Gloucester County Democrat. (Woodbury, N.J.) 1878-1932, 1898-08-25

Eleven Thousand of the Prisoners
Taken at Santiago Unite in an Adj
dress of Thanks and Praise to Cen
eraI Shafter and His Heroes.
Washington. Aug. pa document
entirely unique in the annals of war
fare was cabled last night to the war
department by General Shafter. 1t is
in the form of a congratuIatory fare
well address issued to the soldiers of
the American army by Pedro Lopez
De Castillo, private Spanish soldier,
on behalf of II, 900 Spanish soldiers. No
similar document perhaps was ever be-
fore issued to a victorious army by
vanquished enemy. The president was
most impressed by the address, and
after reading it carefully authorized it's
publication. Following is the text of
the address, which is addressed to Gen
eral Shafter:
Sir: The Spanish soldiers who capt.
tulated in this place on the 10Th of July
last, recognizing your high and just po-
sition, pray that through you all the
courageous and noble soldiers under
your command may receive our good
wishes and farewell which we send
them on embarking for our beloved
Spain. For this favor, which we have
no doubt you will grant, you will gain
the everlasting gratitude and consider
alton of 1000 Spanish soldiers who are
your most humble servants
Also the following letter addressed to
the soldiers of the American army:
Eve would not be fulfilling our duty
as well born men. in whose breasts
there live gratitude and courtesy,
should we embark for our beloved
Spain without sending to you our most
cordial and sincere good wishes and
farewell. We fought you with ardor,
with all our strength, endeavoring to
gain the victory, but without the
slightest rancor or hate towards the
American nation. We have been van
quished by you ESQ our generals and
chiefs Judged in signing the capitula
tom, but our surrender and the bloody
battles preceding it have left in our
souls no place for resentment against
the men who fought us nobly and val
iantly. You fought and acted in COM
pliance with the same call of duty as
we, for we all but represent the power
of our respective states.
You fought us as men, face to face,
and with great courage, as before
stated, quality which we had not
met with during the three years we
have carried on this war against a
people without religion, without morals,
without conscience and of doubtful
origin, who could not confront the
enemy, but hidden, shot their noble
victims from ambush and then inn
mediately fled. This was the kind of
warfare we had to sustain in this I'M
fortunate land. You have complied ex-
actly with all the laws and usuages of
war as recognized by the armies of the
most civilized nations of the world;
have given honorable burial to the
dead of the vanquished; have cured
their wounded with great humanity;
have respected and cared for your
prisoners and their comfort, and, lastly,
to us, whose condition was terrible,
you have given freely of food. of your
stock of medicines and you have
honored us with distinction and cour-
tesy, for after the fighting the two
armies mingled with the utmost har-
mony.
with this high sentiment of APP
probation from us all, there remains
but to express our farews&. and with
the greatest sincerity we Ssh you all
happiness and health in this land which
will no longer belong to our dear Spain,
but will be yours who have conquered
it by force and watered it with your
blood, as your conscience called for,
under the demand of civilization and
humanity. But the descendants of the
Congo and of Guinea. mingled with the
blood of unScrupulous SpaniardS and
of traders and adventurers, are not
able to exercise or enjoy their liberty,
for they will find it burden to comply
with the laws which govern civilized
communities"