The Coeur d'Alene press. (Coeur d'Alene, Idaho) 1892-1907, 1898-10-01

ghaplaln Nateman Writes f6e Press e the
Sixteenth u Battis,
The following interesting account Of
the part taken By the Sixteenth fnfan-
Try in the Spanish war Is furnished the
readers Of the PHEss from the pen Of
Chaplain G. 9. Bateman:
The part played By the Sixteenth In
fantFy IN the late war with Spain has
not received that full recognition By
newspaper writer's which is services de-
served. The regiment went into the
war with . fEst-elass reputation; Il
came out Of the conflict with . record
for meritorious service and gaIIantFy
unsurpassed By any military organize
ton whatsoever.
The Sixteenth never did reserve duty,
never kept warm convenient. comfort
able, or safe spot ia Cuba. Everywhere
and Ut all times it was selected for most
trying and peFilOns duty. The regiment
pressed up toward Santiago from sib-
oney, through tho jungle, In mud knee
deep, under torrents Of rain and In
burning heat. In the very earliest days
Of the lighting In the vicinity Of the
landing place. The 6ixteenth's coIors
were the Erst on San Juan ridge, ali
claims to the contrary Notwithstanding.
II IL matter Of controversy in the reg
iment itself a. 70 which company got
up first. but % far a. have been abie
70 learn two or three companies reached
the summit simultaneously, and any
claim set up BY either one Of these will
be close to the truth.
The fact Is, the regiment was In the
tbickest Of the fighting ut all times.
This Is evident from the number Of
casualties among officers and men. /
am very sorry that General Slafter
omitted the name OF Captain Morrison
in his report, since he names all other
officers killed. / am quite sure this was
unintentional, for there could have been
no possible reason for such omission.
Some newspapers give me credit for
finding Captain Morrison's body. This
10 a mistake and wholly impossible.
The body was never lost. and long after
the burial, at which / was not present,
tried to follow the directions given to
me BY Captain George and Captain
Newton, but failed to find the grave,
and never at any time did / zee the
grave Of Captain Morrison In Cuba.
was left At SibOney with sick men
and property. and served under General
DufEeld in the general hospital there
until ordered to the first divisional hos
pital. on the Rio Guiana near FL Pozo,
where / remained until the hospital
was moved near TO the Sixteenth and
broken up In tie trenches before Santi-
ago, shortly after the capitalization, when
I re-jOined the regiment and addressed
myself to the task Of relieving the sick
by getting supplies from the ships in
the harbor. This work I pursued day
by day until the sth day Of August,
when we went aboard the steamship La
Grande D1chesse, and sailed for the
United States two days afterwards,
Shortly after arriving at Montank, Long
Island, l was, by special request Of sur
geons who were familiar with my work
in Cuba, detached by command OF Gen
eral Wheeler and became resident chap
lain Of the great fever hospital al
WikoIf.
fyou wish me to name q group OF
heroes Of Santiago known to you viii
mention Captain whitall, Lieutenant
Erwin and the noble men OF ii CON-
pany. Sixteenth infantry, who were
without exception as brave lot As eyeI
stood up to be shot down. And II com.
pany (Oficers and men) Is an index Of
the whole regiment and represents the
stun which enters into the composition
OF the entire organization. A complies
list Of those worthy Of the roll of hono'
would include roster Of the regiment
But Of one thing the good people ol
Idaho and Washington may be sure
this war was fought, this victory wal
won, by the regular army. and the Six
tenth infantry was in the van Of thai
army. The only volunteers who rem
dered really conspicuous or material
service were the Rough Riders. who
were gathered from our western noun
tains and plains. God bless them.