LUKBAN standing on !”
Chaffee ’ s attitude probably influenced those of his subordinates . He had his apprehensions , and his anger was not muted but felt on the surface . He wanted his soldiers to be ‘ stern and inflexible ’ so that the masses of Samar who had supported Lukban would be afraid . Every hostile act in Samar ’ s villages had to be dealt with “ quickly and severely ”. America ’ s honor was hurt in the Balangiga massacre , and it would take more than two battalions to retrieve the lost weapons and ammunition captured by the insurgents . But he promised that the face of Samar would be different when the reinforcements would arrive . Chaffee was heard saying his troops “ will start a few cemeteries for hombres in Southern Samar .” This vengeful frame of mind would impact on Gen . Smith , Samar ’ s new American commander . 3
Jake ‘ Howling ’ Smith
Chaffee ’ s choice to replace Gen . Hughes was just in his mould . Smith had the right character Chaffee desired of his commander for Samar . Smith ’ s attitude toward waging the ‘ hard war ’ was quite well known . He never liked the natives . He even boasted to reporters that fighting the Filipino insurgents was ‘ worse than fighting Indians ’ back home . He made no secret of his harsh methods . In one article to the newspapers in Manila , he stated that the Balangiga massa cre was the result of “ officers who loved the Little Brown Brother ,” evidently referring to the officers of Company ‘ C ’ who fraternized with the locals in Balangiga . 4
Early in his career , Smith already showed tendencies that did not befit an officer and a gentleman . Enlisting in the Union Army in 1861 , he quickly acquired a commission as a volunteer officer in the Second Kentucky Regiment . Wounded at Shiloh , he was placed into quasi-retirement and served the remainder of the war as a recruiter . In 1867 he obtained a Regular Army captaincy , and in 1869 Smith tried to convert a temporary major ’ s appointment as a judge advocate into a permanent one . In the confirmation process , the Judge Advocate General of the Army discovered that Smith had used his position as wartime recruiter to engage in profiteering through recruit bounties and speculation in gold , diamonds , and whiskey . 5
Smith ’ s temporary judge advocate appointment was revoked when it was discovered that he had lied about his wartime conduct . Smith spent the next 27 years as a Captain on the frontier , and his service record reflects three separate general courts-martial for insubordination to his commanding officer , conduct unbecoming an officer arising from
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