- Elwell Stephen Otis
Infobox President
name = Elwell S. Otis
order = 2nd American Military Governor of the Philippines
term_start =August 28 ,1898
term_end =May 5 ,1900
predecessor =Wesley Merritt
successor =Arthur MacArthur, Jr
order2 = Member of theSchurman Commission
term_start2 =March 4 ,1899
term_end2 =March 16 ,1900
predecessor2 = "Newly created"
successor2 = Bernard Moses (Taft Commission )
birth_date = birth date|1838|3|25|mf=y
birth_place =Frederick ,Maryland ,United States
dead = dead
death_date = death date and age|1909|10|21|1838|3|25|mf=y
death_place = Rochester,New York ,United States
burial place = "Unknown"
party = "None"
spouse = "None"
religion = "None"Elwell Stephen Otis (1838 - 1909) was a United States of America General who served in the
Philippines late in theSpanish-American War and during thePhilippine-American War .Otis was born in
Frederick, Maryland onMarch 25 ,1838 . He attended theUniversity of Rochester , where he was a member of the (now defunct) Iota Chapter ofSt. Anthony Hall aka the Fraternity of Delta Psi. During the Civil War he served as a captain in the 140th New York Regiment and fought in many of the battles of theArmy of the Potomac including Fredericksburg and Gettysburg. During thesiege of Petersburg , he was in command of a brigade in V Corps leading it into action at thebattle of Peebles' Farm . A wound during the siege effectively ended his field career during the Civil War but he was promoted to brevet brigadier general of volunteers. He continued serving in the army during theIndian Wars as lieutenant colonel of the 22nd Infantry, including campaigning in Montana in the aftermath of theBattle of the Little Bighorn . In 1893, he was appointed brigadier general in the regular army.In May 1898, he was appointed major general of volunteers and was sent to the
Philippines with reinforcements for GeneralWesley Merritt . When he arrived, he assumed command of the VIII Corps, replacing Merritt who had become the military governor of the Philippines. When Merritt left, Otis was appointed Military Governor.He continued in command of the VIII Corps during the
Battle of Manila (1899) and the opening phase of thePhilippine-American War .Otis's response when
Emilio Aguinaldo tried to stop the war by sending an emissary to General Otis to appeal for an end to the fighting in the Battle of Manila was, "fighting, having begun, must go on to the grim end.". [cite book | author= Miller, Stuart Creighton| title= "Benevolent Assimilation: The American Conquest of the Philippines, 1899-1903 | publisher= Yale University Press | year=1982 | id=ISBN 0-300-03081-9 p. 63]Otis also oversaw many of the first atrocities of the Philippine-American War by American soldiers:
:"The conduct of the Washington Volunteers has been the subject of special investigations for some time. They deny wanton burning or cruelties. And still there are strong indications that they practised these infractions to some extent." [ [http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Secretary_Root%27s_Record:%22Marked_Severities%22_in_Philippine_Warfare Secretary Root's Record:"Marked Severities" in Philippine Warfare - Wikisource ] at en.wikisource.org]
He was relieved of command in 1900 and replaced with Arthur MacArthur. He returned to the United States and commanded the
Department of the Lakes . He was appointed major general in the regular army in 1906.Otis was a skilled general and able administrator. However, he was generally disliked by his subordinates and peers and received harsh treatment in the press. He was known as "Granny" by his troops because of his age and graying hair. [cite book | author= Linn, Brian McAllister| title= The Philippine War: 1899-1902 | publisher= University Press of Kansas | year=2000 p. 27-29] He died in
Rochester, New York onOctober 21 ,1909 from painful angina.Notes
Further reading
*cite web
author =Elwell Stephen Otis
year =1878
url =http://onlinebooks.library.upenn.edu/webbin/book/lookupid?key=olbp25625
title =The Indian Question
format =PDF
work =
publisher =Sheldon and Company
accessmonthday =May 7
accessyear =2006 (Full book onlinePersondata
NAME= Otis, Elwell Stephen
ALTERNATIVE NAMES=
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DATE OF BIRTH=
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