Evening journal., 1898-11-23
THE WAR INQUIRY.
Colonel Roosevelt Before the
Commission.
TELLS OF CONFUSION At TAMPA.
lie Doesn't Place the Responsibility.
Poor Beef In Camp Fnre-und
10 Fay For Food Tor
His Men.

IT was 1885 o'clock when Colonel
Roosevelt was called to the stand He
took the oath, and, TO questions by Gen
eral Wilson, said:
II was lieutenant colonel OF the First
volunteer cavalry. which l formed a
san Antonio. IL was due ! think. TO
Colonel Wood that the regiment was
equipped and got into the field OF ac-
ton so quickly. l acted as lieutenant
colonel from May TO July 8. and from
Aug. ! to Sept. l acted as brigade
commander"
did the men have sabers?"
mo, sir; they were to have had ma
chetes, but IL was just as we'll that they
never got machetes.. They had Krag-
Jorgensen rifles and revolvers."
Were your men properly ratloned in
san Antonio?"
Il don't know about San Antonio.
was 50 busy learning my own duties
that / couldn't tell whether the food
was all right or not But at Tampa
there was a period OF "a hours when
there was considerable confusion. / had
to buy food for the men. but after we
got to the camp outside the town every
thing went smoothly"
Were you ever reimbursed for the
food you bought the men?"
ooh, my, no. That was merely
personal matter. IL was one on me-"
'Who was responsible for the confu-
sion at Tampa when your regiment was
embarking?"
Il can't say, but it seems to me that
il should have been known beforehand
what regiments We're going in certain
transports. Colonel Wood found after
an hour and a half spent trying to get
the quartermaster that our regiment
was assigned to the Yucatan. Then /
found that the Yucatan had also been
assigned to the Second infantry and to
the Seventy-first regiment New York
volunteers, and / had to go aboard the
Yucatan and hold the transport down
against the Second infantry and the
Seventy-hrst New York"
who do you think was responsible
for this confusion-the department or
some of the officers there?'
THAT ! would not know. 1 was only
lieutenant colonel at that time"
what were the accommodations for
the men?"
They were not as good as 1 could
have wished. Still they We're not bad,
and the men had the liberty of the deck.
The only bad food was the canned corn
ed beef. An arrangement was made by
which the men could boil their coffee
at the galleys, and the men arrived in
cuba in good condition.
There was little facility for unload
ing the transport on lighters. one of
my horses was drowned in landing. but
General Wood got both Of his horses
through
1--WE reached Siboney at 0 o'clock at
night on the day we landed. After sup
per General Wood informed US that we
were to start on the next morning and
catch the Spaniards. The next morn
ing's march was a hard one, especially
for the rider. There was no opportu-
nifty for hankers, and it was so hot that
about 100 men dropped out for awhile.
When the first Spanish outpost was dis
covered, General Wood ordered silence
in the ranks. and l was sent to the
right to deploy with his right wing.
when the Spaniards began firing 1
didn't at first know what to make of it.
/ had never seen smokeless powder at
work before. A newspaper man was
with me when the firing first began,
and he called my attention to the Span
ish hats in the distance across the ra-
vine. We soon routed the men. and
word was sent around that Colonel
! Wood was shot. But l soon found the
colonel, and when 1 asked him where
the Spaniards were, he said, They have
run away
Then the fighting was over and we
captured, among other things Spanish
mules loaded with beans, of which we
were in need, and we cooked the beans
for supper that night. and that ended
the battle of Las Guayamas."
In, 10 "a ]
Dodge, Colonel Roosevelt said there
was one thing he could not understand.
After the first battle and before all
the provisions had been landed" he
said, "our men wanted beans and to-
matoes. There were none, the commits
sary of Siboney said. for the men, but
there were some for the officers. The
commissary would not even let the men
buy these things. saying that they were
for officers only. SO I had to stretch
my conscience as much as possible and
loaded two horses with beans and to-
matoes for officers, which | immediate
~ distributed TO the man. That put
them in good condition for the next
battle"
How about the mems clothing?"
1T was good, but. as the shirts We're
such as ! would have used in Montana
ia winter. it was i'll suited TO the Cuban
climate.
"The leggings were also bad for mud
dy roads"
Colonel Roosevelt then narrated the
other skirmishes and the battle of san
Juan Hin
General woods Family In Santiago
SANTIAGO, cuba, Nov. eS.-The wifi,
aud Family Of General I oonard Wood
governor OF the military 6epai tnent OF
Santiago. arrived yesterday from tA'
United States on the transDor, Bcril
after a quick and pleasant n-esage
General Wood met them in his launch