Custer weekly chronicle. [volume] (Custer City, S.D.) 1890-1931, 1898-09-03
he HITS SOME THEORIES HARI
Says He Was Provided With an
Abundance of Transportation
and Facilities.
NATURAL OBSTACLES ENORMOUS
Says the Volunteers Were Brave
and Full of Enthusiasm But
the Regulars DO the
Work,

NC" lOIhJ aug IN iLSi"AN
Santiago special says: Prior TO en-
barking on the steamer Mexico Gen
sral Shafter consented to be inter
viewed. He said: IL look upon the
campaign just closed as a successful
one in the highest degree, not only in
rgard TO military operations, but more
especially in regard to the great re-
suits achieved. When we decided to
attack Santiago we looked for moth
ing more as the Immediate fruit of
victory than the capture of the city.
What has been achieved is the capitu-
lation Of the eastern part of the prov
ince from the line at Jibari to the
south cosat, together with the enemy's
forces amounting to $4,000 men.
Surely this is the most notable
achievement of the campaign, bearing
in mind the fierce opposition we IN
.ountered and the comparative small
ness of our forces.
Might Have Made Mistakes.
From a military point of view, |
perhaps took steps which might not
be deemed justifiable under other cir
cumstances, but ] knew the temper
and the capabilities of my soldiers
and the moral effect of our cooplng up
the enemy within his own lines. My
engineers were very apprehensive the
Hpaniards might break through on my
left and cut off Siboney. This, from
n purely military standpoint, might
have been truthfully correct, but per-
sonally ] had not for a moment any
fear on that score. The result has, /
think proved the correctness of my
conclusion.
The Primary Object.
Our primary object was to drive
Cervera out and next to take the town.
We had gradually driven the Span
iards back on his lines, circling the
>ity and was slowly advancing day by
hay. The enemy began losing spirits
as soon as our guns had been placed
II position to cover the towns.
when Ccrvera left the situation
was changed. The town was at my
mercy and if | had given orders for II
direct assault it would have been
taken within four hours. | believe
that with the forces then at my com
mand and reinforced as they had been
l was i'm position to take the city by
force. But if ] had taken steps of such
character what would have been the
result? / estimate that our casualties
would have been 5000 men and the nc
ton ] took has had more brilliant real
results without the heavy loss of val
liable lives.
What Might Have Happened.
"The town itself is admirably stu
ated for defense, and the fight would
have been n long and bloody one Ev-
cry house is strongly constructed Of
stone and entirely different from the
ordinary frame buildings. Every
house is a little fortress by itself. Had
The Spaniards, forced by desperation,
fought the battle out i'm the streets
Dur loss would have been enormous.
But from the moment that General
Toral made the proposition for a o
terence, i knew he was determined to
give up and | acted accordingly.
Personal Reflections.
personal reflections have been cast
Ipon me because | was not on the
lighting line. That is not the place for
a general in command of an army. 1t
must be remembered that / was con-
pected by telephone with officers at
The front and better able to direct OPP
erations from the position / had
taken. Save for two days, when ! was
III, | was in direct command of this
campaign, which l consider unique in
American history, for it is really the
drst time the United States had
fought with its regular army. The
civil war was a war of volunteers, but
.his campaign was fought and won by
our regular troops.
There has been some question con-
cerning the transportation facilities
If the army. The facilities were all
there, and the transportation and
equipment provided vas all it should
bave been, but our difficulties were
enormous. There was only one road,
and to have built another would have
taken two years. The nature of the
country, weather-all those things
helped 10 ~disorganizc this depart
ment. Tie use Of wagons was almost
impossible.
some Comparisons.
II did not notice the fact at first,
but there were only three volunteer
regiments engaged against the Span
ards. While the highest credit is to
pc given them, and they fought brave
" and well, there was the moral sup
port of the regulars back of it all.
"Our volunteers lacked that unity,
cohesion and individual support no.
:iceable in our trained troops, but at
he same time no disparagement