The record-union., 1898-07-25

No mention is made OF any other
cases requiring attention. and it is in
dicated that the relations between the
newspaper men and the army officers
at Santiago are generally aniicable and
satisfactory. In very digniiied man
ner General Shafter takes notice of
some of the severely critical newspaper
articles that have appeared. touching
the condition Of the troops before San
tiago while they lay in the trenches.
He admits that there was q shortage
of tobacco for time, but shows con-
clusively that there was no lack OF the
necessaries of life, and that the troops
We're adequately supplied with hard
bread bacon sugar and coffee AL
though this bill of fare is not as ex-
tensive as that afforded troops IN gar
rison, it embodies the main features OF
the army rations while on field service
and removed from base of supplies.
AS it has been alleged IN some quar-
ters that there was lack OF purpose
in the battles incident to the advance
upon Santiago, it is interesting TO note
that While General Shafter admits that
for two days he was himself Ill CIV
ing to the great heat and exposure, ne
asserts that the plans laid down in ad-
vance for the movement we're carried
out with absolute exactness.
With the week just closed the United
States saw the end of the third month
Of the war with Spain, and the respon-
sible officials, from the President down
to the lowest employe who has had TO
do with shaping the course Of events,
feel nothing but satisfaction at the
progress made. An army Of quarter
of a million men has been mobilized,
armed and equipped, and much Of it
has seen service.
The battles preceding the capture or
Santiago have been remarkable IN
many respects, and in the opinion OF
military experts, have covered the
United States army engaged with m
pressible glory. Modern warfare of q
type developed in these engagements
was absolutely new and untried, not
only to the United States, but TO the
world. No such charge is recorded in
history as that made upon the fost ana
blockhouses crowning the hills of FL
Caney. There have been engagements
between trained troops and savage
races in the jungles of India and on the
hills of South Africa of late years that
conveyed in slight manner the pos
| sibilities of modern weapons. But these
battles fought by the Fifth Army Corps
have been the first in which large
bodies of troops of civilized natiors on
| both sides have been engaged with all
the implements of modern warfare, and
the result is bound to be highly IN
structive to military students and to ex-
/ tort admiration for the splendid lighting
qualities Of the United States soldiers
from the most unwilling critics. Few
officers in any army have had more ex-
perience in hard fighting, especially in
rough country, than that old Indian
| fighter, General Henry, so that some
weight must be attached ID the opinion
of the merits of our officers and troops
expressed by him in the following per-
sonal letter addressed by him TO Ad-
| jutant General Corbin, dated in front
of Santiago, July 18th:
1--WE had a pleasant sail down. Hav-
! ing to row the men ashore, it took
some time to get off. We left Siboney
I at . o. m yesterday with the Eighth
I Ohio, and came into camp here about
I three miles from the front. In COM
pany with General Breckenridge, we
4 rode to the front to General Wheeler's
/
| ing up, had an opportunity to see the
lines We We're almost on top OF
them, the front of Wheeler being
about 800 yards to them, but the coun-
| try is rough going down to a falling
and ascending, all covered by their fire.
The country all the way is the rough
4 est / ever saw We have to follow
roads or trails and come under heavy
| fire. their position commanding every
approach.
"The work done by these troops since
landing. their heroism and patience un-
! der discomforts, heat and rain calls
| for the highest praise; and the work
accomplished by Shafter, his pertinaci-
ty and goaheaditiveness under ad-
verse circumstances and discomforts, is
revelation to me. / doubt if there is
another officer who would have gotten
there as he did. Our loss was most
unfortunate, but from the character of
the country could not have been avert
ed, for we had to get there.
Last night the Eighth Ohio were
almost drowned out, and it pours to-
day; that's the climate, and to get out
| Of it would be cheaper to lose more
by fighting and success than by illness
which is sure to come by staying. We
have about thirty cases Of yellow fever
and many of malaria, but the men are
cheerful General Duffeld and Captain
| Wilcox have yellow fever: they say a
mild form; gotten from sleeping in in
fected buildings, which are now to be
| burned.
Miss Clara Barton and Mrs. Addi-
son Porter rode to the front yester-
! day in army wagon over rough
roads and raining. They are unselfish
women. Too much credit cannot be
given the heroism, pluck and patience
of those who have borne the brunt OF
this work"
DpYSnNrDC