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                     COMPLIMENTS OF THE AUTHOR TO




  [Illustration: Anson Mills]

  [Illustration: Hannah Cassel Mills]




                               MY STORY

                                  BY

                             ANSON MILLS

                     BRIGADIER GENERAL, U. S. A.

                        EDITED BY C. H. CLAUDY

                       PUBLISHED BY THE AUTHOR

                                 1918

                       PRESS OF BYRON S. ADAMS
                          WASHINGTON, D. C.




                            COPYRIGHT 1918
                 BY ANSON MILLS, BRIG.-GEN. U. S. A.




                               CONTENTS


                             FIRST PERIOD

                                                                  PAGE

    My Ancestors                                                    25

    Privations of the Early Pioneers                                31

    Charlotteville Academy                                          37

    West Point Military Academy                                     41

    Early Days in Texas                                             48

    El Paso Experiences                                             51

    In Washington                                                   64

    My Brothers in Texas                                            69


                            SECOND PERIOD

    Four Years of Civil War                                         78

    After the War                                                  102

    Marriage                                                       114


                             THIRD PERIOD

    Travels West and East                                          123

    Nannie's Impressions of the West                               135

    Western Experiences                                            152

    Detail to Paris Exposition                                     177

    Out West Again                                                 186

    Brevet Commissions in the Army                                 209

    In Washington Again                                            213

    Consolidation of the El Paso and Juarez Street Railways        251

    The Reformation of El Paso                                     253

    Mexico                                                         258

    Equitable Distribution of the Waters of the Rio Grande         263

    Boundary Commission                                            281

    Woman's Suffrage                                               307

    Prohibition                                                    310

    Trip to Europe with General Miles                              312

    My Cartridge Belt Equipment                                    314

    The League to Enforce Peace                                    332

    Trial by Combat                                                341

    Personal Trial by Combat                                       341

    National Trial by Combat                                       349

    Honolulu                                                       355

    Conclusion                                                     357


                              APPENDICES

    The Organization and Administration of the United States Army  361

    Address before the Society of the Army of the Cumberland       382

    Address before the Order of Indian Wars, on "The Battle of the
    Rosebud"                                                       394




                        INDEX TO ILLUSTRATIONS


                                                                  PAGE

    Anson and Nannie, day before marriage                          117

    Anson, day before marriage, with "Big Four" Cassel girls       117

    Banco de Santa Margarita                                  290, 291

    Batchelder, Frank R.                                           254

    Bisbee, Brigadier General William H.                           101

    Blanco, Jacobo                                                 279

    Bridger, Jim                                                   154

    Burckhalter, Marietta                                           29

    Burges, Richard F.                                             295

    Cannon, Speaker Joseph                                         235

    Cartridge Belt Equipment    315, 316, 319, 320, 323, 324, 327, 328

    Caldwell, Menger                                               241

    Caldwell, Sally                                                241

    Cassel, Mr. and Mrs., with "Auntie"                            120

    Chamizal Arbitration Commission                                296

    Clark, Speaker Champ                                           234

    Cleveland, President Grover                                    226

    Cody, W. F. (Buffalo Bill)                                     154

    Commanding Officer's quarters at Ft. Grant                     196

    Dennis, William C.                                             295

    Dewey, Admiral George                                          236

    Duelling pistols                                               340

    Fairbanks, Vice-President Charles W.                           250

    Father and son at fifty-eight and thirteen years               205

    Follett, W. W.                                                 274

    Freeman, Brigadier General H. B.                               101

    Granddaughters, Nancy, Constance and Mabel                     240

    Happer, John A.                                                254

    Hazlett, Captain Charles E.                                     67

    Hoar, Senator George F.                                        228

    Horcon cut-off                                            288, 289

    Joint Boundarv Commission                                      280

    Keblinger, W. Wilbur                                           254

    Kelly, Dora Miller                                             241

    Kline, Kathleen Cassel                                         244

    Little Anson at five, and Constance at two years               187

    Little Anson at seventeen months and twelve years              218

    Little Anson's company at Ft. Grant                            194

    McKinley, President William                                    227

    Map of El Paso                                              56, 57

    Map, Showing the Principal Engagements, Sioux War              399

    Map, Battle of the Rosebud                                     403

    Martin, Captain Carl Anson                                     244

    Martin, Caroline Mills                                          29

    Miles, General Nelson A.                                        12

    Miller, Martin V. B.                                            241

    Mills, Allen                                                    28

    Mills, Anson                                                     2

    Mills, Emmett                                                   28

    Mills, Hannah Cassel                                             3

    Mills, James P.                                                  29

    Mills, W. W.                                                    28

    Mills Building, El Paso                                        247

    Mills Building, Washington, D. C.                              246

    Mills Memorial Fountain, Thorntown, Indiana                    242

    Moral Suasion Horse at Fort Bridger                            110

    My abandoned birthplace                                         39

    My family and Commanding Officer's quarters at Ft. Thomas      191

    My father and his daughters                                     29

    Myself with brothers                                            28

    Nannie and Constance at Ft. Grant                              202

    Nannie's family Bible inscription                              185

    Nannie's residence at Gloucester (Bayberry Ledge)              248

    Nannie's travels (graphic map)                            216, 217

    Nannie                                                         215

    Nettleton, Colonel E. S.                                       274

    No Flesh (Brulé Chief)                                         159

    No Flesh Battle Picture                                   160, 161

    Orndorff, Mr. and Mrs. Thomas C.                               330

    Our sitting room at Ft. Grant                                  198

    Our residence in Washington                                    224

    Overton (Captain) with Nancy                                   239

    Overton, Constance Mills                                       239

    Picnic at Ft. Thomas                                           192

    Powell, Major James W.                                         274

    Puga, F. Beltran y                                             279

    Robertson, Jack                                                154

    Root, Senator Elihu                                            229

    Scales and Armor                                                88

    Schley, Admiral Winfield Scott                                 237

    Shepherd, Brigadier General O. L.                              101

    Smiley, Eliza Jane                                              29

    Spotted Tail (Brulé Chief)                                     159

    Steedman, Major General James B.                               101

    Stevens, Horace B.                                             254

    Street in El Paso, 1870                                        188

    Summer Camp on Graham Mountain                                 201

    Tepee and capturing officers at Slim Buttes                    110

    Wilson, Brigadier General John M. (classmate)                  249

  [Illustration:

    _To General Anson Mills
    from his friend
    Nelson A. Miles_

    _Lieut-General U. S. Army_
  ]




                               PREFACE


                               WASHINGTON, D. C., December 12, 1917.

The record of important events in human affairs as they are placed
upon the pages of history and drift into the shadows of the past,
should be recorded with sacred fidelity. The historian who places
accurate and important knowledge at the disposal of the present and
future students and writers is a public benefactor for those not only
of his own time, but for the generations that shall follow.

The achievements and failures, the evils and blessings, the
benevolence and the injustice, the rights and wrongs, the ambitions,
wisdom and intelligence, the happiness and nobility, as well as the
distress and sacrifice of a race or people rightly recorded, forms an
invaluable guide and chart for the innumerable throng that occupy the
field of activities and in their turn pass on to be replaced by others.

Doubly fortunate is the one who takes an important and distinguished
part in the important events of his time, and then can write an
account of those events for the instruction and benefit of others. It
is doubtful if any epoch in history was more important or freighted
with more difficult or greater problems to be solved than those
presented during the time just preceding, during and subsequent to our
great Civil War.

The great Republic formed after seven years of valor and sacrifice
from thirteen weak and scattered colonies, had, through several
decades of unprecedented development and prosperity, become a most
powerful homogeneous nation. In its creation and progress, there was
left one element of discord; one vexed question remained unsettled
that threatened to dismember the government, destroy the federation
and seriously embarrass our advance toward a higher civilization. When
reason became dethroned, logic and argument failed, the problem had to
be settled by the dread arbitrament of war.

The young men, the very flower of our national manhood, were required
to decide that great problem. For the very important duties of
citizenship and soldier, the distinguished author of this volume was
well equipped for the important duties of that time and to render
important service for his government and the people of our country.

Descending from the best of ancestral stock, born and reared in what
was known as the Great Middle West, in an atmosphere of national
independence, a region of our country where we find the highest type
of our American civilization, he grew to manhood under the most
favored auspices. Educated at excellent schools and institutions of
learning, his mind became well stored with useful knowledge concerning
his own country and the world. He then went to that famous military
academy, West Point, where he acquired a thorough military training
and those manly attributes for which the institution is noted.
His mind naturally sought wider fields of usefulness, and when he
resigned, he became identified with that marvelous civil development
that has transformed a vast wilderness and mountain waste into
productive communities and States.

As a civil engineer, he was most useful and successful. When the great
crisis came, he was found true and steadfast in his allegiance to the
national welfare amid chaos, doubt and uncertainty. His loyalty was
invaluable, his patriotism sublime; among the first to volunteer, his
record was most commendable and praiseworthy, ever present in every
campaign and battle in which his company or regiment was engaged. Four
times breveted for distinguished conduct in battle, he fought for a
principle, and had the satisfaction of witnessing its final triumph,
and its universal approval by the civilized world.

In that "war for civilization" on our western frontier, he again
rendered distinguished service, not only by his conspicuous gallantry
in action against Indians, but by his skill and genius as a commander
in achieving success and victory where there was little prospect of
winning either. In a campaign where success depends entirely upon the
ability of the commander, there he succeeded.

During a long life of civil and military achievements, he was blessed
by the companionship of one of the most estimable, accomplished and
noblest of women, whose gentle influence was refining, whose presence
was inspiring, and whose counsel was most encouraging and beneficial.

A successful life, rich with noble designs and good deeds, General
Mills has contributed a favor in giving to the readers, the result of
his experiences and observations.

These pages are commended to the public with the full knowledge of the
fact that they are written for no selfish purpose, but for the highest
and best of motives.

  [Illustration:

                                     _Nelson A. Miles_

                                     _Lieutenant General, U. S. Army._
  ]


                                                   BAYBERRY LEDGE,
                                             EAST GLOUCESTER, MASS.,
                                                      August 31, 1917.

    MY DEAR DAUGHTER CONSTANCE:

   After retiring from the line of the army, some twenty years
   ago, I had no further military duty before me save that of
   Commissioner on the Boundary Commission between the United
   States and Mexico, which I believed would occupy but a short
   time. Your mother and I had permanently located in Washington.
   We believed our lives had been so varied--mingling with so many
   races during so many vicissitudes and trials--that it would be
   interesting to you and your children for me, assisted by her, to
   write of our careers. Of this intention we told you in a letter
   dated January 1, 1898, that you might help us in such parts of
   the story as you were old enough to remember, although this was
   but a small part of our long career, you coming to us when we
   were middle-aged.

   But the duties of the Boundary Commission became so arduous,
   and my business increased so as to keep me strenuously occupied
   until two years ago. And now, just as I find time for these
   reminiscences, the greatest sorrow of my life has come upon
   you and me--the loss of your mother. This shock has been so
   appalling that it shook my resolution to attempt the task
   without her, who had been the inspiration and chief factor in
   my life. Before giving up the plan, however, I submitted it to
   friends who had been nearest to us during our married life,
   and asked their advice. They all think I should not abandon my
   first intention of writing my life and career, in which my wife
   took so large a part. I record here my letter to Mrs. Albert
   S. Burleson and her answer, which is typical of the rest. I
   have selected her letter for publication because of its womanly
   sentiment, and because the marital life of General Burleson,
   my friend for a generation, has been not unlike my own. These
   letters are as follows:


                                                    EASTERN POINT,
                                                  GLOUCESTER, MASS.,
                                                         May 31, 1917.

    MY DEAR MRS. BURLESON:

   We, Constance and I, want to thank you and General Burleson for
   your card of sympathy.

   Twenty years ago, after retirement, I had in mind to write
   a reminiscence of my career, but the boundary duties and my
   Worcester business so occupied