The Red Cloud chief., 1898-10-07
WHEELER ON STAND.
INVESTIGATING COMMIT
TEES FIRST WITNESS,
Said Thst There Was Some Incom.
potency in Various Brancbes-ue Finds
No Csusc for Criticism.

vestigating commission began it's ex.
animation OF witnesses to-day by
placing General Joseph Wheeler upon
the stand. General Wheeler said this
morning before the meeting of the i'm
vestigating committee: IL will appear
before the committee and will tell the
truth about whatever is made "a sub
icct of inquiry. While 1 am under the
impression that many abuses have
been exaggerated, there can be no
doubt That there were manifestations
of incompetency in various branches
Of the army"
When the committee met, Chairman
Dodge stated to General Wheeler the
scope of the committees duties and
asked him whether he had any obiec-
tions TO being sworn. lie replied that
he had none and Major Mills, rcco rider
for tho commission, administered the
oath. Ex-Governor Beaver conducted
the examination, developing tho cs-
sential facts az to General Wheclcr's
rank and his command. General
Wheeler stated that he left Tampa for
Cuba June Il, but that he had no
knowledge of the plan Of campaign
before going aboard the transport.
he then told OF the voyage. On June
81 General Shafter ordered him to dis
embark the next day. This he did
with n portion OF his command. Ho
rode into the country four miles that
day and the next moved his troops TO
J~aguaracita.
CUBANS VIOLATED PROMISES.
He then began his accommodating.
arranging with General Castillo of
the Cuban army to send Cuban troops
with his men for the reconnoitcr, but
unfortunately the Cubans did not
keep the engagement. He told Of tho
first battle Of LaQuasima, stopping to
troops and also to speak of their cx-
ccllent firing. lie soon learned to mis-
trust the reports and estimates of the
Spaniards. General Wheeler had not
been able on his w account to secure
any accurate estimate of the Spanish
loss during the American approach
upon Santiago.
Speaking OF tho proceedings after
the first battles. he explained that he
had been reported sick and there were
some movements just prior to the bat
tie at FL Cancy with which he was
not familiar.
Il was not sick" he said. 'but I
had been, upon tho Goth and 30th.
Still, l had not gone on the sick list.
! had a fever, but appreciated the Sit
uation, took medicine and came out
all right"
He was in the battle Of FL Caney,
and expressed the opinion that more
men had been killed in tho formation
of the line than Afterwards. He told
Of THE necessity for wading the San
Juan river, saying that the water was
about waist deep.
fought to say" said the general,
In the course OF his testimony, ''that
it was magnificent to see officers Of
high rank go ashore with their packs
on their backs, accepting all tho for
tunes OF war with their men. They
slept upon the ground with the sod
iers. None OF us were mounted, and
we were without tents for several
days"
ROADS IN GOOD CONDITION.
Speaking Of the character OF the
roads from the coast to the points &C.
cupied by the Americans he said that
with such attention as they were able
10 give 10 them they were very good.
The rains had not been severe up to
that time. The roads were narrow,
but equal to the demands. The sup
plies he considered sufficient except in
a few instances, and In those instances
the deficiency was only temporary.
General Shaftcr," he said. observes
great credit for the zeal he displayed
in this respect. He devoted himself
to this task, and / think there is no
doubt that he succeeded. We used
pack trans, and there was compare
lively little suffering because of the
shortncss Of quartcrmastcr's sup
plies"
General Wheeler said in response to
q question that Cervcra's feet was the
objective of the campaign. There was
no reason why the Spanish troops
should not have made n sortie from
Santiago and he had asked General
Toral after tho surrender why he hat
not attacked. The latter replied that
the failure to do so was because hi!
men were footsoro. Yet Genera
Wheeler could not accept this explana
ton for tho Spanish soldiers were no
footsorc. General Wheeler's opinion
was that the Spanish commander wa
not able to face the Americans In TIL
open.
Discussing the plan OF campaign h
. said he doubted whether any more et
= fective plan could have been adopted
Speaking of the medical department
he said that at times there were con-
plants, but hat they were not seri
] Gus. On occasions there was a short
Az