Date:
1900
Title:
General Henry Lawton Whip
Description:
"Long Hank" Lawton (1843-1899): Fort Wayne's Greatest Soldier
Henry W. Lawton joined the 9th Indiana Volunteer Infantry in 1861 and later enlisted in the 30th Indiana Volunteer Infantry were he reached the rank of lieutenant colonel in 1865, all before his twenty-second birthday. Lawton transferred to the regular army at the end of the Civil War. He was the first Allen County resident to receive the Congressional Medal of Honor. In 1886 he led the military company credited with capturing Geronimo along the Mexican Border. Geronimo fought for decades to protect the Apache land from Mexican and Anglo settlement. Even though Lawton campaigned against the tribes, he was trusted by them and known to be kind, making sure everyone under his command had enough food.
Lawton went on to be major general in the Spanish-American War in 1898. He transferred to the Philippines where one of his men presented him with this riding whip. He was killed by a sniper at San Mateo, Philippines on 19 December 1899. The whip "was still on his wrist when they brought his body home." It was donated to the Historical Society by the general's wife, Mary C. Lawton, who wrote to Mrs. Samuel Taylor on 16 July 1923 that it "has always been both personal and dear to me-so much so that only to Fort Wayne would I part with it." A public memorial was held for Lawton on 5 February 1900 when his funeral train came through town on its way to Arlington. The ceremony was held in the rotunda of the unfinished Allen County Courthouse.
Henry W. Lawton joined the 9th Indiana Volunteer Infantry in 1861 and later enlisted in the 30th Indiana Volunteer Infantry were he reached the rank of lieutenant colonel in 1865, all before his twenty-second birthday. Lawton transferred to the regular army at the end of the Civil War. He was the first Allen County resident to receive the Congressional Medal of Honor. In 1886 he led the military company credited with capturing Geronimo along the Mexican Border. Geronimo fought for decades to protect the Apache land from Mexican and Anglo settlement. Even though Lawton campaigned against the tribes, he was trusted by them and known to be kind, making sure everyone under his command had enough food.
Lawton went on to be major general in the Spanish-American War in 1898. He transferred to the Philippines where one of his men presented him with this riding whip. He was killed by a sniper at San Mateo, Philippines on 19 December 1899. The whip "was still on his wrist when they brought his body home." It was donated to the Historical Society by the general's wife, Mary C. Lawton, who wrote to Mrs. Samuel Taylor on 16 July 1923 that it "has always been both personal and dear to me-so much so that only to Fort Wayne would I part with it." A public memorial was held for Lawton on 5 February 1900 when his funeral train came through town on its way to Arlington. The ceremony was held in the rotunda of the unfinished Allen County Courthouse.
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General Henry Lawton's Whip & Portrait
General Henry Lawton's Whip
General Henry Lawton's Whip & Portrait
General Henry Lawton's Whip