The Saint Paul globe., 1898-10-17
The Truth of History.

! lIlGy were NOIl L IlS IdCl mas SOLS lilIO
history that Cervera's fleet was de-
! strCyed by the naval forces of the
! United States; that the soldiers Of the
! United States, under the command Of
| Gen. Shafter, succeeded in overcoming
! the Spaniards on land; that, finally, a
complete surrender of the forces Of
| Spain tributary to Santiago result
ed; that the flag of the United States
was triumphantly raised above the gov
err ment palace in that ancient city, and
that Immediately following this Incl
dent a cessation of hostilities was Or
dered by both sides, pending the de-
tailed arrangement of terms of peace.
But, in a historical sense it is indis-
pensable that every fact associated
with the important events above classi-
! fled should he brought clearly to the
! bar of public criticism to the end that
unbiased judgment may be passed. 1t
has required a generation of TINA to
smooth out the inharmonies incident
to the Civil war, and to repair breaches
| caused by the jealOuSies of command
ers on both sides engaged in that gi-
gantic struggle; and no doubt the cloud
! of injustice, even now, rests upon the
memory of many of those heroic Amer
leans who are no longer here to speak
for themselves. The controversy over
the battle Of Shiloh, precipitated by
an OWliSh and oVerWise newspaper cor
respondent, has, even to this day, never
! been satisfactorily closed. The famous
! case of Fitz John Porter and his al
legged delinquency at the second battle
oe Bull Run occupied the attention Of
the United States senate and of the
entire country for a score of years and
until Gen. Grant, after studying the
detailed plans Of that momentOus bat
tie and the field on which it had been
fought, rendered judgment in favor Of
| the unfortunate and thoroughly brave
soldier who, throughout that period
had borne upon his shoulders the woe
ful burden Of suspicion on the part of
| his cOuntrymen of his loyalty to the
| flag.
In the eagerness of his pursuit Of
the Confederates, after the fall Of
Richmond, Gen. Sheridan peremptoriIy
dismissed Gen. G. K. Warren from the
Fifth corps Of the Army of the Poto-
mac; and the last named officer, whose
memory is appropriately hOnored by a
! statue on the field of Gettysburg, in
which battle his thoughtfulness and
| energy combined rendered 50 much ad-
vantage to the Union cause, went to
| his grave broken-spirited and under a
sense Of unmerited condemnation Even
Gen. Meade, commanding the victori-
| GUS army in that decisive contest of
the war, was subjected to the harsh
! judgment Of a committee of inyestiga-
ton.
To hn 10, fOI
have the conspicuous controversy be-
| tween Gen. r. e. Lee and Gen. Long
street, both with respect to the plans
for the invasion Of Pennsylvania and
the conduct of this same battle of Get
| tysburg, especially in connection with
the strategical maneuvering of troops
to avoid Struggle and the wisdom
Of the charge of Pickett which termi-
mated the battle. There were many
other points Of conflict in the armies
of the South between the president Of
the COnfederacy and commanders
| themselves. which have never yet been
| thoroughly elucidated, and probably
never will be.
History should be made up on the
basis of absolute truth. It is inevitable
that jea!Ousies among commanders
should arise and that partiality should
be manifest among civil officials asso-
ciated with the military and naval de-
partments Of the government. Where
a real cause for controversy exists
therefore, it is the unerring duty of
those familiar with the points of diff
ference involved to agitate until the
truth is revealed and justice done. If
there is apparent any willful attempt
at detractlOn, let the quietUs be ap-
piled, to the end that unmerited criti-
cism shall not be permitted to extend
SO far that permanent injury shall come
to the asSailed or wounded victim.
The above remarks have special ref
erence to the fitness of the naval board
appointed to inquire into all the de-
tails of the actions Of our fleet at San
tiago. Their conclusions are practi-
caily those which any one might have
drawn who carefully read the report
of Admiral Schley to Admiral Samp-
son. And they furthermore indorse the
spirit Of common sense and fairness OF
the American people, previously record
ed in connection with the unfortunate
controversy between these two gallant
officers, which found it's origin Who'll
|
ly overreaching conduct Of Admiral
Sampson himself. The result Of tha!
battle will pass into history as "a cap
tains' victory in which every officer
and man performed we'll his part and
one in which the honOrs were so album
Gant as to permit of distribution al
around, as generously suggested by
Admiral Schley
, With so excellent and satisfactory re-
suits springing from the naval inquiry
let us hope that the controversy be.
tween the friends of Gems. Miles and
Shafter may be closed by a similar
process, and the records Of his.
tory finally made up with hon.
ors equitably distributed. If there
remain those who want to crit
icise Gen. Miles for his mannerisms Of
Gen. Shafter for his rotundity, they
| will be privileged to do so, and what
| they may say on these points will b,
possessed Of no historic interest what.
ever. But every man wh6&serves his
country in any department is entitled
r to every honor that he properly &C
quires, and any honors that are bestow-
ed upon him unearned and are permit
ted by him to remain attached to his
l name when they really belong to an.
other contributes in that degree to the
= depreciation in value Of those which
are rightfully his own.