 |
West
Virginia
|
SOLDIERS OF THE NEW EMPIRE:
THE GAUJOT BROTHERS
OF MINGO COUNTY
by
Merle T. Cole
Merle Cole is a 1969 graduate of Marshall University and is employed as a research personnel specialist with the USDA Agricultural Service.
PART ONE
Among the few sets of brothers to have received the Medal of Honor, only one set should properly be credited to West Virginia.(1) The Gaujots from Williamson, Mingo County, served during a period when the United States Army was transformed from an internal constabulary to a force for international intervention.
Julien Edmund Gaujot was born in Michigan on October 22, 1874; his bother Antoine August ("Tony"), on December 12, 1878.(2) Their father, Ernest R. Gaujot, a French-born mining engineer, emigrated to Tamaqua, Pennsylvania, where he met and married Susan Ellen McGuigan. The family subsequently relocated to Michigan, then lived for a while in Ontario, Canada, before moving to Lynchburg, Virginia. Ernest Gaujot had traveled to Japan in 1877 to serve as general superintendent of mines. He solved some significant problems while in Japan, for which the Mikado reportedly conferred on him the honorary title of "general."(3)
In 1894, the family moved to what the following year would become Mingo County, at a time of rapid expansion of coal mining operations in the region. Ernest Gaujot was resident engineer for the Koontz Brothers of New York City, whose mineral holdings in Mingo County were consolidated under the name United Thacker Coal Company.(4) Julien attended the Virginia Agricultural and Mechanical College (now Virginia Tech) in 1889-1890, then worked as a civil engineer. Tony enrolled at the school in 1896 and was still a student there when the war with Spain erupted.(5)
Turn of the Century Army
Immediately following the American Civil War, Congress set Army authorized peacetime strength at 54,302 men (Act of July 28, 1866). This was subsequently reduced to 37,313 in 1869, and to 27,472 in 1876.(6) With the end of Reconstruction, the majority of Army combat resources (including light or field artillery) were committed "west of the Mississippi River to battle hostile Indians and otherwise police the frontier," and were still there when war with Spain came.(7) On April 1, 1898, there were 2,143 officers and 26,040 enlisted men in the United States Army, for an aggregate strength of 28,183. These personnel were distributed principally among 25 regiments of infantry, 10 regiments of cavalry, and numerous artillery units.(8)
On April 9, the Commanding General of the Army recommended that all available regulars be assembled at a single camp and "prepared for war service," and that the president call for 50,000 volunteers for offensive operations in Cuba.(9) Two days later, President McKinley requested Congressional authority for intervention in Cuba. On the 19th, Congress passed a joint resolution described as "tantamount to a declaration of war;" McKinley signed it the next day. Finally, on April 25, Congress officially declared that a state of war with Spain had existed since the 21st. Now that America found itself in a war, where would it turn for fighting manpower?
In addition to the Regular Army the only organized military force was the organized Militia or National Guard. On paper the Militia contained 9,376 officers and 106,251 enlisted men, or a total of 115,627. Equipment for the Militia was scarce and outmoded; units were below strength and had only meager training; and it appeared that it would take almost as long to place the Militia on a war footing as to organize new units.(10)
The federal Constitution (Article I, Section 8) vests Congress with authority to declare war and "raise and support Armies." But its power to "call forth the Militia" is limited to three specific missions: "to execute the Laws of the Union, suppress Insurrections, and repel Invasions." With the exception of coast defense, the Spanish War provided for none of these missions. Successful prosecution of the war would obviously entail overseas operations--the invasion of noncontiguous foreign territory--for which militia units could not legally be deployed. Facing the need to quickly raise the volunteer forces, Army leaders and congressmen nonetheless realized that state militias "were too influential politically to be ignored by recruiting a completely new Federal Volunteer force."(11)
It should be clarified that the term "National Guard," as used in 1898, referred loosely to the organized militia of the states. These were strictly state troops until called to federal service to perform the three limited missions cited above. The concept of the National Guard as a hybrid federal-state military organization, subject to order into federal service for any mission, was not established until the National Defense Act of 1916.(12)
The War Department hastily drafted a bill to create an independent Federal force with all officers commissioned directly by the president. "But the War Department's efforts were in vain. Before the bill even reached Congress, the Army was forced to yield to political pressure and agree that any National Guard unit up to full strength would be integrally taken into the mobilizing Army, if the state governor so desired, and that none of these units would be staffed with Regular Army officers."(13)
The resulting Act of April 22, established a wartime Army comprised of the Regular Army and the Volunteer Army, "which would include the Militia of the states when in Federal service." The law provided for a presidential call for two-year volunteers, with quotas apportioned among the States according to population, and that militia units volunteering as a body had to be accepted as units into the Volunteer Army.(14) By means of this law, supplemented by Acts of April 26 and May 11, and lesser acts, "Congress had authorized a Regular Army of some 64,700, federally raised and officered Volunteer forces of 16,500..., and such state-raised Volunteer forces as the President deemed necessary."(15) The new Volunteer Army was organized into five regiments and 17 troops of cavalry, 16 batteries of light (field) artillery, one regiment and seven batteries of heavy (coast) artillery, and 119 regiments and 10 battalions of infantry.(16) Although no new units were added to the Regular Army, existing regiments were expanded from a one- battalion/ten-company structure to the more tactically sound three-battalion/four company structure which Army leaders had urged since 1890.(17)
West Virginia contributed two infantry regiments to the Volunteer Army, neither of which saw service outside of the United States. The 1st West Virginia Volunteer Infantry was organized at Charleston by consolidation on April 29 of 1st and 2d Infantry, West Virginia National Guard.(18) It mustered into United States service during the period May 7-14, aggregating 46 officers and 964 enlisted men. The regiment left Charleston two days later and arrived at Camp Thomas (Chickamauga Park, Georgia) on May 19. First West Virginia relocated to Knoxville, Tennessee on August 27, then to Columbus, Georgia, on November 27. There the unit remained until mustered out of United States service on February 4, 1899, having lost one soldier to accidental death, 14 to disease, and 44 to desertion.(19)
Army manpower requirement projections had initially been projected only on expectation of campaigning in Cuba and Puerto Rico. Commodore Dewey's defeat of the Spanish squadron at Manila Bay on May 1 threw these calculations into turmoil by adding a requirement to occupy the Philippines. This prompted President McKinley's second call for 75,000 additional volunteers on May 25, thereby raising the total Volunteer call to 200,000. Combined Regular and Volunteer Army strength peaked in August 1898, with 11,108 officers and 263,609 enlisted men on the rolls.(20)
In response to McKinley's second call for volunteers, 2d West Virginia Volunteer Infantry was organized and mustered into United States service at Charleston during June 25-July 30, 1898. It left Charleston on August 14 with 42 officers and 1,281 enlisted men, and arrived at Camp Meade (Harrisburg), Pennsylvania, on August 20. The regiment marched to Gettysburg September 20-27, left there October 3, and arrived back at Camp Meade on October 11. At this time the regiment was assigned to 1st Brigade, 2d Division, II Army Corps. The 2d West Virginia Volunteers departed Camp Meade November 13 for Camp Wetherhill (Greenville, South Carolina), where it remained from November 15 to April 10, 1899, when it was mustered out of United States service. Regimental muster-out strength was 45 officers and 1,157 enlisted men. It had officially lost 17 men to disease, two to accidents, and 37 to desertion.(21)
Julien Gaujot had organized and drilled a company of volunteers from the Mingo County area. He and his men were made part of Company K, 2d West Virginia Volunteers on June 30, with Julien as captain commanding. At that time he was four months short of his 24th birthday, and unmarried. He stood 5'8" tall and weighed 125 pounds, had a dark complexion, brown eyes and black hair-- and an anchor and star tattoo on his left arm.(22) Julien was mustered in at Charleston on July 5.(23) This initial phase of his military career was largely uneventful. One highlight include taking fifteen days leave in later November 1898 to return to Williamson in connection with his father's interest in the sale of 4,000 acres of land in Mingo County. Julien's leave request explained that he had to make the trip "before the sale is negotiated as I surveyed the land, and I am the only person who knows the boundary lines. Titles are so vague and the boundary lines are in such condition that it will cause endless trouble unless I can be there to establish the lines preparatory to counting the timber on same."(24)
Intriguingly, official records show that Julien was "accidentally shot" on Christmas Day "in line of duty," but provide no details or explanation of the event.(25) He was assigned as 1st Brigade Engineer by 2d Division Headquarters from January 29 to February 10, 1899, then returned to his regiment for duty before being mustered out on April 10.(26)
Tony joined Julien's volunteer company and was enrolled as a sergeant in Company K at Williamson on June 23. An unmarried student, Tony was only 19, so his father had to sign a parental consent form. Tony stood 5'5 1/2" tall, and weighed 129 pounds. He was fair complected, with brown eyes and hair, and a scar across his nose and forehead. He was actually mustered in as Company K's first sergeant.(27)
One of the 2d West Virginia's "accidental" deaths was attributable to Tony. He was tried by court martial for killing a soldier of the regiment at Camp Wetherhill. An undated manuscript handwritten statement, apparently written by the regimental adjutant, initially charged Tony with a violation of the 62d Article of War--"Murder, to the prejudice of good order and Military discipline." The specification alleged that, around 6 p.m. on November 29, 1898, Tony, "in attempting to arrest Private Frank Scurlock... secure[d] from the tent of his Captain without the Captain's Knowledge [sic], a revolver, and going to the tent wherein the said Private Frank Scurlock was, shoot him with the said revolver, in the neck," thereby causing his death. A typed document changed the charge to "Murder, in violation of the 58th Article of War," and charged that Tony "feloniously and with malice aforethought" shot and murdered Scurlock "by firing... a bullet from a revolver," inflicting "a mortal wound" from which "Scurlock languished and on the 5th day of December 1898, died."(28)
Tony was tried by a general court martial at Camp Wetherhill, acquitted of the charge, "released from confinement and returned to duty" on February 2, 1899. He was also repromoted to first sergeant, having been reduced in grade to duty sergeant on January 1.(29) Within a week, Tony requested a 15 day furlough "for the purpose of visiting my parents at Williamson..." First Lt. Charles W. Cramer, acting commander of Company K, forwarded the request to the divisional adjutant, "approved." Cramer noted that Tony had "just been released from a confinement of 60 days duration for the killing of Private Scurlock of which he was acquitted by a General Court Martial...." Approval was warranted because, "The killing of Private Scurlock has greatly worried the mother of Sergeant Gaujot who is in very delicate health and she has written me a number of times asking me to procure him a furlough as soon as he was released."(30) Tony was mustered out along with his brother and the rest of 2d West Virginia Volunteers on April 10, 1899.(31)
Across the Pacific
The Gaujot brothers had evidently developed a taste for the military life. Developments in the Philippine Islands would afford them an opportunity for immediate service.
Dispatch of American troops to Luzon led to prompt surrender of Manila by its Spanish garrison (August 2, 1898). When Spain agreed to sell the Philippines to the United States for $20 million as part of the Treaty of Paris (December 10), the Americans--now organized as VIII Corps-- found themselves facing hostile Filipino insurgents led by Emilio Auginaldo. The insurgents, anticipating complete independence, had established a provisional republic with its capital at Malolos. Escalating tensions led to fighting between insurgents and American guards in Manila on the night of February 4, 1899... the outbreak of the Philippine Insurrection.(32)
VIII Corps commenced operations vastly outnumbered by the insurgent army. Maj. Gen. Elwell S. Otis commanded more than 20,000 men, but about 15,000 were state volunteers due for discharge. Regular Army units began to arrive as the volunteers departed, but VIII Corps could rarely field more than 10,000 soldiers. The task was made easier because the Filipino military commander, Gen. Antonio Luna, insisted on using conventional tactics, at which the Americans excelled. Otis' initial strategy was to limit the insurgency by occupying the Visayan Islands, capturing Malolos and destroy Luna's army. The first two were accomplished by late March 1899, but the enemy force managed to avoid envelopment. VIII Corps undertook additional advances in April but then ceased offensive operations during May. This halt was necessary to "exchange more volunteer regiments for units coming out from the United States" and "because of the difficulties of campaigning in the torrid, rainy summer."(33)
Otis had been tardy in requesting enough reinforcements to finish the insurgency, but eventually decided that 30,000 men would do the job. Congress acted on March 2, 1899, by raising Regular Army strength to 65,000 men and authorizing recruitment of 35,000 volunteers from the nation at large. The latter were organized into 27 infantry and 3 cavalry regiments designated "United States Volunteers." As these units moved overseas, VIII Corps grew from 28,000 at the end of August to 36,000 in October, and to more than 50,000 by the end of December.(34)
Otis' autumn offensive commenced in mid-October and had succeeded in dispersing insurgent concentrations in Northern Luzon by the end of November, but Aguinaldo and many of his followers escaped into the mountains. With the assassination of General Luna, Aguinaldo ordered a major change in tactics-- henceforth guerrilla warfare would be waged. VIII Corps shifted operational focus to the Manila-Southern Luzon area and the Visaya Islands, and the Army established four administrative districts and small garrisons throughout the Philippines. Maj. Gen. Arthur MacArthur replaced Otis and became the American military governor of the Philippines.(35)
Serious guerrilla operations began in Luzon in the summer of 1900, and by September there were more than 400 American military posts in the islands. True to guerrilla doctrine, the people generally supported the insurgents and resisted substantial American infrastructure improvements and humanitarian efforts aimed at "benevolent assimilation." Insurgent success eventually prompted abandonment of the garrison approach to renewed offensive operations. These coupled constant pursuit of rebel units with concentration of civilians in more readily defended camps, which also served to restrict support to the guerrillas. A large number of native police and scout units were employed in these operations. Aguinaldo was captured by ruse on March 23, 1901, and the new American offensive had pacified most of Luzon by the summer, when Maj. Gen. Adna R. Chafee succeeded MacArthur. The Visayas were pacified by December, and the last major resistance (in Batangas Province) ended when Miguel Malvar, Aguinaldo's successor, surrendered on April 16, 1902.(36)
Operations during the winter of 1899-1900 which "cleared insurrectionist remnants from the Manila region and permanently secured important lines of communications in central Luzon" were the arena for Tony Gaujot's actions which resulted in award of the Medal of Honor.(37)
On July 5, less than three months after his discharge from the 2d West Virginia Volunteers, Julien Gaujot had secured a commission as first lieutenant in the newly formed 27th Infantry United States Volunteers (U.S.V.). He was immediately put on detached duty as recruiting officer in Williamson. On the last day of July, he enlisted Tony in the regiment. Julien arrived at Camp Meade on August 1, and was assigned to Company M. Tony arrived two days later and was also assigned to Company M, with rank of corporal.(38)
The 27th Infantry U.S.V. traveled by train to the West Coast for shipment overseas. Seven companies sailed from San Francisco at 8 a.m. on September 29, 1899, aboard the transport Tacoma, which arrived at Manila on October 27th.(39) During this period, Tony joined his older brother in experiencing an unexplained gunshot wound. While on leave in San Francisco on September 17, he was shot in the right foot ("not in line of duty"), and not discharged back to his company until October 14.(40)
For convenience, it will be easier to follow the brother's Philippines careers separately. The most outstanding event for Tony was, of course, the action for which he was awarded the Medal of Honor. Captain Herbert H. Sargent provides the best available description of the campaign and battle of San Mateo.(41)
At the time, as lieutenant colonel of the 29th Infantry U.S.V., Sargent led the principal force against insurgents holding the town, which is located about eighteen miles northeast of Manila in the valley of the Mariquina River. He commanded a provisional regiment comprised of a battalion each from the 27th and 29th Infantry U.S.V., and a dismounted squadron of the 11th Cavalry U.S.V. Another (mounted) 11th Cavalry squadron was to march north to Montalban, then attack south down the Mariquina valley to San Mateo. Approaching during the night by separate routes, the provisional regiment's battalions were to assemble at a bluff about a mile west of San Mateo on the morning of December 19, 1899. Maj. Gen. Henry W. Lawton directed Sargent to assault the town in conjunction with the cavalry attack, or no later than 6:30 a.m. should the cavalry not attack before that time. As fate would have it, the campaign commenced in the teeth of the heaviest monsoon rains in over thirty years. The deluge slowed all units, and the 27th Infantry and dismounted cavalry elements were also delayed by getting lost en route, and arrived late.(42)
Sargent's infantry would have to assault across the Mariquina to reach San Mateo, which was situated on the river's eastern bank. Inability to locate an expected ford imposed further delay. The American soldiers formed an impromptu line along the edge of rice patties bordering the western bank of the river, and there came under insurgent fire beginning around 8:15 a.m. The enemy occupied 12-15 entrenchments about 350 yards from the Americans, and also had "positions behind an almost impenetrable bamboo hedge...." General Lawton, who had accompanied the expedition, was killed by enemy fire soon thereafter.(43)
Locating the ford was absolutely essential to the operation, as the monsoon rain was quickly making the Mariquina otherwise impassable.
During the whole morning the rain had fallen almost continuously. Now and then it would slacken and almost cease for awhile, only to begin again. The river, already high, was rapidly rising. The men were soaked through and through. The rice fields which they had just crossed were submerged; and many of them lay at full length in the water behind the ridge of earth from which they were firing.... Had the river not been high and almost impassable, we could have quickly driven the insurgents out of San Mateo; but the river presented to us a serious obstacle, which encouraged the insurgents to persevere and stick to their entrenchments.(44)
One attempt to wade the Mariquina revealed the water to be over the men's heads. Eventually the 29th Infantry found the ford, and crossed quickly. At about the same time, Major Hugh T. Sime also "succeeded, in one way or another, in crossing with a part of his" dismounted 11th Cavalry troopers "north of the main buildings of the town." Sargent notes that, "In fact, a small number had crossed there in a boat a few minutes before the main crossing had been made at the ford." All units were across by around 11 a.m. The insurgents, seeing American infantry advancing determinedly, "withdrew rapidly through the town to the hills" in back of San Mateo. Several companies pursued, the enemy but they "made good their escape...."(45)
Sargent had about 812 men under his command during the battle. They faced an estimated 500 enemy, of whom 250-300 "were armed with rifles." American losses in the action were one killed (Lawton), nine wounded and one captured. There were 24 insurgents verified as killed and two wounded, but many other casualties were supposedly carried off when the town was evacuated.(46)
Sargent cited "many instances of conspicuous bravery" during the fighting. He mentioned several officers from the various regiments, but only two enlisted men--both first sergeants from the 29th Infantry whom he recommended for commissioning in the volunteers as a reward for their conduct. He did not mention any enlisted men of the other participating regiments.(47)
In fact, two Medals of Honor were eventually awarded for action at San Mateo, both to noncommissioned officers of Company M, 27th Infantry U.S.V. Award citations for Corporal Antoine A. Gaujot and Sergeant Edward H. Gibson, a Boston native, were identical: "Attempted under a heavy fire of the enemy to swim a river for the purpose of obtaining and returning with a canoe."(48)
Neither the official citations nor Sargent's article illuminate details of the action. Sargent states that Major George L. Byram's battalion of the 27th Infantry U.S.V. arrived behind the firing line of the 29th "and his men were posted in the intervals between the platoons and squads already there." There is no indication that any soldiers in the intermixed 27th- 29th Infantry line actually crossed the Mariquina other than by the ford, whereas (as noted above) "a few men" from the 11th Cavalry U.S.V. did cross by boat during the assault.(49)
Some reports state that Tony swam most of the way across the Mariquina under water, that when he "reached the opposite bank, [he] put the rope of the canoe in his mouth and swam back to his shore with shots pouring at him from more than 80 guns," from which he was wounded in the shoulder. Whatever the details, Tony's company commander did formally recommend him for the Medal of Honor on January 15, 1900, "for bravery displayed in endeavoring to swim river at capture of San Mateo, P.I. under heavy fire...."(50) In the event, it took eleven years for the medal to actually be issued, such delays being fairly common.
Tony saw further action at Montalban, Angono de Bay, San Isidro, and Palanan. His other adventures in the Philippines included trial by a summary court in May 1900 for unspecified violation of the 62d Article of War. He was sentenced to forfeit a month's pay, but was nonetheless promoted to sergeant two weeks later. Tony was discharged from the 27th Infantry U.S.V. at Manila on February 4, 1901, his "services being no longer required." The regiment was mustered out at the Presidio of San Francisco in April 1901.(51)
(To be continued in July Quarterly)
The author acknowledges the kind assistance provided by Lt. Col. John A. Coulter II; Laura Katz Smith, University Libraries, Virginia Tech; W. Graham Smith; Sgt. Ric Robinson, former Dir. of Media Relations, W. Va. State Police; Julie E. Davis; Gwen Sizemore; and John F. Walter, Institute for Civil War Research.
NOTES
1. U.S., Cong., Senate, 93d Cong., 1st Sess., Comm. on Veterans' Affairs, Comm. Print No. 15, Oct. 22, 1973, Medal of Honor Recipients, 1863-1973 (Washington: USGPO, 1973), 1021 (hereafter MOHR). In the author's view, Boyd B. Stutler, "West Virginia Winners of the Medal of Honor," West Virginia History 17 (Jan. 1956), 142, inappropriately credits the Capehart brothers to West Virginia. MOHR, 1973, includes the Capeharts among those recipients whose place of residence at entry upon service, or place of birth, were unknown (51, 1024). George Lang, Raymond L. Collins and Gerard F. White (comps.), Medal of Honor Recipients, 1863-1994, Volume I, Civil War to Second Nicaraguan Campaign (New York: Facts on File, Inc., 1995), 34, show Charles Capehart as born in Conemaugh Township, Cambria Co., PA, and entering serving at Washington, DC. Henry was born in Johnstown, Cambria Co., PA, and entered the service at Bridgeport, OH. Both men were awarded the medal for acts while they were officers of the 1st W. Va. Cavalry, and Henry for an act in the state, neither fact being sufficient--in this author's judgment--for crediting the brothers as W. Va. recipients. Stutler was writing nearly 20 years before the official Medal of Honor compilation. By 1973 there would have been no firm basis for associating the Capeharts with W. Va. Stutler's rationale is evident in his inclusion of "62 West Virginians, or men serving with West Virginia military units" (138).
2. Records conflict about the brothers' birth places and dates. Dates cited are from J. R. Powell, "Virginia Tech Medal of Honor Winners, 20 June 1997," VT-Medal of Honor recipiants (hereafter J. R. Powell). Lang, Collins and White, 357, 391, agree as to Julien's birthdate, but report Tony's as 1878 and give no month or day. Powell gives birth place as Eagle Harbor, Keweenaw County; Lang, Collins and White give Keweenaw, Baraga County. Tony's Declaration for Pension (Supplemental), 7/25/29, in U.S., Dept. of Veterans Affairs, VA Claims File #XC 02 293 371 (hereafter VA File), gives his birthdate as 12/12/1878 and place as "Keweenaha County."
3. "Welcoming the Troops: The First Annual Gaujot Armory National Guard Reunion," Williamson Daily News (4/28/1998), 2, 4-5. This article states that Mrs. Gaujot was born Ellen McGuigan in Richmond, VA. Tony's death certificate (VA File) states that his mother was born Susan McGuigan in PA; his marriage certificate (VA File) gives Susan Ellen McGuigar (sic) born in PA. For father's service in Japan, see "Our Proud 120-Year Commitment to Japan," Ingersoll- Rand Asia Pacific Newsletter, Vol. 2, No. 3 at www.irco.com. Information about early family history is from W. Graham Smith, to author, 1/18/1999, and Lt. Col. John A. Coulter II, who provided a copy of chapter 1 of the galley proof of his book, "They Had Served: The Story of Virginia Tech's Medal of Honor Recipients" to the author. Chapter 1 deals with the Gaujot brothers. This work is cited hereafter as "Coulter galley proof."
4. Smith to author; and Ana Damron to author, 1/2/1999; "Williamson's Distinguished Military Hero is Victim of Wounds Inflicted by Nephew," Williamson Daily News (4/14/1936), 1, 5.
5. Coulter galley proof; J. R. Powell.
6. Lt. Col. Marvin A. Kriedberg and 1st Lt. Merton G. Henry, History of Military Mobilization in the United States Army, 1775-1945, Dept. of the Army Pamphlet No. 20-212 (Washington: USGPO, June 1955), 141.
7. Clayton D. Laurie and Ronald H. Cole, The Role of Federal Military Forces in Domestic Disorders, 1877-1945, Army Historical Series (Washington: USGPO, 1997), 21-22. See also Lt. Col. Michael F. Huebner, "Base Realignment and Closure: A Historical Perspective," Military Review 77 (Nov.-Dec. 1997), at URL www.leavenworth.army.mil.
8. Russell A. Alger, The Spanish-American War (New York: Harper and Brothers, 1901), 7, 15.
9. Kriedberg and Henry, 152.
10. Ibid., 150.
11. Ibid., 154.
12. Ibid., 157. As late as 1912, the Attorney General of the United States issued an opinion that militiamen would not constitutionally be ordered to service outside the U.S. and its territories. U.S., War Dept., Ofc. Of the Judge Adv. Gen., A Digest of Opinions of the Judge Advocates General of the Army, 1912 (Washington: USGPO, 1912), 703; George Kearney (ed.), Official Opinions of the Attorneys General of the United States, 1911-1912 29 (Washington: USGPO, 1913), 322- 329. The opinion is dated 2/17/1912.
13. Kriedberg and Henry, 154.
14. Ibid., 155.
15. Ibid., 155-156, 162.
16. Ibid., 156.
17. John K. Mahon and Romana Danysh, Infantry, Part I: Regular Army, Army Lineage Series (Washington: Ofc. of the Chief of Mil. Hist., U.S. Army, 1972), 33-34.
18. U.S., Dept. of the Army, Ofc. of Mil. Hist., The Army Lineage Book, Volume II: Infantry (Washington: USGPO, 1953), 438 (cited hereafter as Army Lineage Book); James A. Sawicki, Infantry Regiments of the U.S. Army (Dumfries, VA: Wyvern Pubs., 1981), 381.
19. U.S., Adj. Gen. Ofc., Correspondence Relating to the War with Spain including the Insurrection in the Philippine Islands and the China Relief Expedition, April 15, 1898 to July 30, 1902, (Washington: USGPO, 1902) 2 vols., CMH Pub 70-28, ed. and with new intro. by Graham A. Cosmas (Washington: U.S. Army Ctr. of Mil. Hist., 1993), 622. This document is cited hereafter as Correspondence Relating to the War with Spain. In late July 1898, Gov. Atkinson pleaded unsuccessfully with Sec. of War Alger to have 1st W. Va. participate in the expedition to Puerto Rico. Ibid., 324.
20. Kriedberg and Henry, 158-159, 164.
21. Correspondence Relating to the War with Spain, 622.
22. Description, Physical Record, and Enlistment, Volunteers (AGO Form No. 8), Julien E. Gaujot (hereafter JEG), in Record Group 94, Records of the Adjutant General's Office, 1780's-1917, National Archives and Records Administration, Spanish War Compiled Military Service Records (Archives I, Washington, DC), hereafter NARA-SWCMSR. The Records and Pension Office examined muster rolls, monthly returns, and similar records to compile, on cards, a military service record for each soldier from initial enrollment to termination of service. These records were used to verify applicants' pension claims. Company K Muster Roll, Enrollment to 8/31/1898, states he was appointed 5/26/1898, as does Company K Muster-out Roll (both NARA-SWCMSR).
23. Ibid., Company K Muster-in Roll.
24. Ibid., letter, Gaujot to Adj. Gen. 2d Div., II Corps, 11/22/1898.
25. NARA-SWCMSR, Company K Muster Roll, Nov.-Dec. 1898.
26. NARA-SWCMSR, Company K Muster Roll, Jan.-Feb. 1899; Company K Muster-out Roll; and HQ 2d Div., II Corps Special Orders (SO) No. 27 (1/29/89) and SO No. 38 (2/10/98). Julien appears on the NARA- SWCMSR, "Register of Patients of the 2 West Virginia Infantry from July 1898 to April 1899" as having been admitted by regiment 3/2/1899 and released to duty 2 days later; cause of admission was "acute coryza." The "Register" erroneously records his birthplace as France. NARA-SWCMSR, Examination Preliminary to Muster- out of Service or Discharge (3/21/1899) states that a thorough physical examination revealed no disability.
27. NARA-SWCMSR, Description, Physical Record, and Enlistment, Volunteers. (AGO Form No. 8), A. A. Gaujot (hereafter AAG); Company K Muster Roll, Enrollment to 8/31/1898; and Company K Muster-out Roll.
28. NARA-SWCMSR, undated MS, "Charge and Specifications preferred against A. A. Gaujot 1st Sergeant Co 'K' 2' W.V.V.I;" and undated typescript, "Charge and Specification preferred against Antoine A. M. Gaujot 1st Sergeant Co 'K' 2' W.V.V.I." No explanation is provided for the reduced charge, or differing specification phraseology, but they are significant. The 58th AW provided that during wartime, commission by U.S. military personnel of a variety of capital crimes (larceny, robbery, burglary, arson, mayhem, manslaughter, murder, rape, wounding by shooting or stabbing with intent to commit murder, etc.) would be punished by sentence of a general court martial, with punishment to be the same that for like offenses under the laws of the state, territory or district wherein committed. By contrast, 62d AW covered noncapital crimes, and all disorders and neglects to the prejudice of good order and military discipline. It provided for trial by general, regimental, garrison or field officer's court martial, and punishment at the discretion of the court. U.S., War Dept., Judge Adv. Gen. Dept., Military Laws of the United States, Prepared Under the Direction of the Honorable Daniel S. Lamont, by Lieutenant-Colonel George B. Davis, Deputy Judge Advocate General (Washington: USGPO, 1897), War Dept. Doc. No. 64 [catalog note--prtg. error; should be No. 22]
29. NARA-SWCMSR, SO No. 31, HQ 2d Div., II Corps, 2/2/1899; Company K Muster Roll, Jan.-Feb. 1899; and Company K Muster-out Roll, 4/10/1899.
30. NARA-SWCMSR, letter, AAG to Adj. Gen., 2d Div., II Corps, 2/9/1899 (with inds.).
31. NARA-SWCMSR, Company K Muster-out Roll, 4/10/1899.
32. This information is summarized from David F. Trask, "The Spanish-American War and Its Aftermath," in John E. Jessup and Louise B. Ketz (eds.), Encyclopedia of the American Military, vol. 2 (New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1994), 862-868.
33. Trask, page 863. Robert Leckie, The Wars of America, 2d rev. and updated ed. (New York: HarperCollins, 1992), 569, explains why campaigning ceased during the rainy season: "From May to October [1899] no less than 70 inches fell. Roads were washed out, bridges collapsed, low-lying lands and rice paddies became temporary lakes and where the ground was not under water, it was often an impassable paste of mud."
34. Trask, 863-864. For the March 1899 law and its impact, see Russell F. Weigley, History of the United States Army, Macmillan Wars of the United States (New York: Macmillan, 1976), 307-308; Col. William H. Powell (comp.), List of Officers of the Army of the United States from 1779 to 1900, Embracing A Register of All Appointments by the President of the United States in the Volunteer Service During the Civil War, and of Volunteer Officers in the Service of the United States, June 1, 1900 (New York: L. R. Hamersly & Co., 1900), 699; Mahon and Danysh, 35-36; and Mary Lee Stubbs and Stanley Russell Connor, Armor-Cavalry, Part I: Regular Army and Army Reserve, Army Lineage Series (Washington: Ofc. of the Chief of Mil. Hist., U.S. Army, 1969), 29-30.
35. Ibid., 864-865.
36. Ibid., 865-867.
37. "Named Campaigns - Philippine Insurrection," U.S. Army Center of Military History web site at www.army.mil, cited hereafter as "Named Campaigns - Philippine Insurrection."
38. RG 94, Philippine Insurrection Compiled Military Service Records (hereafter NARA-PICMSR), Company M Muster-out Roll, Presidio of San Francisco, 4/1/1901, and Company M Organization Roll; Description, Physical Record, and Enlistment, U.S. Volunteers, Act of March 2, 1899. (A.G.O. Form 8, Vols., amended June 26, 1899) and Consent in Case of Minor signed by E. Gaujot; Duplicate Descriptive and Assignment Card, U.S. Volunteers, Act of March 2, 1899; and Company M Muster Roll, ~ 1899 to Aug. 31, 1899. NARA-PICMSR, A.G.O. Form 8, shows Tony as 5'6" tall, with blue eyes and a heart tattoo the outside of his right arm.
39. Correspondence Relating to the War with Spain, 1073, 1089.
40. NARA-PICMSR, Report of Sick and Wounded of the 27 U.S.V.I., 9/21-30 and 10/1-19/1899.
41. Capt. Herbert H. Sargent, "The Action at San Mateo: The Death of Major General Lawton, U.S. Volunteers," Journal of the Military Service Institution of the United States 30 (1902), 42-61.
42. According to Sargent (60), 5.6 inches of rain fell in Manila during 12/17-19/1899. "On the nineteenth alone 3.898 inches were received in the gauges of the [Manila] Observatory." Excepting only 1889, the Dec. 1899 rainfall "exceeded that of any December in the past thirty-three years. Thus it appears that nearly six inches of water fell on those three days of December [the San Mateo campaign], and that nearly four inches fell on the nineteenth alone."
43. Ibid., 52-53. Lawton had made a very conspicuous target. He was a large man, and was walking up and down the firing line, wearing a white helmet and yellow rain slicker. Lawton had been awarded a Medal of Honor for bravery "in a skirmish before Atlanta" on 8/3/1864. "Henry Ware Lawton (1843-1899)," in Robert McHenry (ed.), Webster's American Military Biographies (Springfield, MA: G. & C. Merriam Co., 1978), 228-229. See also Lang, Collins and White, 128.
44. Sargent, 52-53.
45. Ibid., 56-57.
46. Ibid., 58. The mounted cavalry did not participate in the San Mateo battle. Its delayed start necessitated a change in plans, i.e., crossing the Mariquina between Montalban and San Mateo. They encountered insurgents after crossing the river and attacked north, pursuing to Montalban and capturing the town before turning south to San Mateo, arriving at 4 p.m. Ibid., 58-59. Sargent states that American fire was so "hot" that "in several instances they succeeded in driving the insurgents entirely out of their entrenched positions, and in forcing them to flee back into the stone buildings of the town." Insurgent firing, by contrast, was heavy but poor, being too high and apparently not aimed--resulting in very few hits. Ibid., 52, 55.
47. Ibid., 60-61.
48. MOHR, 380. See also Lang, Collins and White, 357.
49. Sargent, 54.
50. Use of the word "attempted" suggests Tony's effort was unsuccessful. Williamson Daily News (4/14/1936) states that he succeeded and was wounded in the shoulder. Williamson Daily News (8/28/1998) states that Tony volunteered, swam most of the way under water, and when he "reached the opposite bank, put the rope of the canoe in his mouth and swam back to his shore with shots pouring at him from more than 80 guns." Sgt. Gibson is not mentioned in either article. Tony did not report being wounded in his 5/11/1933 affidavit before notary Lillian J. Tilley, but did claim, "Shortly after [swimming the river]... I became sick and the Doctor [sic] who examined me at the time said that I had over-exerted myself and caused an artery of my heart to become enlarged from which I am still suffering." See affidavit in VA File. For company commander's recommendation, see NARA-PICMSR, Company M Muster Roll, Jan.-Feb. 1900.
51. NARA-PICMSR, Company M Muster Roll, Jan.-Feb. 1901; Company M Return, Feb. 1901; and Company M Muster-out Roll, April 1901. Tony appears on the NARA-PICMSR, Report of Sick and Wounded of the 27 U.S. Volunteer Infantry for 3/2-4, 8/7-14, 9/19-10/3/1900, cause of admission "malarial fever int. quot.," and on 8/27-29 for acute dysentery.