Frederick Funston (1865 - 1917)

There are heroes that are remembered throughout the ages by their people. George Washington, Joan of Arc and Ghandi to name a few. But then there are heroes, whom the people exalt and cheer who are often left to the dusty corners of libraries because their heroism is an embarrassment to later generations.

Frederick Funston was born in Ohio, September 11, 1865. He had been a smallish boy whose father was legendary "Foghorn" Funston of the US Congress. The elder Funston was a critical and demanding sort who seemed to take his son's failures as normal. He often squirreled himself away from society, reading tales of past military victories and the glories heaped up its heroes. He listened to his father's old war stories, read Thomas Carlyle's biographies of Cromwell and Napoleon. He was rejected by West Point due to mediocre grades and his small stature.

While attending the University of Kansas, he was rejected by the most sought after women on campus. Again, his short height was attributed, as was his personality. As a member of the Phi Delta fraternity, he'd earned the nickname "Little Timmie Funston." Jokes about his size followed him everywhere. He retreated further into his books. Eventually he dropped out of school, explored unmapped areas of Death Valley, and went to Alaska to document to gather botanical samples for the Department of Agriculture. He found himself in New York trying to sell tales of his exploits, he saw a rally asking for volunteers to aid Cuba in its battle to free itself from Spain.

Seeing the chance at glory he so longed for, he joined. Although he had no experience with cannons he was given the commission as an artillery officer. He made up for his lack of skill with the cannon by moving his gun placement very close to the Spanish forces, often within four hundred yards. He distinguished himself through these acts of bravado. But he'd been wounded often. one such wound brought him back to the United States. In 1898, at thirty-two, he was given command of the Kansas volunteers who agreed to fight against Spain. Hoping to be sent to Cuba to fight along with Teddy and his Rough Riders, he was instead sent to the Philippines.

There he felt his chance for glory slipping away, as the Spanish were contained and greatly outnumbered. I fact, the Spanish garrison surrendered to the United Sates. But with the outbreak of hostilities between Filipino nationals and American troops, Funston finally got the war he'd been looking for.

On February 8, 1901, six guerillas surrendered, convinced by Francisco Villajuan, the mayor of San Isidro. Among them was Cecilio Segismundo, their leader. He was also a messenger for the guerilla leader Aguinaldo. Funston and two others decoded the messages and "interrogated" Segismundo until he revealed the location and compliment of Aguinaldo's headquarters. There are disagreeing reports and wide spread speculation that Funston used a new interrogation technique, often called the "water cure", where the captive is forced to swallow large amounts of water and then his distended belly would be beaten with logs. But since there is no corroborating evidence and only Aguinaldo's charges it occurred, it became one of those back room rumors. Funston himself denied the accusations and claimed that though the interrogation was "forceful", he cooperated fully and even gave additional information without it being requested.

One of the messages had asked for more troops. In a daring and dime book novel idea (playing out his boyhood romantic views of heroism), Funston put forth an idea to capture the rebel leader and bring the war to a swift end. Maj. Gen. Arthur MacArthur (father to Douglas MacArthur) was quite skeptical of allowing this rather hare-brained scheme to go forth. He'd even written orders for General Funston to return to the US, thereafter to be mustered out of the service. But he had also promised swift closure and some spectacular results, none of which he'd been able to produce. MacArthur decided to let the little man have his shot.

So it was, on March 23, 1901, that Funston, 78 members of the Macebebes and four other Americans marched into Aguinaldo's encampment. The Macabebes were disguised as soldiers in the Philippine Army, as most of Aguinaldo's troops were, and they brought in their five American "prisoners". Also in the group was Lt. Col. Tal Placido of the Philippine Army, who knew Aguinaldo personally and would be able to identify him for Funston.

After being brought into the camp, the "prisoners were left on one side of an embankment and the disguised Macabebes were taken into the main camp to celebrate el presidente's birthday. When the order was shouted by Funston, the Macabebes opened fire and scattered most of Aguinaldo's troops. Aguinaldo himself was unaware that anything more than raucous celebrations were going on below his office window. It was reported he had admonished his men to stop wasting ammunition. Funston and company got into a boat, paddled over into the main encampment and charged into Aguinaldo's headquarters. There, Frederick Funston announced "I am General Funston, commander of this expedition. You are a prisoner of war of the Army of the united States of America. You will be treated with due consideration and sent to Manila at the first opportunity ion a steamer, which is coming to take us on board."

Aguinaldo still believed this to be a joke, that this little man had come into his camp and taken him prisoner.

There was a six mile trek, a steam ship journey and an eventual denouncement by Aguinaldo of the Spanish. He took an allegiance to the United States and urged his followers to do the same. Though there was some resistance, especially in the outer islands, most followed their leader's example. And General Frederick Funston, the five and a half foot man from Kansas, once dubbed the "Daring Little Colonel Funston by the New York Times (they had claimed his victories and subsequent Medal of Honor was due to him being "too small to hit"). had single-handedly ended the war.

Funston was given a brevet (promotion without pay increase) to Brig. General. His career continued until his death in 1917, just before the outbreak of World War I. Had he lived, he would was to have been given the posting as commanding officer of the Allied Expeditionary Force to France. A job that was eventually given to gen. Pershing.

His life was full of critics, detractors and the grudging admirers. Mark Twain once wrote an essay for the North American review in May of 1902. In it he criticized Funston's capture of Aguinaldo as deceit and treachery, calling him a scoundrel. He made accusation that Funston could not help himself as he was simply a product of his "inborn disposition." Twain also explains that there is no need blaming Funston for his actions as "his conscience leaked out through one of his pores when he was little."

The Boston Post editorial that same month was less genteel. They wrote, "When the capture of Aguinaldo by Funston was announced by cable, it was hailed as a great exploit. President McKinley lost no time in making him a brigadier-general. But, as the details have come to light, contempt and disgust have taken the place of admiration. The American people accepted, though not without some qualms of conscience, the forgery, treachery and disguise with which Funston prepared his expedition. But until recently the full infamy of his conduct has not been understood."

In a cable on March 28, 1901, Gen. Arthur MacArthur wrote of Funston, "The transaction was brilliant in conception and faultless in execution, all credit must go to Funston who, under supervision of General Wheaton, organized and conducted expedition from start to finish. His reward should be signal and immediate."

Among his other detractors was Teddy Roosevelt and the Denver Post who took exception to a 1902 speech he had made, speaking ill of a Massachusetts Senator. Roosevelt wrote to the White House "The reference to the senior senator from Massachusetts is entirely improper in a general of the army. I think that General Funston will have to be requested not to make any more public speeches."

In his capacity as General of California, he won praise from the President of the Board of Trade San Francisco, A.A. Watkins, Sen. James Duval Phelan and San Francisco mayor James Rolph, who all wrote letters to President Woodrow Wilson on his behalf for a promotion to Brig. General of the Army.

Hero or scoundrel, Frederick Funston had accomplished his dream of receiving accolades for single-handedly ending a war.

Sources

Philippine-American War, 1899-1902

http://www.freewebs.com/philippineamericanwar/captureofaguinaldo1901.htm

Forgotten Heroes edited by Susan Ware

Frederick Funston: Song of Rage by Mark C. Carnes

(c) 1998

ISBN 0-684-84375-7

Wikipedia - A Defence of General Funston by Mark Twain

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Defence_of_General_Funston

General Frederick Funston (1865 -1917)

The Virtual Museum of the City of San Francisco

http://www.sfmuseum.org/1906/funston.html