was written. The dear old library lighted up by the fire, by whose side I have spent many a fleeting hour browsing through Scott’s novels, or Plutarch’s masterly lives. I can see the pug dog and the “kids,” who must be rather resentful of such a title by this time. Then I can see you reading in that comfortable chair by the front window, and gazing at the heavy laden trees outside. Yes, Sunday is a day of rest; but here in the trenches every day is very much alike, but there is a little variety occasionally, when some person has to be examined at our post. Every woman and male child twelve years old is allowed to pass without question along the main road, but men must have government passes, and we usually take all the contraband of war we can find. Some thirty or forty men are just starting for target practice to our front. We start the recruits at one hundred yards and work back to three hundred. So you see that everything in the army goes on just the same, the only difference being that we are so far from the United States, a few of the “Filipino PATRIOTs” might give us a go, but they have been thoroughly beaten in this part of the island, and it 1s hardly likely that there will ever be much more fighting so near Manila.

We have a reading club in the company, and we get the newspapers and comic papers in every mail. On the table where I am writing, under Mr. Clement’s tent fly, there is a San Francisco Chronicle, May 21, 1899, which I intend to look at soon. Mr. Clement went to the city this morning and returns this evening. Back of my tent there is the noise of building all day, for the government is having some nipa barracks built. These are constructed like the native nipa huts, but on a much larger scale. A regiment is to be quartered here, and it is interesting to see the Chinese laborers working. A framework of some hard wood is first erected, and then a pitched roof of bamboo is put up, the bamboos being fastened to the side timbers, and enough overhang being left to allow of a good shedding of water. When this framework has been finished, it is covered with strips of dry nipa leaves, which overhang each other and make a cool, dry house. There are some of these barracks in use in the city at present. It is the rainy season, and one should get under a good dry roof tent. My tent is very comfortable, and sheds water like a duck, and then everything dries so nicely after a rain when the hot sun comes out.

We had lunch about twelve o’clock, and then at one a sergeant took nine men and finished our target practice for new men at one hundred yards. There is so much hammering and chattering among the workmen back of the tent that it is hard to sleep in the daytime ; but I make it up by going to bed every night at nine and getting up to take the reveille report at 5.30. Nearly every morning I go out to inspect our two Cossack posts, three hundred yards or more at our front. The country here is very flat, and there is an open field, broken here and there by trees, which stretches along our front and ends in woods about two miles off, so that you see we have a good secure position with a fine field of fire. My rubber boots are just the thing for this season, and they have saved me many a cold while in camp. Mr. Clement and I each have a man from the company to look after us, and my man is a hustler. I have a washstand, a cracker box made into a table with the inside of the box to be used as a shelf, a bamboo pole stretched through my front and rear windows on which I hang my clothes. The man washes all my clothes and has a bamboo clothes-horse on which to dry things back of my tent.

With all of these comforts, and by being careful of dieting, avoiding much spirituous liquors, and keeping dry, one can manage to stand the rainy season. There is a small bookstore in town, where I buy novels, The dealer has not got a large assortment, and most of them second-hand. When we are settled in regular barracks I intend to get at my box of books in our storehouse. I have about two hundred good books in the box, but one might as well hunt for a needle in a haystack as to try to find it in the mass of stuff we have there. Some- time you might send a batch of old magazines, which are just the thing in camp.

I am glad to hear that General Bates is going to be paymaster-general; perhaps he can land a V occasionally.

Does this letter sound homesicky ?

My DEAR CHRISTINE: In spite of the fact that you owe me several letters, I am going to write you on a piece of Spanish legal paper I picked up in a house in Manila and thought it was a little odd. I went to Manila Saturday, and had a little change in food and air. Manila is nearly four miles from this station, and a pleasant, shady road leads into the town. Last year there was some heavy fighting all up and down this way, and there are remains of burnt houses everywhere.

There are some street railway tracks running into the city, and during the fighting some of the cast-iron ties were removed and made into breastworks. The telegraph poles are of iron, and a great many of these were missing, having been torn down and used as defences. The natives always carry their market produce and a few other articles into the markets early in the morning, and they hurry with their picturesque costumes, carrying everything either on the head, or in the case of a man it is carried by means of a rod of wood with two baskets, or whatever the receptacle is, and it is remarkable how strong these natives are in the neck, shoulders, and legs. The people have good faces generally, and do not look like a down-trodden race. They are beginning to have a wholesome respect for the American Soldado ; we are ahead of them in size and energy, but not in cunning. I did not have to walk far that morning. I met a native public carriage, called a carretita [carretela], and I should have called it the “ one-hoss shay,” or a relic of the Ark. Away we bounced, jounced, and spanked, into Manila, and I stopped at the Hotel de Oriente, for a cool drink and a little rest. There was a staff officer from General Lawton’s staff having a drink of water, and I joined him. Finally I took a carriage and saw the paymaster. Of course he was glad to see me, and feeling better in pocket, I left him and drove along the Luneta to the Army and Navy Club, where I expected to meet this staff officer. I did not find him, so went and lunched at a first-class boarding-house on the San Luis road, near the water. This is the best boarding-house I have been able to find, and while there is not much show, everything is good.

About Gen. Henry Ware Lawton

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_W._Lawton

Henry Ware Lawton (March 17, 1843 – December 19, 1899) was a highly respected U.S. Army officer who served with distinction in the Civil War, the Apache Wars, the Spanish-American War and was the only U.S. general officer to be killed during the Philippine-American War. The city of Lawton, Oklahoma, takes its name from General Lawton, and also a borough in the city of Havana, Cuba.

Early life

Lawton was born on March 17, 1843, in Maumee, Ohio. He was the son of George W. Lawton, a millwright, and Catherine (née Daley) who had been married in December 1836. Henry had two brothers, George S., and Manley Chapin.

In 1843, Lawton's father moved to Fort Wayne, Indiana, to work on a mill. The family followed him the same year. George was in California when Catherine died in 1852. Henry and his siblings lived with relatives and family friends for a number of years, including a number back in the Maumee, Ohio, area. He traveled with his father to Iowa and Missouri in 1857, returning to Ft. Wayne in 1858. He was studying at the Methodist Episcopal College when the Civil War began.

Civil War

Lawton was among the first to respond to President Lincoln’s call for three-month volunteers. On April 16, 1861, he enlisted in Company E of the 9th Indiana Volunteers. He saw action at Philippi, Laurel Hill, and Corrick's Ford, in what is now West Virginia. He was mustered on July 21, 1861 and returned home. Colonel Sion S. Bass was then organizing the 30th Indiana Infantry, and Lawton re-enlisted.

The 30th Indiana Infantry mustered into service on August 20, 1861. Lawton was his company’s first sergeant but was promoted to 1st lieutenant on August 20. The 30th joined the Army of the Ohio, under General Don Carlos Buell in Kentucky and remained there for a brief period. The army moved on to Tennessee early in 1862. Its first major engagement would be at the Battle of Shiloh where Lawton’s regiment suffered heavy losses. Lawton had experienced one of the bloodiest battles of the Civil War. His unit moved on and fought at Corinth, Mississippi.

Lawton’s unit also fought at Iuka while attached to Buell’s forces. At the age of nineteen, on May 7, 1862, outside of Corinth, he was promoted to the rank of captain.

He fought at the battles of Stones River and Chickamauga, in all, at over twenty-two major engagements. He received the Medal of Honor years later for his bravery at the Atlanta campaign. He was a brevet colonel at the end of the war.

Indian Wars

After the Civil War he studied at Harvard Law School, graduating in 1866, before returning to the army. Lawton wished for a Captain’s commission in the Army which was not forthcoming. Generals William Tecumseh Sherman and Philip Sheridan wrote recommendations supporting Lawton’s efforts to rejoin the Army.

Sheridan strongly urged Lawton to accept a 2nd lieutenant’s commission, which he did and he joined the 41st Infantry Regiment under the command of Colonel Ranald S. Mackenzie July 31, 1867. Lawton served for many years under Mackenzie, mainly as quartermaster, and also as close confidant. He developed a reputation as a fierce and determined fighter as well as one of the most organized quartermasters in the service. Lawton served with Mackenzie in most of the major Indian campaigns in the southwest, including Adobe Walls, and Quanah Parker at Palo Duro Canyon.

While earning a reputation as a fierce and tenacious fighter, Lawton was also regarded as having compassion for the Indians. Among those who respected Lawton was Wooden Leg, a Northern Cheyenne who was in a group of Cheyenne escorted by then Lieutenant Lawton to a southern reservation. Lawton also served as an advocate for the Indians on the reservation when he learned that the local Indian agency was short-changing the Indians on their food allotments.

On March 20, 1879, Lawton was promoted to the rank of captain in the regular army. In 1886, he was in command of B Troop, 4th Cavalry, at Ft. Huachuca and was selected by Nelson Miles to lead the expedition that captured Geronimo. Stories abound as to who actually captured Geronimo, or to whom he surrendered. For Lawton's part, he was given orders to lead actions south of the U.S.-Mexico boundary where it was thought Geronimo and a small band of his followers would take refuge from U.S. authorities. Lawton was to pursue, subdue, and return Geronimo to the U.S., dead or alive.

Lawton's official report dated September 9, 1886, sums up the actions of his unit and gives credit to a number of his troopers for their efforts. At the same time, in his typical fashion, Lawton takes no credit for himself. Geronimo himself gave credit to Lawton's tenacity for wearing the Apaches down with constant pursuit. Geronimo and his followers had little or no time to rest or stay in one place. Completely worn out, the little band of Apaches returned to the U.S. with Lawton and officially surrendered to General Nelson A. Miles on September 4, 1886. While the debate over the person to whom Geronimo surrendered goes on, it should be remembered that native Americans rarely 'surrendered' to junior officers. They surrendered to general officers or higher.

At various times after the campaign, Lawton was questioned by friends about the campaign. He remained tightlipped and stated that his unit simply pursued Geronimo and brought him back.

On September 17, 1888, Lawton was promoted major, inspector general of the Army. On February 12, 1889, he was promoted lieutenant colonel, inspector general. His duties provided Lawton with many opportunities to develop improvements in organization and equipment for the Army and he worked in this capacity for most of the time up until the Spanish-American War.

Spanish-American War

In May 1898, he was appointed brigadier general of rvolunteers and assumed command of the 2nd Division, V Corps serving under General William Rufus Shafter which was being sent to Cuba. Lawton's forces spearheaded the invasion of Cuba, at Daiquiri, a shallow beach area eighteen miles east of Santiago. The landing of American forces took place on June 22, 1898.

Lawton's force of 6,000 troops moved inland as Spanish forces retreated and he reached Siboney June 23. General Joseph Wheeler took it upon himself to jump ahead of plan and found himself in a fierce fire fight with the Spanish at the Battle of Las Guasimas. Wheeler elected to send word back to Lawton for help and Lawton's unit rushed forward to extricate Wheeler from his difficulties. The fact that the Spanish did not put up a prolonged resistance gave the Americans the impression they would be easy to defeat. This resulted in some miscalculations regarding the Spanish capabilities in planning future engagements

Lawton's division was sent to take the Spanish fortress at El Caney. Preparation for the Cuban campaign had been helter-skelter and Shafter failed to disembark his siege guns. Moreover, he did not have mounted cavalry, necessary for a thorough reconnaissance of the terrain prior to engaging the Spanish forces. Generals Chaffee, Kent, and Wheeler all did independent recon prior to the El Caney and San Juan hill engagements but they provided an overly optimistic assessment of the difficulties ahead. Chaffee submitted his battle plan to Lawton who read and signed it without change. In the pre-battle meeting, Shafter and his generals agreed that El Caney would require no more than two hours to take.

In the following Battle of El Caney, Lawton's division suffered heavy casualties but eventually took the city and linked up with the rest of the U.S. forces on San Juan Hill for the Siege of Santiago. Once Santiago fell, Lawton served as military governor between early August and early October 1898. Lawton had preferred to be returned to the U.S. along with General Shafter and the V Corps however, the War Department selected him as Military Governor of Santiago de Cuba province. A number of problems faced Lawton and Leonard Wood. A major problem involved the health of the American troops and there was the priority of returning many of them home for medical treatment.

Then there was the problem of sanitation in the city of Santiago itself. Many of the residents were under nourished, ill and in need of medical attention. Civil disorder had to be settled down and unruly Cuban soldiers, still bearing arms, were ordered to remain outside the city. Conflicts with the police occurred as they were holdovers from the Spanish regime and continued to treat the citizens in an oppressive fashion. Naturally, bars and saloons were closed for a period of time and basic law enforcement became one of the duties of Lawton and his men. Lawton had a penchant for hands-on involvement alongside his troops and no doubt was personally engaged in the day-to-day post war activity. There are news reports of Lawton personally removing insurgent flags from public buildings and working alongside his troops to maintain order.

Lawton immediately tackled the problem of law enforcement, ridding the police of tyrannical Spanish officers and replacing them with Cubans. By the end of summer, he had re-established a mounted police unit made up of Cubans to maintain order in Santiago. Eventually, taverns were re-opened and the locals were once again allowed to pursue their social pastimes.

Lawton also re-established commerce in the city and outlying areas, all the way to Havana. He worked with the Customs Bureau to create an equitable system of collections and was praised by the bureau head in Cuba for his work in raising and protecting a substantial amount of money. Disgruntled Cuban generals who early had taken their troops into the interior and posed a threat to the U.S. presence were invited by Lawton to participate in local government and in fact, became quite instrumental in establishing and protecting the peace.

Lawton suffered from a fever, possibly malaria, on and off between July and October. This fact was detected by only a few correspondents. For his part, Lawton did not make light of the illness except to a few close friends with whom he corresponded. His real condition may have been 'recurring' malarial fever since he had been diagnosed with the illness, as well as dysentery in 1876. According to National Archive records, the army surgeon who diagnosed his condition at that time recommended a six-months leave in a different climate from the one in which he was stationed. His illness forced him to take a medical leave of absence on October 6, 1898. He returned to the States on October 13 and shortly thereafter, began his preparation for the assignment that would take him to the Philippines.

It has been speculated that Lawton may have been relieved due to drinking, yet, no evidence has surfaced to confirm that rumor. One source for the information was a 'phantom' (unnamed) correspondent for the New York Evening Sun and the second was Leonard Wood, a "moralistically intolerant" person who was later believed by many in the Army to have stabbed his friend Lawton in the back. Considering the number of correspondents in Santiago on the prowl for news, or possibly a scoop, any misbehavior on the part of a senior American general would have been detected and reported. Not one irregularity showed up about Lawton over the course of three months and hundreds of news reports.

Private letters to close personal friends in the U.S. from Lawton revealed that he was concerned with the number of his troops suffering from disease, the fact that he, Lawton was experiencing a fever and perhaps malaria, and his own dislike of assignment to a desk job. He was already looking ahead to a role in the Philippine campaign.

Whatever reason for his return to the states, he came back as a major-general of volunteers, having been promoted within a week or so of his landing in Cuba. When Lawton returned, he joined General Shafter for a short period of time and then went on to Washington, D.C., where he was in conference with President William McKinley, Adjutant General Henry C. Corbin, and Secretary of War Russell A. Alger concerning conditions in Cuba. He also testified before the commission investigating the Santiago campaign and was given temporary command of the IVth Corps in Huntsville on December 22. On December 29, Secretary Alger announced to the press that Lawton was being placed in command of the Army field forces in the Philippines and would be reporting to General Elwell Stephen Otis, the 'military governor', within a short time. Lawton also toured the country with President McKinley, and other dignitaries during the Peace Jubilee.

Philippine-American War

With the fighting against the Spanish over, Lawton was transferred to the Philippines to command the 1st Division, VIII Corps during the Philippine-American War. There, he played a significant part in the military victories during the first part of the war, scoring victories at Santa Cruz and Zapote Bridge. He was able to inspire troops by his personal leadership and successfully incorporated tactics learned while fighting Indians in the American West.

His competency and military achievements made for bad relations between him and the VIII Corps commander, Elwell S. Otis. Despite this, Lawton was very popular among his men and the general public and was dedicated by the colonial Americans in Philippines that his image appeared on Filipino currency issued during the American colonial period in the 1920s. A major plaza in downtown Manila was named Lawton Plaza. Although renamed in 1963 to Liwasang Bonifacio, Filipinos continue to refer to it as Lawton.[citation needed] After the Battle of San Isidro, a letter arrived at the VIII Corps headquarters with the message: "Otis. Manila: Convey to General Law[ton] and the gallant men of his command congratulations on the successful operations during the past month, resulting in the capture this morning of San Isidro." The letter was signed by President William McKinley.

Lawton continued to experience personal attacks on his reputation. General Charles King, upon returning to the U.S. had dinner with General William Shafter. Shafter informed King that someone high in the chain of command in Manila was spreading rumors about Lawton being on drinking sprees in Manila which King emphatically denied. King wrote Lawton about his meeting with Shafter who in turn wrote adjutant general Corbin. Apparently the rumors caused General Otis to write to the AG on July 11, 1899. Corbin in turn wrote McKinley's personal secretary who had inquired about the rumors and labeled the whole affair as "mischievous gossip." The letters are located in the McKinley Papers, Vol. 36, reel 7 of the Library of Congress.

Emilio Aguinaldo, the Filipino resistance leader, referred to Lawton as 'The General of the Night'. When asked why he used that reference, Aguinaldo replied that Lawton was a night general and had attacked him (Aguinaldo) so often at night, he never knew when Lawton was coming.

During the Battle of Paye, Lawton, as usual, was in the midst of the fighting and was killed by a Filipino sharpshooter, ironically under the command of a general named Licerio Geronimo. He was the highest ranking American officer to fall in battle in either the Spanish-American or Philippine-American wars. A vacancy existed in the army for Brigadier General-Regular Army. Rumors had passed around for months as to who the President would promote. The final tribute of recognition from the President and army had already been paid in the form of the promotion for Lawton on the day of his death. The adjutant general's office was processing the promotion when word was received in the White House of Lawton's fate.

Lawton laid in wake at the chapel in Paco Cemetery Manila. His body left the Philippines on board the transport ship USS Thomas on December 30, 1899. The USS Thomas reached the shores of San Francisco on Tuesday, January 30, 1900. Lawton was laid to rest at Arlington National Cemetery February 9, 1900.

Tributes

Nine years after his death in the Philippines a statue was erected in Indianapolis's Courthouse square by an act of Congress. The statue itself was created in 1906 and won a prize for heroic statuary at the Paris Salon competition in that year, a first for an American entry into that competition. The dedication ceremony for the statue was presided over by president Theodore Roosevelt and Vice President Fairbanks, a fellow Hoosier. The Hoosier Poet, James Whitcomb Riley, composed a poem to commemorate the event. This would be one of few appearances the poet made in the last years of his life as he suffered lingering complications from a stroke.

Courthouse square was demolished in the 1950s. The monument now rests in Indianapolis's Garfield Park Conservatory and Sunken Gardens where it was rededicated in 1917.

In Manila in the Philippines, the plaza fronting the Manila Central Post Office building was named "Plaza Lawton" before it was renamed in 1963 as Liwasang Bonifacio after the Philippine hero Andres Bonifacio. Today, the name Lawton is used to refer to the area in between the post office building (including Liwasang Bonifacio and the Manila Metropolitan Theater) all the way up to the Park n' Ride in Padre Burgos.

In 1899, the Army named a fort after Lawton. Fort Lawton is located just west of downtown Seattle. While Fort Lawton was a quiet outpost prior to World War II, it became the second largest port of embarkation of Soldiers and materials to the Pacific Theater during World War II. The Fort was closed by the Army in 1971, but today is still used by the Navy for military housing as well as the city of Seattle as Discovery Park.

San Francisco's Lawton Street is named after him.

He is portrayed in the 1997 miniseries Rough Riders by actor John S. Davies.

Medal of Honor citation

Rank and organization: Captain, Company A, 30th Indiana Infantry.

Place and date: At Atlanta, Ga., August 3, 1864.

Entered service at: Ft. Wayne, Allen County, Ind.

Birth: Ohio. Date of issue: May 22, 1893.

Citation:

Led a charge of skirmishers against the enemy's rifle pits and stubbornly and successfully resisted 2 determined attacks of the enemy to retake the works.

Rained very hard.

On guard tonight. Saw a pitiful funeral today. Two men with a rough box in which was a little babe. The men lifted the pole from their shoulders, sat down in the box, took off their hats & said, “Buenos Días, Señores. Passé?” “Si.” They then trudged away slowly, with the mother, who was carrying a baby upon her rt. hip and leading another naked kid, following. She pointed to the box and, with such a pitiful expression of countenance, said, “Picanniny de mi.” No candles, no chant, no priest –which they love so devotedly. These natives emotions are sudden & intense but very brief. On post at St. Anna [Santa Ana] road. Started to rain & blew our shelters down. I stood from 9 to 11.