Orders issued to Members of Both Branches of the Service. [Special Dispatch to the Baltimore Sun.] Washington, March 5. --- The following orders to army officers have been issued:
Chaplain William R. Scott, U.S.A., is assigned to the Coast Artillery Corps. He will report to the commanding officer, Fort Dupont, Del., for temporary duty for a period not exceeding five days, upon completion of which he will proceed to Fort Monroe, Va., for duty.
Lieut.-Col John M. Banister, Medical Corps, is relieved from further duty at Fort Riley, Kansas, and will report to the commanding general, Department of the Missouri, for duty as chief surgeon.
The following changes in officers of the Corps of Engineers are ordered:
Capt. William P. Stokey is relieved from duty at Havana and from the command of Company G, Second Battalion of Engineers, and will proceed to Savannah and report to Col. Don C. Kingman for duty.
Capt. Alfred B. Putnam is relieved from duty under the immediate orders of Major William W. Harts and will proceed April 5 to the Washington Barracks, District of Columbia, for duty with the Second Battalion of Engineers.
Second Lieutenant Lewis H. Watkins is relieved from duty with Company B, First Battalion of Engineers, and will proceed to San Francisco and report to the commanding officer, Company G, Second Battalion of Engineers, for duty, and will proceed with that company to Honolulu on the transport to sail from San Francisco on May 5.
First Lieutenant Ralph T. Ward is relieved from duty with Company A, First Battalion of Engineers, to take effect upon arrival at Honolulu of Company G, Second Battalion of Engineers, and will then report to Major E. Eveleth Winslow for duty with Company G, Second Battalion of Engineers.
Major E. Eveleth Winslow will assume command of the Second Batallion of Engineers upon arrival at Honolulu of the headquarters and Company G of that battalion and will relinquish command of the First Battalion of Engineers upon the departure from Honolulu of the headquarters and company A of the latter batallion.
Chaplain Franz J. Feinler is assigned to the First Infantry. He will report on April 3 to the commanding officer, Fort Lincoln, N. D., for temporary duty for a period not exceeding five days.
Capt. Joseph E. Cusack, Twelfth Cavalry, is detailed to fill a vacancy in the Subsistence Department, vice Capt. Robert J. Fleming, commissary, who is relieved from detail in that department and is assigned to the Twelfth Cavalry.
The following transfers are ordered: Capt. Robert J. Fleming, from the Twelfth to the Tenth Cavalry; Capt. Cecil Stewart, from the Tenth to the Twelfth Cavalry.
Capt. Milton A. Elliott, Jr., Twenty-seventh Infantry, is detailed to fill a vacancy in the Subsistence Department, to take effect April 9, vice Capt. Charles C. Clark, commissary, assigned to the Twenty-seventh Infantry.
Capt. Jack Hayes, Sixteenth Infantry, is detailed to fill a vacancy in the Subsistence Department April 15, vice Capt. Lawrence B. Simonds, commissary, who is assigned to the Sixth Infantry.
Capt. Joseph Matson, Coast Artillery Corps, will proceed to Washington Barracks and report to the commanding officer of the General Hospital for treatment.
1. Of course it's not necessary to include all the listed assignments, but I want to, and they turned out to have some unexpected relevance to Will's life.
2. Capt. William P. Stokey is relieved from duty at Havana and from the command of Company G, Second Battalion of Engineers, and will proceed to Savannah and report to Col. Don C. Kingman for duty. and Second Lieutenant Lewis H. Watkins is relieved from duty with Company B, First Battalion of Engineers, and will proceed to San Francisco and report to the commanding officer, Company G, Second Battalion of Engineers, for duty, and will proceed with that company to Honolulu on the transport to sail from San Francisco on May 5.
First Lieutenant Ralph T. Ward is relieved from duty with Company A, First Battalion of Engineers, to take effect upon arrival at Honolulu of Company G, Second Battalion of Engineers, and will then report to Major E. Eveleth Winslow for duty with Company G, Second Battalion of Engineers.
Major E. Eveleth Winslow will assume command of the Second Batallion of Engineers upon arrival at Honolulu of the headquarters and Company G of that battalion and will relinquish command of the First Battalion of Engineers upon the departure from Honolulu of the headquarters and company A of the latter batallion. So: Company B, First Battalion of Engineers, is in Honolulu now and will be coming back to the Continental 48 states (not that Hawaii or Alaska are states in 1909). Company G, Second Battalion of Engineers, is currently in Havana with Will, and will come back to the Continental 48 (to New York, I'm figuring) and then go out to San Francisco to take a ship to Honolulu, without Will. Mama Margaret was glad that Will wasn't sent to Honolulu - see:
I am glad you did not have to go to Honolulu for you will certainly get a leave and can be with us in the summer.
3. Col. Don C. Kingman Wikipedia says: Dan Christie Kingman (March 6, 1852 – November 14, 1916) was an officer in the United States Army who served as Chief of Engineers from 1913 to 1916.
4. This seems, I think, to be a step up in Will's Army career. He is being relieved of his command of Company G, and not being given another company to command. In a subsequent newspaper item:
...he is mentioned as an assistant to the aforementioned Col. Don C. Kingman. So apparently he is proceeding from standard command of a company to doing more skilled, engineering-related work.
5. Capt. Joseph E. Cusack, Twelfth Cavalry, is detailed to fill a vacancy in the Subsistence Department, vice Capt. Robert J. Fleming, commissary, who is relieved from detail in that department and is assigned to the Twelfth Cavalry. About "vice",American Heritage Dictionary says online: vi·ce 3 (vīsē, -sə) Share: prep. In place of; replacing: Ms. Fine acted as treasurer, vice Mr. Smith. If that's the reason why we have Vice Presidents, Vice Principals, and so on, why isn't it pronounced Vee-Say President and Vee-Say Principal?