William Rufus Shafter was born at Galesburg, Michigan, October 16,
1835. He was brought up on a farm and received a common school
education. He entered the Union army as first lieutenant of the Seventh
Michigan infantry. He rose in rank, and when mustered out of the
volunteer service, in 1865, entered the regular army as lieutenant
colonel. In 1867 he was breveted colonel and given congressional honor
for gallant conduct at the battle of Fair Oaks, Virginia. He was
made a brigadier-general May 3, 1897, in charge of the department of
California and later a major-general of volunteers; May, 1898, he went
to Tampa, Florida; afterward to Cuba, where he commanded the military
operations which ended in the surrender of Santiago de Cuba in July,
1898, while at the close of the war he received his share of criticism
for some incidents of the campaign, yet his personal gallantry and
technical skill have never been questioned. His success in his chosen
profession may be traced to his putting into practice the ruling axiom
of his life, which he formulates thus: “I think that, when a man once
finds the thing he likes, and for which he is best fitted, he is bound
to like it always, and stick to it.”