The record-union., 1898-10-07
INVESTIGATION OF
WAR METHODS,
The Government Commission Held
Two Sessions Yesterday.
Generals H. Y. BOynton and Fitzhugh Lee
on the Witness Stand.

The Former Blames Regimental
and Brigade Commanders for
eral Lee Has No Complaint to
Make Against the War Depart
ment's Treatment of His Com
mand.
| WASHINGTON, Oct. 6.-The War
Investigation Commission held two ses-
sions to-day. In the forenoon General
| Il. V. Boynton concluded his testimony,
and General Fitzhugh Lee was heard
in the afternoon. General Boynton
dwelt to-day upon the cause of disease
at Camp Thomas, charging the in
crease toward the close of the camp
! to the lack of efficient care on the
| part of the regimental and brigade
commanders in covering the sinks.
| General Lee detailed the conditions
prevailing at the camp at Jacksonville.
| He said the site was a good one, the
supplies were plentiful, the men we'll
| taken care of. and he had no COM
| plant to make of the War Depart
ment'S treatment of his command He
also took occasion, in reply to a ques-
ton put by Captain Howell, to say
! that he did not consider that he had
| been sighted in the war. He wanted
to go to Havana, and the President
had recently told him that in case it
had been necessary to take Havana
by assault he had intended to ask him
| General Lee) to lead the assaulting
| party.
GENERALS BOYNTON AND LEE
TESTIFY.
WASHINGTON, Oct 5.-Genera1 II.
| Y. Boynton concluded his testimony
before the War Inquiry Commission to-
day. In reply to charges, formulated
| by Surgeon Milo B. Ward of Kansas
| City, who said in d letter to the COM
mission that the camp was without
drainage; that the water was unfit to
drink; that there was no proper food,
and that all of the 45, ,000 men in the
camp were suffering from intestinal
diseases, General Boynton said:
'Of course, in so large a camp some
painful things must necessarily hap
pen. For instance, when the measles
broke out the hospitals We're quite
| crowded. But to saJ that there was
any purposely inflicted neglects,'' he
declared, lis as false as it is possible
| to be-"
| These complaints led General Boyn-
ton to enter a general statement in
regard to the condition of the camp,
and to give his opinion as to the cause
of it. He attributed the prevalence
of disease to the exposure of the regi-
mental kitchen and hospital sinks
These had he said, in the latter part
of the camps history, been left un-
covered by earth, contrary to directions
by the Surgeon General, and this fact,
more than all others; he considered re-
Sponslble for the spread of disease.
ThlS failure to carry out sanitary or
ders, he thought, was due to the neg
lgence of the subordinate officers, the
brigade and regimental commanders.
The trouble only began after General
Brooke was ordered to Washington
Prior to that time General Brooke re-
qulred daily reports from the regi-
mental officers, and prompt attention
to any neglect of sanitary precautions.
This system and the care which ac-
companied it had the effect of keeping
the camp in good condition. When Gen
eral Brooke left for Washington the
camp was necessarily in charge of the
subordinate officers. When General
Brooke returned his time was devoted
| almost entirely to preparation for the
Porto Rfcan campaign, so he could not
give so much heed to sanitary regula-
tions as he had previously done
General Boynton elaborated upon the
strict discipline maintained by Gen
eral Brooke in police and sanitary mat
ters, but said there was a suspension Of
this care after the Porto Rican cam
paign was decided upon. After Gen
eral Brooke left there was a material
increase of disease. and at one time
almost a panic.
Returning to the conditions subse-
quent to the date when General Brooke
was ordered to Washington, General
Boynton said the exposed condition of
the sinks encouraged the presence of a
multitude of lice, which bred disease
by carrying germs from the sinks to
| the tents.
'.They were,'' said the General, "as
thick throughout the park as they
could have been in Egypt, and they
| went back and forth from the sinks
| to the mess tables of mem and officers
| with the greatest impunity, covering
everything in sight"
General Boynton was questioned at
some length as to where the response
bility for this condition of affairs lay.
| He said that it lay with the brigade
and regimentap commanders.
L am satisfied he said, that the
! medical officers reported to them the
condition, and warned them of the Sc
rious consequences of failing to obey
the Surgeon Generals orders for the
covering of the sinks, but the medical
officers could not give orders; they
could only advise. / would not say
that the commanding officers as a
whole paid no heed to these represen-
tations, but many of them apparently
failed to appreciate their Importance,
and did not give them the attention
| the circumstances demanded. They
should have received the attention that
the officers in the regular army would
| have given them
| General Boynton added that he did
not mean to make any reflection on any
officers from civil life, but there was
something lacking in their learning,
! and many of them We're not experts in
sanitation Furthermore, most people
| looked upon the camp as partly tenn
porary. and the fact that all were in
daily expectation of receiving orders to
move caused many to be Indifferent in
| the future.
| In discussing with Captain Howell
| the question Of rations supplied to