The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1898-08-30

dispatch is an excellent example:
" Washington, July 1S, 1SsS.-Maj. Gen.
Miles; You may accept surrender by
granting paros to officers and men, the
officers retaining their side arms The
officers and men. after parole, will be per-
mitted to return to Spain, the United
States assisting If not accepted, then
assault, unless, In your Judgment, an as
sault would fail. Consult with Sampson
and pursue such course as to the assault
as you Jointly agree upon. Matters should
be settled promptly
r. a. Alger, Secretary of War
This dispatch recognizes Gen. Miles as
commander and gives him authority to
act. Gen. Shafter was entirely ignored.
In the face of this situation Secretary AL
ger, through Gen. Corbin, sent a dispatch
to Gen. Shafter assuring him that Gen.
Miles did not come to cuba to supereede
Shafter in any way. This dispatch Gen.
Miles refers 10 as secret for ne says he
did not know 1t had been sent. not being
notified from Washington, and Gen. Shat
ter saying nothing about il, After. the
surrender Gen. Miles still retained con-
troll He authorized Shafter to appoint
peace commissioners, and, Judging from
Skaters report that all was over, he in
strueted him as to the disposition of the
troops
July Is, Gen. Shafter wired Gen. Miles
that the surrender was not as complete as
was thought and said: 4olease do not go
away with the relnforcements as l may
yet need them
Gen. Miles promptly replied by wire
from Balqulri that the surrender is com
plete' and the Spaniards must surrender
"On July l6, Cen Shafter wired Gen.
Miles that the surrender was finally COM
pete, and Gen. Miles replied through
Adjt. Gen. Gilmore, as follows The com
manding general is very much grattied to
. Nl4nk .TAAA
directs that you telegraph anything of
Importance and the condition of your COM
mand daily
Gen. Miles then reported the condition
of affairs to the Secretary of War, with
whom he had been In conference. In one
of his telegrams to Gen. Miles, Secretary
Alger says: AS soon as Santiago falls the
troops must all be put in camp as COM
Portable as they can be made, and remain,
l suppose, until the fever has had its
rum
Gen. Miles does not agree with secre-
tary Alger for July q, in Eetter the gem
eral commanding, urged the return of the
army TO the United States as soon as pos
sible. July II, after the surrender was
complete, Gen. Shafter wired as follows to
Gen. Miles:
'Siboney, July II, 1898, s;4s p. m.--Re-
aeivea July IS, 1S9S.-Gen. Miles on Board
Yale: L@Sters and orders In reference to
movement of camp received, and will be
carried oEt.l None is more anxious TO get
away from here than myself. 1t seems
from your osliers given me that you regard
my forces as part of your command. Moth
ing Will Etye me greater pleasure than
serving You, general and ] shall comply
with sill your requests and directions but
I was suld by the secretary that you were
not TO supersede me in command here. I
win furnish the information called for as
Nd
tant general, A. II. O. Shafter, Mai. Gen
Gen. Miles very promptly replied as
follows:
Playa del Este. July 1s, 1898, (Guantan-
amo) 11.30 a. fn.-Gen. Shafter: Telegram
received have no desire and have care
fully avoided any appearance of SUPER
seding you. Your command Is a part OF the
United States army, which 1 have the
honor TO command, having been duly as
signed thereto and directed by the Presi-
dent to 90 wherever ] thought my pres
ence required, and give such general d.
rections as l thought best concerning mill
itary matters, and especially directed to
go to Santiago for a specific purpose.
You will also notice that the orde6s
OF the Secretary of War of July 13 left
the matter to my discretion. / should
regret that any event should cause either
yourself or any part of your command
to cease to be a part of mine
Very truly yours,
Nelson A. Miles,
Major General, commanding United
Sta& Army"
"Ger. Miles then gave Gen. Shafter
final instructions and left hurriedly for
Porto Rico In view of the situation as
revealed by the above kilograms the fol-
lowing statement contained In the New
York Herald of recent date is quoted:
"'If my cablegram to Mai Gen. Shaft
ter. informing him that Maj Gen. Miles
vac not sent to supersede him in supreme
command Of the troops In the field at San
tiago de Cuba, prevented the stormlng OF
the city on the day of its surrender and
this resulted in the saving of lives whieh
otherwise would have been lost in The
attack, then I am repaid for sending it
a thousandfold.
"This statement was made to me this
afternoon by Secretary Alger apropos of
the publication In the Herald of yester-
day. setting forth the doings of Mai Gen.
Miles during his brief stay in Cuba. The
secretary told me he did not propose to
enter into any controversy regarding the
Santiago campaign with anybody. The re-
suits spoke for themselves, and they We're
a sufficient publication for the policy
which had been pursued by the war de-
partment in the conduct of operations at
Santiago.
MY cablegram to Gen. shafter.' he
continued, was SIMPLY due 10 my desire
10 assure him that l intended TO be abso-
lutelv fair. Before his departure from
washington, Gen. Miles and l had talked
the matter over and he started for Cuba,
knowing that he was not in any way to
interfere with the operations which were
under the control Of Gen. Shafter. That
there could be no doubt whatever, ca
bled to Gen. Shafter informing him that
Gen. Miles had left for Cuba with in
structlons not to In any manner supersede
him as commander of troops In the field
at Santiago de Cuba, and, as l have said,
If my message prevented a battle, on the
morning Of the day the city surrendered,
then / am repaid thousand fo,d.
HOSPITAL TRAIN FROM TAMPA.
Eighty-Five Patients Suffering From