My vote is:
Major General Littleton "Tony" Waller Tazewell Waller (September 26, 1856 – July 13, 1926). Hero of Samar, Marine messes would stand whenever a "Samar battalion" officer was present and toast, "Stand, gentlemen, he served on Samar." I wish one of these little smily faces was a salute.
"If you want a new idea, look in an old book"
The actual events on Samar seem far less than heroic in retrospect, and (then) Major Waller's most notable achievement seems to have been getting a column so thoroughly lost in the jungle that a fair number of them died of disease and hunger, then summarily executing their local porters... but I suppose the construction of a legend needn't be hampered by actual events.Originally Posted by Polarbear1605
I heard a rumor somewhere that when John Glenn got into space he saw the words "Ken White Was Here" hanging inexplicably in the void, and that NASA had to cover up that detail....
“The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed (and hence clamorous to be led to safety) by menacing it with an endless series of hobgoblins, all of them imaginary”
H.L. Mencken
To the Shores of Derna ...
where the Eaton-O'Bannon expedition was stopped in its tracks by the "success" of the Jefferson-Lear diplomatic mission. Lear then engaged in Adventures in Basha Sitting for the next decade - at an aggregate cost north of $500K to the USG in blackmail paid to the said Basha. The cost of the Eaton-O'Bannon expedition was less than 1-10th of that. Was the said Basha a "friend, partner and ally" ? Yeh, right !
Perhaps, I'm over-influenced by Zacks, The Pirate Coast: Thomas Jefferson, the First Marines, and the Secret Mission of 1805 (2006); and by current events involving our "friends, partners and allies" whose rental charges have been considerable higher than our 1805 Basha. I don't think so.
Zachs gave an interview to CorpsStories, which gets down to my nomination:
While the military conditions were difficult, the political conditions became impossible. That is a situation in Corps history that has not been limited to Derna. Those 8 Marines are simply shorthand for ALL Marines who have served honorably in the Corps. That is my answer to Slap's question....The flawed hero is clearly Jefferson's secret agent, William Eaton but the largely unsung heroes are the EIGHT Marines who accompanied him on that near-miraculous mission. Let's record their names: Lt. Presley N. O'Bannon, Sgt. Arthur Campbell, Privates: Bernard O'Brian, David Thomas (Wounded), James Owens, John Wilton (Killed in Action), Edward Steward (Died of Wounds). One name is still lost.
----------------------
On a lighter note, Zacks looked briefly at Presley O'Bannon's post-Marine life (pp.378-379 book; snip from interview):
I've meant to look at the O'Bannons more closely (the Wild Geese article cited by wm is a good start) especially the "Old Pepper" distillery. This post provided the push needed. The family has an extensive Root'sWeb genealogy (all links below are to individual pages with more history).I wish I had more details about the individual eight Marines. O'Bannon is the only one we know much about. He was fun-loving, fiddle-playing, courageous sort of officer but he got so disgusted with lack of promotion in the Marines that after the war, he joined the Army, before going on to distill whiskey, make a fortune in real estate and eventually get elected to office in Kentucky.
Presley Neville O'Bannon was 1 of 13 surviving children of William O'Bannon and Nancy Anne Neville.
William appointed sons Thomas (a Rev War vet and bootlegger), Joseph (moved West to Missouri) and Presley N. O'Bannon as executors with a special charge to Presley Neville O'Bannon to "Pay every possible attention to his mother and see her righted in every instance."
The "Old Pepper" connection to Presley was via his eldest brother John (a USG surveyor of the Northwest Territory; Capt., Maj., Col.) and their brother in law Elijah Pepper:
Ach, 'Tis said: Give a Mick a comfortable chair, overlooking an expanse of lush grass; provide a lifetime supply of good booze; and you will have a long-lived, peaceful Mick.Elijah and Sarah moved to the area near Versailles, Woodford County, KY about 1790. Elijah Pepper and his brother in law, John O'Bannon built a distillery in Versailles which was at a spring gushing behind the court house ... "a spring emanating from a cave behind behind the Versailles courthouse'. This partnership continued for several years or until Elijah Pepper bought a large tract of land seven miles below the spring on Glenn's Creek, when the partnership was dissolved.
Glenn Creek, with clear water flowing from a limestone plat, meanders behind the complex. Its presence is the main reason this site was picked by the original distillery owner, Elijah Pepper, in 1812. Limestone water proved not only the best for distilling, but is credited for the area's horses being stronger and faster than the competition. There, Elijah erected 'log house possibly stockaded on an elevated slope above the creek facing Versailles and the Millville Road'.
John O'Bannon continued the distillation of whiskey at Versailles having bought that distillery and Elijah established his own distillery on Glenn's Creek, where he distilled his "Old Pepper". Elijah was a well-known as a superior local farmer-distiller. When the Whiskey Rebellion arose in 1794, Elijah was one of the few distillers with pockets deep enough to pay the demanded excise taxes. Many other local farmer-distillers were forced to give up distilling due to the high taxes and sold their grains to Elijah, which he, in turn, distilled. Elijah ran a successful distillation operation until he died, leaving the distillery to his son and successor, Oscar.
Elijah erected on his farm at Glenn's Creek a comfortable log house on an elevated slope above the creek that faces the Versailles and Millville road, and in the creek below he erected the distillery plant where he continued to manufacture the "Old Pepper". The residence was still standing but had been weatherboarded. Its design indicates that it was built at a very early date to guard against attacks from roving bands of Indians that infested the country for some years after they were driven westward from Virginia. The home was built on a rise overlooking Grasy Springs Branch of Glenn's Creek. The distillery was small and only a few evidences remain of its existence and they are within a short distance of the Labrot and Graham distillary (founded in 1878), that succeeded the Pepper plant some years after the Civil War. On his farm Pepper raised the grain that entered into the manufacture of his liquid product. After his death, Elijah's son Oscar continued the business until about 1865.Presley O'Bannon lived until 1850.
Regards
Mike
Last edited by jmm99; 02-25-2012 at 04:09 AM.
My kind of guy
lol...yep, lots and lots of controversy about the "Hero or Butcher of Samar". Certainly don't know everything about Waller but after sorting out the "yellow press" issue and the hike from hell the guy is still my hero. When he finally broke out of the jungle, he when right back in leading a rescue party with a 105 fever to save his Marines. However, now that I know Presley founded a family tradition of good whiskey...I may have to reconsider.
"If you want a new idea, look in an old book"
"Butcher of Samar" was of course exaggerated; there' little in the record to suggest that Waller actually tried to carry out the infamous orders he got from "Howlin' Jake". Executing the 11 porters might seem to justify the title but by the standards of the day that was pretty normal. I'll give him points for going back with a rescue party (though experience of tropical fevers leads me to suspect that the 105 is an exaggeration), but taking 9 days to find the group left behind... well, that's how it was in those days. Reading period sources really does give the impression that the American forces were far from prepared for jungle operations!lol...yep, lots and lots of controversy about the "Hero or Butcher of Samar". Certainly don't know everything about Waller but after sorting out the "yellow press" issue and the hike from hell the guy is still my hero. When he finally broke out of the jungle, he when right back in leading a rescue party with a 105 fever to save his Marines. However, now that I know Presley founded a family tradition of good whiskey...I may have to reconsider.
“The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed (and hence clamorous to be led to safety) by menacing it with an endless series of hobgoblins, all of them imaginary”
H.L. Mencken
Who went Where and When ?
From the March Across Samar (Wiki article) [Weller and his officers (on to Basey) in bold; Porter and Williams (back to Lanang) in italics]:
So, no great mystery about why the relief party from Basey could not find Porter and Williams - they were going back to Lanang.The detachment started from Lanang on the morning of December 28, 1901, and was composed of the following personnel: Major Littleton W. T. Waller, Captain David D. Porter, Captain Hirim I. Bearss, First Lieutenant A. S. Williams, Second Lieutenant A. C. DeW. Lyles, U. S. Army (Aid sent by General Smith), Second Lieutenant Frank Halford, 50 enlisted U. S. Marines, 2 native scouts and 33 native carriers.
...
After a conference with his officers, Major Waller decided to take Lieutenant Halford and thirteen of the men who were in the best condition and push forward as rapidly as possible and send back a relief party for the main column, which was placed under the command of Captain Porter with instructions to go slowly and follow Major Waller's trail. The advance column was afterwards joined by Captain Bearss and a corporal ...
...
Near this point the party came upon the camp which Captain Dunlap had established to await their arrival. Major Waller's party went aboard Captain Dunlap's cutter and started for Basey, where they arrived on January 6, 1902...
... Immediately after the arrival of the detachment at Basey, a relief party was sent back to locate Captain Porter's party. The following day Major Waller joined this relief party, and remained out nine days searching for signs of Captain Porter without success. ... Upon returning to Basey, Major Waller was taken sick with fever. ...
...
Meanwhile Captain Porter had decided to retrace the trail to Lanang and ask for a relief party to be sent out for his men, the most of whom were unable to march. He chose seven marines who were in the best condition and with six natives, set out January 3 for Lanang. He left Lieutenant Williams in charge of the remainder of the detachment with orders to follow as the condition of the men would permit. ...
...
On January 11, Captain Porter reached Lanang and reported the situation to Captain Pickering, the Army Commander at that place. A relief expedition was organized to go for the remainder of the marines but it was unable to start for several days because of the swollen Lanang River. ...
....
Lieutenant Williams and his men slowly followed Captain Porter's trail, leaving men behind one by one to die beside the trail when it was no longer possible for them to continue. One man went insane; the native carriers became mutinous and some of them attacked and wounded Lieutenant Williams with bolos. Williams later testified that their mutinous behavior left the Marines in daily fear of their lives; the porters were hiding food and supplies from the Marines and keeping themselves nourished from the jungle while the Marines starved. The 11 porters were placed under arrest when Williams' command reached Lanang. ... After having left ten marines to die along the trail, Lieutenant Williams was finally met by the relief party on the morning of January 18 and taken back to Lanang.
What happened to 2nd Lt. Lyles, U. S. Army (not mentioned in Wiki past the 1st paragraph) ? He was eaten by hungry Marines, of course.
The Charge and Specification vs Waller read (emphasis added):
I don't know if the time line is credible. Williams reaches Lanang on 18 Jan, with the 11 porters being arrested there. The porters are in Basey on 20 Jan, to be executed there. Dayuhan: how long would it take to get from Lanang to Basey - by quickest means of 1902 travel ?CHARGE: Murder, in violation of the 58th Article of War. SPECIFICATION: In that Major Littleton W.T. Waller, United States Marine Corps, being then and there detached for service with the United States Army by authority of the President of the United States, did, in time of war, willfully and feloniously and with malice aforethought, murder and kill eleven men, names unknown, natives of the Philippine Islands, by ordering and causing his subordinate officer under his command, John Horace Arthur Day, 1st Lieutenant, U.S. Marine Corps, and a firing detail of enlisted men under his said command, to take out said eleven men and shoot them to death, which said order was then and there carried into execution and said eleven natives, and each of them, were shot with rifles, from the effects of which they then and there died. This at Basey, Island of Samar, Philippine Islands, on or about the 20th day of January, 1902.
BTW: The Porter lineage is interesting:
RegardsDavid Dixon Porter (1877-1944) (USMC; MOH; Maj.Gen.; Capt. at Samar)
his father: Carlile Patterson Porter (1846–1914) (USMC; Lt.Col.)
his father: David Dixon Porter (1813-1891) (USN; Admiral)
his father: David Porter (1780-1843) (USN; Commodore)
his father: David Porter (1754 - 1808) (Cont. Navy, Rev War; Capt.)
Mike
PS: In truth, Dewitt Lyles testified at Waller's court-martial (called by Waller) - ATROCITY ON TRIAL: THE COURT-MARTIAL OF LITTLETON WALLER (by Christopher Thomas Dean, 2009; pp. 69-70 pdf), which found Waller Not Guilty (11-2). A separate jury found Lt. Day (who commanded the firing squad) also Not Guilty.
Last edited by jmm99; 02-27-2012 at 02:04 AM.
Interesting how a thread on a space expedition gets to walking across Samar... anything is possible I guess.
Linear distance (the place once called Lanang, mouth of the Lanang river, is now called Llorente) is a bit under 35 miles. Even today you'd have to walk. Obviously you wouldn't walk in a straight line: central Samar has large areas of limestone karst country that just need to be avoided, cliffs, caves, sinkholes, very dense vegetation.
Small fit group with a good local guide, 2-3 days. 80 loaded people with unreliable guides or guides they don't trust could blunder around out there forever, going in circles.
When I first read about this expedition, long ago, it struck me as sheer lunacy, driven mainly by that late 19th century explorer drive, the whole "boldly go where no (white) man has gone before" thing. No logic to it at all. The telegraph route was superfluous; they were already laying cable from Basey to Balangiga and from Balangiga there's a perfectly easy coastal/plain route to Llorente.
December is the start to the east coast rainy season, weather would have been miserable and working up rivers not feasible. Worst possible time to do it. A group that size is an outright liability in the jungle, slows everything down and you can't possibly feed them. My understanding from accounts is that even a few days in the expedition was obviously in trouble, moving way too slowly, running out of food, and poorly equipped for conditions. The logical (though possibly not heroic) choice would have been to recognize it as a bad job, go back and plan again. I don't half blame the porters for the mutiny; they'd probably been press-ganged to start with and they must have felt they were at the mercy of a bunch of lunatics bent on suicide.
It's really not a unique story, though on a greater scale than mot like it. Most US casualties during that war were from disease, not combat; inexperience in the tropics was far more fatal than the insurrectos. You had whole units out in tropical rainy seasons in wool socks and boots, doing daily marches. A week of that and your feet are rotting and infected, and antibiotics weren't in the picture...
“The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed (and hence clamorous to be led to safety) by menacing it with an endless series of hobgoblins, all of them imaginary”
H.L. Mencken
Marching 12 to move three
There are many accounts of the Waller Samar Campaign. My favorite is:
http://www.mca-marines.org/gazette/waller-samar-part-i
http://www.mca-marines.org/gazette/waller-samar-part-ii
I always thought that Robert B. Asprey was a good historian/writer. Waller definitely bit off more then he could chew...but orders are orders. Rations back in those days were canned bacon, biscuits and crewing tabaco. There was an expectation of living off the land with the help of the native porters. What is interesting is that after the march and when Waller ordered the executions, the Marines were down to 45 effectives. In addition, most of the 300+ Marines were bare foot...Waller had walked his Marines out of their boots from the insurgence patrols. There is also rumors of another pending bolo swarm attack on their base that was playing on Marine's mind.
"If you want a new idea, look in an old book"
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