Phillipsburg herald. [volume] (Phillipsburg, Kan.) 1882-1905, 1898-08-25
.ALGER KEPT BUSY.
He Writes a Letter Telling Why
Things Went Wrong.
Field Commanders Failed to Compel Sol
diera TO Observe sanitary Rules-Plsnty
Of stores sent to Santiago, but
storms Prevented Landing Them.

storms Prevented Landing Them.
New York, Aug. 90. --Chauncey M.
'Depew has received tho following let
ter from the secretary of war and has
consented to its publication. 1t was
written in reply TO u request for in-
formation:
My Dear Mr. Depew; 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-
plished In the way OF QUILTING the army for
the field, the conduct Of campaign, etc, Also,
the chiefs OF divisions have been too much
driven with work TO compile the data required.
One not In the midst OF the work can hardly
realize what undertaking 1t is TO call l25, 900
men into the field Mt 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 scarcely any camp outfit for
their accommodation, oil having TO be provided
for by the war department
As you know when the war was declared
there was no equipment whatever for the vol
unteers in store This was successfully nc
oomplshed, with very few accidents, rs mat
ter OF record Subsequent calls including the
regular army (Which numbered about 97,OOO
men when war was declared), made total OF
1855, 500 men. To accomplish all in so short
time has been great work
Thus from the homes OF 2l6 900 volunteers has
been constant and great anxiety as to what
might happen to their soldiers and hundreds
of inquiries, made by letters and kilograms,
have been received every day concerning in
'dividual soldiers The feeling on the part OF
these individuals that the war department IS
responsible for the care OF their men indivdu'
ally has naturally aroused sympathy In case of
sickness and death, and has created much sor-
row
Every effort has been made from the Begin
ming TO furnish every camp with all appliances
asked for but, OF course the commanding OFF,
GERS In the field are the ones who have direct
charge OF these men, For instance, one army
corps commander has division orders and en-
forces them, respecting sanitary affairs, and
he has to-day but n fraction over two per cent
on the sick list Others have not been success
full and the consequence is that typhoid and
other fevers have been bred and spread to
considerable extent One regiment In the
Chickamauga camp has colonel who enfOrces
sanitary rules in his regiment. obiging the
men to boil all the water they drink, keeping
the camp clean, and the result Is that there are
less than Is sick, and the camp, too, is in as
unfavorable place as any in the command
Others more favorably situated have ten times
that number on the sick list One of the regi-
ments of the last call not yet moved from its
state, sends bitter complaints of typhoid fever.
Concerning the Santiago campaign, when the
ships left Tampa they had on board three
months provisions and an abundance Of hos
pital supplies. They had lighters to unload
with ut point OF debarkation. These lighters
were lost in severe storms on the way. AS
soon as we were notified Of the fact, two tows
of lighters were sent from Mobile and New Or
tab n1g nlya, Of,
and lost. The navy supplied us with lighters
and one OF those was wrecked. The army dis
embarked, getting off q portion OF its supplies
and medical stores and Immediately marched
to the front to fight the Spaniards, The great
difficulty of landing supplies subsequently was
because of the wind which sprang up every
morning ut ten and made high surf render
ing almost impossible the use of small boats
with one lighter, which was all they had left
for this purpose
or the packers who were employed, 90 per
cent soon fell sick, and heavy rains falling
every day, the roads (if they could be called
SUCH became impossible for vehicles, Pack
animals had to be employed to carry food to
the army, being extended to the right around
Santiago, increased the distance from the coast
every day and made the task more difficult
When yellow fever broke out and the fever
list increased into the thousands it was for q
time supposed that 1t was principally yellow
fever. The bringing Of troops north at once
after the surrender, under such conditions
would have been certain death to vast num-
Der, but, upon inquiry, it was ascertained that
very few of these cases, comparatively were
yellow fever, when 1t was at once decided To
bring the army home as speedily as possible
To give you a little idea Of the work that has
been done I append the following:
The work of the adjutant generals depart
ment has been TO muster and order to their |
stations, to be precise, 2l6 400 volunteers and
24,9OO for the regular army-this, with a re- |
duced force as many staf officers from all OF
the departments had been promoted and |
ordered to the field.
The chief Of engineers reports an expenditure |
OF 1880, OOO for harbor defenses, building en-
placements OF heavy guns mortar batteries |
and mines
The surgeon general has had the enormous |
work OF fitting up hospitals, organizing the |
medical corps, employing male and female
nurses, contract surgeons, being surgeons who |
are employed from civil life besides those
commissioned as corps, divisions and brigade
surgeons, furnishing medical supplies and an
swering the demands from all over the country
and from camps at Santiago Porto Rico and |
Manila The work done in this line is almost
beyond comprehension.
The commissary general had purchased and
distributed up to August ll0, 907, 1886 pounds Of
rations, which have been transported and dis
tributed to all armies in the field here and at
Santiago Porto Rico and Manila besides the
large quantity distributed among the destitute
'Cubans.
The quartermaster generals report Is too
long to give an approximate idea of his work
In the way of transportation to Honolulu, Ma
mia, Santiago and Porto Rico and return home
there have been sent 80 0SS men, with artillery
equipment and supplies, BY rail in this coun-
try there have been transported 900 officers
2S3,9b| enlisted men; also 4O,5S2 animal besides
thousands of wagons artillery and other quar-
termaster, commissary, ordnance medical and
signal service stores The total NUM-
Der of articles OF clothing and camp equipage
distributed to the army by the quartermaster's
department has been 6,2744S3, OF which can
only mention a few articles as follows;
Blankets, 2SS, 7S9; blouses 2S3 762: trousers.
400, 423 hats, 1874 1905; canvas field uniforms So
200: shoes, pairs 5il,37S; undershirts, 7S6 985;
tents, 49, 142, etc. etc.
The total weight Of food and forage dis
tributed daily to the army is, approximately.
800 tons
Added to this is the large fleet Of transports
chartered and purchased, the management of
tne same In conveying troops supplies and
The signal corps has provided most efficient
service, furnishing cable telegraph telephone
in the field.
II you had day or two to spare, would like
70 sandwich in little work for you l would
IKE TO send you these statements In detail !
Wnlch think would bewilder you II ANYTHING |