and sewage system, with a cement-walled lake in the middle of the
parade ground, sixty by two hundred feet. Heretofore the parade ground
and the officers' yards were bare of grass because of the extreme
drought and the millions of ants which ate the grass. We put fountains
all over the post, capable of throwing water one hundred feet high,
as the reservoirs had four hundred feet pressure. I established a
small water motor which sawed all the wood and ran all the machines in
the carpenter shop.
[Illustration: MY FAMILY AND COMMANDING OFFICER'S QUARTERS, FORT
THOMAS, A. T.]
[Illustration: PICNIC UNDER COLUMNAR CACTUS NEAR FORT THOMAS, A.
T. READ, MILLS, MRS. VIELE, WHIPPLE, NANNIE, LITTLE ANSON, CONSTANCE,
FREEMAN.]
General Miles visited the post after my work was completed and issued
a very complimentary order which gave me a standing throughout the
army as one capable of meeting unusual difficulties in my line.
Grant was in a most beautiful climate, about four thousand feet above
the sea, with Mount Graham six thousand feet higher, three miles
away. The climate, trees, foliage, flowers and rapid streams of this
mountain were much like the Adirondacks, so we built a small log hut
camp there for the ladies and children.
Nannie's description of a visit to this camp is better than any I can
write.
IN CAMP, NEAR FORT GRANT,
July 18, 1888.
MY DEAR MOTHER:
We left the post at a little after two on Saturday afternoon.
Anson had a big mule to ride, little Anson had a horse led by
an orderly, I had a pony with Constance on behind me. I was
astride. We soon had to ascend and of all the trails you could
imagine! I could not have undertaken it if I had seen it. I
would just as lief ride a pony upstairs, indeed _rather_, for
if he fell I should not have so far to go, but on the trail
if the pony had made a misstep in some places we should have
gone helter-skelter down a long way. I thought it was quite
dangerous, but Anson would not let me dismount for he said if
I walked once I would not want to ride, and indeed I could not
have walked far, for we began to rise so rapidly that one gets
out of breath soon. We zigzagged up the steepest places and at
last reached the top, where it is perfectly lovely, the ground
is covered with grass and some of the most beautiful flowers I
have ever seen, and such quantities. There are loads of trees,
principally pines. When we go back we shall have to walk about
three miles, for it is very dangerous to ride down such steep
places. We are all good walkers, however, and can do it nicely.
I would not have missed coming up for anything, for the ride was
an _entirely_ new experience and one that I shall never have
again. It is perfectly lovely in the camp, and though this is
the rainy season and we have rains every day, it only lasts a
short time and the sun soon dries things up. Yesterday it hailed.
When we reached the top of the steep road, we were about 8,000
feet above the sea, but we then began to descend in order to
camp near water, so we are only about 7,000 feet or a little
more above the sea. Graham peak, which is 10,600 feet elevation,
is six miles from here and easily reached, that is, it is a
perfectly good and safe road, but steep, and on account of the
altitude the air of course is rarified and one so soon gets out
of breath. We are going there in a few days, after we get used
to the altitude. We all have immense appetites, and though our
feet are wet sometimes for hours, take no cold.
I am so sorry Anson had to go down to Tucson, for it is
extremely hot there. I think we shall soon know where we are
going, and when. I forgot to say that Anson came up with us
Saturday and went down Monday. Our camp is about six miles from
the post, and it takes three or four hours to come, so you may
know how steep it is. We are all in tents, as the log cabin that
Anson had commenced is not yet finished. Our party consists of
Mrs. Corbusier, her five boys, Mrs. Viele and her sister (a
young lady), myself and two children and the chaplain. Across
the pretty little brook which runs through the camp are four
more tents occupied by several sergeants' families, and lower
down the creek are the soldiers, who are felling trees and
building the cabin. I forgot to say we have two cooks in our
party, very necessary adjuncts when one considers the numerous
and healthy appetites.
Your loving daughter,
NANNIE.
[Illustration: LITTLE ANSON'S COMPANY AT FORT GRANT,
CONSTANCE IN CENTER.
Anson
Constance
Willie Corbusier
]
[Illustration: COMMANDING OFFICER'S AND ADJACENT QUARTERS AT FORT
GRANT.]
CAMP ON THE MOUNTAINS,
July 22, 1888.
MY DEAR MOTHER:
We have been here a week yesterday, and notwithstanding it has
rained every day, we have had a good time. The rains do not last
long and it soon dries up. There are the greatest quantity of
beautiful flowers here. I have a large bouquet in my tent about
fifteen inches in diameter and taller than it is wide. We have
had bear meat, a young fawn and wild strawberries. The nights
are if anything too cold. We have taken several tramps, one of
them to an old hunter's camp. He comes over to see us often and
enjoys the break in his loneliness. He is alone in his camp
except for a dog, which is almost as dear to him as a child, and
two or three ponies. He is going to show us the way to the top
of the mountains. He came over to see us last night and sat by
the big log camp fire, and while we popped corn regaled us with
numerous tales, all of which I took with a grain of salt.
You would be surprised to see how comfortable we can be in camp
with a very little. I have turned a box on one side for a book
case, put another on top where I keep my writing materials,
over it all I have thrown a large towel, and with the bunch of
flowers I spoke of on top, it looks very well. I have another
box for washstand, another for clothes, and with nails driven
in the tent poles to hang clothes, medicine bag, little looking
glass, canteen, etc., things are quite shipshape.
Your loving daughter,
NANNIE.
FORT GRANT, A. T.,
August 4, 1888.
MY DEAR MOTHER:
We were up in the mountains when I last wrote you. Anson came
back from the court he was on and he and the doctor came up on
the mountain. We went the next day on horses and burros to the
summit of Mt. Graham. It was about four miles from our camp,
and is ten thousand six hundred feet above the level of the
sea. We wrote our names and put them in the tin can left by the
surveyors. Anson and Constance Lydia both wrote their own names.
It was a very pleasant trip. I rode a burro, astride, of course,
as I shall never ride any other way. Anson is going to take my
picture as I appeared. Anson came up to the camp on Friday. On
Saturday we went to the summit. That same evening, in a pouring
rain, a courier came in bringing a copy of dispatches from San
Carlos saying six Indians had gotten away and the troops were
after them. Of course we could not tell but it was the beginning
of another big outbreak. The commanding officer of Fort Grant
said he had already sent out some pack mules and might have to
send out all the rest, but if we wished to come down to the
post next day he would send us what animals he could spare. We
immediately decided to come down to the post, for in case of an
outbreak, the Indians could easily take our camp. We left the
camp about two o'clock Sunday afternoon. Anson was mounted on
a horse with Constance behind him. I had a big white mule with
little Anson behind me. We rode about a mile and reached the
steep part of the trail where I was afraid to ride down. Indeed
the whole party, about thirteen of us, dismounted and walked
down the steepest part. We could in places look down on the post
which looked so green, like an oasis in the desert. Mrs. Viele,
Constance and I walked for about two miles, as we did not care
to ride over places steeper than a pair of stairs, but the rest
mounted before we did. We reached the post about six o'clock,
pretty tired. The next day, Monday, I was stiff and tired, but
everything in the house needed straightening up.
Tuesday Anson told me that General Miles would be here on
Thursday. As the new commanding officer very kindly said we
could keep this house till his wife came, thus saving us the
trouble of a move, we had to entertain General Miles. We
straightened up the house and expected him about eleven o'clock
Thursday morning, when lo! he drove in at _seven_ in the
morning, before we were out of bed. We hurried to dress, and
as he expected to go right on to San Carlos immediately after
breakfast, I told Sallie to cook the chickens for breakfast
that we had intended giving him for dinner. Breakfast was late,
of course, as General Miles took a nap and a bath, and it was
ten o'clock when we were through. I hurried to fix him a box
of luncheon to take with him, and they would have started
immediately but some telegram came which decided him to wait for
further news. We sent to the butcher's for a roast of beef, as
we had eaten up the chickens intended for dinner. He had no meat
fit to roast, so Sallie chopped it up and made a meat roll. We
had dinner at five o'clock, General Miles, Colonel Pearson and
Mr. Jerome taking dinner with us. The latter is a cousin of Lady
Randolph Churchill. We had soup, fish, claret, meat, vegetables,
olives, champagne, pudding and coffee, a dish of flowers in the
center of the table and flowers in the finger bowls. I should
have had a salad, but there was no oil in the commissary. After
dinner I rearranged the lunch, and they got off. I told General
Miles he was like a flea, no one ever knew where to put one's
finger on him.
He laughed and said, "About as disagreeable as one, also." He
told lots of funny stories and was very pleasant. He praised the
post which Anson has improved so much and which certainly looked
at its best, all beautifully green, the lake full of clear
water, the fine fountains playing and the sun shining through
them. General Miles showed Anson an endorsement he had made on
an official paper regarding him (Anson) which was extremely
complimentary. In fact, he could not have said more, as he
praised him to the skies.
I hope the Indian business will be settled soon. I was so sorry
to leave the mountains. It was delightful up there, and we
intended to stay three weeks longer. We were there only two
weeks. It was so cool at nights we had to have a big fire and
sleep under several blankets, indeed one or two nights I slept
under four blankets and a buffalo robe.
Your loving daughter,
NANNIE.
[Illustration: OUR SITTING ROOM AT FORT GRANT, A. T.]
[Illustration: SUMMER CAMP ON MT. GRAHAM, NEAR FORT GRANT.]
[Illustration: NANNIE AND CONSTANCE AT FORT GRANT, ARTIFICIAL LAKE
IN BACKGROUND.]
At this time, anticipating promotion, I took leave and, selling most
of our belongings, we went to Boston. Here we bought a carload of
household goods, shipping it by the Santa Fe. The car was burned at
Deming, but the railroad company had insured it and we recovered
the full value of our new goods. But among the losses which could
not be valued was Nannie's diary, which she had kept in detail for
eighteen years and from which she expected to write a book. That was
one of the discouragements we faced in planning mutually to write our
reminiscences.
In May, 1889, I was assigned to duty at Fort Bliss, Texas, as
supervising engineer under Colonel Nettleton of the Geological Survey.
I remained until April, 1890, when as lieutenant colonel of the 4th
Cavalry, with three companies of that regiment, I was stationed at the
Presidio, San Francisco, as executive officer under Col. W. M. Graham
of the 5th Artillery.
This large post, adjacent to a very large and interesting city, was
the most enjoyable station we ever had. The children enjoyed it, Anson
going to school and Constance having a good teacher at home.
Numerous balls, dances and other amusements in addition to strenuous
duties, kept us all busy and healthy. Here, again, we had the good
fortune to have Dr. Leonard Wood, then a regular army doctor, as our
family physician.
Col. W. R. Shafter commanded Angel Island in San Francisco Harbor and
he, Colonel Graham and I constituted the first board under the new law
for examination of officers for promotion. It was a _very lively_,
and, I think, an efficient board. We examined some thirty-three
officers.
When some members of the 4th Cavalry murdered a citizen, at regimental
headquarters, Walla Walla, I was sent to command the regiment, the
colonel being suspended for neglect. We liked Presidio, so this move
was a disappointment. To our surprise we found Walla Walla among the
most pleasant, agreeable and efficient posts at which we had ever been
stationed. The officers and ladies were unanimously harmonious and the
regiment, notwithstanding the bad reputation it had for this murder,
was in every way the best disciplined and efficient I had ever served
in.
Nannie, as usual, was one of the leaders in all the entertainments,
which were patronized not only by the ladies and officers of the
post, but by an equal number of citizens from the beautiful city of
Walla Walla, at that time the wealthiest town in proportion to its
population in the country.
The command was an interesting one because of the great number of
semi-civilized Indians in the vicinity who were trying hard to make an
honest living under great disadvantages. The citizens did not credit
them with good intentions because of their inability to make a living
out of the soil. They were driven from pillar to post, but always came
to the army for relief, trusting, as all our North American Indians
have always trusted, in the officers.
In July, 1892, with our two children, we made a most enjoyable tour of
Alaska, by way of Seattle and the steamship "Queen," through the inner
deep water channels with their still water and surrounding mountains
covered with inexhaustible cedar. We visited dense forests of timber
near Sitka, where the warm Chinook winds carry sufficient moisture to
keep them damp through the entire year, so that no forest fires ever
occur. The moss accumulated over fallen trees, which did not decay.
Huge trees several hundred years old grow upon others, as large and
as ancient, though dead. Fallen logs preserve so well that many are
as available as the standing trees for lumber. Cattle live the year
around on this constantly growing moss.
We stopped at Wrangell and Juneau, and spent some time at Sitka,
visiting Treadwell, the great silver mine. We stopped a couple
of days to see the wonderful Muir glacier, traveling several miles
over the surface of the solid ice mass. Twenty-seven miles long and
several miles wide, it moves gradually downward to the sea by force
of gravity, averaging seventy feet per day. As it moves, this great
mass tears from the solid granite below huge masses of rocks, and
pedestrians can hear the crushing of the rocks. On reaching the salt
water, which is very deep, the ice begins to soften and disintegrate,
and periodically falls in great shales, sometimes two miles in length
and nine hundred feet deep, into the water, only two hundred feet
being above the water line.
The captain stood off two miles from the glacier for us to see a berg
break off, which happened in the afternoon. We could plainly see this
immense body of ice fall into the water. It careened, disappeared,
broke into many parts and finally appeared on the surface as bergs
moving out to sea. The waves caused by this immense movement of ice
rocked the ship as if we were in a storm.
I was promoted colonel of cavalry, not assigned, while I held command
of the 4th. On the colonel's restoration, in February, 1893, I was
assigned as colonel of the 3d Cavalry at Fort McIntosh, and joined
February 28, 1893, where I had as adjutant Thomas B. Dugan and as
quartermaster John T. Knight, both efficient officers.
The Garza Mexican troubles on the Rio Grande were then in full force,
and my regiment was assigned to duty along the lower Rio Grande,
leaving two companies of infantry at McIntosh.
Numerous bands of Mexicans, half from Mexico and half from the United
States, committed depredations, stole property and killed Americans
all along the river to Brownsville. This so-called Garza war kept my
troops busy marching, and in the difficult effort to punish them we
lost a number of men.
Another disturbing element between the two countries was the formation
of large islands in the river. The shifting stream produced these
"bancos," as they were called, which, when two or three hundred acres
in extent, were claimed by the more excitable and lawless of both
sides. They were used as a refuge by smugglers and other criminals
denying the jurisdiction of both countries.
One of the bancos, Banco de Vela, was used by an American as a
pasturage for about three thousand sheep. The Mexican customs
authorities put the herders in jail and took the sheep into Mexico, as
confiscated under their revenue laws. In retaliation the sheriff of
the Texan county put the Mexicans found on the banco in jail.
Colonel Minero, commanding the 4th Mexican Cavalry, at the city
of Reynosa, was opposite Banco de Vela. My regiment, the 3d U. S.
Cavalry, was drawn up on one side to prevent further arrests and
probable conflicts between the contending parties. This situation
caused the organization of the Boundary Commission, of which I was
later a member. (Text, 281.)
Ordered to relieve the 2d Cavalry under Colonel Wade, my regiment
arrived at Fort Reno, June 24, 1893. I had always stated that if I
ever became colonel and the authorities gave me an insignificant
command of but one or two companies, the band and the laundresses, I
would apply for retirement. A few days after reaching Fort Reno, one
company was detached, leaving me but two companies of my own regiment.
I wrote General Miles, commanding the department, my official and
personal friend, that as regulations held me responsible for the
efficiency and discipline of my regiment, I would prefer to take
advantage of my right to retire on thirty years, unless I could be
furnished with at least half of the regiment. For that purpose I asked
six months' leave.
The general replied that he would, if it were possible, furnish me
the half or the whole of my regiment, but the conditions were such
that he could not. When I applied, he recommended my leave. Nannie,
with Constance, had preceded me to Worcester, where I went to make
arrangements to retire and devote my attention to my cartridge belt
factory there.
But General Gresham, who knew of my familiarity with the banco
troubles, told me the President had decided to appoint a Boundary
Commissioner, and offered me the post. Supposing that it would only
last a year or two, and knowing that I was well acquainted with the
people of both sides and the nature of the questions involved, I
decided to accept. Then it was discovered that I could not lawfully
do so, unless I resigned my army commission, as no one could hold
two government positions. The Secretary told me he was so anxious I
should take the place, he would procure a resolution from Congress
authorizing me to accept it as a colonel of cavalry, with pay and
allowances as such, which he did. I entered upon this duty, not
expecting it to last long, or to become a general.
As I look back over my military career I am impressed with the changes
which time has wrought in the size of the military establishment. When
I was made a colonel, there were but seventy-two colonels in the line,
although forty-five States, represented by ninety senators, were then
in the Union.
When I was made a general officer there were but nine general officers
in the line of the army; while at that time the President of the
United States had eight cabinet officers.
Since leaving active service I have retained my interest in military
affairs, and have been so intimately connected with military orders
as to be an ex-commander of the Loyal Legion, an ex-commander of the
Order of Indian Wars, and am an honorary member of the Indiana Society
of Engineers.
[Illustration: FATHER AND SON AT 58 AND 13. TAKEN AT FORT WALLA
WALLA.]
BREVET COMMISSIONS IN THE ARMY
Prior to the Civil War the Government established a satisfactory
system of brevets, conferred on officers who distinguished themselves
in action, so regulated that rights to promotion of those commissioned
in special corps might not be infringed, while allowing the
beneficiary to exercise rank and command by authority of his brevet
whenever placed on duty with a mixed command. Thus, when a company of
artillery and one of infantry served together, a junior captain with
the brevet rank of major might assume and exercise command. (When a
Captain I so exercised the rank of brevet Lieutenant Colonel, over a
real lieutenant colonel by priority of date.) During the Civil War,
however, the conferring of brevets was so overdone by political and
other influences that in one or two instances a captain in a non
combative corps acquired the rank of major general. The situation
was so absurd and confusing that Congress passed a law declaring
that under no circumstances should a brevet be exercised for rank or
command. This rendered brevets practically worthless. The army became
dissatisfied and secured another method of rewarding distinguished
service, medals of honor, but this, also overdone, is becoming
unsatisfactory.
As time passed those modestly breveted outgrew all their brevets,
while those immodestly breveted were generally of the non combative
corps stationed about Washington. In 1892, a bill was introduced
in Congress to allow the restoration of the brevet "uniform" and
"address."
I wrote the following protest:
HEADQUARTERS, 4TH CAVALRY,
FORT WALLA WALLA, WASHINGTON,
April 12, 1892.
TO THE ADJUTANT GENERAL,
U. S. ARMY,
WASHINGTON, D. C.
SIR: In the matter of Senate Bill No. 2699, for the
restoration of brevet "uniform" and "address," I beg to make the
following suggestions, and request that they be referred to the
Committee on Military Affairs in the United States Senate, for
such consideration as in its judgment they may seem to merit.
That all officers holding brevet commissions, whether above
or below their present grade, may wear the insignia of their
highest brevet rank on each side of the coat collar. Those
conferred for gallantry in specific actions, on a red ground and
those for faithful or meritorious service, not in action, on a
white ground.
The reasons that impel me to this action are as follows:
It is well known that about the close of the war, brevets in
many cases, by reason perhaps of propinquity to power, were
given in such extravagant profusion as to destroy in a great
degree their value to those of the deserving, and it goes
without saying that as a rule a greater proportion of these
highest grades by the promotions of time have worn out by
covering over with other commissions a greater proportion of the
modestly breveted.
It is also true that an officer holding a brevet below his
present grade, and conscious of equal merit with his comrade
who holds one above his present rank, will take equal pride in
wearing the evidences of its appreciation if he be permitted to
do so, especially if he can show that it was won in battle.
The proposed bill, however, as I understand it, will not permit
him to do either, and will, I fear, rather tend to confuse by
putting on the shoulder rank without command, with no easy
method of determining the actual rank or right to command.
To illustrate the effect that this bill, as proposed, would
have on the Army, that is, on the officers on the active list,
a reference to the last Army Register will show a total of 391
field officers in the entire Army, most of whom hold brevets
below their present grade, and would be ignored by the present
bill; all but 67 of the 391 hold brevet rank above their present
grade, distributed in corps throughout the Army, as follows:
Adjutant General's Department 9
Inspector General's Department 0
Quartermaster's Department 10
Subsistence Department 8
Medical Department 7
Pay Department 3
Engineer Department 6
10 Regiments of Cavalry 8
5 Regiments of Artillery 7
25 Regiments of Infantry 9
--
TOTAL 67
It will be observed that of the 67 total, the Line of the Army
have but 24, while the Staff have 43; and as a rule, even in the
Staff, the noncombatant corps lead in honors.