The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1898-07-24
SOME MISERIES OF WAR
THERE is MORE KaRD WORK THAN
BRILLIANT FIGHTING.
The Horrible Traif of Death, Decay,
Privation and Destruction Left
by an Advancing Army.
Santiago Letter, in New York Tribune.

Santiago Letter, in New York Tribune
Ones preconceived idea Of war makes
boodshed and dashing bravery the most
conspicuous aspects of it. The actual OBJ
server rs likely not struck more espe-
| cialy with the hard work and the filth of
it. A few moments in the fighting on Fri
day, July 1. both at FL Caney and San Juan,
were all that the imagination had pictured
in advance. The charge up the hill on the
breastWoTks and finally on the stone fort
outside of El Caney, was thrilling as a spec
tacle and the taking of the San Juan fort,
after a terrible climb up the steep height in
the face of magazine-gun fire. was equally
inspiring. Then, too, the artillery fire was
exciting when the shell struck squarely the
wall aimed at or the shrapnel burst over
the enemy's rifle pits.
But beyond these, the battles of Friday,
Saturday and Sunday morning We're hardly
from the point of view of the picturesque
what one should expect. The soldiers scat
tered over the fields and through the under
brush, firing when they caught sight of
mark, and not knowing whether they hit
their man or not, somehow did not seem
engaged in such battle as one had pic
tured, from his reading. Doubtless the
smokeless powder had most to do with this
robbing of warfare of its effectiveness as a
mere picture.
The uncleanliness of it all has been ever
present, however, and especially now, after
a lull of forty-eight hours in the fighting,
does it force itself on the attention. Equally
prominent is the physical labor and hard
ship imposed on the soldier. After all, mere
fighting is the least of his business, even in
time of actual campaigning. He is cook,
day laborer, hospital attendant, road build
er, everything. incidentally, he fires seven
ty-five or one hundred cartridges on occa-
sional days.
! MARCHES AND TRENCH DIGGING.
| Perhaps the long marches through the
rain and mud from before dawn all day and
night, and much of the next day, followed
| by night of trench-digging are what the
soldier finds of most personal concern in
| this business of war. More sensitive nos
trils are likely to cause one to dwell more
especially on the attendant dirt and stencil.
1t is more than unpleasant even to think of
| how utterly destructive war is of that quail
| ity which the proverb ranks next to godli-
| ness. There is water enough in the running
! streams that seek the sea near Santiago de
| Cuba, but one is glad enough of it to drink.
! OF course, bathing in the brooks and rivers
from. which the troops get their water is
| forbidden. Filling the canteens is a daily
occupation which often means a mile of
walking. There are no pals or other re-
| ceptacleS for carrying larger quantities. An
opportunity may come for a soldier to wash
| a garment or handkerchief at the side of a
river, but this is only when he is on some
One difficulty about cleanliness is the
! small compass to which a mans wardrobe
is reduced. Even if he left Tampa with a
fair stock of clothing it has gradually been
| reduced. The terrible marches in the tropi-
cal sun have caused hundreds to throw
away everything they were not actually
wearing so as to tighten their burdens as
much as possible. With only one shirt
there is little chance to wash it. Even if
! there were, it would not stay clean long.
The roads are muddy beyond the nightmare
| of the good roads advocate In places they
| variety in them-sometimes the mud is
| liquid, at others thick and clinging Passing
horsemen dash it all over the men on foot.
For week or more it has rained practical
| ly every day. Where the road is shaded by
matted underbrush it is hardly ever dry.
after the sun has been up for hours it leaves
! the highways ponds of slush.
Another nuisance, to use mild word
the fording of streams. An officer riding
on horseback doesn't think what a him
drance it is to a man marching long dis
| tances to have his shoes and socks con-
stantly wet So as there are no bridges,
! the stepping stones which span a few cross
| ingS were laid by the Cubans in peace times
! The rivers are only knee deep or less. and
narrow so the throwing in of a line of
stones would be a trihing operation. But no
the unfortunate private marches with water
slushing in his shoes, and gets footsore
from the irritation of the leather.
SATURNALIA OF DISORDER
The road which was the center of the
battles leading up to the San Juan fortifica-
lions is saturnaia of disorder and dis
gushing smells Dead men and horses are
lowed to tester in the wet and sun for
forty-eight hours before being buried. Even
| the word burial is a msnomer in many in
stances Perhaps all the Americans had
some sort of grave dug for them, and it is
only Spaniards and horses that were merely
covered with earth. 1t was thought, APP
| parently, that the strewing of a foot of
earth was good enough service to do for
an enemy or a beast; the consequences to
the living were overlooked. Besides all
! this, a number of the slain must be scat
! tered in the tangled woods. Your nostrils
are therefore assailed with a succession of
stenches as you go along. The knowledge
that some of them come from human
! corpses intensifes the overpowering feeling
| of disgust
As you approach the mound that is dis
seminatng the doors your curiosity impels
you to note whether the object beneath is a
man or horse The shape of the heap tells
/ which it is; leather shoe or the knee of
| horse sticking out in some cases removes
| any DOSSlDle QDuDI. MyTldQS OF TleS DuZZ
| about: masses of maggots writhe and crawl
/ about where the earth is shalowest or
where the decaying flesh is entirely uncov-
| cred. Overhead, .fiocks of turkey buzzards
circle about horrible in the ideas they sug-
! gest. but instruments in the hands of an
! all-wise nature that puts to shame intelli-
| gent mans horrible callouSness.
! The traffic is so constant on this road
| that these scaVengers often disturbed
| in their work. Over between the Spanish
/ and American trenches is a space where
/ no man now goes. Here the buzZards feast
| unmoested. You may see them plainly
] perched on a dark object. If you are not
| sure what it is, with the aid of your glasses
| you can tell whether it is man or horse.
! Both could be made out to-day. In the
| American lines the burials have been sani-
/ tary. Of course where a regiment had an
opportunity to put its own dead under
| earth. the task done properly. Spanish
| trenches served admirably for Spanish
/ graves. There was certain grim appropri-
] ateneSS in laying the corpSeS in the rife pits
| in near which the met their death.
| The loose earth that has been cast up was
! easily shoveled back on the bodies There
| was no further for these rifle pits. They
| all looked toward the east whence the
/ United States troops had come. The new
trenches are on the western crests of the
| hills ard the guns in them are pointed
! toward Santiago.
OF course. the officers would not permit
/ such mock burialS as are common on the
roadside near where troops are encamped.
/ They were made in the region where the
/ early lighting was done, which is now far