by General William H. Sears
August, 1933 (Vol.
2, No. 2), pages 309 to 320
Transcribed by lhn; HTML editing by Name withheld upon request
digitized with permission of the Kansas State Historical Society.
IN 1887-1890
I was one of the instructors at the Lawrence Business
College; also a part owner of the school. I organized a
military department and had a large company of uniformed
men, all students of the school. Taking advantage of a
provision of the Kansas military law, I induced the governor
to commission me as captain of the company as an independent
company of the Kansas reserve militia and named the company
"The Robinson Rifles," in honor of Ex-Governor Charles
Robinson. When formally notified of this Governor Robinson
presented the company with a beautiful silk banner; on one
side being the flag of the United States and on the other
the great seal of Kansas with the name of the company on it.
This flag cost $165, and the governor presented it to the
company with appropriate ceremonies and speeches. This
company became the best military organization in the state
of Kansas. I secured arms from the state for the company,
and we were regularly inspected with the regular national
guard companies. We secured the use of the armory used by
the Usher Guards, or Company H of the National Guard, and
drilled there regularly every afternoon at 4
o'clock. On
one occasion the company marched from Lawrence to the home
of Ex-Governor Charles Robinson, five miles northeast of
Lawrence, followed by all the girl students in the Business
College in express wagons, and there on the governor's farm
we had target shooting and a picnic dinner. After the dinner
we engaged in a sham battle on the lawn while the governor
and his wife sat on the porch of their home and witnessed
it. When
the legislature met in 1893 the Populist party, in
combination with the Democrats, controlled the state senate,
and the newly elected governor was a Populist-L. D.
Lewelling, of Wichita.1 The house was claimed by
both the Republicans and the Populists; but the Republican
secretary of state certified that the Republicans had a
majority of ten, while the Populists proclaimed they had a
majority of ten. When the new legislature met two rival
houses were organized in the hall of the house of
representatives. Douglas, of Wichita, was elected speaker of
the Republican house, and Duns-
1.
See, also, J. Ware Butterfield's "The Legislative
War of 1893: Inside, Outside, and Back Again," in
Kansas Historical Collections, v. VII, pp.
453-458, and W. P. Harrington's "The Populist Party
in Kansas," ibid., v. XVI, pp.
403-450.
310 THE
KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY more, of
Thayer, was elected speaker by the Populists. For two weeks
these rival houses conducted legislation, each ignoring the
other; the two speakers sitting side by side at the
speaker's stand. Finally the Populists took possession of
the house and barred the doors so the Republicans could not
get in. Then on the morning of February 15, 1893, the
Republican house, headed by their speaker, Mr. Douglas, and
their sergeants at arms, broke down the door of the hall of
the house of representatives with a sledge hammer and
rushing in they forcibly ejected all the Populists.
Immediately Governor Lewelling ordered the National Guard to
come to Topeka and declared martial law. National guardsmen
were placed at every entrance to the capitol and no one was
permitted to enter without a pass signed by the adjutant
general, Col. H. H. Artz, who, of course, was a
Populist. When
the news came to Lawrence that the Governor had called for
troops and declared martial law, I sent him the following
telegram: "I am competent to handle a company of troops or a
larger body of men and I would be glad to organize a company
and come to Topeka to help you uphold the constitution and
the laws and to preserve order." In anticipation of a
favorable reply, I assembled in my law office a few of my
friends. At nine o'clock that night I received the following
telegram from Topeka: "Come up with the boys in the
morning.-L. D. Lewelling, Governor." I
immediately sent my friends out all over town to solicit
recruits for my company, and by 11 o'clock I had 61 men
enlisted. These were assembled in Jeffersonian Hall, on
Eighth street on the south side near New Hampshire, the next
morning at eight o'clock. There I lined up my company and
asked all who had seen military service to take one step to
the front. More than half of the men stepped forward. Then I
formed the company in sets of fours; numbers 1 and 4 being
the well-drilled men, and numbers 2 and 3, the undrilled
men. I soon learned that the Santa Fe train for Topeka was
two hours late; therefore, I had about three hours to train
the men in the most important movements. In
the meantime the news got out in town that I was organizing
a company to go to Topeka. Men who were opposed to my
movement went to the Santa Fe ticket agent and asked him to
refuse to sell me and my company tickets for Topeka. He at
once declined and said that it was his duty to sell to
everybody; then this self-appointed committee went to Bud
Hindman, the sheriff of Douglas county, and asked him to
organize a force of deputy sheriffs and put me and
my SEARS: THE
ROBINSON RIFLES 311 company under
arrest and confine us in the Douglas county jail. The
sheriff declined to act. Then this committee telephoned to
Geo. T. Nicholson, general passenger agent for the Santa Fe
railroad at Topeka and asked him to instruct the Santa Fe
agent at Lawrence not to sell us tickets. Again a refusal
was made. Then this committee telephoned to Mr. Douglas,
speaker of the Republican house, with the result that he
ordered 300 of his 600 armed sergeants at arms to proceed to
the Santa Fe depot in Topeka and arrest my company when it
arrived, and put it in the Shawnee county jail. About
nine o'clock, while drilling my company, Governor Lewelling
called me on the long-distance telephone and asked me if I
had organized a company and if I would bring it to Topeka. I
told him my company was organized and I was drilling it, and
would come to Topeka on the train which was two hours late.
I said that his telegram, under the constitution and laws of
Kansas, was equivalent to a commission and that he had full
power to authorize me to organize a company, but that I
wanted him to have a commission made out for me dated
February 15, and delivered to me when I arrived in Topeka. I
also asked him to instruct his ordnance sergeant to have
uniforms, arms, and belts filled with cartridges laid out
for me in the arsenal ready for my company when it arrived.
All this the governor promised to attend to
promptly. I
resumed drilling my company until about 10 o'clock, when
again Governor Lewelling called me on the telephone. This
time he told me that his spies had reported that the Douglas
house had sent 300 armed deputies to the Santa Fe station in
Topeka to arrest the members of my company and put them in
the Shawnee county jail, and asked me, "How are you going to
get here?" I told the governor not to worry, that I would be
there. After
this conversation with the governor I continued to drill my
company until it was time to go to the train. We marched to
the Santa Fe depot and there I purchased tickets for Topeka
for all my men. After boarding the train I called my
officers around me: George O. Foster, now registrar at the
University of Kansas, first lieutenant; my brother, Clarence
H. Sears, second lieutenant; Frank O. Hellstrom, orderly
sergeant; J. E. Miles, of Atchison, second sergeant; Percy
Daniels, Girard (son of the Populist lieutenant governor of
Kansas, Col. Percy Daniels, of the Seventh Rhode Island
artillery in the Civil War), third sergeant; Otis S. Allen,
fourth sergeant, and Wm. T. Dias, of Jefferson county,
whose
312 THE
KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY father was
one of Stonewall Jackson's foot cavalry, fifth sergeant. I
repeated to these men what the governor had told me over the
telephone. I assigned to each of these officers a
proportionate number of the company, then I went through the
train and instructed each man to obey his immediate officer
until further orders. As
the train was approaching Topeka, I had the officers
assemble their squads on the steps of the long train on both
sides of it, and when they were about a quarter of a mile
from the station in Topeka they jumped off the train. Each
officer took his squad by a different street and they walked
in scattered formation, like civilians, and all assembled,
at the same moment, at the west end of the city library
building, which stood in the northeast corner of the capitol
grounds. When the train arrived in Topeka, the platform was
packed with armed deputy sergeants at arms. I went out of
the front door of the smoker on the left side of the train,
ran around the engine and took a hack for the capitol. For a
fee of one dollar the hackman drove his team at a gallop all
the way. On arriving at the National Guard line that
surrounded the capitol, I was admitted by the officer of the
day on my commission signed by Gov. Lyman U. Humphrey, as
captain of the Robinson Rifles, and still good under the
constitution and laws of the state for eighteen months. I
immediately reported to the governor in his office,
informing him that my company would be ready for duty in
thirty minutes. I then went into the adjutant general's
office, put on my uniform, sword and revolver and ran to the
city library building. There my company was just forming. We
crossed the capitol grounds from the library building to the
arsenal at double time. In less than thirty minutes we were
uniformed, rifles loaded and bayonets fixed, and immediately
marched to the governor's office. I formed my company in the
hall in front of the executive offices and there Governor
Lewelling received it and complimented the men upon their
loyalty to duty and to the state, and said that he would
have quarters assigned to us in the building in a few
minutes. While
waiting to be assigned to quarters, a young man approached
me wearing a red badge and inquired if this was the Lawrence
company. I replied in the affirmative. He then said, "Come
this way with your company." I believed he was a messenger
from the governor. The executive offices, at that time, were
in the east wing of the capitol. I followed the messenger
with my company through the corridor and the rotunda until
we reached the great stairway going up to the hall of the
house of representatives. At
312 SEARS:
THE ROBINSON RIFLES that time I
really did not know where I was, as I had not visited the
capitol for several years. We found the stairway barricaded
with great telephone poles, the ends of the two lower ones
separated from the wall on the stairs by about three feet.
Our guide passed through this opening and we followed him in
single file. Suddenly we found ourselves in front of the
door of the lobby leading into the hall of the house of
representatives. There I was confronted by Col. D. R.
Anthony, of Leavenworth, Speaker pro tem. Hoch,
afterwards governor, and Commissioner Green of the supreme
court. Colonel Anthony said to me, "What company is this?"
"This is the Robinson Rifles, independent company of the
Kansas Reserve militia," I replied. Colonel Anthony then
asked, "By what authority do you come here?" I replied, "By
the authority of L. D. Lewelling, governor of Kansas." At
this statement, the men confronting me and others who had
assembled with them, seemed to be much excited. At that
moment my orderly sergeant, Frank O. Hellstrom, whispered in
my ear: "Captain Sears, this is the Douglas house, for God's
sake let's get out of here!" Immediately I gave the order,
"Company, about face! Forward, march!" The company, in
reverse order, went rapidly down the stairs in single file
and in a few minutes we were again lined up in front of the
governor's office. The members of my company felt that this
was a very narrow escape from capture by the 600 armed
deputies of the Douglas house. Very
soon after this incident my company was assigned quarters in
the corridor below the executive offices, the supreme court
being on the south side and the state library on the north.
Here I formed my company in line of masses four deep with
the lieutenants in the rear, and addressed the men in these
words: "If any members of this company feel that they have
joined it under a misapprehension and would like to be
released, I say to you now that you can step out of the
ranks, go to the arsenal and leave your uniforms and arms
there and go home. I guarantee no member of this company
will ever criticize you for thus resigning, and not one of
us will ever call you a coward. I await your decision." The
men stood tense and silent for more than a minute. Not one
of the company left the ranks; then my brother, Clarence,
the second lieutenant, said in a deep voice: "Not a damn
man!" This sententious, and slightly profane, statement
brought a storm of cheers from the men and all pounded the
floor with the butts of their rifles. Indeed, the
cheering
314 THE
KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY and pounding
of rifles made so much noise that the governor sent
messengers to find out what was the matter. At
this point I must explain that five of my company of
sixty-one men failed to appear for muster in Jeffersonian
hall that morning. I never saw them to know them afterwards.
Of the remaining fifty-six men, six were Prohibitionists,
twenty-four were Republicans, and twenty-six were
Democrats. After
the cheering subsided, I said, "I am proud of this company,
and I shall now administer to you the most solemn oath ever
administered to man, and that is the military oath." Every
man raised his right hand and I read the oath to them and
they all assented to it. Then I said to them: "I received an
order from Governor Lewelling to bring this company to
Topeka to assist him in upholding the constitution and laws
of this state and in preserving order. He has given me a
commission as captain of this company, dated yesterday;
therefore, my authority is complete, under the constitution
and laws of this state. I shall obey every lawful order
given me by the governor, and I expect this company to obey
my orders. You are now soldiers, and it is not for you to
question the reason for orders; as Tennyson said in his
famous poem, `The Charge of the Light Brigade,' Following
this brief address, the first platoon of my company, under
Lieut. George O. Foster, remained in quarters; the second
platoon, under Second Lieut. Clarence H. Sears, was assigned
to protect the arsenal. On arriving at the arsenal
Lieutenant Sears brought out the Gatling gun, which was a
machine gun, and put an old sergeant of the regular army,
who was in his platoon, in charge of it. I instructed
Lieutenant Sears that if the great mob assembled in the
streets, made an attack, he should turn this Gatling gun on
the mob and instruct his men to act as sharp shooters and
shoot only the men who had guns in their hands and were
firing. My instructions were that not a shot must be fired
by my men unless they were fired upon first. The
morning of the 17th I was made officer of the day and was in
charge of the guard line. Early in the forenoon I was
standing on the east steps of the capitol when a rush was
made on the guard line. One of the guards was Coryell
Faulkner. His father was a Civil War veteran, and at this
time was superintendent of the
"`Theirs'
not to make reply,
Theirs' not to reason why,
Theirs' but to do and
die."'
SEARS: THE
ROBINSON RIFLES 315 soldiers'
orphans' home at Atchison. When the rush came, Faulkner
ordered "halt" three times, but the attackers refused to
obey and Faulkner leveled his rifle at them and pulled the
trigger. The cartridge failed to explode. Afterwards I took
the rifle from Faulkner's hands, a breech-loading
Springfield, threw up the breech block and ejected the
cartridge. An examination showed that the firing pin was
bent so it did not hit the cap, and therefore the cartridge
failed to explode. I said to Faulkner, "Did you attempt to
fire on that mob?" Faulkner replied; "I was graduated from
the military school at Mexico, Mo., and I was taught to
order halt three times and if the order was not obeyed, to
fire. I ordered halt three times and the mob failed to stop,
so I pulled the trigger." I was deeply moved and shocked by
Faulkner's statement, for I realized that if one shot was
fired into that mob, which was composed of thousands of
people crowding the streets near the capitol, a great battle
would have been precipitated and no doubt hundreds would
have been killed and wounded. A
few days after the "Topeka War" was over, I sat at a marble
table in the parlor of the old Dutton house, in Topeka.
Around this table sat Walter Costigan, editor of the
Ottawa Journal; State Senators Baldwin and John W.
Leedy, afterwards governor, and the famous Populist orator,
Mrs. Mary Ellen Lease. I told the story of the rush on the
guard line and exhibited the cartridge. All of them examined
it. As Mrs. Lease held it in her hands, she said, "Because
of this courageous, soldierly act of Coryell Faulkner, his
father shall remain as superintendent of the soldiers'
orphans' home at Atchison." That night there was a
conference of prominent state leaders with Governor
Lewelling in the parlor of the Throop hotel in Topeka. I
came in a little late and the governor called me to him and
gave me a seat. beside him on a sofa. He immediately turned
and put his hand on my knee and said, "Here is a young man
that saved me from humiliation and disgrace, and possible
assassination." For the second time I exhibited the
cartridge that failed to explode, and after all had examined
it I presented it to the governor. He accepted it and said,
"I shall preserve this cartridge as the most important
exhibit of the `Topeka War.'" I have never seen this
cartridge since. To
go back to the rush on the guard line, I must explain that I
ran to the quarters of the first platoon of my company,
Lieutenant Foster in command, and ordered him to move on a
run with his men
316 THE
KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY with bayonets
fixed and rifles loaded, to the first stairway west of the
governor's offices and head off the mob which was headed for
the hall of the house of representatives, every man loaded
with provisions to feed the starving members of the Douglas
house and the 600 deputy sergeants at arms. I accompanied
Lieutenant Foster and we succeeded in cutting off about half
of the mob before they got into the rotunda and pushed them
back down the corridor past the governor's offices and down
the steps at the point of the bayonet. and on out into the
street. All the time the line of bayonets was pushing them
back, this mob was shouting and swearing, with white faces,
but not one of them fired, though they were all armed with
revolvers and guns. They knew that one shot fired at my
company would release a storm of Springfield rifle bullets,
and no man had the nerve to fire. The
only person injured in the rush of the mob on the guard
lines was Doctor Pattee, who appeared to be near the guard
line when the rush came and was struck over the head with a
revolver and blood ran down his face. I witnessed this
incident myself. Doctor Pattee was then living in Topeka. He
now lives in Lawrence, and is the owner of the Pattee
Theater building. I think he must have been an innocent
bystander at that time. By
this time the feeling had become so intense at Topeka, and
the partisan feeling and party lines were so tightly drawn,
that the leaders on both sides realized that a violent
outbreak was imminent. It was learned that many excursion
trains were arriving in Topeka loaded with armed Populists
and Democrats. All available arms and ammunition in every
town in the state had been purchased by the rival parties
and it looked as though we might have civil war at any
moment. President Harrison wired the troops at Fort
Leavenworth and Fort Riley to be prepared to move on Topeka
at any moment. At this critical juncture, Col. O. E.
Learnard, of Lawrence, then owner and publisher of the
Lawrence Journal, now the Journal-World, urged
the leaders of both parties to send for Ex- Governor Charles
Robinson, the first governor of Kansas, then living on his
great farm five miles northeast of Lawrence. This was done,
and when the governor arrived a conference composed of the
leaders of both parties was held in the old Copeland hotel,
one block east of the capitol grounds. At this conference
Governor Robinson pointed out that the only way to prevent
civil war and bloodshed, which would be a lasting blight on
the fair name of the state, was for the rival parties to
come to some agreement; in other words,
SEARS: THE
ROBINSON RIFLES 317 make a treaty
of peace. The governor suggested that both sides to the
conflict agree to submit the whole controversy that had
divided the house of representatives into two bodies to the
supreme court for decision, and that both sides must agree
to abide by this decision, whatever it might be. Governor
Robinson's suggestion was adopted, and immediately the
governor's order declaring martial law was recalled, and all
the troops assembled were ordered home. The
adjutant general's office furnished me a transportation
order, and I returned to Lawrence with my company, after a
four-days' absence. When our train drew into the station at
Lawrence I was surprised to find an enormous crowd assembled
there. I formed my company in a hollow square on the
platform and there we were welcomed home by appropriate
speeches. A large push truck was used for a platform, and
Jesse J. Dunn, of Garden City, a student in the university,
presided. Some years later Dunn was elected chief justice of
the supreme court of Oklahoma. Mr. Dunn introduced
Ex-Governor Charles Robinson and he made the principal
speech of welcome. He said, "Captain Sears, I charge you to
preserve the muster roll of this company, for it is a roll
of honor. This company responded to a call of duty and
assisted the governor of the state in upholding the
constitution and the laws and preserving order at Topeka."
In responding to the address of welcome by Governor
Robinson, I said, "I named this company the 'Robinson
Rifles' in honor of Charles Robinson, the first governor of
Kansas. As measured by his achievements, he is the greatest
man this state has produced. We feel signally honored to
have the governor present at our homecoming and are
delighted with his words of welcome and
commendation. "I
hold in my hand a printed circular showing that last Friday
night a mass meeting was held at the armory in Lawrence,
called for the purpose of showing disapprobation of my
action in enlisting `irresponsible men and boys under the
name of the "Robinson Rifles" and taking them to Topeka to
assist Governor Lewelling to trample constitutional liberty
under foot.' `Irresponsible men and boys!' Why, my friends,
the best blood in the state flows in the veins of the
members of this company. I see before me George O. Foster,
of the University; Otis S. Allen, whose father is one of the
justices of our supreme court; F. Percy Daniels, whose
father was colonel of the Seventh Rhode Island artillery
during the Civil War and is now lieutenant governor of
Kansas; Fred A. Clarke, whose father is a distinguished
citizen of Kansas and served a term as sheriff of
318 THE
KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY Douglas
county; Charles Henry Lease, whose mother, Mary Ellen Lease,
is a famous orator and now president of the Kansas State
Board of Charities; and many other fine young men compose
this company. No partisan consideration marked the action of
the members of this company in joining it, because six
members are Prohibitionists; twenty-four are Republicans;
and twenty-six are Democrats. Good citizenship always rises
above party considerations or factions. I am proud of the
loyalty and good discipline exhibited by the members of this
company, and I wish to say to Governor Robinson that we will
preserve this muster roll as a roll of honor." Headed
by a band, I marched my company up town from the station,
followed by a vast procession of citizens from Douglas,
Jefferson, Leavenworth and Johnson counties. The sidewalks
were packed with people and many were on the roof tops and
at the windows. We marched into Jeffersonian Hall, and there
I dismissed the company. While
we were absent from the city I was subject to abusive
statements in the daily papers of the town, and for a time I
suffered a social and business boycott. To counteract this I
wrote a brief story in which I set forth the constitution
and the military laws of the state; the telegraphic order
from the governor to organize the company, and the
commission I received from the governor as captain. The law
and the facts were with me, absolutely, and when this story
was published in the Lawrence Journal my old friends
began to come back to me, and many of them apologized for
refusing to recognize me or speak to me on the
streets. In
recognition of my conduct in the Topeka legislative war,
Governor Lewelling appointed me brigadier general of the
Kansas National Guard, and before my term of service ended I
was promoted to senior brigadier in command of the National
Guard of the state. I
had grown up in the National Guard, had commanded two school
companies and the "Robinson Rifles" in the Business College,
and was also drill master of the Indian regiment at Haskell
Institute for two years. While in command of the National
Guard I was given a free hand by Governor Lewelling and put
into effect the following reforms: 1.
I established a system of target practice; provided the
noncommissioned officers with target manuals and the
commissioned officers with copies of "Blunt's Target
Practice." A great quantity
SEARS: THE
ROBINSON RIFLES 319 of fixed
ammunition had accumulated in the arsenal at Topeka, and I
shipped most of this out to the companies. Sharpshooter and
marksman badges were distributed to the men for efficiency
at the rifle ranges. 2.
When I took command there were four regiments of infantry in
the state. I disbanded half of the companies and reorganized
the balance into two regiments. The allotment of military
supplies from the federal government was then sufficient to
provide these two regiments with everything they needed,
including overcoats, blankets and tents. 3.
I organized a troop of cavalry, one platoon being at
Lawrence, and the other at Baldwin, and they met for drill,
part of the time at Lawrence, and part of the time at
Baldwin, and when the weather was good and the ground fit,
the two platoons met at Vinland for drill. The men furnished
their own horses, for which a small allowance was made to
them. 4.
I established engineer, hospital and signal corps, and when
these organizations were perfected the National Guard of
Kansas was a complete, independent military force,
comprising all arms of the service; for we had a battery of
artillery with machine guns, one section being at Wichita,
and the other section at Topeka. 5.
I organized a school for the officers, numbering 125 men,
and sent them to Fort Leavenworth with their tentage,
blankets, fatigue uniforms and arms, and there they were
drilled by regular army officers in the daytime and attended
lectures given by army officers, in Old Sherman Hall, at
night. Seven army officers, who were instructors in the
post-graduate school at Fort Leavenworth, were our
instructors. We found at this school the largest military
library in the world, and we considered our instructors the
best in the world. Before we left this school, through the
solicitation of army officers, nearly every National Guard
officer had subscribed to some military magazine and had
purchased important books on military science. Some years
later, while private secretary to Clara Barton, of the Red
Cross, and at that time a member of her family, it came to
me to entertain Lieut. Gen. Nelson A. Miles, and during our
nearly two hours conversation I told him about the school
for National Guard officers I had organized at Fort
Leavenworth; whereupon General Miles said, "General Sears, I
didn't know you were the man that organized that officer's
school; but I made the details of the officers for your
instructors. The regular army had been holding its right
hand out to the National Guard for many years in vain, and
you
320 THE
KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY were the
first one to start a movement to bring us together." The
Army and Navy Journal gave us a long story about the
organization of this school, and immediately I received
letters from nearly every adjutant general of the United
States asking me for details about the school, with the
result that in a short time there were National Guard
officer schools organized in every state of the Union,
except Nevada. 6.
There had been no encampments of the National Guard in
Kansas for seven years. The legislature had refused to
appropriate money for camps. But I found the money and
reestablished them. Each of the thirty-two companies in the
National Guard were receiving annually $300 for contingent
company expenses. The company at Hill City paid only one
dollar per month for an armory, and the captain had
accumulated over $600 in the bank, which he later returned
to the state military fund. Other companies, that paid
little for armory rent, blew in the surplus on balls and
parties. I issued an order providing that each company would
be paid the actual cost for armories and other necessary
expenses. In a short time there was saved about $6,000, and
to this was added some $3,000 more from a military fund, and
these funds were used for reestablishing encampments. The
officers and men served without pay at the encampments, and
the city that secured an encampment furnished the wood for
campfires, straw for the tents and, in one case, the bread
and beef also. In
recognition of my work for the National Guard I have been
accorded the honor of invitations to West Point
commencements ever since 1926 and have attended five of
them. The
officer's school that I organized at Fort Leavenworth was
continued for four years prior to the war with Spain, with
the result that the Twentieth Kansas, in the Spanish
American War, which was composed largely of the officers and
men of the two regiments of the National Guard of Kansas,
made a fine record in the Philippines under the leadership
of Gen. Wilder S. Metcalf and Gen. Frederick
Funston.
