LIEUT. BACKUS
DIDN'T GET WELL.
______

DIED IN THE CITY HOSPITAL.
______

His Army Record was
That of a Brave Officer -- To Be
Buried at San Antonio.

Lieut. George B. Backus, First lieutenant in the First Cavalry, U. S. A., died in the City Hospital last night of gangrene of the lungs, following pneumonia.
___

For several months preceding his death, deceased had been away from his regiment on an indefinite sick leave. Domestic troubles, it is said, drove him to dissipating and dissipation wrecked his health to such an extent, as to render him unfit for service. Finally, he displayed symptoms of mental derangement, and in this condition, hecame to Dallas a few weeks ago, where he was looked after by officers of the army.
Several days after his arrival in Dallas, he wrote a note to one of the officers that he could be found the next day by the side of a path, leading from the Oak Cliff bridge into the river bottom.
He was found precisely as the note said he could be, and in an unconscious condition, conveyed to the city hospital, where he developed a case of pneumonia. It is supposed that in a fit of melancholy, he attempted to commit suicide by swallowing morphine.
During his illness at the hospital, Lieut. Backus' mother, who lives in Colorado, was with him.
__

The remains of the officer will be interred in the national cemetery at San Antonio with military honors. Capt. C. H. Heyle, of the Twenty-third Infantry, will accompany the body, which will be shipped to San Antonio to-night.
____

Lieut. Backus was born in Pennsylvania about the year 1851, and was consequently 44 years of age. In September, 1871, he was admitted to the West Point Military Academy from Colorado. In June, 1875, he was appointed Second
Lieutenant of the First cavalry. He was promoted to the Senior First-Leiutenantcy, January 12, 1880, and had he lived, would shortly have been advanced to the rank of Captain.
Lieut. Backus was an accomplished scholar, an elegant gentlemen and a courageous soldier, which latter was abundantly demonstrated in the prolonged border warfare in which he was engaged from the early 70's downward. He was in the hottest campaigns against the Sioux, the Nez Perces and other northwestern tribes, and finally, against the Apaches in New Mexico, Arizona and Northern Mexico.
- June 15, 1895, Dallas Daily Times Herald, p. 6, col. 1.

LIEUT. BACKUS
DIDN'T GET WELL.
______

DIED IN THE CITY HOSPITAL.
______

His Army Record was
That of a Brave Officer -- To Be
Buried at San Antonio.

Lieut. George B. Backus, First lieutenant in the First Cavalry, U. S. A., died in the City Hospital last night of gangrene of the lungs, following pneumonia.
___

For several months preceding his death, deceased had been away from his regiment on an indefinite sick leave. Domestic troubles, it is said, drove him to dissipating and dissipation wrecked his health to such an extent, as to render him unfit for service. Finally, he displayed symptoms of mental derangement, and in this condition, hecame to Dallas a few weeks ago, where he was looked after by officers of the army.
Several days after his arrival in Dallas, he wrote a note to one of the officers that he could be found the next day by the side of a path, leading from the Oak Cliff bridge into the river bottom.
He was found precisely as the note said he could be, and in an unconscious condition, conveyed to the city hospital, where he developed a case of pneumonia. It is supposed that in a fit of melancholy, he attempted to commit suicide by swallowing morphine.
During his illness at the hospital, Lieut. Backus' mother, who lives in Colorado, was with him.
__

The remains of the officer will be interred in the national cemetery at San Antonio with military honors. Capt. C. H. Heyle, of the Twenty-third Infantry, will accompany the body, which will be shipped to San Antonio to-night.
____

Lieut. Backus was born in Pennsylvania about the year 1851, and was consequently 44 years of age. In September, 1871, he was admitted to the West Point Military Academy from Colorado. In June, 1875, he was appointed Second
Lieutenant of the First cavalry. He was promoted to the Senior First-Leiutenantcy, January 12, 1880, and had he lived, would shortly have been advanced to the rank of Captain.
Lieut. Backus was an accomplished scholar, an elegant gentlemen and a courageous soldier, which latter was abundantly demonstrated in the prolonged border warfare in which he was engaged from the early 70's downward. He was in the hottest campaigns against the Sioux, the Nez Perces and other northwestern tribes, and finally, against the Apaches in New Mexico, Arizona and Northern Mexico.
- June 15, 1895, Dallas Daily Times Herald, p. 6, col. 1.