JULIUS JOHANN JACOB KLOTZ might have paused for a minute outside the recruitment office door on that New York spring morning of May 3, 1881. Certainly the irony touched him. After all, he had left Germany to avoid conscription into the army yet here he stood, ready now to volunteer his life to a country in which he had only just arrived. And, he would lie in order to do so, not once, but twice.
The recruiting sergeant looked up to see a young man with a round open face. With broad shoulders, blue eyes, brown hair, fair complexion, and standing 5 feet 7 1/4 inches tall, Julius looked old enough to be twenty one. In fact, he was seven weeks shy of his nineteenth birthday. He told the sergeant that his name was Julius "Lutz", he was 21 years old born in Stuttgart, Germany, and a baker by trade.
Julius had left Germany behind him. With new name and a vow to learn the language and customs of his adopted homeland, he raised his right hand before Captain D. Madden and Private Earnest L. Mass. He declared that he had neither wife nor child, that he was of legal age, that he was physically fit to serve, and that he had never been discharged from the US military by reason of disability or by sentence of the court. He leaned over, signed the Oath of Enlistment and Allegiance and was congratulated by the captain for his five year commitment to serve with the US Cavalry.
The next months were spent preparing for the move west. On September 25, 1881, Private Lutz was mustered in with the other 82 men stationed at Fort Assiniboine deep in Montana Territory. Julius belonged to the 2nd Cavalry, Company L led by Captain Randolf Norwood.
Two weeks after arriving, Company L and a group of 18th Infantry under the command of Captain Jacob Kline, left the fort heading north. US government policy at this time was to expel the Cree Indians from the "Northwest Possessions", and the Army was efficient in its task. This expedition pushed three camps of Crees and "half-breeds" northward across the boarder, burning thirty log cabins used by the Indians for winter quarters. They returned to the fort on October 26, having marched 237 miles over the past eighteen days.
Things were quiet that first winter. In early December, Company L left Assiniboine for Fort Maginnis where they picked up 50 ponies and escorted them back, covering a distance of 350 miles. The rest of the winter the company performed "the usual garrison duties". In March 1882, Captains Norwood and Kline assembled their men and again marched north to confront the Crees. While they covered over 300 miles, there is no record of them finding any Indians.
By July there had been no further encounters with the Cree, so the Company left Ft. Assiniboine for Medicine Lodge. On July 9, a band of Cree were spotted and pursued resulting in the capture of nine ponies and twenty rifles. The troop pushed on from Medicine Lodge to Beaver Creek 275 miles west and arrived there by the end of the month. From this camp they scouted Woody Island, Cottonwood Creek and along the border to Rock Creek, then on to Frenchman's Creek and finally Milk River. They camped at Milk River until early October.
In April, 1883 several events lead to an armed confrontation between Julius' Company and the Cree Nation. On April 14, Captain W. E. O'Brien with a detachment of Troop H left Ft. Assiniboine in pursuit of a small band of Cree who had stolen horses from the settlers along the Teton River. At Beaver Creek, he captured 69 Indians, 18 ponies, 3 carts, 61 guns and 20 buffalo robes. In the evening of April 18, Captain Norwood and Julius' Company L left the fort and headed north toward the Canadian border in pursuit of a larger band of Cree. The detachment's Indian scouts were fired on as they neared the east end of Wild Horse Lake the following day. The Company attacked, scattering the Indians and stampeding the ponies. When the smoke and dust cleared, two members of the Cree party and two horses lay dead.
The rest of the unit's service in Montana Territory was routine duty, protecting the settlers in the area and guarding the construction of the Northern Pacific Railroad. There were no more actions, patrols or combing the country for Cree. On June 22, 1884, Troop L arrived at Fort Coeur d'Alene in Idaho Territory.
On June 22, 1884, Julius Lutz, along with the rest of Troop L, arrived at Fort Coeur d'Alene in Idaho Territory.
Fort Coeur d'Alene was established in 1878 by General William Techumseh Sherman who gained notoriety for his "March on Georgia" during the Civil War. It was renamed Fort Sherman in 1887 and abandoned by the military in 1901. The site is currently the home of North Idaho College.
Compared to the rough hewn outpost that had been Ft. Assiniboine, Fort Coeur d'Alene was a palace. In 1883 a visitor to the fort would have found of the following amenities: a Regimental Band building; a children's school; a chapel and library; a bakery; a sawmill; a blacksmith shop; a carpenter's shop; a plumber's shop; a granary; two ice houses and a recreation hall.
Julius' duties were light for the next year and life was centered around the fort. In May, 1885, instructions were telegraphed from Washington DC instructing 42 men from Company L to escort a band of 150 Nez Perce Indians from Spokane Falls to Ft. Spokane under Lieut. Guy Carleton. In July, 49 men of Company L commanded by Capt. Randolph Norwood patrolled the Moses and Colville Indian Reservations. They camped the remainder of the summer on the west side of the Columbia River, before returning to Fort Coeur d'Alene in September. The winter of 1886 was harsh. In late January, 2nd Lieut. Carleton and 31 men marched to Rathdrum to clear the wagon road of heavy snowfall that had closed it to all traffic.
On May 2, 1886, Private Julius Lutz was discharged at the end of his five year commitment to serve. He left with a rating of "Excellent" character. On May 22, Julius arrived at Fort Hamilton, New York, where he re enlisted for another five years in the 5th Artillery, Battery L, under the command of Capt. John Brickle.
Fort Hamilton was adjacent to the Narrows which framed the entrance to Upper New York Bay. Julius' duties in this urban setting were quite different from the Indian patrols of Montana Territory. Rifle practice, for example, was not allowed within the fort itself. Instead, Battery L commuted to Creedmore on Long Island to perform this task. On September 15, 1886, Julius took his first furlough in five and a half years and spent a week in Philadelphia. On October 28, part of Battery L left the fort aboard the "Jas Brown" and steamed to Bedlows Island where they fired salutes during the unveiling ceremonies for the Statute of Liberty, newly arrived from France.
By April, 1887, Julius had been promoted to Corporal and was transferred to Fort Columbus on Governors Island also in Upper New York Bay. Later this same month, Julius, Sergeant Moulton and eight Privates went on "detached service" to Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. In mid September, Julius took his second furlough. He had been promoted to Sergeant.
On June 20, 1888, Julius deserted. It is not clear what precipitated his desertion, but it appears that Julius must have traveled at least as far as England. He is listed among those passengers who arrived in Philadelphia on October 17, 1888, aboard the "British Princess" originating from Liverpool. (He listed his age as 25 and his occupation as "Baker".) The muster rolls at Fort Columbus show that "Private" Julius Lutz surrendered on October 18. There is no mention of any other disciplinary action.
On May 17, 1890, a battalion of the 5th Artillery including Battery L left Fort Hamilton under the command of Major Tully McCrea en route to Fort Canby, Washington. They were transported by rail to Portland and from there by steamer up the Columbia River where they arrived at Fort Canby on May 26. Reports from the fort over the next fifteen months state only that the "Troop performed the usual garrison duties".
Private Julius Lutz was discharged on September 18, 1891 following the completion of his enlistment. His papers described his character as "Very good" and that he was "an intelligent and sober man".
Julius made his way south to San Francisco where he spent the fall and early winter of 1892. On February 16, 1892, Julius enlisted for the third time in the Army joining the 4th Cavalry, Company E. His re enlistment papers note that he had a "linear scar on the dorsal surface of his left thumb, to the inner side 1 1/4" long. Tear on the palmer surface same thumb 1/2" long. Tear over 2nd joint left thumb posterior surface 1/4" long." The papers also state that he enlisted as a "general telegraph instructor".
Company E was stationed at Fort Vancouver, Washington, and Private Lutz arrived at the fort on February 20, 1892, where once again he "performed the usual garrison duties".
Julius' father, Jakob Johan Klotz, died on March 28, 1892. On July 1, 1892, Julius wrote the following letter:
The Adjutant Genl.
Washington DC. USA
Sir:
I respectfully request that I may be discharged from the service of the US Army for the following reasons: I received a notification from Germany of my father's death, and it is of the most urgent necessity to me, for to be there. I have served ten years, my present enlistment dating from Febry 16, 1892.
Very Respectfully
Your Obedient Servant
Julius Lutz
His request was accompanied by this note from his commander, Capt. F. Wheeler: "This man's service has been faithful and his statement of service is correct. He is not indebted to the United States."
Julius' request was answered by Major McCrea on July 7 who asked why it was so necessary for Private Lutz to return to Germany upon learning of his father's death. Captain Wheeler's response to Major McCrea was as follows:
" Private Lutz is the eldest of the family and the one to whom the property must be turned over, his brothers being under age and his sisters married, all [now living] in this country.
I can give no information except Private Lutz's statement that he wishes to go both on his own account and on that of his brothers and sisters. He thinks it would be to his advantage to go in person, so he can decide, when there, what to do with his property.
The German Counsel in Philadelphia knows that this property was left to Private Lutz (Klotz, the name should be, the change due to a mistake of the Recruiting Sergeant)."
The accuracy of Julius' claims to his captain are somewhat questionable. He was born sixth in a family of eleven children. Four of his older siblings were sisters (although one died in 1858), and it is not clear that any of them lived in the United States in 1892. He did have an older brother, Robert Imanuel, but his whereabouts in 1892 is also unknown. Julius also had two younger brothers at this time, August Adolph who was 22 years old, and Jakob Johan, who was 21.
Be that as it may, Special Order No. 175 was issued by Major General Schofield from the Headquarters of the Army in Washington DC on July 27, 1892, directing Private Julius Lutz to be discharged following receipt of the order. Julius was discharged as of August 4. His character was noted as "Good".
References
Index to Philadelphia, PA, Passenger Lists, Mormon Family History Library Microfilm Number 1380287
National Archives and Records Service, Returns From Regular Army Artillery Regiments, June 1821-January 1901, M727, Roll No. 35
National Archives and Records Service, Returns From Regular Army Cavalry Regiments, 1833-1916, M744, Rolls No. 20 & 45
Roberts, Robert B., Encyclopedia of Historic Forts, New York: MacMillan Publishing Company
Scheil, Frank R., Post Exchange and Canteen Tokens of Ft. Sherman, Idaho, TAMS Journal, February 1971, page 5
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