Lea’s Army
Recently, I went to the Eagle Rock Valley Historical Society to deliver an old newspaper clipping for their archive collection. Someone asked me: " How do we know that the photo of the Chinese soldiers trained by Capt. O'Banion was really taken in Eagle Rock? Is it just because its caption says so? I think their uniforms were from the war surplus store! "
If you read my last blog you probably know that Capt. O'Banion enjoyed being a hero in his newly published non fiction work, Double Ten. That means he had verified the photos and contents of the book before it went to press. Perhaps those photos came from Capt. O'Banion himself. Also, Lea's Army's uniform was not easily manufactured or copied! Each uniform was tailored to fit the soldier and there was a unique design of the army's symbol. How I hope someone out there still has one of those uniforms preserved today! The striking images of the smart Chinese soldiers was in contrast to the stereotypical depictions of Chinese immigrants as railroad workers, fishermen, farm laborers and laundrymen. The Herald Examiner, a past major Los Angeles newspaper mistakenly reported that they were Japanese. I would like to share the information with you in this blog about Lea’s Army, their structure, and how they financially supported twenty-seven military schools, the Western Military Academies, which operated secretly across the United States, and eventually tumbled the Qing Dynasty in China. Dr. Sun Yat-sun became the first democratic president.
Lea always believed China could be save if they had a strong army! Lea was distressed to see China being divided by strong nations including the United States. After the Boxer Rebellion, Lea planned to recruit four hundred American veterans to China and build a strong Chinese army. Unfortunately, in China Lea participated in a failed uprising; he felt it more practical to train Chinese soldiers here in the United States and send them back to China.
The first Western Military Academy was founded in Los Angeles as early as 1902, and officially filed in 28 November, 1904. Its purpose was " Instruction in elementary and academic studies in language and in military science and tactics." It did not mention that their students were Chinese or of their connection to the secret Chinese society. Lea often said: " Tell them everything, but tell them nothing!" Five honorable trustees were the members of the Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce. The first location of the academy was in an old armory on Marchessult Street near the old Chinatown. In 1903, Lea finally met Ansel E. O'Banion and recruited him as a drillmaster. There were a total of sixty men in two Companies. Captain O'Banion was in charge of Company A; a retired engineer and ex-West Pointer, George Witfield West, was in charge of Company B. By 1904, it grew to 120 men and Lea purchased the old ballpark with two and a half acres for its expansion. Lea's soldiers were drilled on weekday evenings and weekends in many different locations in the Los Angeles area, including Eagle Rock, Hollywood, Malibu hills, beaches, San Pedro, and Santa Monica. The academy gradually expanded to other cities in California, such as Oxnard, Ventura, Santa Barbara, Fresno, Bakersfield, Hanford, San Francisco, Sacramento, San Bernardino, and San Diego.
Soon after the Western Military Academy became established in California, recruitment efforts began across the United States for more officers, most of them were retired National Guards officers and retired Army officers. They were paid very handsome money plus allowance and a bonus. In fact, they were paid better than the United States army. The army was financed by the local Reform Association through various contributions. The only officer who did not draw a penny from the army was Homer Lea, as he considered it criminal for him to receive any money and he would only accept it when his mission was accomplished. Transactions were through cash alone to avoid investigations from the tax revenue and federal departments.
They obtained uniforms from Pettibone Brothers Manufacturing Company, located at 628 Main Street, Cincinnati and the same firm at 19 Montgomery Street, San Francisco. The uniform was tailored with a dark blue jacket and blue cap with a light blue jersey trouser. Dress uniforms for officers were more elaborate. Finally there were four regiment military units across the United States according to the Geographical basis. Opportunities opened up for Soldiers of Fortune. The army structure consisted of three majors, twenty captains (most Caucasian) and 14 lieutenants (some Chinese). Lea's army totaled about two thousand and one hundred men. The Western Military Academies had companies in Portland, Seattle, Spokane, Tacoma, Walla Walla, Bellingham, Phoenix, Denver, St. Louis, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Boston, and New York. In Canada, there were also units in Vancouver and Victoria. At the high point of the academy, soldiers were trained in twenty-seven cities in the United Sates and Canada.
There were public appearances in every city when Kang Yu-wei and Lea visited and inspected their Western Military academies. However, the most striking one was when the Chinese soldiers marched in the 1905 Rose Tournaments Parade in Pasadena. It was the first time armed foreign soldiers ever marched on American soil. Later, Kang found his ideas for a peaceful reform movement were contradicted by Lea's military training. To avoid the controversy surrounding raising a Chinese Army in the United States, Kang tried to distance himself from Lea and tried to replace General Lea with Richard Alexander Falkenburg, an American soldier of fortune. Falkenburg took every opportunity to destroy Lea, whether it was in the public or political sphere with the federal government. Lea continued to refuse Falkenburg as the Commander in Chief of the Imperial Reform Army and the head of the Western Military Academy. Lea was finally announced as the official commanding officer by Kang at a press conference after all attempts against him had failed. After the Falkenburg incident, Lea avoided any public appearance of his army. Although the training was still going on behind doors, " The silence was so complete that the military units seemed to have disappeared from the face of the earth, " as was quoted in Eugene Anschel's 1984 book.
It was racial discrimination. It was soldiers of fortune. It was the opportunity for business in China. Homer took all these ingredients and blended them into one product, the Western Military Academy. Not only Chinese Americans were trained, but also many young Chinese were brought secretly into the United States to eventually overthrow the Qing Monarchy. Homer Lea’s cadets infiltrated Qing's New Army and armed with Lea's training, were quickly promoted to the officials. Dr. Sun once reported in a letter telling Lea that even the admiral of the Qing's Navy was their man. Many historians and scholars had argued that one could only speculate about the contribution of the academies to the 1911 Chinese Revolution. Every historian is entitled to their argument, judgments based on their findings. There is no right or wrong. This is what makes lost history so unique! It is finally up to the readers to form their own beliefs. Such relatively small revolutionary agents overcame such large organized Qing's armies -- this is virtually impossible! Lea would answer that the impossible is possible! The United States government and the New York Times both argued that the revolution was a success due to Lea's effort. Not only were his tactics so well planned, but it was virtually a bloodless revolution. Lea had studied military tactics by himself since he was in high school. He read books about this subject. Sun Tzu, the famous Chinese warrior philosopher said in his book, The Art of War, " To Win Without Fighting is Best." Lea exercised that brilliantly!
Photos - courtesy of Jashua Powers Collection and the book, Double Ten.
Captain O’Banion and the Chinese troops on maneuvers at Eagle Rock (center photo).
Western Military Academy
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
