Page:The Biographical Dictionary of America, vol. 08.djvu/169

 OTIS

OTIS

tenant-colonel, Dec. 23, 1863, and upon the death of Col. George Ryan at Spotts^-lvania, succeeded to the command of the regiment. He commanded the 1st brigade, 2d division, 5th army corps, dur- ing the early operations against Petersburg, Va., in 1864, but later in the year was severely wounded, and after a sick leave of absence was honorably discharged, Jan. 24, 1865. The brevets of colonel and brigadier-general of volunteers were conferred on him, March 13, 1865, for ''gal- lant and meritorious services in the battle of Spottsylvania and the battle of Chapel House, Va." He was appointed lieutenant-colonel of the 22d U.S. infantry, July 28, 1866, which commis- sion he accepted, Feb. 7, 1867, and was brevetted colonel, U.S. army, March 2, 1867, "for gallant and merit oriovis services in the battle of Spott- s\'lvania, Virginia." He served on frontier duty, 1867-74; was inspector-general of the Department of Dakota. 1874-75, and took part in the cam- paign against the Sioux Indians, 1876-77. Dur- ing the labor riots of 1877 he commanded his regiment, together with other troops, in Penn- sylvania; upon the death of Col. George Sykes, succeeded him as colonel of the 20th U.S. infan- try, Feb. 8, 1880, and organized and condvicted the U.S. Infantrj' and Cavalry school, Leaven- Avorth, Kansas, 1881-85. He returned to the command of the 20th infantry at Fort Assini- boine, Montana, in 1885. He was detailed as su- perintendent of the recruiting service, Oct. 1, 1890, which position he held until Jan. 21, 1893, and was commissioned brigadier-general, U.S.A., Nov. 28, 1893. He svas placed in command of the Department of the Columbia, including the states of Oregon, Washington and Idaho and the territory of Alaska, with headquarters at Van- couver barracks, Dec 1, 1893, and remained there till 1896, when he was engaged in revising the "Army Regulations" at Washington, D.C. He was assigned to the command of the Department of the Colorado, including the state of Colorado and the territories of Utah, Arizona and New Mexico, in May, 1897. Upon the outbreak of the Spanish-American war he was engaged as presi- dent of a court-martial held at Savannah, Ga., and was delayed in entering active service until May 4, 1898, when he was commissioned major- general of volunteers and sent to San Francisco to organize troops destined for the Philippines. He sailed from San Francisco to Manila, July 23, 1898, with re-inforcements for Gen. Wesley Mer- ritt, then commanding the U.S. army in the Philippines. In August, 1898, he succeeded Gen- eral Merritt as commanding general of the Philip- pine army and governor-general of the province. Orders were issued prohibiting any acts of retali- ation on the part of the troops to the annoyances of the insurgent forces, and on Feb. 1, 1899. a de-

tachment of U.S. troops was arrested and im- prisoned at Malolos for examining, as was alleged, the Filipino intrenchments. On the same date the insurgents succeeded in drawing the fire of the outposts by attempting to break through the lines, and the ensuing battle lasted twenty-one hours, resulting in the utter rout of the Filipinos. On Feb. 4, 1899, he was brevetted major-general, U.S. army, for " military skill and most distin- guished services in the Philippine Islands." On Feb. 23, 1899, on the occurrence of another de- monstration the insurgents were defeated. Otis now followed up these engagements with the bat- tles of Caloocan, Luzon, Iloilo, Island of Panay, and thereupon pressed Aguinaldo's Luzon army north, captured his capital of Malolos and drove the insurgent forces beyond the Rio Grande De Pampanga. Later, by combined operations of U.S. forces lasting from September to January, he took possession of all important points in the Philippines, scattered and disintegrated the army of the insurgents, Aguinaldo being among the fugitives. At the same time he inaugurated muni- cipal governments, the supreme and some of the minor courts of the islands, and re-established trade and commerce throughout that archipelago. Bj' his request he was relieved of the command of the U.S. forces in the Philippines, May 5, 1900, and was succeeded by General MacArthur, who also exei-cised the authority of military governor. He returned to San Francisco, May 25, 1900; on June 15, 1900, was publicly entertained at a cele- bration held in his honor at the city of Rochester, N. Y., and on June 16, 1900, his commission in the volunteer army was vacated. He was pro- moted major-general, U.S. army, June 16, 1900, to succeed Gen. Wesley Merritt, retired for age; was given command of the Department of the Lakes with headquarters at Chicago, 111., and on March 25, 1902, was retired, the war department, which issued a general order, reciting his distin- guished services not only through the civil war, but in his conduct of the campaign in the Philip- pines. He was twice married, first in 1870 to Louise, daughter of Henry R. Selden of Roches- ter, N.Y., and secondly in 1879 to Louise Bow- man, widow of Gen. Miles Daniel McAlester, U.S. army. He received the honorary degree of LL.D. from the University of Rochester in 1900. He is the author of: The Indian Question (1878j, and contributions to periodicals.

OTIS, Fessenden Nott, surgeon, was born at Ballston Spa, N.Y.. March 6. 1825. He attended Canandaigua academy and Union college; was graduated from the New York medical college in 1852, was interne at Blackwell's Island hospital. New York city, 1852-53; and surgeon to the U.S. Mail steamship company, 1853-60. He was mar- ried in 1859 to Frances H., daughter of Apollos