The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1898-06-14
OFF.
Fifteen Thousand Troops Sail
For Cuba.

Washington, June 18.-The first inva-
sion of United States troops to begin the
invasion of Cuba sailed from Key West
at daylight this morning. The expedite
ion comprises IT'S officers and IA. 564 en-
listed men, all under the control of Major
General Shafter. A large foroe of trans
ports conveyed the troops under the con-
voy Of a strong squadron of warship5
ranging from the immense batt1eship to
the small gunboat and armed fast sailing
yachts.
The full list Of the troops that make up
this expedition as reported to the war des
partrnent by Gen. Shafter is as follows:
Infantry regiments-6th. 10th, list New
York volunteers; 10th, 2lst, I'd. 18th, 9th,
24th, 6bh a2d Massachusetts volunteers;
1st, Goth. Itch, 18th, 18th, Sd, goth. Total
infantry, sol officers and 10, 700 enlisted
men.
Cavalry-Two mounted squadrons Of
four troops each from the Sd, 9th, 9th. tst,
and 10th cavalry, and two dismopnted
squadrons of four troops each from the
1st U. S. volunteer cavalry.
Total dismounted cavalry, 159 officers.
2,S76 enlisted men; mounted cavalry, oz1e
SQuadFOn Oh the second, nine soUceE5 ana
$50 enlisted men.
rtillery-Light batteries E and z, 1st
artillery; A and F, Cd artillery, Ia officers
and 323 enlised men.
Batteries G and H, 4th artillery, siege,
four officers and 132 enlisted men.
Engineers @ and E, nine
Offices 200 enlisted men.
Signal corps-One detachment two
officers and Is enlisted men.
Hospital detachments are included In
the foregoing figures.
The staff corps numbers Is officers,
The grand total of the expedition is s16
officers and ID, 564 enlisted men.
Gen. Shafter in his report indicates the
great obstacles Ethat had to be overcome
in order to embark his force at Fort
Tampa, ands it iss not likely If his
recommendation carries weight, that an
effort will be made to again. embark so
large a number Of troops from that
port, without considerably enlarging tbs
shipping facilities.
It will be noticed that by far the larger
portion Of the expedition Is niade up Of
Infantry, although an unusually large
number of artillery Is included; and that
the cavalry is almost altogether lacking.
1t is expected, however, that the dis
mounted cavalry with the expedition
will be mounted later on in Cuba from
the stock of native horses OF from the
mounts that will follow from this coun-
OWlO& TO bl0 mountainous and
jungle-like character of the country back
of Santiago where the troops must operate,
there will be little opportunity for the
use of cavalry, SO that the expedition has
not been weakened, IN the opinion of ex-
perts, by withholding the cavalry at the
will arrive off Santiago Thursday morn
ing at the latest, barring storms or acci-
dents, and the landing probably will take
place on the afternoon of that day or Fri
day following, as Admiral Sampson is
extremely anxious to reinforce the small
tanamo bay. The position of these men
is not entirely satisfactory to the officials
here. While no advices have yet reached
the navy department. of the attacks made
on the marine force by the Spanish
guerillas Saturday night, there is no dis
position to question the accuracy of the
press reports. 1t cnunot be said that the
attack caused surprise here, but it was
plain that it indicated to the officials
some fugly possibilities 1t is apparent
for one thing that regular organizations
of troops fighting according to established
methods are destined to meet with severe
loss at the hands of irregular bodies such
as the Spanish guerillas, who are conducts
ing something like Indian warfare in
the jungles. One of the most annoying
features attending tthis style of warfare
is the worry imposed upon the soldiers
to keep ina state of unrest and excite
ment large body of regular troops. Be-
hind earthworks there will be little rea-
son for complaint on this source and it
is probable our troops in operating in
Cuba will be obliged to resort frequently
to this means of defense
Capt. Taylor of the battleship Indiana,
is in command of the naval feet which
accompanies the transport ships. The
make up of the convoy feet is still with
held: Besides the Indiana, one other
battleship and first class cruiser accom-
pany the fleet. The other ships are lesser
cruisers, gunboats and auxiliary craft.
Five of the naval ships of the fleet first
went to Port Tampa, whiles Il. remained
off Key West. When the five warships
and the 50 transports reached Key West,
junction was made with all the II war;
ships at that point and the combined
fleets started together Naval officials
speak Of it as magnificent marinespro-
cession. The war transports stretched
out for several miles. The warships
proper, headed by the Indiana, stretched
ut least three-quarters or a mile. BY