Years of service 1881–1899 Name John Stotsenburg | ||
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Battles/wars Philippine–American WarBattle of Quingua Similar People J Franklin Bell, Gregorio del Pilar, Irving Hale, Arthur W Radford | ||
John Miller Stotsenburg was a Captain of the Sixth U.S. Cavalry, and a Colonel of the First Nebraska Volunteers. He was killed in the Philippine–American War, while leading his regiment in action near Quingua, Bulacan, Philippines on April 23, 1899 (See Battle of Quingua).
History
Colonel Stotsenburg was a native of New Albany, Indiana, and entered the United States Military Academy from that state on July 1, 1877. He was graduated in 1881, and assigned to the Sixth Cavalry, with which he served in New Mexico, Arizona, Nebraska, and Fort Myer, Virginia.
After graduating from the Infantry and Cavalry School of Application at Fort Leavenworth, he was appointed a Professor of Military Science and Tactics at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in December 1897. Immediately after the declaration of war with Spain, he was assigned as mustering officer for Nebraska and assisted in organizing its first regiment of which he was appointed a major. With that rank, he took the regiment to the Philippines, where he was promoted to colonel on November 10, 1898.
From the opening of hostilities until after his death, Colonel Stotsenburg's regiment was constantly in the field and always on the firing line. In the first major engagement of the Philippine–American War, on February 5, 1899, Colonel Stotsenburg personally led his troops into action that resulted in the capture of the San Juan Bridge, the powder magazine, the water work reservoir, the Convent of San Juan del Monte, and San Felipe, all of which were contested heavily by General Emilio Aguinaldo's forces. The following day, his troops drove the enemy across the Santolan River and captured the water works pumping station before the Filipinos could destroy it. During those maneuvers, Colonel Stotsenburg commanded more troops than any brigadier general on the field in the Philippines had handled up to that time: the First Nebraska, four guns of the Utah Light Battery, and a battalion of the 23rd U.S. Infantry. At the time of his death, he was 40 years old. He was buried at Arlington National Cemetery on June 1, 1899.