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About The Butte Miner (Butte, Mont.) 18??-1928 | View This Issue
The Butte Miner (Butte, Mont.), 24 Oct. 1899, located at <http://montananewspapers.org/lccn/sn84024810/1899-10-24/ed-1/seq-13/>, image provided by MONTANA NEWSPAPERS, Montana Historical Society, Helena, Montana.
T H E BUTTE MINER. tem pting to save the lives of others. Lieutenant Brad shaw and the entire com p a n y did their duty in a m ost creditable manner and were under Are from about 9 a. m. till 4 p. m. There is good reason to be lieve that several of the insurgents afterwards found dead were killed by the fire of this com pany, but only one is positively known to have been killed and one wounded.” Cruel Assassination of Capt. Georye H. Tilfy. Montana lost three officers in the Philippine war, the third one did not belong to the Montana regiment. He was Captain George H. Tilly of the United States Volunteer Si g n a 1 corps. Captain Tilly cam e from Helena where for a number o f years he was night chief of the Western Union o f fice. A t the time the Montana regi ment was in San Francisco prior to leaving for the Phil ippine Islands Cap tain Tilly was ap pointed by the pres ident a first lieuten ant in the Signal corps. He set to« w o r k im mediately! and with 15 other! me^ whom he picked up in the state, and who were for the m ost part telegraph ers or line men, he went to San Fran cisco to report for duty. He was or dered to the Philip pine Islands just about the time that the S. S. Pennsyl vania was starting for the Philippines. Captain Tilly not unnaturally wanted to sail with the members of the M ontana regiment, and after considerable difficulty he secured passage on the boat, sharing a stateroom with Lieutenant E. S. French of Helena, who was a f terwards killed in action. Captain Tilly went as far as Honolulu on the Pennsylvania but was delayed by orders at Hawiian capital. He follow ed clo.s-jly a f ter them on the S. S. Rio Janeiro. Upon arriving in Manila Captain Tilly was im m ediately set to wrork, being put on the staff of Gen eral Miller as chief signal officer in the expedition against Iloilo. On that ex pedition he rendered distinguished s e r vice that called the attention of his com mander. Before the town of Iloilo was captured Cap t a i n Tilly and Lieuten ant Bailey volun teered to visit the Insurgent camp for the purpose of treat ing with the enemy to lay down his arms. H e was not permitted to undertake this risky service, but a f ter the capture of the town, he again asked permission to take a small body of men into the in terior of the island for the purpose of bringing about a peacable u n d e r standing, This last request was grant ed. He and his par ty had a very nar row escape for their lives, as at first the re'bels showed marked hostility towards them. W ith rare tact Captain Tilly talked to them and assured them the Am ericans were their friends. The result of his negotiations was that the chiefs surrendered and laid down their arms. Captain Tilly had been already recognized as a capable and courageous officer and he had been advanced to the rank of captain. A fter the fall of Iloilo Captain Tilly was made superintendent of cables and telegraphs, and it was while engaged in this w ork that he was killed. He w a s engaged in looking up a telegraph route near Escalante when he was attacked and murdered by the natives. Finding that he could not treat with his o p ponents on friendly terms and that they would not recognize a flag of truce, he attempted to escape by sw im m ing and was shot. This was on May 27 of the present year. The news of his assassination was re ceived in Montana the follow ing day and caused a w ide spread sorrow. In Helena particularly, where every one knew him, the most universal feeling of regret was manifest. Captain Tilly was a model man in many ways. He was a man of good habits, splendid ability and ener getic disposition. He took a prominent part in church work in Helena and was a member o f the Presby terian church. H e was born at Jamaica, Long Island, February 22, 1863, and had lived in Montana since 1884. He has a father, George E. Tilly, living on Long Isl and, who is a veteran o f the civil war. He was one of that splendid class of men that Montana could ill afford to lose. Now that he has gone, the people of this state will not cease to cherish his memory as one of Montana’s i & TJhe *)7fontana ffiough Aiders FIRST M ON T AN A BAND. brave soldiers, who fell in the line of duty to uphold the flag. It has been appropriately said of Captain Tilly, “ A brave man dies but once. He honored his country. His country honored him.” Am o n g the m a n y interesting stories told by re turning volunteers was that of Delos D. Babcock, who was seriously wounded near Caloocan while fighting with Com pany G, Montana regiment. He told how it felt to be shot with a Mauser bullet. He had been on MARCHING DOWN EAST STREET, SAN FRANCISCO, ON THE WAY TO THE TRANSPORT the firing line six days and on February 10 saw a F il ipino officer at some distance leisurely walking across the field. Mr. Babcock stopped a moment to load and to adjust his sight and after he had done so moved forw a rd to get a better view of his quary. He had only taken a step or two when he felt a slight blow just above his right ankle. He thought one of his com rades had hit him with the butt of a gun and pressed eagerly forw a rd. The next time he put his right foot down he stumbled and thought he had stepped into a hole. He gathered him self together and made another step forwrard and once more felt the sen sation as o f stepping into a hole. He again stepped forw a rd and his foot gave aw a y again. The fact dawned upon him that he had been hit and he at once made an investigation which disclosed the fact thar the bullet had com p letely shattered the bones just above the ankle. He was taken to the hospital and wras in Manila until May 7 when he left for ’Frisco. T HE state of Montana supplied four troops of ca v alry num bering in all 337 officers and men to the Third United States cavalry volunteers, under Lieutenant Colonel Charles F. Loyd, and attached a Colonel Gri g s b y ’ s ---------------- —, com m a n d , popularly ] kno w n a s t h e “ Rough R i d e r s . ” ! Butte, M i s s o u l a , j Miles City and Bil- \ lings had the honor of supplying these men and the first troop mustered in was Troop A from Butte, on M a y 10, 1898. The oth e r three troops were m u stered in three days later on M a y 13. This squadron o f cavalry w e n t to joiA Colonel Gri g s b y ’ s com m a n d and then proceeded to Chick- am a u ga Park, Ga., where they rem ain ed until the follow ing Septem ber when they were mustered out. Troop A was the first one m u s tered out on Sept. 8, 1898, and the others follow ed w ithin a few days aft e r - terwards. The life at Chickam a u ga was monotonous, for the boys were all eager to get into active service. W h ile in camp the men were required to perform the usual service drill, take part in the sham battles, provost guard, target practice, practice marches, etc. Five of the mem bers of Troop A have died since the call to arms. Private Charles S. Conners died in the division hospital at Chickam a u ga Park on July 25, 1898, from the effects of typhoid fever. H e was taken sick on July 3. Clarence S. Langley, a private, died from the same cause on August 26. H e wras sick just one month. Private W illiam S. Sweet died from the e f fects of typhoid fever and dysentary two days after the m u stering out at Chickam a u ga Park. He wras sick from August 20 to Sep tem ber 10. Private Miles K . Diam ond was sick from ty phoid and dysen tery from A u g u s t 15 to March 10, 1899, and died at the last named date in this city. Sergeant W il bur L. B o y ce died in the city of Butte on June 14, 1899. The m u ster roll of the four troops is as follow s : F ield and S t a ff. Charles F. Lloyd, Lieutenant Colonel. T r o o p a , o f B u tte. D. Gay Stivers, Captain. George W edekind, First Lieutenant. Frank W . Haskins, Second Lieutenant. W illiam J. Rankin .................................... F irst Sergeant. J. Charles Sullivan ................... Quarterm aster Sergeant. W ilbur L. Boyce, (dead) .................................... Sergeant. John P. Mitchell .....................................................Sergeant. Ralph G. Richards ................................................... Sergeant. James C. Collins..........................................................Sergeant. Edward J. Dierks .................................................... Sergeant. Edward S. M cRobert .............................................Sergeant. H a rry C. Bryant .......................................................Corporal. Thomas J. W a lker ................................................... Corporal. Paul A. H u d loff ........................................................... Corporal Richard H. Post ...................................................... Corporal. John W raith ................................................................ Corporal. Robert Ellis, Jr .......................................................... Corporal. Thom a s Judson B r o w n ........................................... Corporal. John C. Gillespie ........................................................ Corporal. Andrew F. Gray ...................................................Blacksm ith. John M. Tobin ........................................................ Trum peter. Charle3 F. D o o ley ...................................................W a g oner.
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