Henry Ware Lawton
Henry Ware Lawton (1843-1899) was a highly respected U.S. Army officer who served with distinction in the Civil War, Apache War, 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.
Early life
Lawton was born on March 17, 1843 in Maumee, Ohio. He was the son of George W. Lawton, a millwright, and Catherine (nee Daley) who had been married in December of 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.
In his three months of service, Lawton saw action at Philippi, Laurel, and Carricks Ford, W. Virginia. If the North had any hopes of a short war and quickly thrashing the Confederacy, those hopes soon dimmed. Like many of the three-month volunteers Lawton was mustered out of service on July 21, 1861 and returned home after his short tour.
His zeal was not dampened by his first experiences in combat and he was quick to place himself back at the disposal of the Army. Colonel Sion S. Bass organized the 30th Indiana Volunteers. Captain O. D. Hurd commanded a company in the 30th and Henry Lawton re-enlisted with Hurd’s unit.
The 30th was officially mustered into service on August 20, 1861. At first, Lawton was his company’s drill sergeant but was quickly 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 Pittsburg Landing Battle of Shiloh where Lawton’s regiment was one that suffered heavy losses Lawton, one of the fortunate survivors of Shiloh, had experienced with others, 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 19, 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 was awarded 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 law at Harvard University for a while 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.
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 regulars 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 23rd. 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.
Lawton's division was sent to take the Spanish fortress at El Caney. As with most of the Cuban campaign, pre-battle intelligence was faulty and the capabilities of the Spanish defenders were severely under-estimated.
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 of the city for a short period of time.
Information tightly held by the President and senior military officers suggests that Lawton may have started drinking.
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, having been promoted within a week or so of his landing in Cuba. When Lawton returned, he was given command of the Army's Iv Corps at Huntsville, Alabama and then began touring the country with President William McKinley, Secretary of War Russell A. Alger, Secretary of State John Sherman and other dignitaries.
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 so well-respected in the Philippines that his image appeared on Filipino currency during the 1920s. 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.
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.
Nine years after his Death in the Phillipines a staue was errected 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 Lauriet, the poet James Whitcombe Riley composed a poem to comemorate 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 1950's. The monument now rests in Indianapolis's Garfield Park. Where it was rededicated in 1917.
References
- Rau, R., Lawton-Forgotten Warrior A Commemorative Biography, Copyright 1998 Library of Congress
- Spanish American War
- The California Military Museum