The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1898-08-26
AFTERMATH OF SANTIAGO.
AMERICAN SOLDIERS IN BATTLE,
IN THE TRENCHES AND IN CAMP.

From the New York Herald.
When Gen Miles went to Cuba the Rev.
Peter Mcqueen. a Congregational clergy
man, of Somervflle, Mass, went with him
to study certain phases of war. He saw
the last fighting at Santiago and helped
care for the wounded He returned from
Cuba on the Concho. and has given the
Herald some of the impressions gained at
the front.
when We LEFT santiagoI said the Rev.
Mr. MacQueen. the American army was
resting among the beautiful hills beyond
the city
oh, this is like Andalusia in April
cried Columbus, when he saw those hills
on an October day The smile was strill-
ing. Even now. after the hideous sense
lessness of war, the country from Baiquiri
to Santiago is a land Of bird-song and
water brooks-grounds and sky tit for Mu-
rino What the singing leaves out the
twittering completes; and # the fields are
not lush with sugar cane they flash with
butterflies.
1T should be so; a land of romance and
contrasts-a land misty with stars at
night ana regal as its palms by day; for
from this landlocked bay Patti went forth
to thrin a race with melody, and Corte2
sailed to strew with dead the continent
from Vera Cruz to Mexico
Into this land of sunny days and starry
nights came our 200J0 soldiers TO dash
themselves against the fury of Spain. La
Gausima the thorn was a fit name for
the FIRST hard struggle. thorny set were
these same Spaniards; 0l0 there might be,
or 100,0-we did not know. All the paths
were filed with men; and in the palm, the
queen tree of Cuba. the sharpshooter
lurked. Lanes that before were wet with
dew now dripped with blood, and the
streams so sweet and pure before were
black with mud and poisoned with the
dead. The whole seductive land became
remorseless jail-strong as death and
cruel as the grave.
This is where Capt. Lewelyn was
said Corpl. Richie OF the Rough Riders to
me a few days after the battle of Quasi
mas as he showed me the trampled grass.
Here Richard Harding Davis stood and
discovered the Spaniards on yonder HILL
l cried pointing across to the hill so nobly
taken by the Tenth Colored Cavalry.
What did you think of Mr.. Davis? /
asked
lie was the coolest man / ever saw
under fire. replied the corporal
I'VE walked into the underbrush little
way Presently we found stacks Of Maui
ser cartridges.
Pace off the distance to our front
lines the corporal directed.
Il did so. II was forty-fve yards. i told
Coz. Roosevelt this. He said he found
some dead SpaniaTds there, but did not
suspect they came so near ! then plainly
asked the colonel If he was ambuscaded.
No; most emphatically, no. he an
swered. You can state that with all en-
phasis. The battle was most scientific on
both sides. The Spaniards could have Sc
lected no other place so well fitted for re-
sistance but we knew they were there
and were thoroughly prepared
Il went to Cuba TO study the humane
and moral sides of war. There are more
aloes In Siberia and more icebergs in San
tiago than there are of humane and moral
sides In war. You read of the incredible
valor Of our men as they broke like living
avalanches on the blockhouse and the
trench. Go with me to the fever hospitals
of Siboney, or walk the road past El Pozo
and mark the burrows where dead men lie.
or pass Bloody Bend July l, 1898, and put
your head among the grass where blue
eyed beardless boys babble about their
mothers, and where the blood that runs
out from our soldiers breasts stains a
locket and a tress Of woman's hair.
1.-TWO regiments that did some good fight
ing ana SNOWeQ INSTANCES Oi rare ptIbDudi
bravery were the Second Massachusetts
and the Seventy4frst New York. Gen Law
ton told me that the Second Massachusetts
fought CALAMITY at El Caney.
But he continued, i had to retire
them early in the day. Their antlquated
Springfield rifles and the black powdev
We're no match for The Mauser-a weapon
which loads five cartridges at time, uses
smokeless powder kills at 1900 yards and
is one Of the'most destructive instruments
known to modern warfare.
Tel the people of Massachusetts and
New York-and tell them that Gen. Lawton
says so-that TO send men into battle equip
ped as the Seventy-irst New York and
Second Massachusetts were is nothing but
murder and assassination IL / had ordered
the Second Massachusetts to charge at Ell
Caney, they would have been massacred
and scarcely one man in the regiment
would have been spared
'"The generals brow contracted and he
was most calm and emphatic.
"Of the Seventy-frst New York / heard
that they did splendid work IN the trenches
the night of July 2, when the enemy made
the sortie.
"Gen. Wheeler Is writing book In this
book he will say:
:" In regard to the difference between
regulars and volunteers, we must be fair,
Just and honest In this matter. Many Of
the volunteers left positions with large
salaries and comfortable and luxurious
homes to serve their country. They were
self-sacri1clng; they were brave; they
were chivalrous. But truth compels me to
say that for effectiveness in battle they
could not be expected 10 equal trained sol
diers. The regular army officers and men
had been trained to estimate distances by
the eye and 10 adjust their sights with
great precision; consequently, when they
went into action, every man was an expert
marksman, and they used their rifles with
most marvellous accuracy
1t Is touching 10 see the regulars get
some of the American newspapers read Of
how redoubt after redoubt was taken by
the volunteers and scarcely any mention
Was made Of the regular army. How dis
appointed and Disguised they werei One
captain turned 10 me and said Depend
upon il. the truth will be told when history
Is written
"Illnees has decimated the army much
more than Mausers, and our men shudder
TO think what would have happened mad
the Spaniards held out ten days more.
No words can describe the hunger and
misery after the battles when some OF