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[[newspaper article]] Head of Mitchell Air Court Inquiry Is "Stormy Petrel" ------ Major Gen. Robert Lee Howse [[misspelled in original]] Has Medals for Bravery ------ BY BETTIE LARIMORE Washington, D .C., Nov. 21 Major-General Robert Lee Howze, president of the Mitchell court-martral, has been in far more trouble than the stormy petrel of the air service ever dreamed of. He is considered the best cavalryman that ever rode a horse, and fears no man nor thing. The late President Roosevelt was a particular admirer of General Howze. When "T. R." was lieutenant-colonel of the Rough Riders, Howze was a first lieutenant in the regular cavalry, but he went to Cuba as an adjutant-general. At one time, when the Spaniards were somewhere around San Juan Hill, the United States army had no information as to the number of Spaniards nor their exact location. There was a call for a volunteer to find out these facts, and "Bob" Howze was the first to volunteer. Roosevelt decided he would go along too, to see the fun. Roosevelt and Howze came to a certain spot in front of the hill. "I think the Spaniards are just about in front of us," declared Howze. "Now you lie down there in that grass, and I will run out in front here. When they start firing at me, you count the bullets and notice the direction." And that's what happened. The Spaniards were located. Medal for Bravery Born and bred a Texas cowboy, Gen-eral Howze has ridden like a Kansas cyclone into every upset the U.S. Army has entered. As far back as 1891, he received the Congressional Medal of Honor for bravery in action in the Sioux Indian uprising at White River, South Dakota. He was ordered to bring a relief train through hostile territory, and fighting furious Indians every mile, he succeeded in bringing his train through. Only 30 men in the history of the army have ever received this medal. It is a distinction most army men would give a leg and both arms for, General Howze got it when he was only three years out of the Military Academy. Make Daring Rescue One of the most famous exploits of General Howze was his rescue of Lieutenant Gilmore in 1899. Baler was an isolated post in the Philippines. The Spanish had a garrison there, and in the first Filipino uprising in 1896, this garrison was besieged for nearly a year, and finally taken. When America captured Manilla in 1898, nothing had been heard of the fate of this Spanish garrison. A gunboat in command of Lieutenant Gilmore was ordered to land and investigate. The gallant navy officer did so, but his whole crew fell into the hands of the natives and were captured. When the disappearance of Lieutenant Gilmore had been noticed, it was decided to send a search party for him. The 34th Infantry was stationed nearest Baler, so Howze, then a lieutenant-colonel, was sent out in command of a detachment to search for Lieutenant Gilmore. It was Igoroti country-perfect jungle, uncharted and unknown. There were no trails and no white man had ever travelled that country. After a week of trekking in the jungle, Howze finally got a trace of Lieutenant Gilmore. He speedily caught up with the navy party, and on seeing the U.S. Army advancing upon them out of the jungle, the Filipinos who had captured Lieutenant Gilmore, fled. Howze had rescued Gilmore and his entire party, but now he had to rescue himself. They were lost. The jungle all around them was unknown and impassable, and they had 28 extra men to feed. There was only one thing to do. The Filipino encampment had been made beside a river, so Howze decided to take his men down the river, knowing by the nature of the island, that the river must take them to the sea. They built rafts out of bamboo trees and started down the river. It was much like the thrilling trip Roosevelt took down the River of Doubt. They were on an unknown river, and so hilly was the country that they could not scale the cliffs of either side of the river, but must live on the rafts from 10 to 50 miles at a time. In addition, the river was frequently broken by rapids, and rafts were smashed to pieces almost daily and had to be rebuilt. After three weeks of incredible hardship, Howze came out with Lieutenant Gilmore. The entire party was barefoot and almost naked and showed signs of semi-starvation. Two men were lost-they were drowned when the rafts were smashed in the rapids. Wonderful though this achievement of "Bob" Howze's was, it was only one among many of the stormy incidents of his career. In Tilt With Woman. When he was commandant of cadets at West Point in 1907, Howze again sprang into the headlines of all the newspapers. Mrs.Ayres, mother of a cadet at the academy, acquired the habit of wearing her son's military overcoat around the campus. Howze issued an order forbidding women to wear military coats on the Academy grounds. By all the army standards, he was absolutely right, but according to his habit he was perhaps too outspoken. Anyhow, Mrs.Ayres lost her temper and instituted proceedings to recover $100,000 damages from the general. When this was reported to Howze, he remarked. "Thank God it wasn't $10. She might have had a chance of collecting that." The case was nolle prossed, but for a time it raised a furore almost as noteworthy as the present Mitchell court martial. In 1916 he was a cavalryman under General Perishing in the punitive expedition into Mexico. Howe's motto in the campaign was: "Every man on a horse every day." This order was rigidly enforced, and during the idleness of that expedition, Howze's brigade at least constantly exercised both horses and men. There came a time when Howze had Villa up a tree. Another day and Pancho Villa would have been in a Texan guardhouse. But from "somebody higher up" came the order to return, Howze was called off the pursuit and Villa skipped merrily away. Mitchell Served Under Howze General Howze has occasion to know the accused in the present court-martial quite well. Twenty-five years ago, Howze, Mitchell and General MacArthur's father were all in the Philippines together. It was the time when Aguinaldo was leading the American troops a merry chase. 'Billy" Mitchell was then a lieutenant in the signal corps. He secured information as to Aguinaldo's whereabouts and brought it into headquarters. He was all ready to rush ahead and make the capture, but for some reason the senior General MacArthur held off. Mitchell has not forgotten nor forgiven this. Howze at some time during this campaign was sent out to get Aguinaldo. He succeeded in cutting him off from supplies, and thought he had him hedged in behind a certain mountain. But as General Howze explains: "You know what those Filipinos are like. They are like Latin and Mexican peoples. They are never behind the mountain like you think they are, they are behind the next mountain beyond. Slippery people, these Filipinos." General Funston finally captured Aguinaldo. Later he led the puntive expedition into Mexico, in which Howze served so gallantly. During the World war, General Howze commanded the second brigade of the 15th Division, the 38th Division, and the 3rd (Marne) Division, leading the later to the Rhineland. So distinguished was his conduct that he received the Distinguished Service Medal and the Distinguished Service Cross. He is now in command of the 5th Corps Area at Columbus, O. Once Stationed in Boston General Howze was stationed at Boston just before the war, in command of the northeastern section. He remarked that he was very found of Boston, that it was a fine city. General Howze is an army man of the old school. he is the son of a Texas planter, but he married the daughter of General Hamilton S. Hawkins. His son, Robert Lee Howze, junior, is a second lieutenant in the cavalry at Fort Bliss, Tex. He graduated from West Point in June, 1925, and is following his father's footsteps. He narrowly missed serving under his father, for he was ordered to Fort Bliss a few days after General Howze was transferred from command of that fort to the Fifth Corps Area command. A second son, Hamilton H. Howze, just 16, is preparing for West Point. His only daughter married Major H. Crampton Jones of the Field Artillery. If you met General Howze on a desert, you would recognize him for an American cavalryman. In appearance he is the typical hard-boiled army man. His face is set on firm and determined lines, his voice may be very gruff. But to his acquaintances, with his Texas drawl, slow smile, and natural modesty, he is gentle and very likeable. One of his citations for gallantry, signed by Brigadier-General S. B. M. Young, June 7, 1900, reads, "For gallant and meritorious service and superior skill displayed at Tangadin Pon, near Narvacan, province of the Ilocas Sur Luzon, Philippine Islands, under my observation where he gallantly led in person a night attack on apparently impregnable insurgent trenches, taking the same by hand to hand fighting, Dec. 4 1899, I recommended that First Lieutenant Robert L. Howze be brevetted a captain in the army." General Howze was born in 1864, and in three more years will be due for retirement. (There is half a page about him in Who's Who.) ((Image))
