New-York tribune., 1898-10-30

lutIICS, lea OOWnS, NCs
were deployins in the open meadow in which was
the balloon about hfty Yards in front.
1T was at that time that the enemy opened fre.
very few moments II became apparent that the
loss Of gas. and the rope having not yet been
cleared from the brush; gave orders tnat tne
to disentangIe IT, carry it over to the rear repair
the holes in It. and replace the lost from the
obeyed. and for twenty or thirty minutes the de-
tachment busy endeavorng to dlsentange the
river During this work the detachment was ex,
posed a heavy musketry IRE from which they
river. and although the leaves oftentimes fell In
showers from the bushes and trees overhanging
the bank but one man. Private HAYWOOD. Signal
Corps. United States Army. was struck, he re.
ceved wound in the foot. An examination o.
ranSer the frther use Of il impossibe orders
were given 10 secure Il, and 10 retreat along the
river bottom. This was done
General Greely then proceeds to consider the ofr-
cisl comments that made upon the opera
ton Of the balloon at Santiago. as follows:
INFORMATION GAINED BY ASCENSION.
AS to the utility OF the balloon. Lieutenant
Colonel Maxded states: "On July at least two
items of Information of value obtained by the
use of the balloon. These were as follows First
Tho fact that the intrenchments tho
hill II San Juan strongly held by the enemy
The obtaining OF this information resulted In the
opening OF fire by the battery at the hl OF FL
case. Second-As shown In The official report OF
Iion Fifb ARM Me or1 as ootd hereafter
Brigadier-General j. I. Kent, commanding tho
First Division in his report Of July :, lSs, says:
we were already suffering losses. caused by the
laloon near by attracting fire and disclosing our
'The enemy's infantry ire steadily increasing in
intensity. now came from all directions. not only
from the front and The dense tropical thickets on
our hanks, but from sharpshooters thicky posted
in trees in our rear. and from shrapneI apparently
OF General shafters staff met me about this time
and informed me that a tail or narrow way mad
back leading 10 the left to ford lower down the
stream Mastered M to me f2rks y61 mdf Sy en-,
OF Hawkins brigade. came up. | turned them into
the bypath indicated by Lieuenant-C n! Derry
Hawkins OF this movement This would have
speedily delivered them In their proper place on
tie left OF their brigade
Judging from his report of July ., lS9s, Majo..
General Breckenridge was not fully informed ms -
the object and management OF the slgnal .otp,
r-balloOn. and evidently was unaware OK t9s
says: "A balloon was sent dowl wiki this Arm.
but its practical value was not demonstratei,
troops or anythnp OF that sort even from a
balloon, on account f the thicky wooded nature
panied a marching column. and drew much Of the
fire from the Spanish POSITION. ana some casualties
coming along the line as the balloon" -.
Under these circumstances Il is necessary tnae tnI
the Chief Signal Ofiiccr shall state exactly the
above facts which demonstrate first. that the
balloon proved its utility: second that the forcing
Whor, It's position Is reported 10 have caused ser-
Gus loss to the troops by disclosing their move
nrtion Of Mator-tieneral Shafter through his Ches
Engineer Colonel George McC. Derby, in the face
Co!onei ION Maxdeid Of the United states volunteer
Signal Corps, who was charged win the ptactteti
operation OF the banOon. and who besides shar,
ing absolutely every danger TO which Colonel
Derby was subjected. in addition had MS morse
i'm I'm "A
eWhether the valuable information obtained in this
ascent could not have been obtained with the balloon
sdga of tbe Tbef signal ofcer nor is within his
nreDce to decide whcher or not the Information
obtained was sufficiently valuable 10 compensa1e
for the LOSS LOSS of M nyGyfa 20 se act that the o
reports above quoted fully demonstrate the ulII,y
OF the balloon and that despite the unsuitable
character of the balloon and its Imperfect acces
sories its operations were successfully cohu".1
That il was kept on shlpboard unused lot "eeA
was not the fault Of this corps
A FAILURE TO NOTICE THE SIGNAL CORPS
WORK
Although the excellent conduct ~ the Signal
Corns on this occasion vas officially noticed
I'm the official report of the Commanding Generai
OF the Fifth Army Corps. the Chief Signal ofhoer
calls attention to the fact that while me signa
Corns IL not a part OF the fighting force OF an
ou.p" nL ard tne operations of the balloon detach-
meni are supposed TO be conducted without the
range OF the musketry fire. yet no man faied 20
% The ns' character Of the outaag work Of the corp:
Is shown By the following eNtrf Ct from me rsspJts
~ IIeutenant- &C Coone Maxheld "In spite of me
difficulties met with. however II can oe ssn us ~
ui,hin i've weeks after the declaration OF War ms
signal Corps was able 10 put fully armed bdhoon
rain I'm the field and that by the uIne tle con-
NAMES OF the Volunteer signal corps hdu ueeI ",
ganizsd and were ready for service another uain
Vas practically completed. At the TINE OF @ ,ns
cessation OF hostties, one set of equlpinent was
az Santiago de cuba. with all me necessary az
naratus and material for making balloon as,,en
sions although work could not nANe - "' ~ rass
bad fresh supply Of tubes containing compreS.en
nas heen ayaiiab BILE Another balloon section was
at TAMPA likewise fully equipped
In conclusion General Greey says:
The Signal Corps failed To receive from Major
General Shafter In his original report even
notice that II participated In the SANTIAGO cam
raien and this corps did not share In ,Dcoinlurns
coTms Tor their efficient service at Santiago IL Is
honed that this resulted from the naturdl WISH VI
the commanding General OF the fNth Corps %
defend other departments from uhwa,tahteu
Incl purpose OF discriminating against a corps
40 h,s 40 far escaped adverse comment.
80 certaintv invdious action 10 assign cnafBe Vi
his talioon which pertains TO the sRnaI tofPs,
USs,r,,c,ion w is recommended for breEet Tor nav
- .scended in the basket with the slShai oincet
,.So yas in charge II. while the latter oiISer.
naturally responsible FOR IFS safety anu p,yp, p,o
cement Is excluded from praise or nensol on;
rI,.aSer In his later Endorsement on the omcasi
raDort of Lieutenant Colonel Maxneiu, tne ..wh
repOa pOaIrg General OF the Firth Corps says an an9
nr,,ica rendered By the balloon detachment, as ~
as by the whole OF the Signai CORPS was '"
factory.
THE pLAGUE on A BARK FROM HONG KONG