Editing Archibald Butt (section)

==Military service==
On January 2, 1900,<ref name=hines5758>Hines, pp. 57–58.</ref> Butt was commissioned as a captain in the United States Volunteers<ref name="Encyclopedia" /><ref>Goode, p. 135.</ref> (an [[military volunteer|all-volunteer]] group which was not part of the regular United States Army but was under the regular Army's control). He had long admired the military, and no one in his immediate family was serving in the armed forces at the time the Spanish–American War broke out. Although Butt's literary career was taking off, his family's long involvement with the military and his desire to represent his family in the army led him to enlist.<ref>"Archibald W. Butt", in Butt, ''Both Sides of the Shield'', p. xv.</ref> Adjutant General of the U.S. Army [[Henry Clarke Corbin]] was influential in encouraging him to enlist.<ref name="Obit" /><ref name=hines5758 />

Butt was assigned as an assistant quartermaster (i.e. a supply officer).<ref name="Encyclopedia" /> He was ordered to take the transport ship ''Sumner'' through the [[Suez Canal]] and proceed to the [[Philippines]]. But he was eager to get into the war, and secured a change in orders that sent him from San Francisco, aboard the [[List of ships of the United States Army#Transport ships|USAT]] Dix. Butt's new orders required him to stop in [[Hawaii]] with his cargo of 500 [[mule]]s. But he found the price of feed and stables so high and the quarters for the animals so poor that he disobeyed orders and continued on to the Philippines. Although this risked the lives of his animals (and possible [[court-martial]]), none of the mules died en route and Butt was praised for his initiative.<ref name="Obit" /><ref>Bromley, p. 51.</ref> Butt remained in the Philippines until 1904, writing numerous treatises on the care of animals in the tropics and on military transportation and logistics. His reports won him significant praise by military officials.<ref>"Archibald W. Butt", in Butt, ''Both Sides of the Shield'', pp. xv–xvi.</ref>

On June 30, 1901, Butt was discharged from the Volunteers and received a commission as a captain in the Regular Army retroactive to February 2, 1901.<ref>Butt's personal papers and memoirs claim the commission was made on January 2, 1900, which was the date of his commission in the Volunteers. But the commission was recommended by William Howard Taft, who was chairman of the [[Taft Commission|Second Philippine Commission]]—the body which was organizing a civilian government in the Philippines in the wake of the Spanish–American War and the first battles of the [[Philippine–American War]]. Taft made the recommendation that Butt receive a commission in the Army to [[United States Secretary of War|Secretary of War]] [[Elihu Root]] on January 7, 1901. In this matter it is important distinguish between a commission in the United States Volunteers and the Regular Army. See: Bromley, p. 52.</ref> Butt's social activities continued while he was in the Philippines. He was secretary of the Army and Navy Club,<ref name="Obit" /> and had a major role in founding the [[Military Order of the Carabao]] (a tongue-in-cheek spoof of military fraternal organizations that still exists {{as of|2012|lc=y}}).<ref>Roth, p. 256.</ref>

In 1904, Butt was ordered to return to Washington, D.C., where he was appointed depot quartermaster. He was the lowest-ranking officer ever to hold this important position within the Quartermaster Corps.<ref name="Bromley52">Bromley, p. 52.</ref> In 1906, when a revolution against [[Tomás Estrada Palma]] broke out in Cuba, Butt was hurriedly assigned to lead U.S. Army logistical operations there. On just two days' notice, he established a well-organized supply depot.<ref name="Bromley52" /> He was named Depot Quartermaster in [[Havana]].<ref>"Archibald W. Butt", in Butt, ''Both Sides of the Shield'', p. xvii.</ref>