Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1898-09-16
GROSVENoR TO VETERANS
he Says That WAR is War and Defends
the Administration.
Points Out Alleged Perfection of Pro-
vision for the Comfort of
the Soldiers.

| The joint reunion of the 18th Illinois and
| Stephenson county soldiers brought thou
| sands to F'reeport, Ill, yesterday. Among
| the speakers were Col. ~Dornblazer Of the
18th; Capt. F. H. Marsh, Judge Crabtree.
Gen. Byers of Wisconsin and Gen. Gros-
venor. The sentiment prevailed that all of
the Philippines should be retained
! Gen. Grosvenor said. in part:
! 'Since the anr ual meetings of the Grand
Army of the Req ublic of 1897 great events
| have happened in the United States events
which will charge the map of the world
| and stamp upon the American character
| the elements of a great cosmopolitan fac
| ter 1t would seem fitting and proper that
We discuss the events of the past year. and
| consider them with reference to the his
! tory of the Grand Army of the Republic
and the soldiers of the war of 1S61-5.
know that am speaking to men of distin-
| gulshed magnanimity of character and gen.
crosby of purpose, and hence 1 will VEN
ture to say there will be no men in the
United States who will receive the return
| ing soldiers of the Spanish war with great
| er evidences of comradeship than will the
n.en who marched and fought from Bull
Run to Appomattox. They will be receiv-
| ed In our homes and be given the front
rank in our hearts affections.
The performances of the Union soldiers
will not be discussed by men in compa rison
with the of the Spanish war except
| ing only to show how imperfect were the
provisions for our safety, our comfort and
our eHciency, as compared with those of
the army of today"
Without discussing the ethics Of the con-
t1oversy between the United States and
Spain. Gen. Grosvenor defended the war as
righteous and holy one After detailing
the suddenness with which the beginning
| of hostilities came, and the great difficulties
confronting the War and Navy Depart
ments in providing ammunition and sup
plies of subsistence he said:
War is War.
I'm less than hundred days about DDS
900 men were mustered into the volunteer
organizations Of the United States and the
| regular army was increased to about 10000,
| making somewhere in the neighborhood of
2Io,OOG men of all arms and at the end of
one hundred days every man of them was
fully equipped for war Go with me now to
the camp of one of these regiments and see
what they had. Arms of the best obtain
able character, probably not the Mauser
nor in all cases the Krag- Jorgensen, but in
every case an efficient weapon. Quarter
master supplies in quantities beyond the
dream of possibility. Go to camp and see
their tentage, their bedding their cooking
utensils and their ratonS and you will say
what L say, that 40 one on earth was ever
so well armed. SO well clothed, so well
cared for; and all this was done In a period
OF less than one hundred days.
Now We come to the somber and less
satisfactory features of this war. Men have
died. Up to the present time it is believed
that the death list by bullets and wounds
and by disease has reached the terrible
figure of nearly 500 men. Eleven thous-
and men fell dead and wounded at Chicka-
manga, and more than 1909 men fell dead
and wounded at Gettysburg. One hour at
Gettysburg cost the American people more
lives than has this war up. to the present
time. There were more men sick In the
spring and summer Of 1882 in the Union
army than have been mustered into this
service, including the regulars. This sim
ply Shows that war is war and that you
cannot have a war in any other way
LAS the last gun Of Santiago doomed
over the fever-strcken hills of western
Cuba, the flag of Spain w4nt down, never
to rise again on the Antilles. and the war
was over.
But sickness and death held high car
n1Val, and now the test of the surgeon gem
erals department was made by condition
of things unparalleled in the history of the
world that We have known, and 1t Is not
strange to hear 1t said that there has been
lack OF efficiency shown In some places
by the medical corps of the army. The
American people viii. hold, first, that suffer
Ing caused by the act of God, which could
not be met by the Ordinary foresight of
man, shall not be charged up against our
officers, but that the suffering Of soldiers
and the lack of care and attention to the
sick, that could have been prevented by the
utmost activity of the representatives of
the government, shall be thoroughly inveSu-
gated, and all the facts made known, and
those who have contributed by negligence
or overt act shall receive the condemnation
and punishment which crime of this ter
rible character justly demands; but we shall
not forget now weak we were in the begin
nlng and how the government was driven,
as 1t was, to precipttate action, and how
faithfully thu great departments of the
government have accomplished the trench
Il,