The Advocate and news., 1898-10-12
The BIunders Of shafter.
Continued from pahe ~

complacency was so great that in spite OF
blunder after blunder, folly upon folly, and
mistake upon mistake he still believed
himself infalllble, still bullied his inferior
officers. and still cursed from his cot. He
quarrelled with Admiral Sampson; he quar-
relied with General Garcia: he refused to
allow Colonel Greenleaf, SurgeOn-ln-Chief
Of the army, to destroy the pest houses In
SlbOney; he dsObeyed the two orders sent
him by General Miles from Tampa and
again from Washington, directing him not
to allow our soldiers to occupy the Cuban
houses; he insulted all Of the foreign at
taChes collectively, and some individually,
and he related stories In the presence Of
boy officers which would have been found
offensive In the smoklng-room Of an ocean
steamer
Mr.. Davis goes on to show how San
tiago was taken in spite Of Shafter, but
with terrible and unnecessary sacrifice
Of life. Scribner's Magazine would not
pay him more per page for his article
than some men earn In q month IL It's
editor did not think that the scorer OF
Shafter knew what ne was talking about,
Mr.. Davis says good deal more than is
quoted above.
This Is REINFORCED by the report OF
Caspar Whitney, staff correspondent OF
the Harper publications, who writes on
"The Santiago Campaign" In the Octo-
ber Harpers Magazine. He is a man
of experience who is absolutely sincere,
and his words have been carefully
weighed. He says:
The days following the cessation Of hos
tilities were days OF suffering and work and
MISUNDERSTANDING by the wounded,
hauled to the rear In great, numbering, six
mule wagons; work by the troops, who con-
tlnued industrlOusly to strengthen trenches
a M nh-VW nuf0 n mi fhn tsn.
serves from the Spanish shrapnel; won
deTment by all that now, with transpOrta-
tlon facilities Increased by wagons, no other
rations than bacon, hardtack and cOftec
were brought up for the wOunded-not to
mention the well; wonderment that hOspl-
tai supplies were 80 limited and arrange
ments so wretched; that wounded and
feVer-stricken men were permitted to sleep
on the rain-soaked ground, with abundant
brush and bamboo all around and unem-
ployed soldiers enough to build beds for
all; that inasmuch as bombardment OF
Santiago was proposed, the siege guns re-
malned on the transports; wonderment that
the refugees at Caney were permitted to
come about the camps, with the excellent
chance OF spreading fever.
do not remember all that caused won
derment. There was much Of 1t.
The deprlVatOns that come as the nat
ural result OF things may be greatly and
unnecessarily Increased through unlearned,
stupid management, and OF this there was
much in the Santiago campaign 1t might
not inappropriately be called a campaign
of blunders. First OF all was the inflrmity
Of purpose at Washington; then the choice
Of Tampa, utterly unsulted TO be either o
point Of mobilization or departure-its one
railroad track was blocked for miles and
for days with the supplies for which the
troops were waiting at Tampa. The guar
termaster deficiencies alone would fill a
Observation-Disclosures so glaring as to make
one stare-the lack Of system In loading
transports, which made confusion In the
unloading; separation Of articles that
should be together; mixing of hospital sup
plies with general merchandise; and the
storing deep In the holds Of the transports
things wanted first, while things not
wanted were heaped on top.
Officers were needed at outbreak OF the
war who had proved their ability to think
clearly and act quickly, who had expert-
ence In organization. Some OF these were
at hand notably Generals Miles, Merritt
Brooke and Wheeler, and one Of these
should have led US to Santiago The Gem
eral who did lead us, through no especial
fault Of his, except that OF being o. friend
of the Secretary OF War, found himself
overwhelmed by the scope OF an undertake
ing beyond anything he had ever known