St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1898-08-31
MILE; AND SHAFTER.

passed between the war department and
Generals Mllss and shafter on the points
al issue between them. as described in
an article from the pen Of ]. ID. Whelp-
ley. the papers correspondent In Porto
Rico. The second contribution to the
controversy IL designed TO meet the
charge that tie interview was fake.
DOUBT is expressed by some" says
Mr.. Whelpley. as 10 whether General
Miles ever said the things | credit him
with. Others suggest he may have said
them in confidence which was betrayed.
I feel confident" continued the corre-
spondent, that General Miles will stand
by the interview referred to. My inter-
view was not confidential. | went to
him as a newspaper reporter for tho
avowed and expressed purpose Of secur-
ing an Interview There was no reser
walton from publh'a alton In the CONVERSE
ton. This is proven by his refusal to
answer some questions which he other
wise would have answered. There was
no hint Of confidence. In this Instance,
however, no question OF veraclty need
arise. General Miles himself even II
] I'VE 80 ufNllfuf fDhib AA'A ANitAfaA Wv ~ wi
| OF all he said. II il written on the
records OF the war department. and 1t
needs only a clearing away Of incense
quential mater to tell the story clearly
and In full.
The article says In part: 1T needs
/ only glance at the official records OF
I the war department TO show each of
/ these charges 10 be true, and 10 throw
much additional light on the situation.
I That he was in comm and Of the entire
army when ne was in Washington Is
/ Of course evident. That he did not re-
sign this supreme command when he
went 20 Tampa, and that IL was he who
was treating with the Cubans for CO.
operation in Cuba, is shown by the
/ numerous kilograms exchanged with
| General Garcia. The war department
recognized Miles as chief when he was
/ in Tampa. for June IL a telegram was
sent to him from Washington. which
began: The following extract Of tel
egram from Admiral Sampson to the
secretary OF the navy is repeated for
your information. etc. No man who
was at Tampa when General Miles ar
rived from Washington ever Will doubt
his supremacy. because all others. in
Guiding General shafter. became at once
mere creatures at his beck and call.
when General Shafter wen, 20 Cuba and
General Miles returned to Washington.
Che latter did MT resign his control OF
the situation. bur on the contrary kept
in close touch as possible By wire with
the movements Of Skaters command.
July General Shafter sent the follow
ing dispatch. addressed to the adJu-
tant general: There seems TO be no
reasonable doubt that General Pando
succeeded In entering Santiago last
night with his force. said to be about
5000 men. This puts a different aspect
on affairs, ana. while we can probably
maintain ourselves. II would I've at the
cost of very considerable fighting and
loss. General Lawton reports that Cen
eral Garcia. who was to block the en-
trance OF Pan6o, informed him at II
o'clock last night that Pando had passed
in on Zebra read. Lawton nays h.
cannot compel General Garcia lo obey
my instructions to place themselves IL
any position where they will have 4
fight. and TINT II we intend to reduce
Santiago We viii have TO depend alone
upon our own troops. and that We vii
REQUIRE twice the NUMBER We now have
] sent a message to Admiral Sampson
asking n he proposed entering the har
Dor. so as to give us his assistance
Commodore Watson replies that he doe
not know Admiral SIMPSONS intentions
since the destruction OF the Spanlsi
squadron. but does not himself think th'
feet should Try to 70 into the harbo
of Santiago This, under the cirenm
stances. is not very encouraging
1T was this situation which de
termined General Miles to 60 TO CuOa
The day he sailed with reinforcements
July 7, he sent the following disT atcl
from Washington: 'Shafser. Santiag o
Take every precaution against surprise
and be on the lookout that the eneml
does not turn your right nank and com
in on the line Of your communications
Reinforcements are being seLt forwar
as rapidly as possible. but you will hav
TO be the Judge o. the position you ar
TO hold until reinforcements can reacl
you
General Miles sailed for Cubs. o.
July IL at noon he reported hit SAFE ar
rival 10 the war depsdme.t. AID a
once ASSUMED charge. reporting 10 tn
secretary of war. All Of the subsequen
business OF the surrender was entirel
In his hands. as shown by the fact tina
the war department communicated wit
him direct, not even mentioning Shat
ter's name In the numerous dispatche.
The following dispatch Is an excelleu
example: Major General Miles: Yo
may accept surrender by granting pa
roles to officers and men, the officer
retaining their side arms. The officer
: and men after parole will be permitte
to return to Spain. the United State
: assisting. II not accepted, then assault
: unless in your judgment an assau
would fail. Consult with Sampson an
; pursue such course as to the assau
as you jointly agree upon. Matter
should be settled promptly.
"'R. A. Alger, Secretary of War
This dispatch recognized Miles 6
commander and gave him authority
act. Shafter was entirely ignored !
the face of this situation, Secretary A
ger, through General Corbin, sent,a dis
7 patch to General Shafter, assuring hi
that General Miles did not come to Gull
to supersede Shafter in any way Tn
dispatch General Miles refers to &
. secret, for he says he did not know
had been sent, not being notified fro
. Washington, and General Shafter sa.