General Clarence Tinker, Hap Arnold's daring go-to guy
file:///Users/edmarek/Documents/Talking Proud/HistoryTinkerC...
General Clarence Tinker, Hap Arnold's
daring go-to guy
June 11, 2007
Go!
Third Lieutenant Clarence Tinker deploys to the
Philippine Constabulary: Revisiting the Spanish American
War and America's annexation of the Philippines.
Table of Contents
Introduction
Owen A. Tomlinson (with sword) with members of the 4th Mountain
(Ifugao) Company, Philippine Constabulary, Banaue, Philippines, January
1910, from his papers. Presented by Bentley Historical Library, University of
Michigan
Clarence Tinker graduated from
the Wentworth Military
Academy in 1908 and was
commissioned a third lieutenant
in the Philippine Constabulary.
This photo is taken from his
family portrait, done in 1908.
If you want to get into some very
difficult research and analysis,
study the Spanish-American War
through the Filipino-American war and the evolution of the
Philippine Constabulary. Even historians acknowledge this to
be a very confusing period. It is, however, compelling history.
We'll try to summarize.
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Clarence Tinker's early
years in the Indian
Territory through his
graduation from the
Wentworth Military
Academy in Kansas:
Revisiting some history
about our nation's
mid-section.
Third Lieutenant Clarence
Tinker deploys to the
Philippine Constabulary:
Revisiting the Spanish
American War and
America's annexation of the
Philippines.
Lt. Tinker from the
Philippines to the Buffalo
Soldiers: Revisiting the
inclusion of blacks in the
US Army, the import of
WWI in the South Pacific,
and the problems with
Mexico in America's
southwest.
Tinker, the fighter pilot: A
vision beyond the infantry,
the employment of air
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General Clarence Tinker, Hap Arnold's daring go-to guy
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power
The Spanish had ruled the
Philippines since the 1560s.
There were numerous Filipino
rebellions and insurrections
throughout the Spanish colonial
period. A significant rebellion
began in 1896 led by Emilio
Aguinaldo, shown here courtesy
of "The Spanish American War,"
by David Trask, presented by the
Library of Congress. Aguinaldo
made a very flimsy peace treaty
with the Spanish that enabled
him to go to Hong Kong in exile.
This would not be the last he was heard from, however.
Tinker, fighters to
bombers to theater WWII
commander: Hap Arnold's
daring "go-to" guy
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Right about then, the Spanish-American War broke out in
1898. That war was driven by a Spanish failure to resolve an
insurrection in Cuba, an American press corps that was
frothing for America to go to war, and some astute politicians,
diplomats, military men and analysts who saw a great future
for US expansion if the US could defeat the Spanish, not so
much in the Caribbean, but arguably more so in the Pacific. It
was also a war that was seen by some as one that would unite
all Americans following the Civil War into one unified
fighting force. Military operations were conducted in the
Spanish colonies of Cuba, Puerto Rico, Guam and the
Philippines.
Many of us think of this war as the charge up San Juan Hill,
the Battleship Maine, and the irrepressible Teddy Roosevelt.
We'll concentrate here on the Philippines, and the Pacific.
General Douglas MacArthur might have seen the Philippines
has his domain, but by the time WWII started, General Tinker
saw the airspace between the Philippines and Hawaii as his.
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Commodore George Dewey. Presented by the Library of Congress.
US Commodore George Dewey was the commander of the US
Navy's Asiatic Squadron, based in Hong Kong. He attacked a
Spanish squadron in Manila Bay, the Philippines, on May 1,
1898 and defeated it. His forces sunk the entire Spanish
squadron. In 1903, he would be made the first, and we believe
only ever, Admiral of the Navy.
Following that, a naval victory,
on May 18, President McKinley
ordered Major General Wesley
Merritt to eliminate Spanish
forces in the Philippines, occupy
the islands, and provide security.
As an aside, General Merritt was
a veteran of Buffalo Soldier
upbringing, having served with
the 9th Cavalry Buffalo Soldiers
in the Indian Wars. The famed
all-Black Buffalo Soldiers will
resurface over and over
throughout General Tinker's
professional military life, and the military lives of many
famous American generals.
Dewey blockaded Manila and waited for US ground forces to
arrive. The Spanish colonial administration and some 15,000
Spanish ground forces remained on the Philippines.
The US asked Emildo Aguinaldo to return to the Philippines
from exile in Hong Kong and rally the Filipinos against the
Spanish colonial government.
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General Aguinaldo, mounted, with some of his Philippine militia. Presented
by the History Department, University of Southern California.
Aguinaldo returned and organized 10,000 Filipino militia. He
also established Asia's first democratic republic, though it is
arguable how democratic it was.
However, Commodore Dewey persuaded Aguinaldo refrain
from attacking Manila until General Merritt arrived with the
last installment of US ground forces. Little did Aguinaldo
know that President McKinley planned to annex the
Philippines and did not want Filipino revolutionaries in
Manila until it was firmly controlled by US forces.
The US created the VIII Corps in June 1898, nicknamed the
Philippine Expeditionary Force. Major General Wesley Merritt
in command. The Corps had one division, the 2nd Division. It
was commanded by Brigadier General Thomas MacArthur
Anderson. The division had two brigades.
Both brigades were a mix of volunteer regiments, mostly from
the western states, and three regular infantry regiments and
some artillery.
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General Arthur MacArthur. He received the Medal of Honor for action
during the Civil War. He was the father of General Douglas MacArthur.
Presented by Medal of Honor.
The 1st Brigade was commanded by Brigadier General Arthur
MacArthur. Under his command were the US 23rd and 14th
Infantry Regiments; the 13th Minnesota Volunteer, 1st North
Dakota Volunteer, 1st Idaho Volunteer and 1st Wyoming
Volunteer Infantry Regiments, and the Astor Battery. The
Astor Battery was raised by John Jacob Astor, the American
head of the wealthy and famous Astor family. He fought in the
Philippines with considerable bravado.
The 2nd Brigade was commanded by Brigadier General
Francis V. Greene. Under his command were the 18th US
Infantry Regiment, 3rd US Artillery Regiment, and one
company of US Army Engineers; the 1st California, 1st
Colorado, 1st Nebraska, 2nd Oregon and 10th Pennsylvania
Volunteer Infantry Regiments; two light batteries from the
Utah Volunteer Artillery and a heavy artillery detachment of
the California Volunteers.
General Anderson was tasked to lead the initial force. It left
California in May and arrived in the Philippines on June 1,
1898. The 1st and 2nd Brigades followed. All US ground
forces landed in the Philippines by the end of July.
When Merritt arrived, he organized all US forces into the 2nd
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Division, and tasked General Anderson to command the
division with its two brigades.
Members of the 2nd Oregon Volunteer Regiment, 2nd Brigade, 2nd Division,
in battle in the Philippines. Presented by the Spanish American War.
We'll not get into the battles that ensued. What we will point
out is that the US generals kept Aguinaldo out of the loop, so
much so that when the Americans began their attack on
Manila, Aguinaldo was unaware. The American columns
stopped their advance at the city's gates, a Spanish surrender
was negotiated with full military honors, US forces took
exclusive control of the city, President McKinley decided to
annex the islands, and General Merritt became the military
governor. Aguinaldo was not included in any of the
negotiations, and Washington directed that there would be no
joint occupation of the city with Aguinaldo's forces. Hostilities
with the Spanish ended in mid August 1898.
Brigadier General Elwell
Stephen Otis arrived in July 1898
and relieved General Merritt as
the Commanding General and
Military Governor. Merritt went
off to advise the US government
on negotiating the Treaty of Paris
governing this war, which was
signed in December 1898 and
took effect in April 1899. Merritt
retired in 1900.
Aguinaldo understandably felt he
had been double-crossed, and
tensions were high with the
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Americans.
While US forces took control of the Philippines, Aguinaldo
still had his army, called by some the Filipino Army, the
Filipino Revolutionary Army by others. On January 1, 1899,
Aquinaldo established the First Philippine Republic to replace
what had been operating as a Filipino Revolutionary
Government. We're not exactly sure how he became president;
some say he appointed himself, others say the Filipino people
"declared" him president. Whatever the case, the US did not
recognize his government or his position.
Filipino Militia commanded by Emilio Aguinaldo. Presented by the History
Department, University of California at Santa Cruz.
With tensions high, the Filipinos led by Aguinaldo launched
an insurrection in February 1899, called the Filipino-American
War by some. General Otis was in charge of US forces. The
Filipinos were no match against the US Occupation Army, and
the insurrection officially ended in November 1899, though it
persisted in lethal fits and starts until 1902. The US lost 4,200
dead and 2,900 wounded during these years of conflict, so this
was no cake-walk. The truth is that isolated fighting continued
at different levels until independence in 1946.
In July 1901, the Second
Philippine Commission, headed
by William Taft, took over
governance of the Philippines
from the US military. Taft
became the Civil Governor. In
this photo, he is shown as the
Philippine Governor, circa 1903
(From the Joseph Ralston
Hayden papers. Presented by the
Bentley Historical Library,
University of Michigan.)
In August 1901, the US colonial
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government created the
Philippines Constabulary,
sometimes referred to as the
Insular Constabulary. Its job was
to preserve peace and order. That
included combatting the
remaining Filipino revolutionaries under Aguinaldo.
Organic Act #175 that created the constabulary specifically
said it was to be the armed force of the Civil Government of
the Philippines. The objective was to create a paramilitary
force that could replace the American military on the islands.
Early Philippine Constabulary officers. Henry T. Allen, the chief of the
constabulary, sits with arms folded. Drawn from "Jungle Patrol, The Story of
the Philippine Constabulary, by Vic Hurley. Presented by Barbakan
International.
Henry T. Allen, a West Point graduate, a regular captain and a
lieutenant colonel of the cavalry, US Volunteers in the
Philippines, was designated as Chief of the Philippine
Constabulary. He was mustered out of the Volunteers and
reverted to his regular rank of captain. In June 1901 he began
organizing the constabulary and led it until 1907. He was
promoted to the temporary rank of brigadier general in 1903
and held that until he left.
Allen's officer corps came from 68 hand-picked officers,
mostly from the US Volunteers. We also understand that many
more officers entered the constabulary from multiple countries
around the world. They were assigned ranks: first, second,
third and fourth class inspectors. Those ranks were later
changed to military titles. Three constabulary districts were
formed encompassing the entire group of islands.
The first task was to deal with the
remaining rebellious groups.
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Allen determined that this would
demand quality training.
Training began in 1902 for
recruits, in 1903 for officers By
1904, the Constabulary had a
distinct military look.
A Constabulary Manual was
created for the officers, and in
1905 a Constabulary Officers'
School was established in
Manila. It was led by Capt. Cary
Crockett, recipient of the Medal of Valor, shown here.
In 1907, Brigadier General Harry
H. Bandholtz relieved General
Allen. He led the Constabulary
until 1913. He is shown here.
So that's a brief background
against which Third Lieutenant
Clarence Tinker served with the
constabulary. He served during
much of General Bandholtz's
command, from 1908-1912. A
Third Lieutenant was known as
an "apprentice officer." We believe it evolved from the
inspector ranks used initially.
When Tinker arrived, the Constabulary had about 4,573 men
and 315 officers. In 1908, the Constabulary was in full control
of island or insular affairs. Its forces saw considerable combat.
The Moros of Mindanao were the major challenge.
We'll mention as an important
aside that 2nd Lt. Henry H.
Arnold, a West Point graduate
and well known prankster at the
Academy, wanted to be in the
romantic cavalry but was
assigned to the 29th Infantry in
1907 in the Philippines, a kind of
punishment for the mischief he
created at West Point. He
remained with the 29th until
1909. Remember this name:
"Hap"Arnold. With the help of a
friend, Arnold slid out of the infantry and into the Signal
Corps flight training program. In this photo, presented by US
Centennial of Flight, you see Lt. Arnold in a Wright B
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airplane at College Park, Maryland in 1911.
Third Lt. Tinker most certainly served during a historic time.
The Constabulary, mostly white officers leading native
Filipino recruits, represented America's early, if not first,
experiments in jungle warfare. Quite frequently, it employed
native recruits from a certain district to fight against natives of
that same district. The Constabulary encountered considerable
success in eliminating banditry, but paid a high price. From
1901-1906, the Constabulary lost 1,029 men. Its total force
level at the time was in the region of 7,000 and below. It was
poorly equipped.
We commend to you "Jungle Patrol, the Story of the
Philippine Constabulary," by Vic Hurley, published in 1938.
4th Cavalry at the Signing of the Peace Treaty ending the Philippine
Insurrection. Presented by the Fourth Cavalry.
President Theodore Roosevelt proclaimed the insurrection
finished in 1902. By 1906, the revolution was effectively over.
The first elections for a Philippine Assembly occurred in July
1907 and it opened for business on October.
Go to next section - Infantry Lt. Tinker, from the
Philippines to the Buffalo Soldiers: Revisiting the inclusion
of blacks in the US Army, the import of WWI in the South
Pacific, and the problems with Mexico in America's
southwest.
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