The Story of General Pershing Part 3

This Indian was born about 1834, near the headquarters of the Gila River, in New Mexico. He was the son of Taklis.h.i.+m, "The Gray One."

Neither the father nor the son was a chief, although Geronimo's grandfather claimed to be a chieftain without having been born to the purple or elected by the tribe.

In 1876, the Mexican authorities complained bitterly to the United States of the raids and depredations in the state of Sonora by the Chiricahua Indians with the result that it was decided by the Government to remove the tribe from their reservation on the southern border, to San Carlos, Arizona. But Geronimo, who was a natural leader, soon gathered a few of the younger chiefs about him and fled into Mexico.

Later, he was arrested and sent with his band to Ojo Caliente, New Mexico. There, apparently, thoughts of war were abandoned and the redmen became successful tillers of the soil in the San Carlos Reservation.

[Ill.u.s.tration: The Lieutenant in the Family]

After a time, the tribe once more became restless and discontented because the Government would not help them to irrigate their lands. Just how much justice was in the claim it is impossible now to ascertain.

Other nearby lands were being watered and this favoritism, as they believed, as well as the compet.i.tion of the neighboring ranches, doubtless had a strong effect on the Indians. At all events, in 1882, Geronimo was the leader of a band that was engaged in many raids in Sonora, but at last his force was surrounded and he surrendered to General George H. Crook in the Sierra Madre.

In spite of the fact that Geronimo had one of the very best farms in the entire San Carlos Reservation, the Apache leader soon was again in trouble with the United States in 1884, when attempts were made to stop the making and sale of tiswin. This was an Indian drink and highly intoxicating.

In 1884-5, Geronimo gathered and led a band of Apaches that not only terrorized the settlers in southern Arizona and New Mexico, but also the inhabitants of Sonora and Chihuahua in Mexico. General Crook was ordered to proceed against the raiders and to capture or kill the chief and his followers. The story of the war is filled with exciting deeds of daring, but through them all Geronimo looms as the foremost figure. His name came to inspire terror.

At last in March, 1886, a truce was made and this was followed by a conference, at which terms of surrender were agreed upon. But the wily Geronimo was not yet caught. Again with a band of his devoted followers he fled to the Sierra Madre mountains, beyond the borders of Mexico.

General Miles was now in command of the United States troops and quickly he began an energetic campaign against the Apache outlaws. This continued until August, when the war came to an end. The entire band of 340 were made prisoners and the warfare at last was ended. Geronimo and Nachi (the latter a hereditary chieftain of the tribe, though his comrade was the real leader), were sent as prisoners of war to Florida.

Later they were removed to Alabama and at last were settled near Fort Sill, Oklahoma. There, Geronimo evidently concluded (and his conclusion was the more easily arrived at because he was under the continual supervision of United States soldiers) that he had had a sufficiency of war and that henceforth he was to be a man of peace. He became prosperous, and was a most cautious spender of his money.

The part which Lieutenant Pers.h.i.+ng, a young officer fresh from West Point, had in the round-up of this campaign naturally was not of a character to bring him into great prominence. That he did his work well and that he had the full confidence of his men, however, are evidenced from the following incidents which remain among the reports of the campaign.

In the autumn maneuver in 1887, he was specially complimented by General Miles for "marching his troops with a pack train of 140 mules in 46 hours and bringing in every animal in good condition." Doubtless his early experiences in dealing with mules on a Missouri farm had stood him in good stead.

Another instance of his courage and his ability to deal with men, even at this early stage in his career, was shown when word came of the dire predicament of a score of "bad men"--horse thieves and cow-punchers--who had been surrounded by the Indians and were threatened with the death of every one in the band unless they should be speedily rescued. The young lieutenant with his detachment not only succeeded in penetrating to their refuge, but also in saving every one of them without the loss of the life of one man, white or red. The same qualities that had been displayed in his student days were here again in evidence. His sense of duty was still strong upon him and quietly, persistently, he worked hard to do his best.

There still was work for the lieutenant on the border, for the troubles with the Indian tribes were by no means ended. His service on frontier duty at Fort Bayard, New Mexico, and in the field from July 30, 1886, to July 30, 1887, was followed by duty at Fort Stanton, New Mexico.

He went to Fort Wingate, New Mexico, in February, 1889, remaining there until September 1, 1889. He then returned to Fort Stanton to stay until September, 1890, when again he was sent to Fort Wingate.

At Fort Wingate, with the exception of a few weeks spent in scout duty, he remained until December 1, 1890, when he was transferred to take the field in the campaign against the Sioux Indians at Pine Ridge Agency, South Dakota. In February, 1891, he was stationed at Fort Niobrara, in Nebraska, only to return to the Pine Ridge Agency to take command of the Sioux Indian Scouts until July of the same year. Again he was with his troops at Fort Niobrara, remaining until August 7, 1891, when he was in command of a detachment (rifle team) en route to Fort Sheridan, Illinois. On September 25th he became Professor of Military Science and Tactics at the University of Nebraska at Lincoln, Nebraska.

This brief record, however, does not cover all that the young officer was doing. Studying and at the same time working hard at his duties, he was already laying the foundations for that which later was to come. At the time, however, his future career seemed vague if not impossible.

Indeed, he himself was almost convinced that war had ceased to be a threat among the nations. "There won't be a gun fired in a hundred years," he had declared to a friend when he was about to enter West Point, and the thoughts of the young officer reverted to the law for which in his younger days he had almost decided to prepare.

That he was not without suggestions and desires to improve the conditions in the army is shown by the following letter which he wrote the _Journal of United States Cavalry_ in 1889:

[Journal of U. S. Cavalry, December, 1889.]

SOME HINTS FOR IMPROVEMENT.

More prominence should be given to the revolver compet.i.tions and some changes might be made in the manner of conducting them. We should have a regular revolver compet.i.tion and teams with compet.i.tors one from each troop held every morning, best pistol shots in the troop, and not have pistol compet.i.tion supplementary to carbine compet.i.tion though the two might be held at the same time and place.

In connection with the army carbine compet.i.tion there should be an army revolver, compet.i.tors to be selected from the various revolver teams as they are held for the army carbine compet.i.tions.

Prizes for the revolver teams should be the same as those awarded to the infantry department and for the army revolver team the same as those awarded to the infantry division teams.

No good reason can be seen why dismounted revolver firing should not be held at the three ranges, 25, 50 and 75 yards, the same as for individual record in the troop. In the mounted firing, both in troops and practice compet.i.tions, no gait slower than ten miles and a half should be permitted.

These changes would give a stimulus to revolver firing in the army which would bring about surprising results.

J. J. PERs.h.i.+NG, Second Lieutenant, 6th Cavalry.

In the part which Lieutenant Pers.h.i.+ng took against the Sioux, he was sharing conditions which were by no means slight or insignificant. The Sioux were notably brave and bold and more than once their chiefs had outgeneraled the trained white soldiers that fought them.

It is difficult to determine at this time just where to place the blame for these wars with the Sioux. The stories of the causes of the outbreak told by the Indians themselves differ radically from those which were given by certain of the whites, but whatever the true cause may have been, young Pers.h.i.+ng had nothing to do with that. He was simply obeying orders and doing his best in the war with the redmen who already confronted him.

Sitting Bull in particular was a strong and successful fighter. Crazy Horse, a bold and able chief, had, as the Sioux believed, been treacherously seized and bayoneted by the whites. Indeed, one of their rallying cries in the campaign was, "Remember our Chief, Crazy Horse."

General George A. Custer and nearly every one of his soldiers had been killed in a battle on the plains, in which the Indian leaders had succeeded in first surrounding Custer's force. Pa-he-hors-kah-zee (Long Yellow Hair), as the redmen had named Custer, was respected and greatly feared by them and for that reason they did their utmost to shoot him first of all when he finally took his stand in the center of the hollow square, into which he formed his troops when he discovered, after the breaking out of the battle, that he and his men were nearly surrounded.

The death of General Custer greatly angered the whites, and it was promptly decided that once for all they would put an end to the uprisings of the strong and wily Sioux. This result, of course, was at last accomplished and in the final battle Lieutenant Pers.h.i.+ng had his part. This battle, which the whites call Wounded Knee and the Indians term The Ma.s.sacre at Wounded Knee Creek, was won when the troops finally surrounded the tepees of the redmen and then demanded that every gun should be given over.

This demand the Sioux refused, declaring that their experiences with the whites did not warrant them in making themselves entirely defenseless.

They also explained that they themselves had bought and paid for every gun in the possession of the tribe.

This explanation or refusal was declared to be unsatisfactory. The command to attack quickly was given, the soldiers fired obediently and the report was made that they shot down every man, woman and child, with few exceptions, in the Indian village.

Thus the great Indian wars came to an end and whatever may have been his feelings concerning the justice of the methods employed to subdue the Sioux, Lieutenant Pers.h.i.+ng did not speak. He was a young officer and his part was not to explain, but to obey.

In September, 1891, he became Professor of Military Science and Tactics at the University of Nebraska.

CHAPTER V

A MILITARY INSTRUCTOR

AT the University of Nebraska the young instructor-lieutenant revolutionized his department. It is said that when first the students presented themselves before him, according to the rules of the University, for drill, their preparations were nil and their appearance was far from being prepossessing. Previously the military drill had been more or less looked upon by the student body as a somewhat necessary but negligible and irksome task. Few prepared carefully for it and all were glad when the hour ended.

Under the new instructor the change was startling and immediate--and the college boys liked it. Among the strict demands of the new instructor was one that required every student when he appeared for drill to have his boots well blacked. Not only must the toes of the boots appear well, but every boy must see to it that the heels also received proper attention. Perhaps Lieutenant Pers.h.i.+ng was interpreting for the Nebraska boys the familiar old proverb, "Black the heels of your boots."

The new professor speedily became popular, for no man is more unpopular in a student body than the teacher who weakly condones their neglect or too readily excuses their deficiencies. In spite of their protests to the contrary, they like the strict work and the fair and exacting teacher. And Pers.h.i.+ng was liked--and liked more because he did not try to secure the goodwill of his students.

The impression which the new instructor in military tactics made upon the student body is well shown by the following statement of the director of athletics in the University at that time, who naturally cooperated with the official representative of the Government whose influence over the college boys speedily became p.r.o.nounced.

"He was the finest man I ever worked with," said Best. "It is true he was mighty strict with his work, but the results he got were so good that everybody he worked with loved him for it. When he was here we had a regiment the University could be proud of. I just wors.h.i.+pped that man and everybody around the University felt the same about him.

"Usually he was mighty dignified in his work, but he had a way of getting next to the new men.

"The boys at the University got a surprise the first time Pers.h.i.+ng drilled them. It had been their habit before this time to come to drill with shoes blackened or not, just as they pleased. When Pers.h.i.+ng took hold the first thing he looked at was to see that all shoes were well blackened and that the heels looked as good as the toes. He was just that thorough-going in everything all the time."--From the _New York Times_.

An incident recently told by one of his students in the University of Nebraska also is ill.u.s.trative of the grip the drillmaster had upon the student body.

When Lieutenant Pers.h.i.+ng later was appointed to a new position in the Army there was keen disappointment among the students, all of whom were his strong admirers. Certain of his cadets, who had profited greatly under his discipline and served under his orders, got together and decided that they wanted to wear badges of some kind. Gold medals were suggested, but for obvious reasons were not selected. Then one of the cadets suggested a plan as novel as it was new, and after a hearty laugh a delegation went to Lieutenant Pers.h.i.+ng to ask for the gift of his riding trousers.

"Good Lord!" exclaimed the astonished instructor in tactics. "What do you want of my trousers?"