The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1898-08-31
A WONDERFUL WORK.
What Was Donc in Equipping and Caring
for the Army.

NEW YORK, Aug. II Hon. Chaun-
ccy VI. Depcw has received the fol
lowing letter from the Secretary Of
War, and has consented to its publ
cation. The letter, which was written
in reply to request for information
on the subjects referred to- is as FOL
lows
WAsnI>GT"N, Aug. -, ls!5.
War Department, Washington
Ny Dear Mr.. Dcpcw: The great
pressure Of business has up to now
prevented me from sending to you the
statement you were kind enough to
ask for, as to what had been accom-
pl>hcd in the way Of outiitting the
army for the field the conduct of cam
paign etc Also the chiefs OF the
division have been too much driven
with work to complete the data re-
.uircd One not in the midst Of the
work can hardly realize what an un-
dcrtaking it is to call l23 900 men
into the field at one time, coming
from all the States, and to have them
mustered and gathered in camps on so
short notice, and this, too, when we
had scarce any camp outfit for their
accommodation all having to be pro
vidcd for by the war department. AS
understood now, when war was de-
clared there was no equipment what
ever for the volunteers in store. That
this was successfully accomplished,
with very few accidents, is a matter
Of record. Subsequent calls, includ-
ing the regular army, (Which number
ed about $1,000 men when war was
declared), made total of 268, 900 men.
To accomplish all in so short time
has been great work. Of course
gathering this vast number of men to-
gether, in large measure, unde un-
trained regimental and company COM
enanders-I mean in actual field work
the lack Of knowledge as to sanitary
conditions to be observed, the care
lessness in not observing instructions
which were furnished as to proper
care Of the men, has added greatly to
the work of the medical department.
Thus, from the homes Of 10000 vol
unteers has been constant and great
anxiety as to what might happen to
thcir soldiers, and hundreds of inqui-
ries made by letters and kilograms
have been received every day con-
cerning individual soldiers. The feel
ang on the part of these individuals
that the war department is RESPONSE
ole for the care OF their men individu-
ally has naturally aroused sympathy
an case of sickness and death, and has
created much sorrow. There is moth
ing young men in robust health are so
prodigal Of as their health, until it is
gone. Men go into camp feeling that
they can stand anything and every
thing, and cannot be made to believe
60 .he contrary until stricken with
disease. Every effort has been made
from the beginning to furnish every
camp with all appliances asked for,
but OF course the commanding officers
in the fields are the ones who have all
the direct charge of these men. For
instance, one army corps commander
has given orders and enforces them,
respecting sanitary affairs, and he has
to-day but fraction over two persons
on the sick list. Others have been
less successful, and the consequence
is typhoid and other feycrs have been
bred and spread to considerable ex-
tent. One regiment in the Chicka-
mauga Park camp has colonel who
enforces sanitary rules in his regi-
ment, obliging the men to boil all the
water they drink, keeping the camp
cleanly, and the result is less than 25
sick, and his camp, too, is in as un-
favorable place as any in the COM
mand. Others more favorably situa-
ted have 10 times that number on the
sick list. One of the regiments of
the last call, not yet removed from it's
State, sends bitter complaints of ty-
phoid fever.
Concerning the Santiago campaign
when the ships left Tampa, they had
on board three months provisions and
an abundance of hospital supplies.
They had lighters to unload with at
point Of dcbarkation. These lighters
were lost in severe storm on the way.
AS soon as we were notified of the
fact, two tows of lighters we're sent