The Cape Girardeau Democrat. (Cape Girardeau, Mo.) 1876-1909, 1898-12-17

completed the war of lS'S r~cedes into
the region of history. CRite num-
Der of officers at Santa 90, and in the
naval battles. passed also through
the civil war and pust have beer
struck with the strongly contrasted
coudftiOns. 1t is rSc disparagement
OF eelc courage Of 'Spaniards to say
taNe lighting the& and fighting Asler-
i>Iua are dItfe~at matters. Tor re-
erlt war proveG chat Spanish soldiers
81 d sailors are willing To die -: their
rosts, but thSy lack the aggressive
fighting 'Gnali:ies AMI cool '"Onceu-
ration OF IN erlCauS II. l,a'i-J. ines
have not thc.~ame general Intelligence
ana varieties of tIained skI.. Amer
leans have q3ever yet eueI ged from a
war except as victOrs- %'he prestige
oi this fs,t Is enormoIsS 1t would
carry the nation through incOnceiv-
able SacHi ices before dsfeat would X.
acknowledged. If oar army at San
tiage bDl fallen back, as was al one
time subject of cop lecture, rp-iu-
/ forreana ats would haRe been crowded
! forward ana the wo,>: accomplished
! ia spite of the terror@ OF the climate
and a disease. Not for an Instant
ws.s ~, result in deHAt. for An2-rt-sln
r.:s-o.h... was ;r-iipsi thht s..,.i4. the
wkel- weight AND purposC - the
1ittiaVn.
TIE resistance jE the field offered
, by Spain was i@So destructive and
f0EEridable than .H"as expected An
aggregate of I6Gs killed and m@lndedI
in the american -atmy and claVy is II.
REGARD favorable beyond prediction.
Ms2y a minor collision in the civil
war was mare deadly. In the battle
af Corinth. Miss-, in the a"tnmn OF
Ist:2, the Union .armY lost +l51 KilhG
Land 1871 wOnpdeG, and i42a CUnfad-
crates la; dead on the iieid s!Ler their
furious assault on intr"ncHnen.,.
il. baltic Of Frankiin, TGna2., l;tta ~
ISj4. cost the .COnfederateS I'D killed
and wounded. and yet thai is rot
reckoned among the greatest tights of
the war. Dur whole army toss in the
war with Spain was l.l5. killed and
wounded. 1t is wonderful result.
and it is stl;ang= that those critical on
the conduct OF army operations 40
lrOt refer TO it occasionally Afta.all
the fureca st of the fearfnl carnags to
he looked for in Il modern contest the
T. nited States has carried through a
triumphaI With the smallest compare
tive battle losses on record
What contributed to this immunity
i.morc than anything else Was tn" direct
attack Of the American soldiers and
soldiers and sailors when The enemy
was before them. The inUari;Lble rule
WaS an immediate and Sustained ad-
vance. Old methods and appliances
of warfare had passed away, but our
armies and fleets did not hesitate If
come at once to conclusions. Gen.
VI pthlNF NIl Ail7 Dta' "a ~ AS< AAiAA
pen dropping around him without
bearing the reports of the eneiny,s
guns or seeing smoke where tbeY were
located. An army with long-range
rifles and smokeless powder WAS as
saulted with absolute courage and
confidence, just as Il modern armOrcd
fleet was aSSailed 1T Il moments no.
tiea. But there vas no such desper-
ate fighting as in the civil way and
perhaps never will be again. The
English paper that speaks OF that
struggle as Titani@ is right. Tried in
thai era of supreme effort the Ameri- /.
cans were schoolef in valOr and for
titUde beyond any other people of
theE generation. Even today Spain |
has more trained soldiers than the |,
United States. but they lack the Amer /,
lean fiber, and it is fortunate for them /
that the close Of the war ends their |
chapter of continuous DISASTER
Globe-DemOcrat.