The evening times., 1898-09-02
IT WAS A GREAT SUCCESS
General Shafter Talks of His
Campaign in Cuba.
SPANISH TROOPS BRAVE
Those Who Ordered Our Army TO n
Worst Season of the Year Re-
spOnsibIe for the Consequences to
It's Health.

Camp wikon, Sept. Gen. Shafter,
who is now very comfortably located in
camp, while averse TO making any re-
marks upon the personal troubles be-
tween army officers and War Department
officials is quite willing TO talk of the
terrible experiences the soldiers had TO
contend with in Cuba
He says it would have been surpris-
ing IL there had not been a great deal OF
sickness among the soldiers. There was
plenty of yellow fever, and the army
was ripe for it, 1t spread Ike prairie
fire. The doctors got sick like the rest,
said General Shafter to a World
reporter. They were overworked and
exhausted. But their ability is
unquestionable. Look at the low
percentage of deaths from wounds. IL
never was lower in any war Why, in the
civil war, ! lay on the battlefield myself
until maggots developed in my wounds
and that was right nearby, not down in
malarioUs, sub-;Eopical country far
away.
The men who ordered = summer cam
paien in a fever-infected country are
responsible for the natural and unavoid-
able consequences.
as they are, not as they should be- But
none OF our wounded were allowed TO lie
OF the battlefield as / was III the civil
war. Nothing OF the kind happened.
Anaesthetics were plentiful
1t was the heat that was so deadly.
AND the rains, Right in the midst OF the
most torrid heat a shower would fall II
would drench everybody without cooling
the air In a few minutes. under the
d,
ing. Men OF the strongest constitutions
succumbed
Many a man had yellow fever who
never knew il And, TO tell the truth, il
Is not so dangerous as the calentura, or
heat attacks, that unacciimated men
have in the malarious regions of Cuba
Why, il is a common thing for mans
temperature TO rise from a normal state
10 lG6 in few hours. That means death
in most cases.
1t can give cards and spades TO yellow
fever in the game Of death I'd rather
have yellow fever by a damned sight /
tell you when "A man burns up inside
there's little hope for him"
Gould this have been prevented?"
No indeed" was the reply Our men
were all unacclimated; they never had
faced such constant heat. Many of them
never had slept outdoors before they
NtiA AllO camp. HOW COQlQ they be
moulded into proper material for such a
climate and such campaign? Ii couldn't
be done. These men you see coming
back with the thin bodies and the yell
low faces are suffering from the para
site of the low fever of the Santiago
plateaus."
Gen Shafter believes, however. that
most Of the men will get well Cool air
and good home care viii cure them he
10 n..1- II.
ships in which soldiers were sent home
in, Gen. Shafter said:
We had to choose the lesser of two
evils-to ship the men North TO healthy
climate, not wanting TO keep them where
they must die. We at the front didn't
want 10 let the fever have its run. We
wanted to save life Now. the problem
was to save the most lives possible We
never had foreign war since ISl2-l4 The
United States has no hospital ships Ii
wasn't a question of using what was
best, but what We had We used the
transports that brought the troops down.
ut was that or keep the men there!
If ! could have had q rew weeks 10
equip hospital ships the conditions would
have been better II the war had con-
tinued wed have stayed right there. fe-
Yer or no fever. The sudden end of the
war was unexpected. We weren't pre-
pared for the unexpected. ] made II an
invariable rule TO send home Is per cent
less men on a transport than she had
brought south. That was a fair view TO
take"
Gen. Shafter expressed himself as con-
tent with the campaign saving:
i am satisfied When IL is fully un-
derstood, with all its difficulties. it will
receive just place in military history We
were hurried of to Cuba. We landed
and couldn't have got our stores back on
board ship if We had wanted to. When
the invasion was planned IL was obvious
that II must be a rush. Such il was
And IL was a success-complete and
unequiyocal. Many things were done. il
Is true that were forced upon US by the
eNigencies of the hour; but the means
employed even under such stress proved
10 be wisely chosen. ] was compelled TO
do a great many things that under diff
ferent conditions would not have been
considered"
Exactly what do you mean, general?"
Il sized up the Spaniards correctly"
was the reply. For example at San
Juan, ] was sure they'd not come out
from their works and attack us. The
FL Caney fight, ] hoped, would be finish
ed at 10 a. m: but il took till o'clock.
and ] rather feel now that ii was for the
best. Had I had Lawton on the right
Of the line we would have undoubtedly
taken the city of Santiago that night, in
which case only the garrison then there
would have surrendered to US. Whereas.
later ,all the troops in the region sur
rounding were included The men out
side Of Santiago July could have
gone to join Gen. Pand0."
How did the Spanish troops ight?"
''Gallantly. But they soon saw what
they were up against They were with
out food, short of ammunition. Dis
heartened and recognizing the inevitable,
they gave up. But II is no reflection on
their courage. The men OF the two ar
mics fraternized freely at once. Our
men liked the Spaniards. Couldn't keep
'em apart. The probable cause of the
sociability of the Spaniards was that
they wanted to get home az soon as pos
sble"
Did Cervcra's men help in the San
Juan fight?" was asked, to clear up a
mooted point.
Yes. indeed. He had 600 men ashore
from his fleet in the battle of the lst OF
July. His chief OF staff Busamente. was
killed. His marines and sailors suffered
severely. Ceryera put them all back on
board July Q and on the Sd he tried To
get 10 sea.
THE Spaniards were down to their last
bit of rice when they surrendered: but
they chivalrously declined on the first
day 10 accept rations offered TO them
They said that American charity humili.
ated them; but ] noticed that they came
around for the grub the second day.
General Shafter says Santiago is I'm z
fair condition OF health now. The Span.
fish hospitals there are as good, in ways
as anV in the world He Sa W vary far