The second event in his life which proved his personal bravery and his quick heroic resolution was hauling down the Lone Star flag from the City Hall on the capture of New Orleans under Farragut, at which time he was serving as Farragut's flag-lieutenant on board the Hartford. Mayor Munroe of the city refused to remove the flag, and Lieutenant Kautz made his way through a dense mob and hoisted the United States flag on the Custom House.
His third striking effort for the country was his service in Samoa, in 1899, while he was commander-in-chief of the United States naval forces, in the Pacific. To quote from his official report in regard to his part in the Samoan difficulty: "If, while there was not sufficient force in Apia, in the interests of peace, a temporary provisional government of Samoan chiefs was accepted, it should cease now that the proper force is here. These chiefs should be informed that they must return quietly to their homes and respect the laws. The chiefs and their people who were driven from their homes should be allowed to return, or should be brought back; and the order of the supreme court should be obeyed. This can and ought to be done without firing a shot, and I earnestly hope that all who have official authority, and all good citizens of whatever nationality, will do all in their power for the accomplishment of this end. In conclusion, I can only assure you that the naval force of a majority of the Treaty Powers can be depended upon to act with firmness in the suppression of lawlessness and in the loyal support of all officers in the execution of duty under the treaty of Berlin." He says: "I consider the record I made in Samoa the most important and creditable of my life of fifty years in the navy. The president and his cabinet approved of all I did, but failed to reap any benefit from a most advantageous position. Germany, after neglecting its duty to a degree positively criminal, was allowed to reap a harvest, and the helpless Samoans were deprived of all that had been guaranteed them by the three leading Christian nations of the world." Admiral Kautz's humane but authoritative methods may be judged of by the two phrases which are found in the words quoted from his report. "Without firing a shot," and " the naval force can be depended upon to act with firmness."
He was born in Georgetown, Ohio, January 29, 1839. His father, George Kautz, a wine grower, was a man of honesty and good commonsense. His mother's maiden name was Dorothe Lewing.
