Evening star., 1898-07-19
Gen. Miles Did Not Sail Yesterday
as Expected.
START DELAYEDOWING TO A MISTAKE
The District Troops VIII Not Go
With the Expedition.
TO BE A SHORT CAMPAIGN

| Miles did not get away on the Yale yester-
| day, as was expected. 1t soon developed
| that this failure was brought about
| through some confusion in the telegraphic
| orders which authorized his. departure As
| soon as the attention of the department
was drawn to the natter by the receipt of
a telegram this morning from Gen. Miles,
| he was very promptly furnished with the
! permission he desired, and it is expected
| that he has alieady sailed from Siboney
| for Porto Rico. He has with him Capt
| Fred. Alger, son of the Secretary, who has
| been transferred to Gen. Miles staff from
| the staff Of Gen. Duffield. There is a dis
position in some quarters to question the
wisdom of the general commanding the
army in leading the way to Porto Rico
with so small a force as that carried by
the Yale, but he is so confident of the sue
cessful outcome of his plans that the de-
| partment has allowed him to have his way
| in this matter.
Secretary Alger declined this morning 20
| announce the list of troops that COMPRISE
| the Porto Rican expedition. He said that
1t was still subject to change, and this in
| formation Will be withheld for few days.
District Troops VIII Not Go.
| Adjutant General Corbn is authority for
| the statement that the lst Regiment. Dis
| trict of Columbia Volunteer Infantry, will
| not form part of the expedition against
| Porto Rico Star reporter asked him to-
| day II 1t had been settled that the District
! regiment should go to Porto Rico and he
answered In a most positive way that on
the contrary 1t had been settled that 1t
should not go, but that it should remain
| at Santiago for the present The District
boys, so far as is known, have been entire
| ~ free from the ravages of yellow fever,
and every effort will be made to safeguard
| their health in every respect In order to
assist in this direction, they will be moved
| back from the city on to the high ground
| IN the vicinity and encamped there until
| 1t is deemed advisable to use them in fur
| ther military operations in Cuba or else
where There is not much likelihood of
| their going to Porto Rico, however, as the
| officials of the administration do not an
ticipate much difficulty in the capture of
that island. 1t is also practically settled
that in case reinforcements are needed in
the Porto Rico campaign thew shall be
| taken from the reserve troops now in camp
in the United States rather than from
those which have been exposed to the hard
ships of active field work around Santiago
Unless the District troops are brought
back to the United States before that time
1t is practically settled that they will form
part Of the large army that will be en-
ployed for the investment and capture of
the Spanish stronghold at Havana AS has
been already stated in The Star, the cam
paign against the Cuban capital now in
possession of the Spanish army under
Blanco, will hardly assume an active and
aggressive form until after the close of the
rainy season in the fall.
The Hospital Ship.
The army hospital ship Relief is to be
fitted out at once for the Porto Rico ex-
pedition. Last night orders were sent to
her commander at Santiago directing him
to return Immediately to New York with
the wounded men aboard. These will be
put ashore, presumably at New York, and
the vessel will take on fresh supplies ana
make ready for Porto Rico. There is no
yellow fever aboard the vessel and she is
in no way infected.
The Navy Department is actively at work
on the preparations for the Porto Rico
campaign and for the attack on the coast
of Spain, but the work is mainly prelim-
mary and there is a lack of actual develop
ment. Secretary Long said before the cab
met meeting today that new phases in
the situation were presented today, save in
the active work Of organizing prospective
moves.
Benefit of Experience.
There are some notable differences in
the plan for the Porto Rico expsdi-
ton and that against Santiago First,
there will be practically naval conveys.
In the second place, the expedition does
not start from one point, but will be di-
vided among several ports, thus preventing
the tremendous congestion that was en-.
countered at Tampa in the effort to start
the big fleet. Lastly, there will be no ef-
fort to get the ships away together but
the transports will be allowed to find their
own way to their destination without con-
certed movements. General Miles leads the
way. Gen. Brooke will be the senior officer
in Miles command and upon him will fall
the responsibility for the execution of the
details OF his superiors plans. When GAn.
Miles arrives at the point selected for the
knding he will hoist the American flag at
once over Porto Rican soil. The point
chosen for bis landing is kept secret as the
general will land before the full body of the
expedition is at hand, and it is consequent
ly not desirable that the enemy should be
abba to assemble a superior force TO meet
him.
Soldiers at Charleston.
The distance from Charleston, where the
first body of troops for Miles expedition
started yesterday. is more than double the
distance from Santiago to Porto Rico, so
that the transports which sail from the
former city can scarcely reach General
Miles before the early part of next week
These Charleston troops are the 1st Bri-
gade of the LIST Division of the list ARMY
Corps, and are commanded by Brigadier
General George II. Ernst. The brigade
comprises the I'd Wisconsin, Sd Wisconsin
and 10th Pennsylvania Regiments
The purpose Of the President is to make
the Porto Rican campaign a short one. An
Overwhelming force will be thrown upon
the island and 1t is possible that a blood
less victory will be achieved when the
Spanish become convinced that they have
no reasonable chance to resist successfully
The expedition is to comprise 30,o00 men
at the start, and 1t may be swelled soon to |
COCO men, and If necessary to 10000 men.
the equipment of the volunteer forces hay-
ing now progressed SO well as to warrant
the statement that that number of men can
be ready for service in Porto Rico within
a very short time.
The Troops Mt Tampa.
The entira body Of troops at Tampa will