La Junta tribune. (La Junta, Bent County, Colo.) 1881-1939, 1898-07-09
that /: win be lmpos.ioIe to CARRY ], >,

II tuOuSsinu. Dut Lst nuk uOt YET Dccu
made. Hut little sickness, outside OF
exhaustion from intense heat and OK
ertion OF the h1t,ie OF day befsre yes
tertiay and the almost constant lire
which is kept up on the trenches.
Wagon road to the rear Is kept up
with some difficulty. on account OF
rains, but will be able 80 use 1t Tor
the present.
General Wheeler is seriously Ill ard
will probably have to go To the hear tl-
day. General Young is very i'll: con
fined to his bed. General Hawkins
slightly wounded in foot during sort.o
made list night, which WIS handsomc
ly repulsed.
The behavior of our troops was
magnificent.
General Garcia reports that he holds
the railroad from Santiago 10 San Luis
and has burned bridge and removed
some rails: also that General Pando has
arrived at Palma and that the French
consul with abou; 400 French citizens
came into his line yesterday from san
tiago: have directed him to treat them
with every courtesy possible.
SHAFTER.
Secretary Alger sent the following
reply to General Shafter:
To General Shnftcr; The President
directs me To say that you have the
gratitude and thanks of the nation for
the brilliant and effect work of your
noble army on Friday, July LIST. The
steady yalor and heroism OF officers
and men thrill the American people
with pride. The country mourns the
brave men who fell in battle. They
have added new names TO our roll OF
heroes.
(Signed) II. A. ALGER.
Secretary OF War.
The dispatch speaks for itself, and.
as Adjntant General Corbin said. tells
what n desperate fight our gallant
troops have been in. II was received
at noon to-day. and after lull of near
ly thirty-siN hours in the official In
formation from the field.
At first. when II become known that
the American commander had report
ed the defenses TO be so strong it
would be impossible to carry them
with his present force. there was mo-
mentarily wave Of deep apprehen-
sion. But this was not shared by the
military authorities here. All their en-
| ergies, all their attention, was turned
to meet the situation as presented by
General Shafter. There was neither
time nor disposition to take account OF
what had gone before, when the fact
was plain that the American army had
felt its way, inch by inch, under
blazing sun. through n tropical vegetn-
ton. steadily advancing and beating
back the foe, taking position after po-
sition. until, as General Shafter report
ed. the town was well invested on the
north and east by the long drawn out
line OF American troops. This was n
sufficient tribute to the vnlor of our
brave men. and 1t silenced all cavil
over the conditions now presented by
General Shnf.er.
1t was Il time for action, for rein
fOrcements, and toward the execution
of this end every effort OF the admin
istration was nt once turned.
But there was other Information of n
more encouraging nature mt the
same time.
Shortly nfter 12 o'clock this morning
Assistant Secretary OF the Navy Allen
left the White House hastily, and. 90.
Ing directly to the department, posted
the following on the bulletin board:
General Shnfter telegraphs:
Playa del Este, July 3.-Early this
morning ! sent Il demnnd for the sur
render of Santiago. threatening to bonn
bard the city. l believe the place will
be surrendered
This contradicts the report that Gen
eral Shafter had fallen back.
Following the receipt OF General
Shafter's telegram there was hur-
ried war conference Mt the White
House. Secretary Alger. accompanied
by General Corbin, reached there few
minutes before l o'clock and were i'm
mediately closeted with the President.
The officials hope to rush the rein
sI...f
there will be from $1,000 to 35.OOO men
under his command within the next
ten days, and sooner IL this can be ar
ranged. This is exclusive OF the insur-
gents, of whom General Garcia has
been able to bring to Shafter's com
mand approximately 1000 men. There
We're about 1900 men and officers in
the expedition that set out from Tam
pa less than month ago. These have
since been reinforced by the troops OF
Brigadier General Dufiield's command,
amounting TO 5000 men.
Colonel Humphries is in charge of
the transport service with Shafter's
army, and he will send back to Tampa
the vessels that can be spared as rap
idly as possible: in fact, word has
been received that the transports had
started for the United States this
morning.
II possible. the War Department will
send $4,000 men from Tampa on these
transports. Six vessels have been re-
Gently loaded with men. ammunition,
arms, supplies, ETC.. and are now either
at Key West or on their way to rein
force Shafter's army. Included In this
expedition are some batteries of artiI.
iery. In all, these forces constitute
about $500 or 1900 men.