The Irish standard., 1895-10-12

tore ColSns NJ of the sftlrst
New Fork y1lnaite ars, asked me if Il did
\ not want to I'LL b his giment aud
through The governor 5cf New Y oTk made
me his first lieutenant. colonel Il. Then he
4 was pronnoted, and became colonel ut
that New York reg nlent. 1t is rather
curious that, though I went into the army
from Massachusetts, nearly all Of. my
work during the civil war was with New
York soldiers rather than with those Of
my own state. Later on was in com
mand of a division made up of New York,
Pennsylvania and Ohio regiments. and at
near the close OF the war I had COM
nland Of the Second army corps. in which
there were SO. New York regiments. AT
this time was %. was major gen
era1. and was wearing the same uniform
that wear today, / have, in fact, the
same yellow sash and the same sword
IBID you see Lees surrender to
Grant?''
NO, did not replied General Miles.
II was at the front, in command of my
troops, and though General Lees preliH-
mary correspondence in regard to the
surrender passed through my lines, 5 did
not see the actual surrender, General
Lee came up to our lines, expecting to
meet Grant there
s.You must have seen much Of Grant
at this time. How did he impress you
Yes. / saw him every day. was
struck most by HIS intense earnestness.
He seemed to have only one thought,
and that was to succeed. He fought ev-
cry battle as though that was to be his
last one. He did not appear to be trou-
bled at all as to the future. He wanted
to succeed at the time, and he was ready
10 risk everything for success.
Chow about President Lincoln?"
'tHe came frequently to the army, espe-
cially after a defeat He had fatheriy
influence on the soldiers. They all adj
n,ired him and loved him."
You have been wounded several times.
general How does it feel to be shot? ;"
"That depends upon where the ball
strikes YOU replied General Miles. IF
it passes through the leshy part Of the
body without hitting the bone it is a half
mile away before you realize that you are
shot. If it meets with resistance. howev-
er, you get the full force of the bullet,
and it strikes you like sledge ham,
raer. was once shot in the neck. The
bail cut along the side of my throat, I'M
Ger my ear and passed on. At Chancel-
lnrYille ball struck my waist-belt plate,
and then DETECTING, went OFT into my
body The blow paralyzed me. I could
not move for weeks from my waist down
ward, and everyone thought | would die.
7 was taken home to Massachusetts, and
after a few days l surprised the doctor
by moving my right foot. They took this
for q sign that the bail was in the Oppo-
site side of my body and probed for it, lay
ing the bone of my hip bare. They found
the bone broken and took out nine pieces,
leaving one, which they failed to find.
They found the bullet several inches fur
Their down than these pieces OF broken
bone. At another time was wounded in
the shoulder by the half Of bullet. [
was holding my sword up to my shoulder
when the bullet struck the edge OF the
blade and was cut in two, one-half of
the bullet flying or and the other going
into my shoulder. At another time was
wounded in the foot, the ball striking
q Mexican spur that I was wearing and
soing off into my foot BY the way,
think l have the spur Here the gen
eral opened a drawer in his desk and
pulled out a big Mexican spur, which
was broken en- one side. The break was
caused by the bullet striking the spur
It is not generally known that Gen.
eral Mics had good chance to enter
political life at the time the war closed.
The truth is that he was offered the. NOM
inatar for congress by one Of the Massa-
chusetts districts.
General, have you ever regrettedlsta
ing in the army? Don't you think you
might have had a pleasanter life had
YOU given up your military career at
the close of the war?'
no" replied General Miles, II have
not. like the army, and my life, though
it has had some hardships, has not been
an unpleasant one. have had many
advantages. have had chance to see
the great west grow from a wilderness
to an empire, and have been permitted
to work in its development. When
went west to take my place as colonel of
one of the regiments of the regular army,
from the Canadian boundary to the Rio
Grande and from Topeka to the Rockies
was little more than an Indian camping
ground. This strip is 400 miles wide and
1900 miles long. 1t is as big as all the
Atlantic states with Kentucky and Ohio.
II is bigger than New England, with
New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana
and Illinois added to it. It is a country
equal. in short, to that Of the best part
of the United States. I have seen this
vast territory opened to settlement.
nave SSSH INC tuUldAS UPON IL SuUuuSu
and changed from fighting braves to good
citizens. They have taken up lands and
they are now adopting our ways Upon
their old camping grounds have grown
up big cities, and I have seen a popula-
ton Of millions construct an empire on
the wilds where they have hunted. 1t
is, l think, a great thing to have wit
messed all this, and I deem myself fortu-
nate in having done so
fasked General Miles where he thought
would be the next great advance in army
matters.
He replied: "It will probably be in the
line OF transportation of men and equip
ment. The bicycle and the 1rorseless We
hicie will have much to do in the wars OF
the future. Put an army on bicycles and
their opponents would be at their mercy
if they were not similarly equipped. The
bicycle troops could feed of the supplies
Of their enemy's country They could
move so rapidly that the others could not
catch them. They could choose their
positions and fly from one point to an
other at a few hours notice. They could
forestall supplies and have every posi-
ton OF advantage, both in attacking and
retreating Take the horseless carriage.
The French have shown that some such
vehicles will go at the rate of sixteen
,1iiss an hour and at the same time carry
four persons. They had a competitive
race for such vehicles from Paris to Bor-
deaux and return, a distacne of $50 miles,
~,