The herald., 1898-08-13
General Wheeler as He Is
OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES

"There is one thing in this war that gets
me. and that Is how they ever came to make
Joe Wheeler major general"
The speaker was one of sevsral corre-
spondents who were lying In the trenches OF
Camp McCalia at Guantanamo bay
whats the matter with Joe?" 1 asked
Nothing as man, axd l know his rec
ord as soldier In the rebellion was of the
finest, but he is too old now-he has not
the physical strength or the endurance for
active campaigning. really feel sorry for
him, for, in my opinion, he will injure him.
self politically. It's too bad, for he is a
fine gentleman and a capable man, but he
has made a great mistake in accepting a
generals commission, and you fellows will
say that l am right long before this war
is over" ~e +v-t
o o O -"f
Three weeks came and went and that
same correspondent and myself were in the
trenches once mere, but row they were on
the summit of the San Juan hill, one thou
sands yards from the rear of Santiago. 1t
was the I'd of July; the fighting was hot
and over where VT lay behind a little
mound of sand the Mauser bullets sang in
swarms. To lift your head above the en-
bankment was thing of peril to stand
upright was to mske - yourself an extra
hazardous risk for life insurance COM
Pany, and to remain standing was to offer
a premium for wounds and death. SO we
kept our heads-these great heads so filled
with military science and warlike lore
close to the muddy ground and longed for
a moment to come when the Spaniards
would let up in their fire FOR A moment and
we might make run over the hill without
being punctured with a rifle ball.
o o O
Just then, entirely alone, along the rear
of the trenches, came walking a small man,
rather stopped in the shoulders and clad in
the uniform of a general office. A broad
army hat was drawn down close to his
arched eyebrows, which gave him the look
Of a man in an etesral state of mild sur
prise. Under the gray brows his eyes
glanced quickly up and down the trenches,
and then Travelled to and from the Span
ish lines taking in all the points o: attack
and defense. Across the pretty green val
ley that lay between Us and Santiago the
ugly little bullets Still, Kissed as viciously
and as thicky as ever. Occasionally
shrapnel shell, that uglles. of all devilish
devices designed for managing your fellow
men. would burst above the ridge. but the
little man moved calmly along. lie walked
with the air of man who wanted some
thing and knew how and where to find it,
There was business in every motion but
no hurry because of danger. The man
knew the chances he was taking and took
business he was in. 1t was General Joseph
Wheeler inspecting his lines. poked the
man next to me, pointed out to him the
slight form of the general as he moved
away. still intent upon gathering Informal
ton for himself, and still calmly Indifferent
to the fire, and asked him the question of
three weeks before: whats the matter
with Joe?"
1t was known to us both then, the con-
duct OF Gen. Wheeler during the battle of
San Juan, the indomitable courage he had
shown on that day and the day preceding.
when he crawled from sick bed to lead
his men to battle, and. better than ALL how
1t was due to him that the American army
had not after the victory abandoned the
hill of San Juan, which 1t had won at the
cost of so much blood. These things were
known to the other man as we'll as to me,
and his acknowledgment was brief and to
the point:
HE knows more than thought knew,
and I can't put 1t stronger than that"
There has not been a man in the American
army who has made a better fighting rec
ord than this small, slender, gray-bearded.