The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1898-09-09
LACK on BRAVERY.

LACK OF BRAVERY.
'Tt does not show lack of bravery if
he withdraws. Take the case of two men
fighting. One sees the other raining blows
upon him, but can do nothing in return.
The natural thing for him to do is to get
away as quickly as possible. So it does
not show lack of bravery on the part Of
volunteer troops if they withdraw when
they have become a target for the enemy
but are ineffective themselves"
General Wheeler went on to explain that
those qualities which formerly made the
volunteers valuable on the field of battle
are of little or no avail now. Science has
taken the place of enthusiasm.
In the war OF 81" he said, shouting ,
of thing doesn't count now. IT is all sci
ence now, and that is the only thing that
really counts on the field of battle to-day;
The general then brought out the strik-
ing difference that exists in every respect
between the battle of modern war and
those which marked the of 1861 He
made this more plain by describing his own
sensations in the first battle in Cuba.
''Of course, | knew that things would ha
different IN TINS war from what t tyt W sea
would be so absolutely unlike what had
experienced on the field of battle before.
/ was in nearly all of the great battles from
'61 10 IS, and great many small ones, 10
command of the cavalry, and therefore al
ways at the front, and a battle always sug-
"The first few days in Cuba were very
busy days; we worked till midnight, and
got up at the next morning. That, IN
addition to the heat and the cold rains, had
its effect, and four or five days after We
landed / was taken suddenly sick, and my
Temperature rose very high. 1 called the
doctor and said: Doctor, you must give
me something to put a stop to this, He
and I was able to take my horse and go to
the front. ! had made up my mind not 10
go to the rear, because l thought If the
generals begin to go TO the rear on account
of sickness the men will go too, and /
wanted to get at the Spaniards as quickly
as possible
FIGHTING THE sPANIARDs.
II said to General sihafter when we were
planning the operations of the campaign:
"These Spaniards are very proud of their
chivalry, and the only thing to do IS to
show that we have just much of it as
they. to push right on and fight them
wherever we find them 1t was shortly
after this that we located the Spaniards.
We got a map of the country from the
Cuban general Castillo.
Il said to General Young: General If they
don't move we will give them a fight in
the morning The CubdnS said they would
move away before morning. that that was
their way. / feared they would but hoped
they would not. In the morning we adj
vanced. and presently we saw a line of
soldiers stretching along for a mile or
more. / was undecided whether they were
really Spaniards or not i thought they
might be Cubans. And so ] said TO General
Young We must be very certain that those
are Spanards before we open fire. | took
my glass and judged from their uniforms
but more especially from the uniformity Of
their uniforms and the absence of black men
among them. that they were Spaniards. and
said 10 General Young You may open
fire with the shrapnel guns The Spaniards
returned the fire and the battle had be-
gun.
'.As 1 looked out over the scene could