Philippine Service [excerpt]

     Many incidents occurred during the period of General Chaffee’s command in the Philippines to [256][257] mark his régime as one requiring high ideals and definite performance of duty. Accustomed, as he was, to death in all its horrible forms, on and about the ragged edges of battlefields, the dastardly shot which terminated the life of President McKinley struck a note often observed in men of the Ironsides type. Instead of issuing the usual formal order for draping the colors in mourning upon the death of a president, General Chaffee assembled the troops in and near Manila, and at twelve o’clock noon read to them in person the announcement of the assassination of President McKinley. Then followed a funeral dirge, during which the color-bearers of all organizations advanced and formed three sides of a hollow square; the troops presented arms and the colors were then draped in mourning. The troops then stood at ease and all joined in singing:

My country, ’tis of thee,
Sweet land of liberty,
          Of thee I sing;
Land where my fathers died,
Land of the Pilgrim’s pride,
From ev’ry mountain side
          Let freedom ring!

Our father’s God, to thee,
Author of liberty,
          To thee we sing.
Long may our land be bright
With freedom’s holy light;
Protect us by thy might,
          Great God, our King. [257][258]

     Then followed the President’s salute of twenty-one guns, the benediction, and, at the last, three salvos of cannon, the muffled drums of each band sounding the roll during the firing.
     Not an American soldier present on that day will ever forget the deep and solemn impression made upon him by this patriotic and dignified ceremony. Patriotism of the kind that rises and shouts when the stars and stripes are waved from the vaudeville stage, or that contents itself with standing at the curb and applauding other men marching away to war, is not of the type that makes possible the perpetuation of the Republic. This gratuitous remark really has no fitting place in connection with the story of General Chaffee’s life, but, having been injected in the hour of a new and greater war’s alarm, it is permitted to stand.