I saw him almost daily when he was in Manila,
and he showed me the whole telegraphic correspondence which passed
between him and General Otis on the subject of the withdrawal from
San Isidro and Nueva Ecija, which was certainly one of the most
ill advised moves that any military commander was ever compelled to
make. General Lawton's unremitting attacks had absolutely demoralized
the Insurgent force, and my information is that when he finally
turned back, Aguinaldo and several members of his cabinet were
waiting, ten miles away, to surrender to him when he next advanced,
believing that they could never escape from him. I have not the
telegraphic correspondence before me, but I remember its salient
features. Otis ordered Lawton to withdraw, and Lawton, convinced of
the inadvisability of the measure, objected. Otis replied that, with
the rainy season coming on, he could neither provision him nor furnish
him ammunition. Lawton answered that he had provisions enough to last
three weeks and ammunition enough to finish the war, whereupon Otis
peremptorily ordered him to withdraw. The Philippine Commission had
no more to do with this matter than they had to do with the similar
order against advancing which Otis sent Lawton on the day the latter
won the Zapote River fight, when the Insurgents were running all over
the Province of Cavite.
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