LAWTON, HENRY WARE. 



LITERATURE, AMERICAN, IN 1890. 415 



ried into action in the 7 companies composing 

 it probably not more than 250 men. In his official 

 report of the part taken by his regiment in the 

 battle of Franklin (Nov. 30, 1864), which pre- 

 ceded that of Nashville and was a part of the 

 same general movement, he says: 



" After a very irregular march all night I ar- 

 rived with the brigade (Third) at Franklin at 

 about 8 A.M. of the 30th inst.; was formed in 

 irregular order, and with arms stacked remained 

 long enough to prepare breakfast. About 11 A. M. 

 we were moved to the right, near the western 

 portion of the city, and were formed by Gen. 

 Grose, commanding brigade, in line of battle. My 

 position was in the front line, joined on the right 

 by the Seventy-fifth Illinois and on the left by 

 the Eighty-fourth Indiana. Skirmishing had al- 

 ready begun on the left of the line, and was now 

 commencing in our front. A line of works was 

 now being rapidly constructed, and by 4 P. M. 

 was completed. 



" My regiment being composed mostly of new 

 levies and drafted men, and entirely ignorant of 

 the use of arms, I deemed it necessary to have 

 all spare time given to drill; consequently when 

 the works were finished I was forming for that 

 purpose when the pickets in my front commenced 

 firing very rapidly, and by the time I had formed 

 behind the works were driven in by a charge of 

 the enemy. They fell back immediately in my 

 front and compelled me to hold my fire for the 

 purpose of saving my own men. The enemy re- 

 ceived an oblique and very destructive fire from 

 the Ninth Indiana on the right of the line, which 

 checked him until the pickets got under cover 

 of the works, when I immediately opened upon 

 him. The two fires soon became too hot, and 

 he was compelled to fall back, which he did in 

 considerable disorder. Pickets were again sent 

 out in my front and kept up a slow fire, but were 

 not again driven in. Heavy fighting, however, 

 was done on the left, but my command had no 

 part, and nothing further occurred until twelve 

 o'clock that night, when our line was withdrawn 

 and I moved with the brigade across the river 

 without further molestation. 



" The conduct of both officers and men was 

 good, without exception, and they have my warm- 

 est thanks for the promptness with which they 

 did their part." 



After the war Col. Lawton began the study 

 of law at Harvard, but he soon gave it up and 

 accepted an appointment as second lieutenant in 

 the Forty-first United States Infantry, July 28, 



1866. He was promoted first lieutenant July 31, 



1867, and served as regimental quartermaster 

 from June 1, 1868, to Nov. 11, 1869, when he was 

 transferred to the Twenty-fourth Infantry, with 

 which he served in the same capacity till Jan. 

 1, 1871. He was then transferred to the Fourth 

 Cavalry, of which he was quartermaster most of 

 the time till March 20, 1879. At that date he 

 was promoted captain, Sept. 17, 1888, was made 

 major and inspector general, and Feb. 12, 1889, 

 lieutenant colonel. 



He was commissioned brigadier general May 

 4, 1898, and placed in command of the Second Di- 

 vision of the Fifth Corps. In the Cuban cam- 

 paign he led the advance, and his division was 

 the first to land at Daiquiri. He commanded in 

 the action at El Caney, exhibiting great skill and 

 gallantry. After the capture of Santiago he was 

 promoted major general (July 8) and placed in 

 command of the district. In the autumn of that 

 year he returned to the United States, and ac- 

 companied President McKinley on his tour of 

 the Southern States. In December he was as- 



signed to the command of a corps in the Philip- 

 pines, and he was in active service there through 

 the year 1899 till he was shot dead in battle. A 

 popular subscription for the relief of his widow 

 and children aggregated almost $100,000, which 

 was made over to Mrs. Lawton early in March, 

 1900. 



LIBERIA, ft republic on the west coast of 

 Africa, founded by emancipated American slaves, 

 with a Constitution copied after that of the 

 United States. The Senators are elected for four 

 years, and members of the House of Representa- 

 tives for two years. The President is elected 

 also for two years. The Senate has 8, the House 

 of Representatives 13 members. The President 

 is W. D. Coleman; Vice-President, J. J. Ross. 

 The Government receipts, coming mostly from 

 customs, amount to $158,000 a year. The debt 

 consists of a loan of 100,000 raised in 1871, 

 which with arrears of interest since 1874 amount- 

 ed in 1897 to 264,500. 



The area of Liberia is estimated at 14,360 square 

 miles, with a population of 18^000 Afro-Americans 

 and 1,050,000 Africans of native stock. The Kru 

 and Wey tribes of Liberia supply crews and 

 stokers for many of the steamers engaged in the 

 West African trade, and also fighting men and 

 porters for all expeditions sent into the interior 

 and laborers for plantations in Cameroons and 

 other places along the coast. Monrovia, the 

 capital, has about 5,000 inhabitants. 



The coffee grown in Liberia ranks among the 

 best sorts. Other exports are palm oil and palm 

 kernels, rubber, of which a monopoly has been 

 granted to a commercial syndicate, cacao, sugar, 

 arrowroot, ivory, hides, and piassava. The rub- 

 ber company is composed of Englishmen. Eng- 

 land has saved the republic from bankruptcy by 

 financial support, yet has no other commercial 

 interests in the country. Two thirds of the for- 

 eign trade is in the hands of Germans. France 

 has advanced the frontier of the Ivory Coast pos- 

 sessions to the Cavally river, which Liberia 

 claimed. Recently a permanent French agent has 

 been sent to Monrovia. 



LITERATURE, AMERICAN, IN 1899. A 

 considerable increase was shown in the number 

 of books published during this year compared 

 with 1898. Four hundred and thirty-five more 

 volumes were recorded, the totals standing 5,321 

 to 4,886. The comparison is favorable with the 

 year 1897 also, when 4,928 books were sent out; 

 but when we consider the records of 1895 and 

 1896 there is a decided falling away, the figures 

 for those years being respectively 5,469 and 5,703 

 volumes. A most encouraging fact is that, while 

 in 1898 the books by American authors numbered 

 2,908, in 1899 3,626 were the production of native 

 writers. But 571 books by English and foreign 

 writers were manufactured in this country (new 

 editions being included in the estimates), as com- 

 pared with 834 of last year. The importations of 

 books by English authors, bound or in sheets, 

 were 1,124, as against 1,144 in 1898. The most 

 marked increase was in the department of biog- 

 raphy and memoirs, where 116 new titles were 

 recorded in excess of those of last year. Seventy- 

 eight more juvenile books were also sent out, 

 and 50 more books on the fine arts and illustrated 

 books, than were published in 1898. The largest 

 decrease was in books on theology and religion. 

 These fell to the fifth place in point of numbers, 

 formerly occupied by books for young people. 

 There were also fewer books in medicine, in lit- 

 erary history and miscellany, and in political and 

 social science. History showed no variation to 

 speak of, and more books of travel were written. 



